Page 114 of Eternal Light

Like he did me.

He doesn’t say it out loud, but Jay can hear it in the quiet words, loud and clear.

Ruin them?

Well, what can Jay say that Leo, Rowan, and most recently, Nix haven’t said? He isn’t trivializing Gideon’s feelings—because Goddess knows Jay worries about the myriad of ways James Rhodes Sr. fucked him up too, and that was even before this week.

But he can show Gideon that he understands where he’s coming from, and do the one thing only he can.

“I won’t let you.”

Gideon freezes.

“Pardon?”

“I said, I won’t let you. Is that what you need to hear?”

Jay shrugs.

“Gideon, love. You’re good. You’ve heard this from everyone who means anything to you, and when we get home, I’m dumping you on Ruthie’s doorstep so you can work this out with a professional. But if you need to hear it from me, your Alpha, then I’ll say it.”

He squeezes once.

“I. Won’t. Let. You. I won’t let you ruin them, or hurt them, or any of the other things those of us with horrible fathers have been worrying about non-stop since October.”

Gideon deflates, landing on the edge of the bed so he can relax into Leo’s waiting arms.

“Promise?”

He sticks his pinky finger out, and Jay doesn’t hesitate to connect them.

“I promise. We’re doing this together, and we’ll help each other.”

“I’ll help too, but if someone else could do the puke? I mean, I’m pretty good at ball sports,” Luca says loudly from the restroom.

Heis not, in fact, good at sports.

“You can do the applesauce portion of the parenting, baby,” Finn says, and it’s followed by a giggle and kissing noises.

Gideon lies back and looks at Jay upside down. “They don’t really eat poop, do they?”

Jay shrugs. “One day at a time. It’ll be okay.”

Fuck, he sure hopes it will, because now Jay is worrying about their babies eating shit.

Leo slaps Jay’s bare thigh.

“Stop the spiral. How did we get here? We have help: my parents, Artem, and hey, Beth managed to raise Rowan. She probably knows everything,” Leo says.

“Yeah. Do you think she’ll move in?” Finn asks, pulling Luca into the room after him.

Luca snorts. “Where are we putting her? Come to think of it, where are we putting the girls?”

“I thought we might use the rut room for a nursery for now. Then we can convert the dance and music studios into a kid/family-friendly nest space. You guys are moving into the new Phoenix Records space anyway.” Gideon shrugs at their surprised faces. “What? There’s a lot of time to think when you’re waiting on drunk fucks to spill the beans about the guy you’re looking to kill. It’s not like I just asked and they pointed the way, you know?”

They spend the next hour reimagining the compound so the kids and the expected visitors will have a comfortable place to stay.

Gideon makes grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, and by the time their magic-infused mates return from The Guild, they have a pretty good idea of what might work. Jay will talk about it with Grayson when his mate looks less like a chimney sweep.