Page 15

Chapter Fifteen

Arley

“C ome on, babies, let’s get you all dressed and ready,” I sing-songed to our sextuplets. “Today is a big day for Daddy. Today is the day he gets his degree and graduates from the university. And we are all going to go and cheer him on. Isn’t that exciting?”

Six adorable babies lay in front of me babbling back at me and waving their feet and arms. I doubted they had any idea what I was saying but I would talk to them, nonetheless.

“Need some help in here.” Mom came into the nursery of our new home and picked up KiKi. “Dad and I can get the babies ready. Why don’t you go and take your shower and get yourself dressed?”

“Yeah, we have the kids. Go get ready.” Dad walked in and picked up JoJo. “We have two hours before the graduation starts. If we all work together, we can get there on time and watch our Fen walk down that aisle and become the first in our family to graduate college.”

“You two must be so proud.” I smiled at my in-laws as I finished changing Lily’s diaper. I didn’t feel jealous at all that my in-laws were nabbing my precious babies. But they were right. I needed to shower and the reprieve would be nice. “He is excited to finally have his degree.”

“We have always been proud.” Mom changed KiKi into an adorable outfit we picked out just for the day. “My daddy is graduating” written brightly on the onesie. “Even before he published his first novel, he made us proud. But with everything he does, it just grows deeper and deeper. He is amazing.”

Warmth filled my chest thinking of all the accomplishments Fen had made in his life and I knew there was much more to come. “As long as you two are sure you have the babies, I’ll go get ready.”

Rushing out the room before I got caught up in taking care of the babies, I trusted my in-laws to get that job done. I was aware that if I didn’t take the chance right away to go take time for myself, I could easily lose myself in being just a papa. Not that it wasn’t who I was, but I was more than Papa, and taking care of myself meant taking care of them better.

Quickly undressing and climbing into the shower, I let the water run down my body. The rivets of water felt good on my skin, and I mentally envisioned each one taking the stressors of daily life off and away from me, escaping through the drain and taking it all away with it. Feeling refreshed, I exited the shower and towel dried my body and hair, taking this time to mentally think over the logistics of taking six infants to a graduation ceremony. If it wasn’t so important for my mate to have his children there to witness his big day, I probably would have gotten babysitters. At least I had his parents to help me. We can each handle two children. And if worse comes to worse, Neal’s parents said they would be sitting nearby and could help out if needed. They were a part of our village after all.

Dressed and ready, I checked in to see how Mom and Dad were doing with the sextuplets. And found chaos.

“Arley dear, we are so sorry.” Mom handed me Simon and went back to comforting a hysterical Danny. They all just started crying at once. We fed them, changed them, but nothing seems to help.”

“It’s okay. I think I know the issue.” I stared down into the big brown eyes of my child and he settled right away. His brothers and sisters soon followed in their quieting. “This is why it’s been so hard to get anything done lately. The moment I’m in another room for longer than five minutes, they start screaming.

“Do they do that for Fen as well?” Dad placed a now-silent Lily in the crib and then also placed JoJo down next to her. “Or is it just with us?”

“It’s with anyone who isn’t me.” I sat on the rocking chair in the corner of the room. “I read this is something that can happen sometime within their first year. They’re getting used to their surroundings and latch on to one parent or caregiver for security. The doctor said they will outgrow it. Just try to limit how long I leave them for now while they settle into their pack bonds and their animals’ instincts learn who they can trust.”

“Are we almost ready to go at least?” I looked at my six children and found them all dressed and content. My kids and I seemed ready to leave the house for the day. “Do either of you need to still get ready?”

“We got dressed before coming to help you and there were no accidents with the babies so we are still good.” Mom held up her large bag in one hand and the equally huge diaper bag in the other, sparing me a wink. “I packed a change of clothes for each of us in one bag and then made sure we had all the baby essentials packed in their bag as well. We should be good for a few hours.”

“I love those ready-to-feed bottles for times like this. No need for a cooler and it takes up little space in the bag.” I knew some omegas managed to chest feed their babies but my milk never let down, and so I had to provide for the children through formula. Fed is best after all. While I was a little disheartened, I figured my body knew best after all with six mouths to feed. “Let’s get going before we are late. I want to make sure we are seated and settled before the ceremony begins.”

An hour and some baby juggling later, we sat in the stadium watching Fen cross the stage and receive his degree. Neal’s parents and brother sat beside us, and the six of us each held a baby. I smiled at the sight of the sextuplets in their onesies claiming their father as a graduate, but the adorable bears they all held that stated “Our uncles are graduating too!” were a hit with the families surrounding us. I knew Neal and Dean would get teary-eyed when they saw them, even if they would try to hide it behind jokes. Those two were wrapped around the babies’ fingers. It would be fun one day to witness them having their own children.

“Fen Masterson.” The dean called my mate’s name and I took pictures as he greeted the professors on stage and returned to his seat on the main floor of the stadium. And then Dean and Neal also received their diploma when it was their turn. The crowd held all applause until the last name was called and then the cheers broke out. Luckily it was the final moments of the ceremony, so when the children loudly voiced their displeasure with the crowd’s reaction, we were able to pack up and leave before the others began their exit.

