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“No, it’s fine. I… I think I just needed a kick in the ass to get my head on straight. Joel and Isaias, you’ll be down the street, andRen, you’re going to be here most of the day. I’m sure Nala could use someone to talk to and we’re not kicking her out, right?” They all nodded together. “Then it’s settled. I know how to use a phone and Isaias has mentioned multiple times if that bastard walks the fuck into this house, I am allowed to shred him.”
With that, I walked down the hallway to the nest, not waiting for another conversation to start. I was a little terrified of staying alone but I could do this. I also knew that Nala needed a protector and I wanted to be that for her in a time where I had had none. My 21-year-old self was smiling up at me and that’s all I needed.
twenty-one
JOEL
I woke to an empty nest, even more confused when Nala’s room was also empty. Isaias was leaning against the wall with a wicked smile on his face as he sipped from a mug, freshly brewed espresso wafting through the hallway. “It’s about time you woke up.”
“Where is everyone? I didn’t-” I dipped my head back into the nest to check the time, frowning when it showed that it was barely eight. We didn’t have to be at work for almost an hour.
Isaias pushed off the wall as he took another sip before handing the mug to me. “You needed the rest, Joel. Besides, apparently your sister was going to school for early childhood education and sheadoreschildren.” He waggled his eyebrows, holding back a laugh but I didn’t get the joke.
It helped that no underlying terror or panic was running through the bond. Isaias pulled me into a sweet kiss that quickly turned dirty, his tongue swiping across the seam of my lips.
“Wait—where is-”
My Alpha cut me off again, waiting until I relaxed against him, the coffee mug tightly gripped in my hands. “Better.” A stream of giggles reached my ears from the kitchen and I frowned, waiting for an explanation. “Nala woke up in a fairly good mood and asked if she could make breakfast. Seems her and Ren hit it off and Kieran is supervising.”
I wasn’t too sure about that, especially the way Nala regarded my Alphas yesterday but I was curious to see anyway. When another one of her giggles hit the air, I rushed down the hall to see Nala dressed in another set of my clothes that were entirely too big for her as she shook a spatula at Ren.
The little Alpha scrunched up his nose as she tried once again to flip an omelet and failed miserably. “That’s not-” He cleared his throat and spoke quieter when she cringed. “That’s not how you do it, Nala.”
Nala shook her head, giggling through it as I assumed she started in on making scrambled eggs with the mess in the pan. “Then maybe you should have let me make what I wanted in the first place!” She threw out jokingly and then froze, turning slowly to face Ren. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
The snarky edge to her personality was definitely a family trait, however, I could see that my parents had tried beating it out of her and no doubt Michael had tried as well. Isaias held me from charging into the kitchen to rescue her as we watched to see how it would play out.
Movement to my left caught my attention, Kieran moving from the living room to the kitchen. He was holding Elias against his chest as our son fed, Leo happily playing on a small mat that Ren no doubt unearthed from the mountain of baby items we had purchased months ago.
“Nala,” Kieran began, his voice firm. “The Alphas in this house will not hurt you. You trust your brother, don’t you?”
Nala swallowed carefully, looking toward the hallway to meet my gaze before she nodded. “Yes.”
“And he loves and cherishes Ren and Isaias. I guarantee you that they only want one thing from you. That you be yourself.”
She frowned. “That’s not what anyone else has said. We’re supposed to cook and clean and have babies and… but you don’t do that.”
“Right. I don’t. Ren cooks. We all clean and for the record, I did have two beautiful little boys.”
My sister nodded and relaxed a little as she pulled the pan off the stove. “It’s just going to take me a minute to believe that, okay?”
Isaias released me and I stepped into the kitchen, Nala eagerly jumping into my arms after I set the mug on the counter. It was strange having her around again, but a good kind of strange. Like Kieran freely feeding our babies while she was here. I loved how comfortable he was around her.
I just wished it hadn’t taken something like Michael to bring us back together.
It had been a while since I had seen Ren and Kieran so happy, so carefree. Between yesterday and today, the little bit of happiness we were missing had nothing to do with Isaias being absent and everything to do with the fact that Michael’s shadow was still cast over us. It hadn’t completely left but the smiles and giggles running through the kitchen brought an entirely different dynamic.
“Breakfast will be ready soon,” Nala mumbled against my chest.
“If she finishes it,” Ren snarked, Nala actually twisting around to stick her tongue out at him. I placed a small kiss on her temple before checking in on Kieran who was still feeding Elias. Leo was happily cooing on his blanket so I didn’t feel the need to ‘rescue’ him just yet.
Kieran gave me a small nod before I retreated down the hall, Isaias’ on my heels. “That’s a nice thing to wake up to. Could you imagine if that had been Kieran giggling?” I joked as Isaias followed me into his bedroom. I needed a shower, coffee, and food. In that order before I could take on the day.
Isaias laughed. “Get Kieran pregnant again and I’m sure he’ll be full of giggles.”
I narrowed my gaze at him, shaking my head. There was no way in hell Kieran would ever go for that. Besides, we had enough kids to worry about without dealing with a hormonal Kieran on top of that. As much as I loved being manhandled for nearly nine months, it would be even funnier if the next set was Isaias’ kids. As if he could read my mind, Isaias immediately vetoed it.
“Absolutely not. Grab your shower so we can get ready.”
