Chapter 14

#Chapter 14 – Live with Parents When Victor opens the door, I burst out laughing.

I can’t help it. Before me stands one of the most powerful Alphas in the country, his shirt covered in stickers and juice stains, glitter on his face and even a little purple marker smudged across his chin.

He scowls at me mightily, filling up the frame, glaring at me in a way which I’m sure has cowed hundreds of men. But here, with what is clearly marshmallow fluff spiking up a piece of his hair, it just makes it funnier.

I bend over, laughing so hard I have to put my hands on my knees to support myself.

“Evelyn,” he says, stern and gruff, clearly used to more respect.

“Evelyn,” I say back, crossing my arms over my chest and mocking him, still laughing. “Oh come on, Victor, get over it,” I say, pushing past him into his front hall. “You can’t intimidate me with apple juice and Paw Patrol stickers all over your shirt.”

I am impressed, walking into Victor’s house, though I try not to let him see it too much. “Beautiful home you have here,” I say, turning to take in the three-story wall of windows, the view over the valley.

Beyond the stainless kitchen I can see a giant swimming pool out back, complete with swim-up bar.

Geeze, living the life.

“Thank you,” he murmurs passively, following me into the room as I put my purse down on a table.

“And where,” I say, are my boys? Victor rolls his eyes, clearly ashamed at his inability to control them, and gestures towards the back. My heart lifts as I hear their laughter.

Victor walks me out onto his expansive patio, which has all of the trimmings of a five-star restaurant –

full grill, pizza oven, even a wine fridge. I whistle and turn around to take it all in.

As I spin, I catch sight of the boys and start laughing. Ian is crouching on top of the ping pong table, snarling and swiping like a tiger as Alvin waves a gigantic palm frond at him – one he’s clearly torn, without permission, from Victor’s carefully-manicured gardens.

“What are they even doing,” he says, catching sight of them as well and releasing another big sigh.

“Playing tiger and monkey,” I say, shrugging. “It’s a game, they made it up.”

“They don’t…” he begins, and rubs his head with his hand. “They don’t listen, and they want to be doing twelve different things at once.”

I smile at his frustration. “They’re a handful, for sure.”

“A handful,” he snaps, staring at them and burying his hands in his pockets. “That’s an understatement.

They’re torturing the poor Beta’s. They played hide and seek with one for like, ten minutes, and he’s just…gone” I laugh at Victor’s troubled expression.

He turns to me and starts to laugh a little too. “Seriously, we don’t know if he got lost, or he’s still hiding – or if he just…quit.” We both laugh at that one, harder.

“They’re really clever kids, Victor,” I say, “they’re in a league all their own. You shouldn’t blame yourself if you can’t handle them.” I smirk, watching the smile on his face turn into a stern frown. Clearly, Victor doesn’t like to be told he can’t do things.

“Oh come on,” I say, nudging him with my elbow and encouraging him to laugh. “You were so confident this afternoon, and not even a couple of hours later they’re running rough shod over you.” I smile up into his face. “Come on, it’s kind of cute.”

Victor narrows his eyes at me, but I can see a smile tug at the corners of his lips. “I don’t know why you’re laughing at me, woman,” he says, and I smile as his grows more playful. “You raised these monsters – I’m sending you the bill for all the damages.”

I laugh loudly at that – truly surprised that Victor’s made a joke – and at the sound the boys turn and finally catch sight of me.

“Mommy!” I hear, joined quickly by “Mama! Yayyy!” The boys rush over, enveloping me in a hug.

“Hi babies,” I say, brushing their hair back and filling my eyes, just for a moment, with their beautiful faces. “Are you having fun with Victor?” I ask, a slight warning in my tone, letting them know that I know they’ve been a bit naughty.

“Yessss,” they chorus, folding their hands like the angels they sometimes pretend to be.

“And have you been good?”

