Page 128 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“I don’t think that will fly,” I laughed, grateful to see my sister had another person in her corner.

We arrived at the door, and Violet let us in when we knocked. Adam ran into my arms when he saw me, making me melt.

“Mom! Violet said I could go pet her rabbit after work!” I froze, my heart thudding so hard in my chest with love at Adam calling me Mom.

He didn’t appear to realize he did that, though, as he grabbed Cade a second later, and dragged him over to where Nate and another little boy were building some sort of structure with Lego. Cade sat down cross-legged as Adam began to explain what they were building.

I shook my head when John went and joined another set of kids playing with dinosaurs, while we began to plate our food.

“I’m not sure how much of a sacrifice it is for them to spend their lunchtime playing with Lego and dinosaurs,” Violet giggled.

“I think they’re the same maturity age,” I agreed.

I helped Violet dish out the kid’s snacks and lunch, then we all sat down to eat. The topics were light, considering our audience, but when we started talking about movies we’d seen, I noticed Violet got quiet, and looked down at her food.

Once lunch was over, Cade and John started cleaning up while Violet took the kids out to the small fenced area. I went to stand beside her as we watched the kids running around.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“You got a little sad in there.”

“It’s nothing,” she answered, not looking at me.

“Vi...”

“The movie you were talking about was one Chris and I talked about watching together. That’s all, Bells. I swear, I’m fine. I’m dealing with it.”

I put my arm over her shoulder and kissed her temple, making her sigh and lean her head on my shoulder.

“Everything is going to work out,” I assured her, though right now, I felt like I was saying it more for my benefit than hers.

Adam spent the evening with Violet in her room, feeding the rabbit and playing with it. I had to promise to bring him back every day for the rest of the week to avoid a temper tantrum. He was loving the little thing, hopping behind it as it roamed Violet’s room. He fed it, cuddled it, helped Violet clean the cage and asked if he could have one. I had to put my foot down on that and explain that the rabbit belonged in the forest. I told him Violet was only making sure it was healthy before she let it go, and he finally relented.

It was during bath time with Adam that I decided it was time to address what had been on my mind all afternoon.

“Adam, do you want to live with me?” I asked him while he played with the little floating boat and shark.

"You’re very hot. I can’t sleep in your bed. I get all icky,” he answered.

I snorted. During the first weeks, Adam kept having nightmares, and I ended up sleeping in his bed after he woke up to make him feel better. Clearly, he didn’t enjoy it as much as I did.

“I didn’t mean sleep in my bed,” I clarified, thinking there wasn’t much room in it right now, anyway.

Cade had been sleeping there every night. He only went to his room for clothes. Thank the goddess I made sure no one was allowed in the alpha floor because of Violet, or everyone would figure out what was happening between us.

“I meant, do you want me to be your mommy? I could adopt you so you never have to leave.”

The happy look he gave me will forever be engraved in my memory. It was one of pure love and shock. Adam stood and hugged me, and I didn’t even care that I was now covered in suds and water.

With a kiss on my cheek, Adam whispered, “I don’t ever want to leave.”

“Then you won’t, okay? You’ll stay with me no matter where I go. I’ll be your mommy for as long as you want me to,” I promised him.

Adam gave me another big hug and continued to play with his toys. I put him to bed, happy that I had walked in here as Bells, and walked out as Mom.

Thanks to werewolves having their own laws and societal rules, I could adopt Adam without going through the entire costly process humans did. Wolves only needed to get permission from the kid’s pack alpha to adopt. As I was Luna, only needed to let the council know of my decision to keep Adam, and fill out some paperwork for the adoption to be recognized by the US government. It was sent to a special division within the government that took care of supernatural matters.

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