AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d never seen a fully grown man blush before, but Rork’s face darkened and the effect next to his white hair was almost comical. He almost clumsily put Remy’s plate down and then just held Boone’s as he smiled at Memphis. It looked like his face was cracking open after being in the same scowl for so many decades.
“Oh, my gosh. I’m busy for the next five years, but after that, I might just ask you to marry me. If this tastes as good as it looks, and I’m sure it will, you’ve got a fan.” Memphis leaned closer to her plate after Sophie put it down and moaned as she inhaled. “I’m Memphis, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”
Rork let out a laugh that cracked like thunder and roughly put Boone’s plate down, too focused on Memphis to care about Boone. “R-Rork. Rork Diamond.”
“Fancy. Well, I don’t know if I’ll take your name, Rork Diamond, but only because Memphis Diamond is a little obnoxious.” With a few words and a warm smile, Memphis won over our chef, a man who’d been uninterested in us for as long as I could remember.
“I can make you anything you request, Ms. Memphis. You just let me know.” Rork flashed another toothy grin and then hurried away.
The four people in the room who knew Rork were all left stunned and staring at Memphis like she was a witch who’d just cast a spell in front of us. Sophie finally backed out of the room, leaving us alone, but after that show with Rork I wasn’t sure I wanted to be left alone with Memphis. She had some sort of powers and I wasn’t sure I was interested in finding out if I was immune.
10.
***Memphis***
“Istheresomethingwrong?Are we supposed to pray or something?” They were just staring at me. I looked back down at my food and let out a mournful sigh. I didn’t want to be a pig, but I was starving and Rork’s food smelled delicious.
Boone snorted. “In this house? There’d hardly be a point.”
Remington shot him a glare and then nodded to me. “Nothing’s wrong. Let’s eat.”
I dug in, feeling like the cat who ate the canary. I felt like I was being spoiled on a magical vacation. I grabbed my glass of water and took a big gulp, nearly choking as the carbonation hit the back of my throat. I coughed and sat back as my eyes filled with tears.
“Are you okay?” Wells leaned over and rested his big hand on my shoulder. Tattoos streaked down from his shirt sleeve, covering his skin, and mixed over the tattoos on his hand were several vibrant colors of paint.
I shot a dirty look at the water glass and forced myself to nod. “I’m okay. I was expecting regular water and I just got shocked. Silly me.”
“Here. Take mine.” He handed me his glass and watched as I took it cautiously. “It’s regular water, no bubbles. Promise.”
I took a small sip and then drank down half of his glass. “Sorry. That’s embarrassing.”
“Remy’s the only monster who can drink that shit. We’ll make sure Sophie knows that you’re normal and prefer your water to be water.” Boone winked and lifted his glass to me in mock cheers. “Should we tell her she tried to kill you?”
I gasped and shook my head. “No! No, don’t make her feel bad. She didn’t know.”
Remington rolled his eyes at Boone. “He’s not going to harass Sophie. She’d probably laugh in his face, anyway.”
It felt like I was embarrassing myself constantly in front of them. I’d even managed to get dirty before coming in for lunch, like a toddler. Walking into the room like I wasn’t mortified had been hard, but they hadn’t mentioned the state of my dress or knees, thankfully. I’d at least had time to wash my hands and get the dirt out from under my nails. Everything I said was off, though. I felt like a country bumpkin and I knew they had to notice how out of place I was.
“We have an appointment this afternoon.” Remington finished his glass of devil water and leaned back in his chair. “The fertility clinic and doctor come highly recommended.”
I paused, shocked by how quickly we were going to a doctor. I don’t know why I’d thought there would be more time to adjust. A bolt of fear struck me and I had to put my fork down to hide my shaking hands. “Okay.”
“Are you okay?” Boone’s eyes roamed my face and body, but it felt purely medical. “Take a drink of your water.”
I grabbed the first glass I saw and nearly spit the bubbly water back out. I managed to swallow it, but not without making several awful faces.
“Shit. Get that away from her before she chokes herself to death.” Remington pushed away from the table like he was going to come around to help me.
Holding up both hands, I shook my head and forced out a laugh. It sounded flat, but I did my best to sound unbothered. “I’m okay! I’m sorry. I keep being weird. I’m just surprised by how fast this is happening, I guess. It makes complete sense, though. Of course. It’s a big thing that’s happening. For all of us. Y’all will be daddies after this.”
A pained look crossed Remington’s face and he nodded. “Yes. And we’re all really ready for that. We want it to happen as soon as possible. That way, we can make sure to have all three kids in the five years allotted.”
“Sure! That makes sense.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I think it’s really special that y’all are starting your families now, in an unconventional way. Most people wait for life to happen to them and y’all are taking what you want in your own time. That’s admirable.”
Wells grunted from beside me. “What can we say? We’re just family men.”
Boone snorted, but when I looked at him, he was all smiles. “It’s strange to think of us that way, when there’s no family yet.”
