Page 132 of Red River

"The ceremony has already started," Archer reminded me gently.

We’d been sitting here for fifteen minutes, and I still couldn’t bring myself to step out of the car.

"Twenty years," I repeated. "That’s the last time I stepped into that house. No, wait—twenty-one years ago."

My kids stayed silent. Archer had already told them to give me space—not to push me, not to judge whatever happened next. They had all promised—no pressure. This was going to be on my terms, at my pace.

Archer watched me carefully.

"Listen, I have an idea," he said softly. "There’s such a big crowd over there that no one will even notice if we come in from the back. We can keep our distance and just… watch for a while. You said your uncle Timothy is officiating, right? Maybe we’ll be able to see something from afar."

I reached out and squeezed his hand, still resting on the steering wheel. "Thank you for understanding. That’s a good idea. I’ll ease into this whole wedding thing slowly."

"Yeah, I doubt anyone will be looking behind them. All eyes will be on Rain and his groom."

"I was checking his Instagram earlier," Riley chimed in, holding up his phone. "Dude is stunning. He was an actual runway model! Tall, gorgeous—seriously."

I took the phone and looked at the screen.

"Wow. Damn. And here I was hoping to be the most beautiful omega at this wedding. Guess not—Kay’s taking thattitle!" I chuckled and winked so they knew I was awkwardly joking.

But Archer, ever serious, said, "To me, you’ll always be the most beautiful omega."

"Oh, come on, look at him. Where do I even compare? He was a top model with huge brand deals."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Besides, he’s not a redhead!"

I chuckled, then let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, fine. Let’s try sneaking in… discreetly."

"If sneaking in discreetly is even possible when you’re a group of seven, then sure—let’s give it a shot." Archer’s eyes sparkled with amusement, and Igor chuckled under his breath.

"Can I tell Granddad that he has the same name as me?" Lake asked suddenly.

"He’ll figure it out the moment we’re introduced, dummy," Van muttered. "No need to announce it—"

"Shush!" Lake shot him a scolding glance. Lately, ‘shush’ had become his favorite word.

"Honey, I’m sure he’ll be delighted. You two actually look a lot alike. He has golden hair too, but yours has a reddish shine in the sunlight. His is more of a platinum hue—like white gold."

"What about Grandfa Aiden? Do I look like him?" Aiden asked eagerly.

During those last few months, Aiden resisted the idea of meeting my parents the most, but eventually even he gave in and started looking forward to it.

"Well, you’ve got his chestnut hair, but your eyes are more steel blue. His are gray—almost silver."

Riley, who had been glancing around, turned to me. "Okay, so… are we getting out? Your parents’ place is huge. This is a big-ass mansion."

"Don’t curse. And yeah, my dad got a big settlement from some… bad people who won a massive lottery. But my father wasn’t exactly poor before that either—he was in a famous boy band and had high royalties for years from their songs, plus earnings from concert tours."

A bit of awkward silence. I had never really talked about my parents’ past in detail. But over the last few months, I had been slipping in general info here and there—carefully, gradually—so they could warm up to the idea of the upcoming reunion.

Archer smiled at me. "You ready?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course," I muttered, biting my lip. I grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. Warm air rushed into the car. It was June—humid, sticky. These suits were definitely not made for this kind of heat. And being pregnant? I felt like even the wind was heavy.

I caught my reflection in the mirror one last time. Would Dad even recognize me? I looked twenty-two. My entire body renewed, vibrating with youthful energy.

"Skye told me that a lot of your brothers are expecting kids," Archer said, stepping out of the car and walking around to my side. "Skye’s actually bringing his newborn, little Silver, to the wedding. Also, a lot of True Mate couples in your family now…"

---