“…yesssss…” the response is a little more hesitant this time and they try to distract me with big toothy smiles. I laugh and shove them away from me lightly. “Go back to your games, little terrors,” I say.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

The boys rush off, relief clear on their faces. They think they’ve gotten away with it.

“How do you do that,” Victor says, shaking his head as he watches them run away. “they…listened to you. Responded in clear, human English…”

“Oh they’re not so bad,” I say. “You just have to stay one step ahead of them. So tell me,” I inquire, folding my arms across my chest. “How was your day with them? Was it that big of a disaster, really?”

Victor breathes out another big breath, his cheeks puffing. “It was chaos, Evelyn.” He says, embarrassed to admit his faults. But his face changes then, softens. “But it was also…great.”

I frown slightly. The chaos I expected, but his enjoyment…

“Don’t get me wrong, I definitely need help,” he says, his face truly honest and open to me for the first time in years. “And you know it’s not easy for me to admit that, but I am grateful that you came when I called, Evie. It’s just,” He shakes his head, returning his gaze to the boys, who are sitting by the pool playing with rocks.

“Today was challenging, and infuriating, and messy, which is the opposite of everything I invite into my life. But it was fun,” he breathes out the last word, amazed.

“I want my sons by me every day, Evelyn,” he says. “I want to see them grow. It is…essential. You are a parent, and a wolf,” he says. “You understand.”

I grimace and say nothing because, the truth is, I do understand. But I also know that Victor getting what he wants in this situation means I lose it.

“Now that I know they exist, and know them,” Victor says softly, “It will be impossible for me to let them go.” I watch him as he say this and feel my heart soften, just a little. He is still arrogant, possessive, and unyielding but…I can see him becoming a dad. His love for my boys makes me feel…

I shake my head, turning away from the thought. I have to be strong. In silence, we watch the boys play.

Unusually quiet, Alvin and Ian crouch by the pool, gathering flat, round rocks and stacking them on top of each other.

“Dad says he wants us to come live in his house with him.” Alvin says softly.

Ian places a rock on the top of the tower and then, suddenly, pushes the whole thing over. Alvin doesn’t protest.

“Do you want to go and live with our dad?” Ian asks, his voice angry. Alvin doesn’t answer and Ian shoves him so that he falls among the rocks.

“Hey!” Alvin says, rubbing his side where he fell.

“You are bad!” Ian hisses at him. “We can’t leave mom! She’s our mom! She loves us, and we love her!”

“I know,” Alvin says, his face twisting with sadness and anger. “But I don’t like thinking of dad living here all by himself – he’s our dad. And he loves us too.”

Ian looks over at their parents and sits back on his rump, defeated. “I know,” he says.

“I like our dad,” says Alvin, starting to stack the rocks again. “He is nice, and he is funny when he yells at the Betas, and he ordered us new beds and new toys…and he is handsome, and looks like you…”

tears spring to Alvin’s eyes. He’s just a little boy, after all.

Looks like us, Ian says, mind-to-mind with his brother. Alvin smiles and wipes his eyes.

“What should we do?”

“I think we have to get them to live together, like other parents,” Ian says, his face taking on determined lines.

“Yes,” Alvin responds, a wicked smile coming onto his face. “We have to be very crafty though.”

Ian considers. “I think that the best way…would be to make them have another baby. After all, if we have three, then they have to live with all of us.”

“Why?” says Alvin.

“Because we will outnumber them,” Ian says, shrugging, as if the logic is obvious.

“Ahhhh,” Alvin says, nodding along. “Okay. As long as it’s a boy.”

“Of course it will be a boy,” Ian scoffs. “We can’t have a sister.”

“Okay,” Alvin continues. “How do we get a baby?”

“I don’t know,” Ian says, shrugging. “But I know that first, they have to have a date, like she does with Uncle Mark!”

Alvin nods, agreeing to the plan. Then the boys smile at each other, devilish, and turn to call to their parents. “Mom!”

“Dad!”

“We are tired! We want to go to bed!”