Page 103 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

“My mother, Joanna, and my father, Ed…” Echo turned to his parents. “And this is Maelstrom. My mate and the father of your soon-to-be grandchildren.”

The only sound in the room for several seconds was Tilly lapping up water from her bowl.

“Well, since my focus was pulled away, I’ve burnt our breakfast,” Echo’s mother announced, glaring at Mael instead of speaking to him. Her gaze flipped to Echo. “I guess your father and I will have to go out to eat. We can bring you something back.” He walked closer to the table and paused beside her mate. “Come on, Eddie.”

“Have a nice breakfast. It was nice meeting you,” Mael said in their direction as they walked out.

Echo’s father was the only one to pause and glance his way. “It was… nice…” He cleared his throat again, his gaze whipping to Echo before he shook his head and left them alone.

“Well, now I know how you felt when you met my mother. At least you only hadoneparent staring daggers at you, though.”

“They haven’t had much time to digest our news,” Echo said. “I hid my pregnancy from them because I wanted to tell you first. But then my mother walked into my bedroom without knocking a few days ago and I was only in boxers.”

“You don’t walk in to someone’s bedroom withoutknocking,”Mael groused, frowning. “What if your dick was hanging out?”

“Mine doesn’t hang out,” Echo reminded him.

“Oh, yeah… well, still. You knock.”

“Yes, you do, but my mother has always had boundary issues.”

“I didn’t realize they lived here,” Mael said, hoping he was wrong. He hadn’t gotten the sense anyone else lived there with Echo except Tilly.

“They don’t,” Echo murmured, and Mael was immediately thankful. “They came home six weeks early from their extended vacation. They’d rented their house while they were gone and had nowhere to live, so they’ve set up camp here.” He sighed. “Their renter is moving out this weekend, so I should hopefully soon be free. I love my parents, but five weeks is four and a half too many.” He shrugged. “More so for my mother than my father, but at this point we’re all getting on one another’s nerves. I’m ready for peace and quiet.”

Mael chuckled. He eyed Echo’s belly again, unable to stop himself from caressing it. He lifted his gaze and smiled.

“I sense sadness in you,” Echo said, scrubbing his palm along Mael’s overgrown beard.

“I’mveryhappy,” Mael murmured. “It’s just…” He sighed, caressing his omega’s belly, and held back a tidal wave of emotion. “I’d told myself for nearly two decades that I didn’t deserve a family of my own. How could I have one when my brother couldn’t? I’d taken his future from him. His chance to have children. His legacy.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “It was almost a comfort thinking that we might not be able to have children. It was the punishment I thought I deserved.”

“I think you’ve punished yourself enough,” Echo said.

He closed his eyes a moment. When he reopened them, all he saw was love in Echo’s eyes.

“I dreamt of Gale when we were on the return leg. He told me the very same thing. That it was time to let go and live my life.” He chuckled wryly. “Of course, it wasn’t Gale. It was my own subconscious, but… having that dream and now coming home to this?” He pressed another kiss to Echo’s stomach. “I can’t be fully present with you and our children if I can’t let go of the past.”

“You need to forgive yourself,” Echo said.

“I’ll work on that,” Mael whispered.

Echo smiled softly before hugging him tight. “Did you get Kaiden home safe?”

“We did,” Mael replied. “But sadly not his dad.”

“Oh no,”Echo murmured. “What happened?”

“Great white attack,” Mael said. “It was over a dozen of them. They came out of nowhere. They got Roy before we’d even registered what was happening.”

“Are your brothers okay?”

“Yeah,” Mael said. “One got a little piece out of Havoc’s dorsal, but he’s healed up now.”

“How’d you all get away froma dozengreat whites?”

“We split up. Two or three chased after each of us. Then it was just a matter of flip one, gut, repeat.”

Echo shook his head, eyes wide. “Did you take Kaiden back to Alaska?”

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