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Shae’s breath ghosted across my ear as they whispered to me and I held in a whimper as I gripped their thigh. But the heat they’d built in me so quickly fizzled just as fast when Aubrey spoke next.
“Any word on when you get to go back to your place, Cat?”
“Um, not really. The cops said there was an attempt on another of the Omegas that was with me, but her family was home, so they didn’t get her. I don’t think I can go back there. Still figuring that out.”
Cat had pulled her knees up to her chest. Aubrey looked over at me and chewed on the corner of her lip, aware that she’d stuck her foot in her mouth but not sure how to fix it.
“You know you can stay with us as long as you need to.”
Shae’s tone nearly pleaded with their friend. Cat smiled fondly at them and nodded.
“I know. As fun as being roomies again has been, you know I’ve always liked my space and, well, it’s only gotten worse since… everything.”
“Why don’t you move in here?”
We all looked to where my mom had been sitting quietly most of the night. She’d been embroidering something and just soaking up the time here with us all in the way she always had when we were kids. Her head tilted as we all looked at her and she lifted a brow as Cat tried to get out her question.
“Here? But I… you. I don’t understand.”
“We have the room. Nate bought this place because it had a room for all of us but Ethan’s all packed up and Nate still has his own apartment. The room next to mine, with its own bathroom, is still empty. It’s not your own apartment but you could move whatever you want in and then put the rest in storage until you find a safer place!”
Cat’s eyes bounced between my sister’s enthusiasm and my mom’s quiet smile, and then back to where Shae and I sat.
“That’s too much. I’m not working right now, but I have some savings, so I could help with bills?”
My mom huffed in a way that brought me back to my childhood when she was fully exasperated with us, and she went off muttering to herself in Spanish.
“You can use that to buy what you want for your room, nothing else. Nate made sure that I have plenty of money and I am happy to have you here. You need somewhere safe, yes?”
Cat nodded as tears started to fill her eyes. Mom stood to walk over to her. She sat on the couch next to where Cat was sitting on the floor and cupped her cheek.
“Being an Omega is harder than people realize. We can help you navigate it all and my son assures me that this is the safest building for us. So, it is decided?”
Cat nodded and I smiled, more than a little misty-eyed myself at how my mother was pulling us all under her wing. She was coming out of the shell that I hadn’t realized my fathers had forced her into more and more as each year had passed.
“Fuck, yes! I always wanted a sister.”
“Hey!”
My protest was overshadowed by the throw pillow that hit Aubrey in the side of the head.
“Mom!”
Aubrey’s outrage sent our mother into a round of giggles that completely undermined her stern reprimand. I settled back into my Beta, soaking in the sound of Mom’s unrestrained self and the happiness of what we all had.
A bit later, Miles and Nate returned only to be hustled back out by Shae, who wanted to figure out how to get Cat access to everything in the building. Not just to the apartment but also the storage that was apparently available in the basement, and how to get her things moved in. Aubrey had taken Cat to check out the room and I was helping Mom with the dishes in the kitchen. Looking out at the view through the living room windows as I dried one of the pans, my mind supplied a vision of Trevor and my mom standing together. Call me a nosey Omega but I wanted to know what they’d been talking about.
“Mom?”
“Hmm?”
“That day when we were moving you in. What were you and Trevor talking about?”
She clicked her tongue and pulled the stopper from the drain so the water could swirl down. I never understood why she wouldn’t just throw the dishes in the washer, but she said she liked it.
“He was apologizing to me.”
“Did he say something to you?”
