Page 19 of Frederick
“Some. There are some assignments that are what we consider super easy. Sometimes we are sent to pack or a den here in the states and we have to deal with an issue that they are having. Then there are covens that we somehow discover and we are suddenly we are in the middle of a massive and overwhelming assignment where we are in rotation between here and Italy for several weeks.” Frederick shrugged. “It really all depends on what is brought to our attention.”
I felt bad. I shouldn’t because ultimately the fact that they ended up investigating my coven was the reason that I was here with Frederick. It was destiny for certain, but I didn’t know how it was that we would have met one another any other way.
“Are you going to continue on the assignment with my coven now?”
“I will. Just because the two of us have claimed each other does not mean that I can’t still be on this particular assignment. If you would rather that I be moved to a different one, I can ask Master Edison and see if he is willing to pull me from this particular assignment.”
I shook my hand with a mouthful food. I could certainly understand why it was that Frederick was craving a burger. It was quite delicious, and although I hadn’t realized it at the time, I was actually quite hungry.
“No. I have no reason to ask that you be moved to a different assignment. Just be careful.” I wasn’t in love with him yet. I was falling, and as I was thinking earlier, it wouldn’t take much for me to completely fall in love with Frederick. But just because I wasn’t in love with him yet mean that I didn’t care about his well-being. Of course I didn’t wish for him to come to any harm.
“I am always careful if possible.”
My eyes widened at his response, and when I looked at him, he shrugged at me. “If possible?”
“What do you want me to say? I can’t control everybody else, and I do try to be careful. Things happen, though. My cousin, although he wasn’t hurt badly, he did sustain quite minor injuries, not long ago in Italy. But none of us go looking for trouble. Well, except maybe the hellhounds. They’re a different kind of paranormal altogether.”
I chuckled about the hellhounds while eating more of my fries. “I appreciate the fact that you don’t go looking for trouble.”
Frederick’s hand on my knee had me looking up at him. “Is me being an enforcer for the council going to be an issue for you?” Frederick shook his head. “I don’t have to work. Neither do you. I have more than enough saved for both of us to live comfortably for the rest of our lives. My family is very fortunate in who they are.”
“I don’t have issues with you being enforcer. If that’s what you want to do, then I am all for it. I have always worked, and although I know that I do not have nearly the nest egg that you I do have some. I imagine that it won’t take long at my age for my first fertile period to hit. I really do want to focus on our child or children. But I am not against going back to work.”
“There’s no need. Not if you truly don’t wish to.”
I swallowed my bite of food before answering. “I never thought I would actually have a family. At my age I just didn’t see it is happening. Now that it’s a possibility I don’t want to miss out on anything.”
Frederick reached for me and gently rubbed his hand up and down my arm. It was such a sweet gesture. “You can be a stay-at-home dad. There are a lot of them here in the council. You might be one of the older ones, but don’t let that bother you.”
“I won’t. You know, in all of the talking that we did yesterday we never talked about children. Well, how many you wanted.” I would be happy with one, but would prefer at least two. I knew it wasn’t completely up to me though.
“It’s going to sound incredibly cliché, but I will say the same thing. A lot of the other enforcers have told their mates. I’m not the one who is carrying the baby or babies if we have more than one pregnancy. We will have as many as you want, and as many as we are blessed with.” Frederick ran his hand up and down my arm again.
“Two?” If I had been century or two younger, I might say I wanted more. As it was I was probably a little past what was considered prime childbearing years.
“If two is what you desire, then that is how many we will have. My parents are going to love any all children we have, but don’t feel like they are going to be overbearing. They live in Spain and I don’t see them as relocating simply because I’m here and I found you. “
“Do you wish to move back to be near your family?” I asked.
Frederick shook his head. “My parents may not be here, but I do have family in the area. There are a couple of uncles and their Ones, as well as a few cousins. Our family is pretty tight-knit, and I’m excited that our children will get to grow up with my cousins’ children. I think you’re going to really like my cousins. I know they were all hoping that I figured out how to fix my mess up.”
I looked down at myself and then made a show of looking over at Frederick. I reached out and touched the claiming mark that I had placed on his ribs. I made eye contact with Frederick again and smiled. “I do believe it is safe to say that you did indeed fix any mess up.”
Frederick threw his head back and laughed again. He had done that a few times now and it was certainly something that I wouldn’t tire of hearing.
Frederick reached out, and after he touched the claiming mark on my hip, he gave me a wink. “I think I’ve at least started fixing my mistake. I don’t believe I have fully made up for my blunder, but I am certainly going to continue doing everything I can to make things up to you.”
I wasn’t going to argue with him. I knew that he felt absolutely terrible about what had been said. As expected, I had been able to see for myself firsthand how Frederick felt about that through our bond. The ability to have that bond with him was one of the reasons I was as willing to mate with him as I was. I knew it would allow me the opportunity to settle any insecurities I had. It had done that and more.
“How is your food?” Frederick asked.
I glanced down at my plate and realized that there was only a bite of my burger left, and a handful of fries. “Obviously it is quite good. But I think you already knew that.”
“I did. You seem to be enjoying it, but I wanted to make sure.”
“Well, you have no need to worry. It is quite delicious.” I picked up a french fry and held it up. “Especially these fries. I’m not sure what makes them so delicious, but these ones are top-notch.”
Frederick smiled. “It’s the peanut oil. It is by far the best for frying French fries.”
