Page 38 of The Alpha: Part Three
I understood that John was part of our family and that he was my mother's alpha, but he wasn't my father. He was more like a close family friend who lived with us. He had no authority over my upbringing or what happened once I got older. And as my father became more enthralled with the rogue organization, there was an obvious distance forming between him and John.
John called right before he and my mother boarded the plane and asked me outright if he would be allowed to be my children's grandfather. Obviously, I said yes. I can't count the number of times I wondered what it would have been like if John was my father. I can't even imagine how different I would have turned out if he had had a stronger parental presence in my life. John is good. He exudes warmth. I don't know how my father managed to form a pack bond with him, and I give him all the credit for convincing my mother to become their omega.
“When do we pick them up?” Desir'ee asks, her excitement and nervousness over meeting my family bubbling through our bond.
I pull her against me and breathe in her sweet scent. “You and the twins are staying here. I don't feel good about having you at the airport.”
She tips her head back to give me a flat look. “You'll take Michael with you. If you don't feel safe with me there with all of you with me, then I don't feel safe with you there alone.”
I don't know if I'll ever get used to her worrying after me and trying to take care of me. I kiss her pursed lips and smile down at her. “I'll take Michael with me. Do you need anything while I'm out?”
She shakes her head. “No, I don't think so. Are you sure they can't stay more than a couple hours? That's a lot of flying around without rest.”
“They're used to it. Mom's been flying around for afternoon trips her whole life. Once we're back east, though, I can't guarantee that she won't suffocate us. She seems like a completely different person than she was a few years ago. And she's really excited about being a grandmother. She might become overwhelming.”
Desir'ee laughs. “Most grandmothers are. My mom probably would have been if we still had her. Amber's moms and Tony's mother are doing their best to make up for it, though. Mateo's ready to shove all three of them into a box and ship them to a different territory.”
The sadness that hides behind her smiles and jokes is a little stronger today. It makes sense. She's meeting my mother today, and she's been watching other people with their mothers. It's only natural for Desir'ee to feel the loss of her own mother more acutely right now. Ben and Michael are feeling the loss of their parents as well. They haven't mentioned it, but we all feel things through our bonds. I'm just glad we have each other.
“He'll be alright. I'll drag Michael with me to the airport in about an hour so we can be waiting when they come through the gate.”
It ends up being one of the longest hours of my life but I survive it and my mother cries when she sees me.
“You look so happy,” she sniffs after she lets go of a hug it didn't occur to me to expect. “And you!” she exclaims, yanking Michael in for an equally unexpected hug. “You're taking care of my baby. I'm so happy to meet you!”
“That's Michael,” I tell her, meeting his raised brows over her head. “Ben is home with Desir'ee.”
“Good, good,” she nods. “The airport is no place for a pregnant omega.”
“It's no place for you, either,” John tells her as he reaches to shake my hand, then Michael's.
“Oh, hush,” my mother waves him off. “I'm perfectly safe. I am anxious to meet Seth's Desir'ee, though. So lets get a move on.” She takes Michael's arm instead of mine or John's and lets him lead her through the terminal.
I catch John's eye and gesture toward the woman who is supposed to be my mother. “Is she alright?” I all but whisper.
He nods, his smile full of joy and pride.
“What happened?” I ask even quieter. The last time I saw my mother she was a thin, watery version of the woman I knew as a child. The woman hanging on Michael's arm and laughing is someone almost completely foreign to me.
John shrugs, still smiling. “Jonas was a heavy thing to carry. Everything is different now. Better.” His face falls, realizing what he's saying about my late father. “I'm sorry, Seth. I shouldn't say that. He was your father.”
“No,” I say. “No. He was a heavy burden. When I was a kid I thought he was the strongest and best alpha in the world. I wanted to be just like him. But as I got older I saw who and what he really was. She's better now. So are you, and so am I. It feels like you're required to be a certain level of sad when your dad dies, but I don't miss him. He caused more harm than good.”
John nods, but his smile doesn't return and I don't like that.
“Besides,” I add. “Now I'll get to have you in my life the way you always should have been. Things will be better.”
The smile comes back slowly as he holds my gaze. “Good.”
My mother keeps her eyes closed the whole way back to the house despite mine and Michael's assurances that he is a very good driver and has lived in this area his whole life. John thoroughly enjoys the whole ride, laughing every time my mother shrieks or gasps. We make a stop on the way so Mom and John can go into a store to get Desir'ee a huge bouquet of flowers and the world's biggest stuffed bear. It almost looks like it's walking up to the house on its own when Mom insists on carrying it to the door herself.
Ben is grinning ear to ear when he throws open the door to let us in. Nobody mentioned to Mom or John that Ben and Michael are identical and she doesn't see him until after she puts the bear down on the chair by the door. “Seth! You could have mentioned they're twins.”
“I forgot,” I shrug. I really did. They are technically identical, but I don't see them that way anymore. They're so different from each other that it's funny to remember that first few weeks when I couldn't tell them apart.
“How could you forget such a thing?” she fusses, snatching up Ben for a hug. “I'll just bet you're the nice one. It's always that way with twins, one's always nicer than the other. I can tell you're the nice one.” She pats his cheek and glances back at Michael. “Yes. This is definitely the nice one. Now, where is our Desir'ee?”
Watching my mother flutter around my new home, hugging my new pack, laughing and joking leaves me feeling a little bit like I'm having an outer-body experience. Like I'm watching a movie. Since I was a teenager, my mother has been quiet and subdued. No fluttering and very little hugging. Definitely no joking. Seeing her like this brings anger at my father roaring to the surface, anger that I thought I'd worked through.
