Page 57 of The Buck Stops Hare

Rayne swiveled his head and the fire in his eyes went placid and faded away, his attention focused on his little one.

“Easy with the shoe chucking, Mom. Precious cargo and all that.” I rolled my eyes and met Rayne halfway to pass Vida off to him before glaring at Mom.

“Cliff… Honey, you—” Her eyes widened and drifted down. “Oh, my god! Both of you? Not even married.”

“Hi, Mom. Nice to see you too, Mom. Congrats on being a grandmother, Mom.” I rattled through my sarcasm, having to get it out somehow.

“And now you sound like Rayne. Jesus, Cliff. I expected this out of Rayne, honestly, but you?” She gestured at me, and I closed my eyes, counting to ten. For the most part, I was a calm and collected person, but Mother could rankle my peace by breathing at times.

“Hey!” Rayne sneered and Mother ran her hand through her thick brown curls, pushing them off her forehead with a hiss of a sigh.

“Maybe if someone gave me the talk like a parent should have, I’d not be in this situation?” I shrugged.

“Dude. You had warning.” Rayne gave me a sneer.

“Yeah, but like—not for what we did.” I gestured toward Buck, who managed to turn his polite half smile into something sleazier than Pecker could have managed had he a human form.

“Dammit, asshole. Still! You’re mated and monogamous and have a house and graduated and all that. It counts.” Rayne turned toward Mom and cupped Vida to his chest, making me very thankful the shoe-flinging had stopped. Both of them were barefoot anyway.

I glanced over at Ransom, who peeked over the edge of his desk, a shoe in hand, ready to participate in orthopedic warfare. I gestured for him to stop and relaxed when he sank back down behind the wood where it was safe.

“We done flinging chanclas, Ma? Rayne?” I glared at them both and earned a sneer from Rayne and a sheepish glance from Mother.

“Yeah. For now, anyway.” Rayne huffed and quieted Vida as I paced up and offered Mother a one-armed hug. On a whole, it was as much affection as we swapped on a good day. Small victories, I guessed.

“Now, where the hell have you been? You said you were on your way months ago and nothing! No returned phone calls—” I started, but she cut me off.

“I’ve been busy.” She diverted her gaze sheepishly and it was only then I noticed a taller figure behind her, staying out of it as if he had no place in it either, our father.

He met my gaze with a flat and almost-disappointed stare before looking away. I’d heard enough bigoted locker room talk from him to last me a lifetime. “Nice to see you’ve got something to say.”

He tensed his shoulders, his right arm flexing as if he had the urge to draw back on me, like he did when we were kids.

Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about, pussy.Those words echoed around in my head, and I shook them off. Iwas just grateful Dad spent more time on top of Mom and out of country than he ever did trying to parent.

“So why did you two even show up if you were just going to act like assholes?” I thrusted my hands in my pockets, staring them down.

“Well, we were busy and w—” Mom started and stopped when my dad gave her a warning grunt.

He stepped closer toward her and folded his arms, eyes not meeting either of ours as he stared above our heads, trying to play the good guy. “We never thought Rayne would manifest, and we honestly thought you were full latent. After this came to light, we started asking questions to see if we were in trouble, which we are. My home pack took your siblings in and we’ve been there while they’re being helped. And yes, they’re all demi.”

“Well, Dad. This is my mate, the Buckling Stone. Buck, this is Dad, Hendrick.” I waved a hand at my father who didn’t offer a hand to shake. He pursed his lips in such a way that made his bottom lip poke out churlishly. He’d always been an overgrown manchild, the definition of weaponized incompetence and the stereotype of husbands everywhere. I’d remembered thinking, as a little boy, that I wanted to be a better father. That I’d play with my kids, talk to them, and love them.

Maybe I was meant to have children. I certainly knew better than my own parents, or I thought I did.

I took a deep breath, turned to Buck, and stared him down, sending my thoughts to him.Don’t ever let me turn out like that.

Understood.He smiled at me and I found the strength to face my father as he shoved his hands in his pockets, giving Buck a half nod.

“So, if you didn’t have any plans on making things easier for us, communicating or explaining, why did you even bother showing up?” Rayne glared. “Because I died. Idied, Ma.”

“I got kidnapped, drugged, nearly assaulted, and one hell of an awakening.” I gave Rayne a commiserating nod.

“Yeah, he nearly got thestruggle snuggle, Ma!” Rayne glanced at his feet as if he were looking for another shoe.

“Okay, I get it. I fucked up. I’m here now.” She held up her hands.

“The boars are gone, so we don’t have to hide or anything.” My dad shrugged and hooked his thumbs over the hems of his pockets, rocking on his feet.

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