Page 23 of The Griffin, the Tiger, and Their House Cat Omega

I splashed some water on my face and, cleaned up a bit before backing out and grabbing my boxers, not to put on, but to avoid stepping on.

“You leaving?”

I set the boxers on the dresser. “Absolutely, not.”

Allen tapped the bed. “How about you come back to bed?”

“There’s no place I would rather be.”

We spent the rest of our time together, exploring each other’s bodies, making each other scream cries of pleasure, and completing our marking. It was the perfect.

I was toweling off my hair, when my alarm went off indicating my fifteen minute warning. “I need to leave soon.”

“Good thing we know where you live.” Allen gave my ass a playful smack.

There were so many things I wanted to say, but there wasn’t the time, not now, anyway. So instead I finished getting dressed and drove to pick up Flora at her new school. She had the absolute best day and talked nonstop on the car ride back to our apartment giving me every single detail of it.

I needed to tell her about my day, too, how I had not one, but two mates and we were going to be a family. But that was a conversation for another time. I needed to give her all of my attention when I shared the amazing news, and driving through San Diego was not conducive to that, that was for sure.

Chapter Fifteen

Matthew

How do you tell a little girl who has lost her parents that her uncle who is her guardian is not only bringing one new person into her happy home but two? In the shifter world, matings happened fast; generally as soon as someone encountered their fated, they were a couple or maybe a throuple. So she wouldn’t be shocked, but it was going to affect her life. And that mattered a lot. We needed to know she was okay with us or we might have to back off a bit until she was.

We were hanging around waiting to hear what happened when River told Flora about us, when we got a call from him with an invitation to go with him and Flora for a very special treat. She of course had picked a small local amusement park River had taken her to only a couple of weeks before where she could go on rides and have junk food. And where that sweet little girl who wanted me to be her uncle’s friend insisted that we all ride the rides with her so we wouldn’t feel left out.

The ride operators kept asking if we didn’t want just one of us to ride with her, but every time Flora said, “No. We have to go together.”

We rode the roller-coaster, the Ferris wheel, the carousel, the tiny boats bobbing in their two feet of water, the bumper cars and the mini roller coaster before she began to wind down and we could settle her at a picnic table with a slushie to talk.

“Have some.” Flora held her cup to each of us and would not take no for an answer. River seemed unfazed, making me see a future of lots of soggy straws shared with a very generous little girl. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

She’d gotten all the flavors mixed up, so it generally tasted like sugar and unidentifiable fruit, but we all agreed.

She’d already learned about the three of us from her Uncle Daddy, but as the afternoon passed, Flora didn’t mention it and neither did I or Allen. River had included us in the fun, but really the ball was in her court. River took his responsibilities toward his niece seriously. And if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had much respect for him.

There was one ride we had not gone on yet, and it was a big one. A log flume, and Flora really really wanted to go on it. “You might not be tall enough,” River warned her as we approached. “And that’s okay because if you aren’t we’ll come back again in a few months.”

She clung to his hand with an expression of such determination, if I hadn’t been worried about her safety I’d have offered to stuff napkins in her shoes to give her a little more height. But we marched over to theYou Must Be This Tall to Ridesign with the resolution of a conquering army and stood back while Flora backed up to that sign and stood up as straight as anyone ever could.

The ride operator approached and looked at her then gave a nod. “Looks like you are tall enough, but are you sure you want to? The logs go down very fast and you’ll get splashed.”

“I am tall enough and my uncles are going to keep me safe.”

My heart squeezed at her words. In a day she’d accepted us. I suspected there would be bumps in the road. There almost had to be. But for now, she was being very inclusive and accepting of us.

We stood in line for the log flume, watching as others rode down that water channel screaming, and I had my doubts that she was old enough. But River knew her better than I did, and she did meet the height on the sign.

We got closer and closer and I kept peeking over to see if she looked okay, but although she got quiet, she was still shuffling forward with everyone else. Finally, it was our turn, and Riverbent and whispered in her ear, but Flora only nodded and climbed into the front of the log. River settled behind her, me behind him and bringing up the rear was our griffin. We were all strapped in. The operator took a big stick with a hook on the end and pushed us into the current and off we went.

At first it was really fun with Flora pointing out all the little scenes off to the side, but when we were ratcheted up the final climb, I got nervous, hoping she wouldn’t be scared. She’d watched all the other people ride down the final drop and met the height requirement, but I hated the idea she might be afraid.

The sky was very blue above us, that deep color that happens right before the sunset colors start to fan across the western sky, and I rested my hands on River’s waist, Allen’s wrapped around mine.

“How are you doing, Flora?” I finally asked, wanting to hear her voice.

“Fine!” she called back, and then we reached the top and glided along in the current again for about thirty seconds before the nose of the log was sticking out in thin air. And then we were flying down the flume, going faster and faster, with Flora crying out, “Whee!” We landed with a huge splash, and I heard her say, “Again! We have to go again.”

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