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“Mom?”
“Yes, baby?” She hustled around the kitchen, tossing together a quick meal. She wasn’t the best cook like Nubia, but she had a few hits, and tonight was King Ranch casserole. “I got enough leftovers to take with you. I know how much the boys like it.”
He took the container of food in his hands, unsure how to say what was on his mind.
“Do you…is this…did you want to do something else in your life?”
She stopped to look at him, drying her hands with a towel. “Something else? What in the world are you going on about?”
“I mean, when you were young. Before you met Dad. What did you want to do?”
“That’s a loaded question, now isn’t it?” She considered him for a second. “I don’t know exactly. I just knew I wanted to experience things.”
“And you didn’t get to?”
“I didn’t say that. I just experienced things differently than I envisioned. Not bad. Just different, I think. We went on adventures when you were young. Camping, exploring, seeing other cities. But in the past few years, with all the lockdowns, I haven’t seen everything I wanted to. It’s been a trade-off for everyone’s safety. I’m sure I’ll have time though. Why?”
“What happened?”
She sighed heavily, looking down the hall, probably to check on his dad, who was in the shower. “Honestly, your daddy. I couldn’t walk away. It’s not in our blood. But we made it work. I got to finish college, and he would visit me wherever I went for a year or so. Then it was too hard to be away. So, I brought all my ideas and travels here. Probably helped that the Alpha is your uncle, so my ideas got implemented, and it all worked out. To top it off, I was blessed with the best baby boy around.”
She squeezed his hand, forcing him to look her in the eye. “Nassau? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Just trying to understand Bailey. Aunt Nubia said she reminds her of you. I didn’t see it.”
She laughed softly. “That one’s a firecracker. Gonna do what she wants, no matter what. That girl catch your eye? She doesn’t seem like the type to settle down.”
“Yeah. She made that clear.”
“Oh, baby. Don’t worry, you’ll meet your fated mate soon enough. Things are changing. Especially when Makaii takes over. We will start going back to the way it used to be.” She patted his hand, moving back to the kitchen. “Now, get going. Melly’s shift starts soon, and those boys have been at this door twice looking for you.”
Melly, her mate, and her two boys lived across the street, and she worked a night shift at one of the pack bars while their dad was one of the south side border patrol. Four days a week, their shifts overlapped and for the last five years, Nassau had hung out at their house in those few hours, making sure they were fed and in bed. When he started this routine, they were six and seven, and now they were eleven and twelve, old enough to be on their own, but it was something all of them enjoyed.
He didn’t have time to knock before the youngest, Theo, pulled the door open. “Dude, where you been? We are getting slaughtered, and Simon won’t admit we need you.”
“My K/D is still the best on the team, so you can suck my big toe,” Simon hollered from the living room where he sprawled out in a beanbag, headset on, in front of the television.
Nassau slid the casserole onto the table, and Theo ate straight from it with a big spoon before plopping down on his own chair and pulling on a headset. Mouth full, he pointed at the third controller.
“Come on, bro. We’ve been getting killed, and they’re talking nothing but shit. We’ve been hiding you in a corner, but they go straight for you every time.”
Dropping into the recliner and picking up the controller, he didn’t bother with a headset. The boys did enough talking for all of them.
“Hey, motherfuckers. Big daddy is back. Buckle in for the ride cuz I brought reinforcements.”
He didn’t worry about their language anymore. They knew not to talk like that in front of their mom, and the shit he heard on the other side of the mic was worse. At least he could keep track of who they played with like this.
By the time their dad came through the door a little after nine, they’d been playing for three hours, had devoured all the casserole, and were scrambling to pick up the mess of snacks.
“Thanks, Nas. You on break from flying around the country?”
“Yeah. With Makaii and Ava out of town, Axel postponed all the meetings with the Alliance until they get back. Got a good month or so in the training area.”
“You know, the boys are old enough to be alone for three hours now. You don’t have to come by every night.”
“Gotta keep my Call of Duty skills sharp. See you tomorrow.”
Back home, he sank into his bed, but couldn’t get to sleep. It had only been two nights sleeping next to her, three if you counted last Saturday, but he felt empty without her warmth.
