Page 81 of Talk About… Trouble

“Oh, my boy!” she said. I could hear the sound of her clapping her hands in the background. “I told you you’d find a good one. Two Omegas? You lucky brat!”

“I am,” he said, giving us a soft smile. “All the kids are actually here at the pack house tonight.”

His voice held enough of an edge that she was quiet for a few beats.

“What did they do, Braxton? You know I don’t want you to sugarcoat that shit for me.”

He let out a sigh before dumping every bit of his frustration on her. When he finished talking, he was practically in tears. Devon and I moved automatically, but so did Nash and Shepherd, closing in on him and providing silent support as he finished a hard conversation.

“Now, don’t you get worked up, honey. You know Nona’s going to fix this,” the woman said gently. I could hear the love in her voice, and it was confusing how she could produce a child like Braxton’s parents. I wasn’t sure which one belonged to her, but I had a feeling this woman was about to make their life hell.

“You know what? I thought retirement was getting pretty boring anyway. You tell my babies to give me two weeks to settle my affairs, sell my condo, and I will be there. And honestly, I’d appreciate it if you said nothing to your parents. I may just have those kids sneak me in so I can blindside them while they’re in full asshole mode.” She cackled a little at the thought.

“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to pass this burden on—” he started but she cut him off.

“Oh, you stop that. You have a new pack, two omegas who need you, and you are just starting out your adult life. You cannot take on six kids, do you hear me, Braxton Lancaster? That isnotyour responsibility.”

“It’s not yours, either,” he countered.

“Yeah, well, I’m the better fit for this job. Let me whip those assholes into shape. And I have half a mind to just kick them out and cut the funds. I know they’ll have that other trust fund, but our family puts clauses in ours, and they’ve more than lost that. We all know they won’t fight me for custody, either.”

“We’ll keep them happy this weekend,” Braxton promised. “They’ve already livened up a ton. You let me know if there’s anything I can do from here.”

“I will, honey. You leave it to me,” she said, singing a quick goodbye before hanging up.

The amount of tension that drained out of Braxton’s body had him nearly collapsing, but we were all there to help him to a seat.

Shepherd lit a fire in the fire pit as we all huddled on the back porch. We wanted to be a little quieter, thanks to the kids sleeping inside.

“I should have called her years ago.”

“No point looking in the past now,” Devon said gently. Braxton didn’t even look up from the flames forming in the fire pit as he thought it over.

“Thanks, guys. You really stepped up today,” he said. “I never expected to be able to trust anyone with them, and here you guys were, taking charge, splitting them up, solving fights, feeding them, housing them. I just… I’m blown away.”

“You know you’ve seen some shit when you start thanking people for basic things,” Shepherd said, shaking his head. “We’ve already said we’re a pack. This is just us being a pack.”

“At least I know that you guys are going to be great parents,” I teased, rubbing my stomach that had more pizza than baby at the moment.

“Speaking of making babies,” Devon hedged, “I think my heat’s coming sooner rather than later. I don’t know if it’s packing up or what, but I want to make it very clear that I wouldvery much like that bonding to happen during my heat, if you didn’t get it already by our countless conversations.”

I chuckled, but I couldn’t disagree.

“These pack bonds are long overdue.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Nash said, teasing us.

Devon tore his slipper off, tossing it at Nash’s head.

“You’re such a smart-ass.”

“And you love it,” Nash countered as he caught it.

“I do,” Devon said with a huff. “I think we’ve got at least another week.”

“Is there anything else we need to get for the nest before then?” Braxton asked.

“Honestly, it’s perfect,” Devon said, looking at me for approval.

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