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Bethany:

Yeah. Love you guys. I’ve got to get back to studying.

I grimaced, putting my phone down. My fathers were counting down the days in excitement, but I felt like it was a looming deadline to my impending doom.

Going home wouldn’t be fun; it would be stifling.

But they were my family, and I loved them.

Family meant sacrifices.

Chapter 14

Gideon

Iwas the first one home, so I closed my car door and shuffled into the house. Bethany had been working for us for a few weeks, and I didn’t know why she had agreed to nanny for us, but thank god she had. Even though she was only at the house one or two days a week, the entire place was running a lot smoother.

Joey’s schedule, which had become somewhat chaotic, was running perfectly on time. Some of the people we had paid to babysit would just be near Joey and not interact with her, whereas, from what I understood, Bethany had animated conversations with Joey as she drove her to various extracurricular activities, or when they were home together, they did an activity. One night, I came home to find them making pizza from scratch, both of them giggling at the counter.

Cullen had been keeping his distance, but his food hadn’t. The fridge was always stocked with plenty of fresh pasta and meals for Bethany to take home. We insisted they were extras from the restaurant, but they were actually meals Cullen had made specifically for her.

Overall, things were feeling a lot easier.

The house was dark. It was late, so Joey would already be asleep. The omega’s sweet, crisp apple scent was now a permanent fixture in our home, and I still wasn’t completely used to it.

I wasn’t complaining about it, though.

Bethany was in the living room, curled up in a blanket, watching TV in the dark. Her brow was furrowed and there were dark circles under her eyes.

Were we working her too much? She needed to take care of herself. Even though it wasn’t my place, my hands itched to shake her and tell her off for not caring for herself properly.

“Hey,” she greeted me softly as she noticed me standing in the doorway, staring like a creeper.

“Sorry it’s so late. I got distracted drafting legal papers.” I mentally berated myself. I should have gotten back earlier so she could have gone home and rested. I could draft legal paperwork from home, but when I was in the office, sometimes I got distracted and time got away from me.

That was a habit I needed to correct.

“How was she?” I asked, nodding in the general direction of upstairs, to where my daughter slept.

“She was good as gold.” Bethany smiled as she slowly got up from the sofa.

“You got her to bed with no complaints?” I asked incredulously. I thought it was only us she did that with. Every day, Bethany amazed me.

“I told her if she was good, I would help her make cupcakes next week.” She smiled weakly.

“Ah, bribery. Works a treat. Hey—are you okay?”

Her eyes were hazy, and she winced and wobbled as she stood. Everything in me was alert in an instant. Her scent, as amazing as ever, was slightly off.

There was tired, and then there was this. She seemed physically unwell.

“Oh, yeah.” She waved off my concern, but I didn’t buy it for one moment.

“Come here,” I instructed, gently pulling her toward me, pressing my hand against her forehead. “You don’t feel warm…”

“It’s just a headache,” Bethany insisted, pulling away with a wince.

I cocked my head to the side. “You keep squinting every time you look at light.”