Page 57 of Mating of Convenience
“I heard that you moved into a new place, my darling. Will you let your old grandma inside? I’m tired.”
“Of course.” I stepped aside and called my dog to me to let her through, even though she didn’t lookone bittired. How had she managed that? And how had she come up the stairs leading up the porch? “Grandma, how did you--“
“I brought gifts!” she announced, speaking right over me as she rolled into the house, never stopping until she made it into the living room where Raph and I had been watching a movie until she rang our door.
“Oh, hello Mrs. Rosewood.” Raph stood from the couch to greet my grandmother.
“Drop the formality,” she waved him off. “Call me Grandma. You’re part of the family now, aren’t you? Our Nathan has finally put a ring on your finger. I’m so happy I could die! But I won’t.” Her eyes danced with amusement. “You won’t be rid of me so easily. No worries.”
“We don’t want to get rid of you, Grandma,” Raph said, adopting the new name for her easily. He’d never gotten along with the woman who’d bought us this house, but I knew he’d always had a soft spot for my great-grandmother--and I knew that it was returned too. When Raph left town, my grandma had had no other topic for weeks. How could I let him go? Why was I not dragging him back? Didn’t I know that I needed to hold on to my omega by all means necessary? Fight for the love of my life?
It had gotten so bad I stopped visiting her for a few months until she calmed down. It wasn’t like I didn’twantRaph back, but she didn’t seem to understand that it had been his choice to go and there was nothing I could do about it.
I knew she was finally over it when she started telling me about all the omegas she could see on her daily strolls to the park. “A young alpha like you shouldn’t be single,” she’d say and launch into descriptions of potential partners she thought would be perfect for me--which was basically anyone my age and single or in a relationship with someone who, in my grandma’s opinion, didn’t deserve them. “Everything goes as long as you don’t see a ring,” was another of her philosophies.
And now Raphael was wearing my ring and my grandma couldn’t be happier.
“Could I offer you something to drink?” I asked, still standing rather awkwardly in the door to the living room.
“Yes, but not any of that coffee you make. It’s horrible and if you keep drinking it you might die of a heart attack before I will!”
“I’ll be fine, Grandma,” I told her for what felt like the hundredth time. “If living with coffee means dying a little earlier that’s still better than not living at all.” Everyone knew that a coffeeless existence could not be considered being alive by any means.
“Would you like some tea instead?” Raph asked. “Or water?”
“Black tea would be lovely, with just a little bit of cream.”
“Sure thing.” Raph vanished into the kitchen, touching my shoulder as he went. It was only because of him that we had cream in the house at all. I didn’t take it, but Raph claimed he needed tons of it to make the coffee I drank palatable.
“What kind of gifts did you bring, Grandma?” I asked, rolling her wheelchair closer to the couch and our coffee table. There was a canvas bag hanging from one of the handles of her chair and I was anxious to know what was inside. Michel was sniffing at it too. I tried to get him to stop, but I couldn’t really blame him for his curiosity.
My great-grandma always brought the weirdest gifts. Back when I was a kid, it had mostly been hand-made scarfs and woolen hats and whatever. It was around the time I became an adult that her gifts turned more… unusual.
On my eighteenth’s birthday she gave me hand-knitted underwear in three different sizes because she wasn’t sure ‘how much I had to cram in there’. Her words, not mine. And it had only gotten weirder from there on out. My dad told me everyone got that treatment from her, though, and that I should just humor her, so I never made a big deal out of the fact that my grandma had once asked me if she could measure my junk.
Still, I watched with apprehension as she rifled through the bag she’d brought. “They’re housewarming gifts to keep you warm,” she explained. “We don’t want any of your important bits exposed to the cold, do we?”
“No, I guess we don’t.” I glanced in the direction of the kitchen, not sure if I wanted Raph to come back soon or to stay away altogether so he wouldn’t have to hear exactly how weird my grandma was. He’d heard the stories from me, of course, but I’d always received my gifts in private before.
As it turned out, I really shouldn’t have worried about my husband. At least, I shouldn’t have worried about my grandma possibly offending him. Ishouldhave worried about my grandma and him teaming up against me.
Raphael seemed to think my grandma was hilarious. Once he’d brought her tea, she gave him a smile and a bundle wrapped in shiny foil that I wassurecontained some piece of clothing.
“For me?” Raph asked, unwrapping it with a grin that only grew wider as he looked at his gift. “Oh, this is awesome. I only ever heard about your skills but Nathan wouldn’t evenshowme what you made for him.”
Grandma shook her head, a disapproving huff escaping her lips. “I spend so much time on those gifts I make you, Nathan, you could show a little more appreciation.”
“Yeah, Nathan, be nice to Grandma,” Raph agreed, pulling his gift out of its wrapping and eyeing it intently. It turned out to be a very, very wide set of woolen boxers made from red yarn. “This looks warm,” Raph said, but doubt shone in his eyes no matter how much he played up his amazement. “I think it might be a bit too big for me.”
“Oh, it’s not just for you, silly.” Grandma laughed. “It’ll keep the both of you warm this winter.”
Raph glanced at me, then back at Grandma. “Both of us?”
“Yes.” Her eyes positively sparkled. “In your marital bed.”
Raph turned the underwear over in his hands. “Oh, I see now! We’re supposed to wear this at the same time! Isn’t that amazing, Nate? Look at the thoughtful gift your grandma has made us! Now we won’t ever need to lose all our clothes!”
I gaped at my omega. He was seriously loving Grandma’s latest invention. And not only him. Even my dog had curled up by the side of Grandma’s wheelchair, joining the other team. “There’s no way that thing is going to fit both of us,” I pointed out, trying to focus back on the conversation.
