Page 56 of A Baby for the Firefighter

“I’m glad. I’ll come over on Friday if you need me.”

“Around six? I’ll make sure Mom’s gone before you show up.”

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary. I can handle her.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “See you Friday.”

“See you,” I returned, hanging up. Whatever was going to happen Friday, it was going to be an interesting day for sure.

* * *

Thursday evening, after several failed attempts to create anything edible at all in the kitchen, I broke down and asked for help. “Mom?” I stuck my head into the living room, where she was watching some show on TV. It was still weird to see her sitting there so normally, as if we hadn’t spent years not talking to each other.

She looked up at me. “Yes, dear?”

“You remember how you tried to teach me how to cook?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I do.” She shook her head. “How could I ever forget? It was a disaster.”

I forced a grin on my face. “Yeah, uh, fun, wasn’t it?”

“You nearly set the kitchen on fire more than once!” For a second, she seemed as if she was going to start laughing, but then the mention of fire and all its recent implications silenced her. Mom never wanted to talk about it, and so we didn’t, but I suspected she wasn’t fully over the shock yet.

“I’ve gotten a little better at it,” I said. “No damage to the kitchen, I promise.” That was something, right? “So I was wondering, if, uh… maybe we could try again.”

“You want me to teach you again?”

I didn’twantthat, not especially, no, but I needed to prepare something for Dean to eat, and this was my best bet, short of ordering take-out and parading it as my own food. “Maybe something simple?” I asked. “Something simple but delicious?” That would be perfect.

She turned the TV off. “And where does this sudden enthusiasm come from?”

“Nowhere.” I shrugged. “I just uh… figured it was time for me to learn?”

“You’re not fooling me, dear. You want to cook for your man, don’t you?”

I grew bright red before I could stop myself.

My mom shook her head. “You should know that I don’t mind. There’s no better reason to cook, really. Certainly no better motivation.” She gave me a soft smile. “Well, other than to feed your children, anyway. But I hope that’s not going to happen for you for a little while, at least.”

“No.” I wanted children, yeah, but even I knew it was too early for that.

“Good.” She stood and opened her mouth as if to say something more, but closed it again. I knew what she’d beenaboutto say, though. What I’d been told all my life.An omega needs to be married before having children.

It was one of her core beliefs, and part of what had driven Eli out of the house when he had Jake. I suspected that was why she wasn’t saying it now, even if she still believed it. She didn’t want me to make my brother’smistake, but she wasn’t going to say it out loud to keep the peace.

I was a fan of peace myself, so I didn’t call her out on it. After all, I still hoped that my family could be mended with a bit of time and understanding on all sides.

My mother walked past me into the kitchen. “Let’s see what we have to work with. I’ll help you feed your man. Dean’s a good alpha. You should hold on to him.”

I guess that was as close to approval of my plans as I was going to get. Still, I wondered what she might have said if I’d told her that I wanted to get rid of my virginity.

Use protection, probably.

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Griffin