Inevitably Yours

MICHAEL

Unlike Junior, little Belle was a breeze. She slept through the night from the first day in the hospital, and it never stopped. Three weeks after she was born, I still couldn’t believe it as I laid her in her bassinet after swaddling and rocking her to sleep. Her adorable squishy little face was entirely at peace, and it was hard to let her stay in the bassinet by herself.

“Come to bed,” Quinn’s said warmly in my head. “I need my mate. She has plenty of Daddy time when she’s awake.”

She was right. I needed to leave the baby and let her sleep. I couldn’t explain why, but even though I’d been terrified of having a girl, something clicked when I first held her. I was protective of Junior, but this was a whole different thing. That was my daughter, and I would slay dragons for her. Eros was on the same wavelength. Literal dragons.

To Quinn’s dismay, Arabelle preferred me to hold her. Junior had been a nice mix, although he preferred mom like most pups. Arabelle consistently wanted Dad. She was quickly wrapping me around her little finger, and I had no intention of stopping her.

Crawling into bed next to Quinn, I pulled her cold body to mine to warm her up.

“You know wolves are supposed to produce more body heat than humans, right?” I laughed. I literally couldn’t understand how she was always so cold. “Has Sapphire ever heard of homeostasis?”

“She says to kindly f**k off,” Quinn told me, giggling at her impudent wolf.

“I’ll tell Eros to get her in line,” I teased, nipping at her ear as she tried to squirm away.

“Like that is gonna happen,” she returned, rolling her eyes.

“There’s no controlling that one. She likes pain,” Eros lamented, although I could hear the note of longing in his voice. He loved his mate as much as I loved Quinn.

“Oh, I know she’s a brat, just like you,” I growled into her ear. I could feel her melting, and I was rising quickly in my shorts. We were in dangerous territory. “Let’s change the subject. You’re not healed yet, and we’re both getting a bit preheated.”

“Fine,” she pouted as if we could have acted on our desires anyway. I wasn’t willing to hurt her, no matter how badly I wanted her.

“What do you think about taking the kids and going-” I started, intending to ask her about going to the park tomorrow, but my phone rang. I picked it up and then looked at Quinn, not expecting who it was, “It’s my mom….”

The ringing continued as I looked at the phone. We rarely talked, and I was tired of being the one who reached out. So, I stopped. Whatever she had gone through, I’d been abused my whole life until I ended it. If she didn’t want to be part of my family anymore for something I didn’t do to us, I didn’t know what to say anymore.

“Answer it!” Quinn hissed. I rolled my eyes; she didn’t understand. Her family could light our house on fire with us inside, and she’d eventually forgive them. Outside of our nuclear family, I didn’t understand that kind of loyalty just because of b***d. Still, I clicked to answer the call before it went to voicemail.

“Uh, hey, Mom,” I answered awkwardly.

–

“Just give her a chance to make things right,” Nic posited, munching on an apple. “I know she’s been absent, but at least she wants to try now.” Quinn had already said as much, and it felt like they were ganging up on me as we all sat down to eat breakfast the next day. I didn’t like that at all.

“I’m thinking about it,” I answered, a little more grumpily than I meant to.

Quinn reached over and rested her hand on my forearm, “It’s your decision; we’re just trying to help. I’ll support whatever you want to do, just like you did for me with my parents.”

“I could go with you?” Nic suggested as she ate her waffle like it had done something wrong to her.

“You sure you want to do that?” I asked. I didn’t need it, but at least Nic could run interference when I didn’t want to talk.

“Of course,” she answered, eyeing the bacon on the table as her next target. “I love Claire, even if she’s not being the greatest mom right now. Maybe this will fix it?”

“Are you okay with that?” I silently asked Quinn. I knew that it bothered her how much my mom loved Nic and dismissed Quinn at the same time. It wasn’t fair to her, but I didn’t have any control over my mom. I would have personally just let it go and not seen her, but I was being pushed.

“Why wouldn’t I want Nic to come?” she asked with a strained smile. I couldn’t tell if it was Nic or my mom, but I didn’t like it.

“Baby, please don’t just tell me something is okay to please me. I want you to be happy,” I insisted.

“She’s coming,” Quinn said with a note of finality. I let it go, even though I didn’t want to.

