Page 42 of A Very Oceanport Christmas
I cocked my head at him. What was he talking about?
Rhys's eyes searched the room. We weren't the only people who'd taken refuge here. Little John was studying the boxes of presents underneath the Christmas tree while my cousin Clara watched and Caleb and Gavin stood off in a corner by the window, talking quietly amongst themselves. Rogue sat next to the door to the hallway, sulking because she'd been banned from the kitchen. Rhys's gaze fixed on Caleb, a small smile on his lips. "Not all of the children I've raised are biologically mine," he said. "And not all of them are biologically my alpha's."
"Oh." I'd known that, but the patchwork nature of my uncle's family wasn't something I usually gave any thought to.
"I was pregnant when I came back to Oceanport and started working for Ethan," Rhys said, Ethan being the name of his husband. "After we got together he... well, he basically claimed the child as his own, and he's never treated Henry any different from his other children." Rhys paused. "In the beginning, I really couldn't believe alphas like him existed, but they do."
"I always thought alphas would be disgusted by the idea of raising another guy's baby." Even knowing Rhys, I'd thought this. It was just... common knowledge, wasn't it?
Rhys shook his head. "If an alpha claims a child as his own, you'd better believe he'll raise it as his own. If he's a good man, anyway. Or woman, for that matter."
"David's a good man."
Rhys laid an arm around my shoulder and squeezed. "I'm sure he is."
"That's not the problem, though," I elaborated, gesturing with my hands. "I don't want to be a burden on him."
"Love is not a burden."
Huh. That sounded very deep, but I wasn't sure what exactly to take away from it. Sullenly, I took a sip from my hot cocoa, letting it warm me from the inside. I wasn't five years old anymore, but there was still something magic about sitting in front of a Christmas tree and drinking hot cocoa. Even if that Christmas tree was decorated with dogs in heat.
Aiden poked his head into the living room. "Sam?"
"Yeah?" I turned to him.
He yanked his head toward the hall as if he wanted me to go with him. I rose and followed him out into the yard. The wind whipped around my ears, biting and cold and still carrying no trace of snow. "What are we doing out here?" I asked, studying my cousin in the glow of the yard’s lights.
Aiden shrugged. "Just wanted to get away from the noise for a bit. I've only been home for a couple of days, but damn, the twins can be a terror," he said, referring to his niece and nephew. "Be glad you're not carrying twins." He laughed as if it was a joke. I didn't feel like laughing. Instead, I sighed.
"I haven't really heard the twins."
"This morning they somehow managed to tear into one of the Christmas presents and there were crayons in there and now the walls on the second floor are covered in 'art.'" He made air quotes with his fingers. "I love those little terrors, but they can be a handful. I don't think my brother and his mate have had a quiet moment since they were born."
I nodded, even though I wasn't sure why he was telling me this. "You didn't really drag me out here to talk about the twins, did you?"
"No, not really," he admitted. "I just want to know what's going on with you, man. I get that you're busy with your boyfriend and all, but we haven't gotten together since I got back to town. And the baby shower doesn't count."
"I'm sorry." I held my hands up, feeling kind of shitty because this hadn't even occurred to me. But we'd already established that I was a terrible friend. Apparently I was also a bad cousin. "David and I kind of got into a fight." I wrapped my arms around myself, both because I was uncomfortable and because it was cold. "Look, can we just go back inside?"
"We can, but you'll have everyone's attention on you again. I wasn't sure if you'd told them yet."
"Told them what?"
Aiden glanced at the house, then back at me, more specifically, at my belly.
"What?" I asked. "About the party? My parents know." After I'd told my dad, he'd told my paps--who'd made a point out of sitting me down to have a long conversation about how he would love me no matter what my grades were and how I should never feel the need to get wasted over silly things like that and how I would always have his and dad's support. It had all been awkward as hell because I didn't know how to respond to shit like that, but in the end we'd hugged and there might have been some tears on my end which I fully blamed on pregnancy hormones. We were good. I could tell that Paps was angry, though. He and Dad both were, but Paps especially. Not at me, but at whoever had knocked me up. My paps wasn't a typical alpha and I'd never seen him lose his shit, but I got the feeling that if he ever came across the man who'd done this to me, heads would go flying.
Somehow that made me feel better. Knowing that no one blamedme,even if I did sometimes.
"I'm glad you told them," Aiden said. "Did you tell David too?"
"I did."
"How did he take it?"
I shrugged. "He wants to raise the kid with me."
"Damn." Aiden exhaled. "That's serious."
