Page 47 of Warwick

I chuckled. “It happens. How are you feeling otherwise?”

Cecil flushed and went to the sink. “Good. Although I’m feeling a little bloated, I don’t think I feel any different.”

“No upset stomach or anything of that sort?”

Cecil dried his hands. “No. I seriously feel fine. Like I did before we claimed each other.” Cecil shook his head. “Well, aside from the fact that I can communicate with you through our bond. But what I meant was I don’t feel as if I’m going to throw up or anything. Actually, I’m really hungry. Are you up for breakfast?”

I chuckled. I was always up to eat, and eventually, Cecil would realize that. “Yes. What would you like? Bacon? Sausage? Eggs? Steak?”

“Whatever. I’m actually really hungry this morning but not craving any one particular thing.”

I could take care of that for him. We switched places, and I took care of morning needs before washing my hands. When I was finished, I found Cecil in the bedroom, pulling on jeans. He was already wearing a long-sleeve shirt.

“What would you like to do today?” I asked. Since Cecil was already dressed, I used magic to dress myself. Cecil’s shoulders slumped, and he sighed.

“That has to be nice. To just be able to think about something, and boom, it’s done.”

I chuckled. “Yes, it is. But I can do it without the magic as well. I spent a long time without the use of my magic.”

Cecil looked sad. “I won’t say I’m upset that you’re here, because I’m not. I wouldn’t have you in my life if you hadn’t been banished here. But I think it’s sad that he mistreated all of you so much. I can’t imagine what all you’ve gone through. Both before you were banished and after.”

I walked over to Cecil and pulled him into my arms. “I’m thankful I have you in my life. You’ve certainly changed it for the better. And any hardships I had to go through before you were brought to me were worth it.”

Cecil leaned his forehead onto my chest. “You can’t be all sweet like that. It makes me emotional.”

I chuckled at that. When Cecil looked back up at me, I cupped his face and leaned down to give him a gentle kiss. “I say things like that because I mean them. You have very quickly become my entire reason for being here. I can’t say that I for sure know what love is, but if what I feel for you isn’t love, then I’m at a loss.”

Cecil started blinking, took a step back and out of my embrace, and then started fanning his face. I was confused until he looked up at me with tears in his eyes. “I love you too.” I smiled down at my mate and pulled him back to me.

“Good. I hope to never screw things up. I’m sure I will at some point, and I’ll beg forgiveness. Please don’t hold my mistakes against me.”

Cecil hugged me tighter. “Never.”

We stood there for a minute or two, just holding one another. But Cecil’s stomach growling had me pulling away enough to look down at him. “We should get you fed.”

“Probably. Sorry. I was really enjoying you holding me.”

“That’s all right. We have the rest of our long lives to hold one another.” I planned on holding Cecil as often as I could. “But right now, you and the babies need to eat.” I took Cecil’s hand, and after we left the bedroom, I held his hand while we went down the stairs. Yes, he was quite capable, but that didn’t stop me from being overly protective of him.

I was protective to begin with. Add in my mate and the fact that he was pregnant, and the protective instincts multiplied significantly. I would do anything to keep Cecil and the twins safe. I led Cecil to the kitchen and over to the small table that we’d put in the eat-in area and pulled out a chair for him. He grinned up at me before sitting down.

“Breakfast is served,” I told him as I bent down. I kissed his forehead, and when I stood back up, the table was filled with all of Cecil’s favorites. My favorite was simply food. I ate any and everything, and as far as I was concerned, if Cecil was happy, so was I.

We ate in silence until the food was half-gone. By then, Cecil seemed to slow down and was ready to talk. It also didn’t hurt that he’d had a cup of coffee and was working on his second. My mate was definitely a coffee drinker.

“What would you like to do today?” Cecil asked.

“Well, I thought we would see if you could still shift. And if so, maybe go for a run and see your grandpa. You haven’t seen him since just before we claimed each other, and I know you miss him most. Would you like to go see him? If not, we could just go out for a bit and then come back home. We only have just this weekend before we are both going back to work on Monday.”

I knew everyone did it, but I felt it would help because Cecil wasn’t going to be far. He was a short walk out of the council building and into the omega clinic behind it. But we also had our bond, which I knew would help keep my beast calm when our mate was out of our sight.

Cecil set his coffee cup down and smiled. “I wouldn’t mind going for the walk. If you want to go see Grandpa Lev, we can. But I’m sure we’ll see him and Grandfather soon enough.” Cecil’s smile left his face. “There is to be a family meeting soon. I’m not sure if I’m ready to go, but I probably should. My siblings and I haven’t ever had a good relationship though.”

I was aware of that. It hurt me that his family had been so terrible to him for so long. But I had to wonder, were his parents just as horrible to his siblings? Cecil’s next oldest sibling was only three decades older. Yet they were all gone, and from what I saw in Cecil’s memories, they didn’t come back to visit often. In fact, they moved away.

“It was just a thought,” I told him. “We can simply work on the house and find more things to decorate the place with.”

Cecil grinned. “I think it’s good. It doesn’t need to be cluttered.”

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