–

“Can I hold him?” my mom asked, reaching out for Junior, who was in Quinn’s arms. I held back the growl in my throat. I’d grown extremely tired of letting people hold my pups that I didn’t want to. Quinn’s parents were one thing; my mom had been just as absent and seemed like she was coming back for the same reason. Goddess forbid our parents have a relationship with us; they wanted grandkids, and everything else be damned.

Quinn handed over our son, and I watched my mom soften from the awkward cold demeanor she’d had since we got there.

“Goddess, it’s like you cloned yourself,” she cooed, making Junior giggle as she tickled his little tummy as we all sat in the living room. Belle was still in her car seat, Quinn sat stiffly next to me, and Nic sat next to my mom with Diane.

This didn’t feel real. In relation to my whole life, a few years away from each other shouldn’t have felt like that long, but it really did. In those years, I’d grown into a man, and I wasn’t the same person she decided didn’t need her anymore. Tyler came out of his room and rolled his eyes as he sat on the couch across from us.

They lived in a small apartment within the boundary of a tiny pack. She told us she worked at a grocery store, and they’d made her manager of the self-checkout section. Tyler was in high school now, which didn’t seem real. The child I left behind was now a gangly young man who was looking me directly in the eye when we stood. I could tell by their tone when we talked about it that he probably wasn’t doing great, but they didn’t want to talk about it. I wondered if it was his grades, his behavior, or a mix. Apparently, he was refusing to get a driver’s license and wouldn’t say why. He just rolled his eyes when my mom talked about having to drive him everywhere.

Eventually, it came time for my mom to hold Belle. I wasn’t a fan, but I let her. Since I wasn’t talking much, my mom was laughing and joking with Nic as the afternoon seemed to drag on forever. My mom had been cordial with Quinn when we got there, but I couldn’t tell if my mom was paying attention to Nic because she favored her or just out of familiarity. Quinn was shifting in her seat uncomfortably, and I could feel her unease through our bond. It was pissing me off, but I couldn’t discretely link my mother to talk to her about it without saying something in front of Quinn.

“Hey, Mom, you want to take a smoke break?” I asked pointedly, motioning toward the door with my head. She’d held out a surprisingly long time, and given that she knew I hated her smoking, I figured she’d know I wanted to talk to her.

“Yea, hun. You coming with me?” she asked.

“Sure,” I replied, not waiting for her and walking out the door.

“Stay here, please,” I linked Quinn and Nic. “I need to talk to her myself.”

They both agreed in their own way, but Quinn pushed, “Don’t get in a fight or anything for my sake. I can feel you getting annoyed. I’m okay.”

“I’m just going to talk to her,” I answered honestly. If my mom wanted us around, she would have to respect that Quinn was my mate and the mother of the grandchildren she wanted to see.

I heard the door close behind me as a lighter clicked. Before I could say anything, she surprised me, “You’re lucky, Michael.”

“I know. Why do you say that, though?” I asked, confused. I’d brought her out here to lay down boundaries and ask her to respect my family.

“Your mate. I can tell Quinn is a good mom, and the way you look at each other… even with your dad, I never had that. She’s special, and I’m glad you found her,” she said after breathing out a heavy cloud of smoke.

“Then why are you acting like you don’t want to talk to her?” I asked, not understanding.

“Oh, am I?” she asked, looking mortified. “I wasn’t trying to. I was just so happy to see Nic again and all the babies; I didn’t mean to be dismissive of her. I’ll go apologize right now-” she turned toward the door before I stopped her.

“No,” I said. “Finish your cigarette. Just talk to her when we go in, and tell her what you just told me at some point. It would mean the world to her. She’s terrified you hate her, and that’s what I came out here to talk to you about. We’ve all been through a lot, but she doesn’t deserve that.”

Knowing that my mom actually liked Quinn eased the knot in my chest, and it colored the rest of the day differently. I wasn’t so mad at her, and being there visiting her didn’t seem like the worst thing we could do with our day.