“Come on, the guys said they will meet us over at the house for the party.” Dad led us through the crowd and out of the stadium. “I’ll start up the barbeque as soon as we get home and we can get the kids settled and ready to congratulate their daddy and uncles.”

Hanging out with friends and family in honor of Fen, Dean, and Neal was the recipe for a wonderful night. The graduates were ecstatic that I had put together the festivities and made sure that everything ran smoothly. Our party went into the night, the sextuplets eventually falling asleep in the portable crib inside the gazebo.

“Thank you, my love, for throwing together this party.” Fen danced with me when most of the others had left and Mom and Dad took the babies for the night. “I had a great time with everyone. It made the day even more amazing.”

“Anything for you, Fen. You deserve the world.”

“You are my world, Arley. You and our kids. You are everything.”

Fen

“I don’t know if this scene is working.” I closed my laptop and rested my eye; the feeling of defeat hung over me. “It seems like the more I try to force it, the worse it becomes.” I never had this much trouble with a manuscript. I didn’t know what my issue was.

“I know your writing and I can’t believe that chapter is as bad as you are making it out to be. I bet it’s brilliant.” Arley sat on the edge of my desk and handed me a glass of wine. “Here, have some of this and try again.”

“Thanks, baby.” I took the wine from his hand and took a sip. “Delicious. Is this the merlot we got after my graduation from Neal’s parents?”

“It is.” Arley took a sip from his own glass and set it down on the coaster next to my laptop. “Now, tell me about this scene and what has you so worried.”

“Fine. Maybe you can see the key to moving forward, because I sure can’t. It’s right here.” I flipped open my laptop and reloaded my manuscript, turning the screen to face my mate. “I get to this one scene and then my mind freezes up. I just stare at the screen.”

“Let me read it.” Arley sat down on my lap and read what I had written. His subtle shifts teasing my cock, as it lay nestled between his clothed cheeks. Part of me wondering if he was aware of the effect he was having on me. “This sounds really good, baby. But I do have a few suggestions.”

“Oh yeah.” I closed my eyes and lost myself in the feel of him rubbing his bubble ass over my thickening cock. “What do you suggest, my love?”

“So your two main characters are a boss and his secretary, right?” Arley arched his back and the sight of it had my mind thinking about how prettily he arched when I was taking him from behind. “Well it’s obvious they want to fuck, but they haven’t yet. Why not?”

“Because.” My breathing was getting heavier and thoughts were starting to get heavier to put together in a way that made sense, yet I still tried. “It’s against company policy and they don’t want to break the rules.”

“Sometimes rules need to be busted.” Arley leaned back and twisted his head so he could kiss me. Then he fell forward again.

“So how would you fix this?” I leaned up and licked the back of his neck. “Tell me what you think they should do.”

“I think you need to have main character one seduce main character two right there at the desk.” Arley leaned forward and starting typing words into my document, but I didn’t care, as long as he didn’t stop grinding on me. “I think that they need to have a hot-and-heavy dry-rutting session.”

“Oh yeah.” I pushed the desk chair back but held tightly onto my mate so he came with. “Why don’t you show me instead of tell me?”

“As you wish.”

After showing me exactly what he thought my characters should be doing and leaving me breathless and thoroughly satisfied, Arley lay naked against me on the floor of my home office. The baby monitor nearby but blessedly silent still. It didn’t matter how many times we had sex, every single time seemed to be more intense and more satisfying than the last. I wondered if it would always feel like this.

“Did that help you finish the scene?” Arley drew lazy circles on my chest, a slight smile playing at his lips. “I could always show you again.” I chuckled at the flirtation in his voice; my mate was insatiable.

“I know exactly what to write for that scene now, baby. And it’s all thanks to you and that marvelous ass of yours.” I kissed the top of his head and pulled him even closer into my body. Our hearts beat as one, a heavy staccato against our ribs; it was strange and calming to feel his heart race along with mine. “But feel free to show me any more ideas you may have about future scenes. You know I usually don’t only have one sex scene in a book. So I need a lot of inspiration.” Can’t blame a man for trying, if my mate took the hint.

“Well, you did moan out something about me being your perfect muse so I guess that’s my job now.” Arley clicked my nipple with his tongue, his breath sending a chill over my sweaty skin. “Maybe I need to set up my office in the next room so you can keep me close. You can come in anytime and ask for another demonstration. What do you think?”

“I think that you are a very sexy mate and I am a very lucky alpha to have you.” That was the understatement of a century; I was the luckiest alpha alive.

“That’s a good answer and I think I agree with you. You are very lucky to have me,” he said cheekily, a sly grin on his face, eyes twinkling in merriment.

“Arley, what about you? Are you lucky to have me?” I glided my hand down his back and cupped his ass.

“Of course, baby. I’m the luckiest.” It wasn’t until the next day that I got to my manuscript, but I didn’t have a roadblock any longer.