Page 18 of A Home for Tyler (Omegas of Animals #14)

Tyler

“Next time we fly.” I was leaning over the car seat, holding a paci for Sasha. He was good and done with the whole traveling thing. I was too, but I was happy for the destination.

We did test runs with him in the car before even contemplating the trip.

Driving around town, an hour here or an hour there, and he did great.

He did great on this trip, too—the first day.

But today he was struggling. Not to the point where we had to pull over, only to where daddy-guilt was hitting me hard.

“Agreed,” Dimitri said from the front seat. “At least we are almost there. Just about to pass your old motel.”

It hadn’t actually been mine, but it was where I was living and working when we met.

Now it was under new ownership. I wasn’t sure what had happened behind the scenes, but when Karma and Warren said they would take care of it, they meant business.

The old owner and his brother were gone—that much I knew because they hit the news, something about embezzlement and fraud.

“Hey, it looks like it’s being cleaned up,” I said when it came into view. As much work as I had put into it, it was never obvious from the outside, but now? Now it looked much better.

“We’re still not staying there,” Dimitri grumbled from the front seat. He’d never been impressed that his mate had been living like that. I was hard pressed to be upset about my time there, not when it led me to him.

Sasha was just about asleep when we pulled into Animals.

If I played my cards right, I’d be able to get my carrier on and settle him inside it without too much trouble.

At least, that was my plan—one thwarted in the best possible way when Karma met us in the parking lot, snatched him up, and held him close.

“Look at you. Not a fuss. Not a peep.” She giggled, looking down at him. “We’ve been waiting for you.” She looked over her shoulder. “You two also.” And walked inside.

If anyone else had done that to our son, I’d probably be upset. No, not probably. I would be. Very. You don’t just randomly take people’s babies. But with Karma, it was the best—the absolute best.

“We’re staying in our old apartment?” I clarified as I pulled out the huge baby bag from the back.

“Yeah.” Dimitri grabbed our suitcase and our smaller baby bag.

Once inside, we saw Karma showing Sasha off to everyone and took it as a sign to dump our bags. It felt kind of good to be back. It wasn’t home. I saw now that it never could’ve been, but it was family and always would be that.

Dimitri brushed a thumb across my cheek as we moved through the corridor. “You okay?”

“Just…remembering.” I leaned in to his touch.

We dropped everything off, repacked the small diaper bag, and went to join the others.

“I don’t think we were missed.” I linked my hand with my mate’s hand took in the scene before us. Everyone focused on Sasha, who loved every minute of it.

“We’ll be missed when they need something from the diaper bag,” he teased. And he was right. Everyone wanted to hold the baby until they needed a new diaper.

We walked over to them, and there were hugs aplenty.

It was nice catching up with everyone, being able to see what their families were up to, hearing about different events that had taken place at the club, people’s plans for the future—all the normal things we generally talked about in our group chat, but somehow were more real because we were together.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, Karma and Warren had closed the club down for the night for a “special event.” That special event being all of us eating together without any distractions from customers.

And what made it even more special was that it was a potluck, which meant we had amazing cookies, Goldie’s scones, charcuterie, along with enchiladas, pasta bakes, and salads.

The vibe—exactly perfect.

And even though Sasha wasn’t the only little one there, he never had to be worried about being put down. There were plenty of arms waiting.

When the night was over, and the three of us walked back to our old apartment, a calm came over me, one that said that we’d made the right choice—not only working here for the time we did, but also moving.

Which was weird to think about because we were happy here. We had family here.

And this would always be a place to come back to, a place to visit, a place to recharge. But the den? That would always be our home.

I fed Sasha then, while I hopped in the shower, Dimitri changed him and put him down in the crib that had magically appeared in our old apartment.

“Room for one more?” He stood in the doorway.

I was just about to get out, but that wasn’t going to stop me from accepting his offer.

“Absolutely. Sasha is asleep already?”

Dimitri climbed in beside me, and I stepped out of the way so he could be fully under the water.

“He fell asleep while I was putting on his pajamas. The little man had a very full day.”

I reached up and massaged his scalp under the steamy water, readying him for the shampoo.

“We all did.” I pressed a kiss to his mating mark, the one that shouted to the world that he was mine. On our first night together, he’d marked me, but later, I returned the favor. Tradition be damned. Apparently, in some matings, everyone got a mark, and I liked that.

“If you keep doing that, I’m not going to be getting any cleaner. You won’t either.”

“And what if I told you that was my plan?” It hadn’t been, but it sure was now. “What would you say then?”

“I wouldn’t be able to speak, I’d be too busy kissing you. Why? Was it your plan?”

I answered him in the way he promised to answer me, with a kiss that led to another and another.

It was hard to believe that not much over a year ago, I nearly mated someone for business gains. Standing my ground and walking away from everything I’d ever known had been the best decision I ever made.

Now I had a mate I loved and who loved me back just as deeply, a beautiful son, a den that accepted me, a family at Animals, and a lifetime of these kisses.

Nothing could be better than that. Nothing.