Page 194 of Fated to the Hunters
“I want to be a mother,” she blurted. Scarlett shook her head, smiling to herself. “I mean, I’ve always wanted that, but I’m ready to talk about becoming one. But I’ve discovered that even though I want that, I don’t want to sacrifice my studies for it. I know you two want children, but our parenting will have to be different from most traditional roles if you want to become fathers.”
“And you would like to know how we feel about it?” Mateo softly asked.
“Yes. If you don’t feel comfortable with a nontraditional household, it won’t stop us from having children, the timeline would just be different.”
Mateo visibly tried to contain his excitement, but he was failing miserably in a sweet and loving way. “I would be very excited to stay home and take care of the babies, but I have some rules I would like to have set in place.”
“Rules?”
“You have to be sure you’ve recovered properly after birth. I don’t want you to overwork yourself, not during your last trimester and not in the months after.”
“I wouldn’t. I would take at least a semester break, maybe two, but I don’t want to set it aside all together to raise them until they are old enough for me to return.” Ezra was rather still and silent, so she turned her attention to him. “How do you feel about that?”
“As I said before: I will restrain Mateo the first chance I get and fuck you until you give me an heir.”
She chuckled and let her hand slip from his hair to his jaw to force him to look up at her. “I do remember that quite clearly. Are you comfortable looking after your baby?”
“Yes,” he answered matter-of-factly.
“And once Mateo’s comes? Would you feel comfortable looking after both?”
“Yes.”
There was no hesitation, and she had no words to describe the warm, tingly feeling it gave her. “Now, maybe if you ask Mateo nicely to wear condoms, I will consider you getting rid of yours.”
Ezra tilted his head out of her grip and glared at Mateo. “Unless you want me to give you a home vasectomy, wear the damn condoms.”
“Ezra,” she warned, though she couldn’t hide her grin.
Ezra gritted his teeth. “Please.”
“Fine,” Mateo laughed, but when his eyes fell on Vince he fused his brows and became serious. “Why are you keeping Vince out of this conversation?”
“I already know how Vince feels about all of it. He has agreed to help raise our children. Though if they misbehave, he might give them back to their fathers and steal me away instead.”
Ezra pushed himself out of her lap and onto his heels, hurt stinging his features. “You talked to him about this first?”
“Yes, Ezra, I did. I already knew how you felt about being a parent and that it is something dear to your heart. Vince, on the other hand, never saw himself as a father. Having children in his life will be a drastic step. I wanted to hear how he felt about it withoutyoupointing a gun at his head and forcing an answer less than the truth.”
Ezra snapped his mouth shut, knowing that Scarlett was right.
“And are you comfortable with all of this?” Mateo asked his friend.
“As Scarlett said: I am and I will help you as much as you allow me to.”
Ezra needed a moment to calm the evident storm he had brewing in his mind and then with a much softer voice, he asked, “When would you be ready to start conceiving?”
“That depends on you. A child is a huge addition to the family.”
“We are ready,” Ezra and Mateo answered in unison, turning to Vince to await his answer.
Scarlett’s quiet mate was clearly in a mischievous mood, taking his time answering. Finally, once the tension in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a spoon, he nodded.
“Are we financially ready? And do you know what kind of consequences that brings to our lives?” Scarlett questioned further.
“Money is no object, and I believe we do know what we’re getting ourselves into,” Mateo answered for everyone.
“We will have to homeschool and choose our friends wisely. Children say what is on their minds without a filter. Keeping our secret will be much harder with a child around.”
