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“Hurry home. Love you.”

Suddenly, the line disconnects, and all Nix wants to do is be at home ten minutes ago—home with his mates, being loved within an inch of his life, being reminded that he is happy. Happy in a way he couldn’t ever dream when he’d last been in this house.

He wishes his Mom could see him now.

“Mom?” he whispers for the first time in so many years he’s lost count. He knows she’s not in the house—hopes she’s not stuck here waiting for him. But maybe, wherever she is, she can hear him.

“I’m happy. So happy, and I’ll be back…er…I miss you.”

“Kitten? You ready to head back?” Gideon asks from the archway, yellow folder in hand.

“Yeah. I’m good…Or I will be.”

They lock up the house and make their way down the path, past the marigolds glowing in the morning sun, their soft faces turned up to catch as much warmth as they can before night falls again.

“Those were my mom’s favorite flowers, you know? She said that they look like little happy faces.”

“They symbolize purity, divinity, and the circle of life,” Gideon says, plucking a bloom that was hanging down over the last step. “Your neighbor says this is the first year she’s planted anything here. Her husband bought too many flats of flowers this year, and she always remembered your mother liking them, so she put the rest of them along here and in the garden.”

“For real?”

In the past, he might have had a hard time believing that it was anything more than a coincidence, but he’s a pregnant man with nine glowing bonds. So thinking that maybe Mr. Stavros bought extra so Nix could come home to a beautifully vibrant welcome—well, that’s nothing in comparison, is it?

“I should thank her. She’s taken care of all of this for me for a long time.”

They step out onto the sidewalk, and Nix takes a last look at his parents’—his—house, looping his arm with Gideon’s as they head back up the street.

He thinks it’s okay to look back now, when he has a lot to look forward to.

“We should definitely thank her. Maybe Finn can visit with you next time? Meet her daughter. Parents like things like that, don’t they? I’ll come along too, though, just in case she needs to be reminded that Dr. Merritt has a pack.”

Nix laughs at Gideon’s offer. “I think she’ll remember Finn is ours.”

“Hmm. Rowan was on the phone earlier?”

“Yeah. Then Gray.” He feels a bit of heat slither through him at the reminder. He can feel both their bonds glowing in his belly.

“Again? You’ll let me know if you need backup in getting them to back off?”

“They’re not the only ones,” Nix sighs, “but I can handle it.”

To be fair, Nix likes the attention when it isn’t bossy, overbearing, orsneaky. Makes him feel loved, dialing into some deep-seated, ancient, instinctive feeling.

There’s no one waiting at the entrance to the cul-de-sac, much to Nix’s surprise, as he’d expected that would be the absolute farthest Jamie would have allowed them to get from the house.

But the front door is propped open, and the scent of bacon wafts out, luring Nix in by his nose and his appetite.

“You’re back! Thank goodness. Sugar, Gray and Ro are locked in the laundry room, and I wondered…”

Gideon picks his soulmate up, and Nix can only smile as Luca has hisI want something but am pretending I don’tface on, loud and clear.

“Mmm? Do you want a kiss? From me? How wonderful. The answer is: yes.” He puckers up and delivers foolishly large kisses to Luca’s cheeks and neck until he squirms.

“No!”

At Gideon’s faux-sad face, he alters his tune. “Well, yes. That’s all very nice, but I was wondering if I could…come.”

“Come? Again? So soon? Maybe they’re done already?”