Page 3 of Riley Goes Home

“Hi, Mum.” Did she hear the note of resignation in his voice? “And yes, we’re bringing her food regularly, and sometimes she even eats it.”

I pulled the bowl towards me, grabbing the spoon, and then swallowing down a mouthful of whatever it was. Damn, that was good stew. I made a happy little noise.

“Riley, you have to eat. This isn’t the same as bearing a beta’s child.” Her tone was one part concern, one part lecture, and it had both Ryan and I sighing. Mine contained more than a little sting, because it brought up our shared past. She’d done her damnedest to try and keep me away from her sons because she thought I wasn’t their fated mate, but more importantly, not capable of bearing them sons. “You’ve got five babies there that need nourishing.”

Ryan sucked in a breath, ready to read his mum the riot act, but I knew what would defuse her.

“Five very healthy babies,” I replied. “I had another scan this week, and the team here is very happy with their development.”

“Scans…” Omegas didn’t tend to need a lot of medical intervention, so there was quite a lot of mistrust of the scientific community. “We didn’t do them in my day.”

“So you don’t want to see the 3D scans then?” Ryan said. I grinned at him, the two of us feeling like co-conspirators. “OK, we won’t send?—”

“No, I want to see them.” Her reply was immediate, but with the tumble of her words came a few more. “Maybe you could show them to us in person?”

Ryan stiffened, his hands clenching into fists, forcing me to reach across and stroke the back of one to try to get him to relax.

“Mum, we talked about this?—”

They loved me, my mates. I hadn’t doubted it for a moment since we were mated, and every day after that, they proved it in different ways. Managing their mother’s intense scrutiny was one of those ways and I loved him for it, but for some reason, I felt differently about Eloise’s plea that we come for a visit. In my mind’s eye, I saw Carmen and Evie, the way the woman was a tireless advocate for her granddaughter, prepared to go toe-to-toe with any specialist, any principal, to make sure Evie was cared for properly.

Could…? The thought began and was quickly discarded, but I couldn’t help but come back to it. Could Eloise do the same for our children? Could John, Malcolm, and the rest of the guys’ fathers step up for the kids, be that same protective, wise, presence? Hormones might have me doing weird things, but right now, they were about to have me doing something really out of character.

“Maybe we could,” I said. Ryan stopped cold and stared at me. “I mean maybe. I need to look at my calendar, but?—”

“Please do.” The naked need in Eloise’s voice was hard to hear because now I processed it not as a meddling adult, but as a fellow mother. “Please. It would be so lovely to see you all.”

They could come to the city. We’d made clear that if they respected our boundaries that they could come and stay at our house, but they rarely did so. The trip, the distance, the city, they were all proposed as insurmountable obstacles and we just accepted that as their reality.

“Mum, Riley needs to check her schedule before she can commit to anything, and so do we,” Ryan told her.

“You’re alphas,” she spluttered. “Surely you just tell them what you’re going to do?”

“The children we work with?” His reply was sharp, decisive. “Their parents?” Her silence spoke volumes. “We always honour our commitments, something each one of you taught us to do.”

“Fine.” That felt like it was dragged forcibly from his mother. “But if you could let me know, I’d really appreciate it. I’ll get everything ready, make the house perfect for your omega.”

“OK, I’ll get back to you, Mum. Love you.”

At that, Ryan ended the call, then leaned across the desk, taking my face in his hands as he pressed the softest, sweetest kiss to my lips.

“What the hell did you sign us up for, Riley?” He asked in a husky voice, his eyes gleaming silver as he pulled back slightly. “Going home?”

“Maybe…” His brows creased as he caught the waver in my voice. “Maybe I’ve been thinking.”

“Always dangerous,” he said, but nodded for me to continue.

“Like it or not, we’re going to be a family soon. Our kids are going to know their grandparents, so maybe…” I let out a shuddering sigh. “I have all the medical advice I could possibly want here, but I don’t have a lot of access to omegas that have been through this before. We see the ones experiencing somesort of fertility issues.” I stroked his cheek, feeling the stubble there. “Not the ones who successfully raised five of the people I love most in the world.”

“You love me?”

This was asked in a teasing voice, his smile stealing a weight from my heart that I didn’t realise rested there.

“More than anything. Ryan?—”

“Shh…” He silenced me with a kiss, because we both knew it didn’t need to be said. What beat between us, that bond, it had survived everything that had happened before and anything that would be thrown at us going forward.

Even a visit to my mother-in-law.

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