Page 254 of Bride of Choice

Chapter 30

Fiddling with the trinket in my purse, I smiled to myself.

I couldn’t say I’d ever been this happy with Rek in my life. With any man in any real, I openly care for you and want to be yours, relationship for that matter.

That smile fell whenever I thought of things, other things and beings besides me and Rek and how well our “dating” was going.

We were officially out as a couple, the equivalent of almost married, if anyone cared to hear it. Engaged Plus, I jokingly called it. Everyone knew we were mates. Nobody was really all that surprised. I avoided words like ‘mate’ or ‘husband’ because I knew it irritated and incited issues with a certain male who insists Rek will hurt me.

Everything was so upside down with the rest of my rag-tag crew I felt dropped on my head. I wasn’t sure it ever would be okay between the rest of us at this rate.

Odix hated Rek’s guts and felt like I chose Rek over him. Our last argument had led to us avoiding each other completely.

Gopher was in retreat mode. I wanted to ask him just what exactly he was doing rushing home yet felt like it was really none of my business, not at this point.

Celuk was a background player, popping up to play a part with minimal interaction. He was quietly stealth-stalking me, I felt.

On the one hand I was mad at kookypants, the other, I missed him terribly, and yet I was not about to rock the boat with Rek anymore than everybody else already was. Rek was getting hell from others. I knew he was. I wasn’t sure who this “they” was but he’d get his feathers properly ruffled while out, come home, kiss me, announce he needed to be mad, then he’d slink off for a self soothing sulk.

I missed all of my guys just horribly and felt as grumpy as Rek on a bad day whenever I thought of any of them anymore. The whole thing was a clusterfuck. It all felt so fucking broken.

Rek was in a particularly grumpy mood this afternoon. He kept muttering something about kooky assholes, making me wonder what on earth he’d done that could have set Celuk off, to announce he was mad and going to be mad, kissed my lips off, then left.

Maybe this would cheer him up, I thought, fingering the trinket hidden in my purse. I’d held it all this time, hidden in the lining of my purse. Now was the time.

Sitting on a blanket in the grass, the weather much milder today than the last few weeks, it was lovely.

Mina and the rest of the ladies were all gathered and prepping our freshly picked veggies together. It was one of Daisy’s better ideas. Kids ran around us, screaming, crying, laughing, playing chase and throwing mud at each other until an adult stepped in, getting all that energy out in general chaotic merriment.

Mal, Rosa, and I sat together on a shared blanket, Rosa’s brood running dizzying circles around us, Kehko leading the chase.

Mal looked about to pop. Any day now, she’d been saying for a while now.

Baby fever was in full swing. It was like the second Rek had stopped pestering me to let him put a baby in me, as he so eloquently put it, that itch had slowly started to build. It was at a fever pitch at this point.

I had to wonder if this was a weird coping mechanism, a way to take control over my out of control life somehow or something, which made no fucking sense. Kids were chaos. Good chaos and everything in between.

“Where’s Red?” Mina asked, glancing around as she started in on her second basket of greens.

“Warrior training,” Daisy chirped. “She goes with Hozar.” With a giggle, she confided, “It’s like date night for them.”

“Foreplay,” Mal whispered under her breath, well aware there were small ears around us.

Spying a familiar figure coming towards us, I fully expected her to address her daughters-inlaw as she approached. Coming to a stop to stand right before me, she motioned to a spot right beside me. “May I join you?”

“Of course!” Mina chimed in, then Rosa with a, “You know you’re always welcome!”

Dorothy waited until I smiled and nodded to have a seat.

“So glad you could make it!” Daisy enthused, then had to pop up not two seconds later to chase after two of her eldest as they smacked at each other with sticks and chased each other around. “No! No-no! What did Papa and Mama say about hitting!” she caterwauled after them.

Smothering my laughter, I stared after them.

“A handful and then some.” Dorothy chuckled.

“She’s got her work cut out for her,” I agreed.

Kehko started squealing and pointing at something on the ground, holding her brothers back from it. Rosa popped up to go see what all the fuss was about.

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