Page 23 of Bone Collector’s Mate

Chapter Seventeen

Noir

It was still hard to truly believe that all of this was real: that I was going to be a father, that I was mated to Rook, and that we already had a wonderful son. Benjie was my son, not by birth but in every way that mattered. I felt a connection to him before I even met my mate.

I went back and forth trying to decide whether my initial protective pull to him was because of who Benji was or because he was connected to my mate and I’d sensed that on some level. It didn’t matter which, the paternal bond was there, and I couldn’t be happier.

Finding out my mate was pregnant, filled me with a sense of joy I thought wasn’t for creatures like me. To say I was thrilled was the understatement of my lifetime, which was longer than I could put a number on. We were thrilled about all of it, with the exception of the morning sickness that had settled in.

It was time to tell Benji. Even at his young age, he understood that families sometimes had babies and pointed out a few when we were in town, citing how adorable they were. I wasn’t worried that he didn’t like younger kids. He would. It was more about having another big change in his life. He’d had so many already.

Benji was already worried about his papa being sick to his stomach, something that was unusual for shifter kind.

Tonight at dinner, Benji gave us the opening we needed.

We were sitting around their table eating mac and cheese when he asked, “Do you think that our family will always be three?” He held up three fingers.

“No, Benji, I don’t.” Rook reached across the table, put his hand on mine, and gave it a squeeze. “We have something exciting to tell you.”

“Is there a baby in Papa’s belly like the daddy at the festival with the pumpkin shirt on?”

I hadn’t noticed anyone with a pumpkin shirt in particular, but leave it to our little man to be so observant despite his struggles with his vision.

“There is. You are going to be a big brother.”

“I’m big.” He beamed. “Will the baby be here next week?”

We had some educating to do.

“Not next week. In the spring.” Rook answered him and you could see the disappointment on his face over having to wait that long. I took that as a good sign.

“Will he be a wolf like you, Papa? Will he be like Dad?”

Dad. Gah, I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of hearing that.

“They’re going to be like themselves,” I told him. Because the truth was, we didn’t know. I’d never heard of a bone collector being a father. But then again, my life had been isolated. I didn’t know anything about the lives of the others wandering out there. But I knew one thing—no matter what, they were going to be perfect exactly as they were.

“Sister or brother?” He tapped his fork on his plate. “Or both!”

My mate chuckled. “How about we do one at a time?”

That was all the explanation Benji needed for now, which was good because I wasn’t sure how much to tell a child his age about where babies came from. This dad thing was complicated.

As I tucked Benji in bed, he asked, “Where’s the baby going to sleep? Will he get his own room?”

And that was how we started talking about where we should live and ultimately making the decision to move in together. It was something Rook and I had been taking our time on, but Benji thrust right into problem-solving mode, deciding we should all live at my place.

Smart kid. It made sense for them to move into the place I bought. It was bigger, had room to expand, and it had the Christmas tree farm we could revitalize and turn into something if we wanted. The only holdup was Homer, and Benji decided he could stay if he got nice. I wasn’t sure that was possible, but given the choice, it would always be Benji over the goat.

“I think I can be his friend,” Benji decided.

Rook’s cottage was a month-to-month rental, making it easy to move right away.

I hadn’t wanted to push Rook. That had been important to me. He’d come off a bad relationship, and I was really wanting to do this one right. He deserved it. In some ways, my mate was very human, and mating mark or not, he had been going shifter slow. Still warp speed for a human, but they were weird like that.

Tonight, everything had fallen into place, and it was time. He wasn’t moving in because he was pregnant or because he was worried about money, or because Fate said he had to. He was moving in because, as a family, it was what we all wanted. Oddly enough, we soon discovered, even Homer loved the idea.

We spent the next few days packing things up, moving them little by little. We didn’t have to move furniture, since Rook’s rental came furnished and I bought my place as-is, which included what everybody left when they got kicked out for not paying their taxes and added my own finds. I had the furniture we needed. Aside from getting a crib for the baby, there wasn’t much to buy.

I’d never spent a lot of time around a child, and definitely not in their home, so I wasn’t altogether sure what Benji’s room needed aside from a bed and dresser. I was surprised when Benji asked if he could have some chimes.

“They won’t sing in the room, though.” He plopped on his bed.

“I have an idea.” I tapped his nose. “It’ll be great.

I surprised him with a fan that oscillated and made them all chime. He fell asleep to their lullaby.

“He’s asleep.” I shut his door. My mate was just getting out of the shower after washing off the grime of the day, his hair still damp and only his pajama pants on. “What are you doing to me, mate?”

“It’s our house. Our son’s asleep. What do you think I’m doing?” He came over and pulled me in for a kiss.