Page 223 of As The Shifter World Turns

“TD, you didn’t tell me that.”

Martin’s brow furrowed. “He’s right, you never mentioned it. And yet we live in a basement apartment now.”

“I was the one who delayed our mating. I didn’t want to throw up another roadblock. Besides, that was when I was living by myself.”

I distracted my family by pointing out how the house had been recently painted, though Toby didn't care about the paint job. He stomped up the stairs and scuffed his feet over the floor. But when Daire opened the door to the second floor apartment, even Toby wasimpressed. “Wow. This is nice.”

Daire had worked out it was Toby he needed to impress so he led him straight to the second bedroom. “My own bathroom?” He poked his head out the door but then his face fell. “I’d have to share it with Charlie.”

“Nope. Charlie has his own.”

Luckily Charlie didn’t realize that his room and bathroom were much smaller than his big brother’s.

“Dad. TD, my bedroom is so big,” our older son shouted.

But Martin and I were admiring the stainless steel kitchen and then our own bathroom with its twin showers and his and his sinks. “This is very nice, Daire.” I suspected it was way out of our budget and imagined Toby’s disappointment when we told him.

“The best part is, you only have to pay for utilities,” Daire informed us.

“I can’t accept a freebie,” Martin insisted.

“Look, I get that. I might feel the same way, but selling the company brought me enough money to never work again. And you’re family. You were always family but now with Charlie, you really are.”

My mate looked at me. He was wavering. “If you’re absolutely against it, we won’t do it,” I told him. “But it would be easier with all of us living under the same roof again.” I’d be next door to the office in the manor. I could keep 2B for when I needed some me time.

“How about we go up to the manor roof, order food, and hash things out?” Daire suggested.

Toby’s stomach rumbled and we laughed. “Good timing.”

98

FINDING OUR BALANCE

Martin

“Neil,” I climbed into the bed beside him.

We had both taken the afternoon off for a little time together. Charlie was with Daire for the day and both of our schedules were light. The original plan was lunch and possibly some furniture shopping. That plan ended the second I walked in the apartment door and saw Neil standing there, hair damp, a towel wrapped around him.

The afternoon quickly morphed into a fill-my-naked-mate-with-my-cock session followed by a nap. But now it was time for me to get Toby.

“You up for another round?” Neil’s hand came up to my cheek, his eyes still sleepy, his smile so sweet.

“Always.” I pressed a kiss to his lips. “But it’s time for me to pick up Toby. I didn’t want you to wake up and find me gone.”

“I’m up. I can come with you.” He yawned and righted himself. “Do I have five minutes?”

“I can wait. But don’t think you have to.” I could see the way my words stung. I hadn’t meant them like it sounded… like he wasn’t Toby's father so he had no real role in his life. And maybe that wasn’t even what he heard either, but whatever it was, it hurt. “I’d love you to if you don’t mind not finishing your nap.”

It was the best I could do. Neil and I had had a pretty in depth conversation about the whole parenting thing. It was such a weird mix with Charlie having four fathers and Toby being my late mate’s son.

And I still wasn’t sure we were doing what was best for Charlie. It was hisfather’s wishes, but my gut said we needed to buy a house together and live as one huge family commune style at some point. Where he had one bedroom, one kitchen, and just lots of family to love him. But we’d decided to move into the house Daire had bought, so at least we’d all be in the same building.

“I’ll hurry.” He climbed out of bed and padded into the bathroom. He came out only a couple minutes later and threw on some clothes and we were out the door.

We arrived in the car line in plenty of time to wait and wait some more. There were days that I went in to pick him up, but Toby had informed me his friends all got to use the car line and I was trying to be more cognizant of that.

He was growing up so fast. And really, I’d tried to keep him young longer than I should've. I’d been so fearful that losing his father would make him grow up too quickly that I over compensated.

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