“You know, Michael. It was never that I didn’t like her,” she started wistfully. “I was just so wrapped up in my own s**t that I didn’t have any more to give when you met her. I’ve gone to therapy, and I’m working on myself. I want you in my life, even if I’m not in Stary right now. Who knows? I would love to come back one day, but I’m just not ready yet.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way,” I answered honestly. I could never wrap my head around her abandoning me when I felt like I needed her most, but now it made some sense, even if I didn’t agree with the total withdrawal. Still, I couldn’t fault her. We all dealt with what happened to us differently. “I think Quinn and the kids would like having their grandma around.”

“And you?” she asked, her eyebrow raising as she took the last hit of her cigarette, the cherry glowing bright red before she stopped to snuff it out.

“I think I would like that too,” I admitted. She pulled me in for a hug; I could feel her start crying softly into my chest. We stayed like that for a few minutes before she straightened up and wiped her face.

“Let’s go back in,” she sniffled.

As we walked in the door, my mom went to grab Belle again from Quinn’s lap, but I realized where we’d just been and stopped her, “Hey, Mom, mind washing your hands first since you just smoked?”

“Oh, my Goddess, of course! I should have remembered,” she hurried past us into the kitchen, but she gently squeezed Quinn’s shoulder as she walked by. Quinn gave me a quizzical look, and I smiled and winked at her.

“She told me I’m lucky to have you. She didn’t realize how she’d been acting, and she’s going to do better,” I linked her. Quinn’s cheeks turned red, and she smiled.

“I’m glad. Does that mean we’ll be seeing more of her?” she asked.

“I think so, as long as you’re okay with it,” I answered. Even if I was starting to have a change of heart about my mom, Quinn had to be comfortable with it too. It was our family, not mine.

“It’s your mom; of course I’m okay with it-” Quinn replied, then she stiffened oddly. I looked around to see if something was happening with one of the pups, but she was staring at Tyler, who was talking to Nic.

“Yea, I’m just gonna graduate early so that I can be a surgeon. I already got early admitted to Columbia for med school because my test scores are so hi-”

“You’re lying,” Quinn said softly. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, like she was piecing something together in her head.

“No, I’m not!” Tyler said, his voice raising in anger.

“Yes, you are,” she said simply. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to start a fight, but I just realized that’s what the sound I’m hearing is.” She turned to me, her eyes alight with realization, “I read about this in the book you got. The stories about human lie detectors had those blue notes around them. It’s a sound that can be heard when someone is lying essentially. It can get louder as the truth is twisted further and further. This time it was almost deafening.”

Tyler’s face was bright red, and his nostrils flared as he stood, looking like he wanted to scream at her. Before I could sit him down, my mom came in from the other room, “Sit down, Tyler. You’ll be lucky to graduate, let alone go to medical school. Stop lying to people.”

Quinn’s eyes grew larger. We’d just discovered a new power, and this one would be insanely useful. No sooner than we’d found out about this new development, Diane puked in our shared diaper bag.

“s**t,” I said. “We’re going to need diapers before the trip back. Guess we’re going to the store.”

“I’m sorry!” Nic apologized.

“Don’t be silly,” Quinn said, helping her wipe up Diane. “She’s a baby. That’s what they do.”

“Want to go see the store I work at?” my mom asked, standing up and reaching for her keys.

“I don’t see why not,” I replied. I looked around, and now that Diane had thrown up, she was fast asleep. Junior and Arabelle were ahead of her, and for once, we had a rare moment of quiet. Quinn looked around too, and I could see the realization on her face when she noticed we’d have to wake the kids to take them.

“Uh, any objections to me staying here?” she asked. “I don’t want to wake up the kids, and I did bring a book?”

She pulled out a book I’d seen her reading off and on. I knew she’d be happier here reading than at the store with angry sleepy children yelling at us. Nic tried to protest, but Quinn pushed her out the door. I knew she didn’t want Nic there to talk while she read, and I laughed at her ulterior motive.

–

My mom showed us where she usually worked in the store, supervising the self-checkout section. She was up for a promotion to a mid-level manager soon, and she was really hoping she’d get it. The store seemed nice enough, and her coworkers seemed to love her. It felt strange to see her have this whole life I knew nothing about, but I was glad that, at least on the surface, she was happier.

As we walked down the baby aisle, and I started grabbing small packages of the various sizes of diapers we needed, I heard something I wasn’t expecting. I saw Nic stiffen out of the corner of my eye, and the word escaped like she couldn’t hold it in, “Mate.”