Page 46 of Mated in the Stars

“If our sister is on time, little dude,” Sequin laughed.

“And if she remembered the booster seat,” Fred added. “If she didn’t, they’ll ride and you and I will fly over.”

“Want to ride,” Minter shook his head. “Want to ride in car.”

“We’ll see, baby,” I said, flashing him a knowing grin. The world was so big and new to him that he wanted to see it all. There would be plenty of safer times for him to do that.

Daliah was on time and taller than I thought she’d be. I knew she was an alpha but often forgot that because she and Sequin always reminded me of the other. She and Rosemary arrived in a pink-lemonade colored mini-bus and Sequin rolled his eyes as he hugged his sister and avoided hugging Rosemary. I gave the woman in the pink sun dress a hug instead. When everything was said and done, she might feel like none of us liked her but that wasn’t true. If the house had technically belonged to Daliah, I’d have told Sequin to move over and find a way to deal with it.

Minter squirmed right into Daliah’s arms after she hugged Fred. Her little brother kissed her all over her face and ran a hand over her dyed black hair. He pet her long locks all the way to the car as she rambled on about her kids who were with Rosemary’s parents at the moment. Two babies the first time was always a lot, but they seemed to be making it work.

“We weren’t sure how much Minter weighed. So, we bought three boosters just in case,” Rosemary said. “I think Amarnath will fit in one of the ones we use for our egg brats.”

“That’s not your word,” Sequin rolled his eyes again.

“It’s mine and she can use it,” Fred said.

Rosemary smiled, even though it was forced, as she opened the door and showed me where they fixed up the car seat for Amaranth. It was the perfect size for our little one. Minter wasn’t thrilled about being strapped into the booster seat, but Fred managed to wrangle his flailing arms and legs enough to get him buckled in. He calmed down once he realized everyone had to wear a seatbelt and we weren’t just tying him up because we were mean like F pigs.

Neither Sequin nor Daliah spoke for the duration of the drive. Sometimes people grew apart, but I hated that they were fighting over something they shared for a long time. Things change but change didn’t always have to tear apart relationships. Fred shotme a sidelong glance and I let it go for the moment. Couldn’t we all just have a nice visit before Nelum dived into his past life?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Fred

Daliah and Sequin would find some middle ground again eventually. The closer the siblings the bigger their fights were had been my experience. Daliah was smitten with Rosemary and ignoring Sequin’s boundaries and he was doing his best not to pick a fight with the girls. The knockout, drag out argument would happen later when I sat down with them both and showed them exactly how I’d enforce the deeds and Lotus’s will if they didn’t straighten up. Hell, maybe they were at the age where they couldn’t straighten up. Maybe this was the last straw to something I didn’t know about. I had gone from sleeping to space in what felt like the blink of an eye.

“We hadn’t been fighting beforehand,” Daliah sighed as we pulled into the driveway. “Sure, we had some minor stuff go on, because that one,” she nodded at Sequin. “Thinks he’s still in his early 20s and should drag home a different guy every weekend.”

“No slut shaming, kiddo,” I sighed. “What your brother does in his personal life is his business.”

“Well, when they’re always in my house, it becomes my business.”

“My house,” Sequin spat back.

I wished I’d kept my mouth shut about who the house really belonged to until I had the chance to talk to them both at the same time, but that cat had already torn and scratched its way out of the bag.

“We are not having that argument! I nested there! My eggs hatched----”

“Enough!” Nelum snapped, turning to face them. “We can have this discussion like civilized adults inside and not in front of all these children.”

I turned my head to hide my grin, but Minter clapped his hands. That was the first time, Nelum really sounded like Lotus. I waited for Daliah to snap back but everyone fell quiet until we were inside.

“Did I go too far?”Nelum asked over our mating link.

“No,”Elio and I said at the same time.

“Besides, you’re with an egg and they were going too far,”Elio said.

“Elio? Take the babies, love. I have to sort out these egg brats,” I said, kissing both the kids on the head before passing them off. “Daliah is the house aired out?”

“I think so. The grounds keeper said it was,” she nodded.

“Both of you, my office,” I said and asked Rosemary to excuse us.

She might be family now but outside of whatever Daliah gave her of what she was entitled to, she had nothing to do with this family matter.

“You always side with him,” Daliah said before we even made it across the yard to the house where Lotus and I raised our children.

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