Page 36 of Omega's Pretend Mate
~June~
I chuckled at the slightly shell-shocked expressions of my family as they stepped off the private jet.
Granted, I couldn’t really blame them. Flying was expensive enough with that many kids, so they usually traveled by van when going on vacation. But none of them, including me, had ever been on a private jet before.
All the adults had the dazed expressions of people wondering if they were dreaming, while the kids were squealing in excitement.
“Christian!”
I grinned as mom made her way over, papa right behind her. She wrapped me in her arms and planted a kiss on my cheek.
“Hi mom,” I said, then pulled papa over and hugged him too. “Hi papa.”
Papa beamed at me, tears in his eyes. “I always knew you’d eventually find a nice omega to settle down with.”
I smiled and turned him to face Gabe. “Papa, mom, this is Gabe. Gabe, this is my papa, Sam, and my mom, Ruth.”
Gabe gave them both a stunning smile and offered his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet both of you properly.”
Papa walked over and embraced Gabe. “Welcome to the family. Call us papa and mom.”
Gabe’s smile softened into something I hadn’t seen before, almost wistful. “Thank you.”
“Where’s our new brother-in-law?” Alex called out. “Who’s hogging him?”
I laughed. “You’re going to have to share with papa,” I replied. “He’s already laid claim.”
“A bit of help here?”
I turned to see Gabe wrapped in both my parent’s arms and couldn’t help my laughter.
“Ok mom, papa. Let him go before you scare him off.”
Mom laughed. “Like you’d choose a man who couldn’t handle us.”
“But that doesn’t mean toss him right in the deep end. Give him some breathing room.”
Mom and papa released Gabe, who retreated to my side, where I wrapped an arm around his waist.
“You ok?” I asked, quiet so that only he could hear over the commotion of my family.
He nodded. “It’s just… a lot. My family is pretty reserved.”
“You’ll get used to them, plus they’re all excited. New family members are always welcome, not to mention that you just gave them probably the most exciting plane ride of their lives.”
Gabe smiled. “Technically, the plane was father’s idea.”
I looked around at my family. “I don’t think they’re going to make that distinction.”
Gabe chuckled. “Probably not.”
I leaned in and kissed his temple. “Shall we get them on the bus?”
“Yeah.”
After several more minutes we managed to corral my family onto the bus we’d rented. There were vans reserved in Harris Cove, but it had been decided that a single ride there would let everybody get to meet Gabe without arguments over seating arrangements.
∞∞∞
