Page 8 of Gifts of Fate (Kindred of Arkadia #7)

Damian

“Everyone is at the diner avoiding you,” Damian said crossly, as he watched his best friend pick at imaginary lint.

“That’s a mean thing to say,” Rian argued.

“It’s true! You’re driving everyone out of the house, including Sebastian who could give birth any day now.”

“I need everything to be perfect.”

Damian’s eyes went to the stockings hanging on the fireplace mantel. The names written in childish handwriting seemed out of place with the elaborate decorations.

“Rian, no matter what, our families aren’t coming back. When are you going to accept that?”

“Never!” Rian turned his back to his friend.

“I’m heading to the diner to be with my friends and grab lunch. I hope you take this time alone, in your perfect world, to think about what matters most.” Damian slammed the door behind him when he walked out.

Rian collapsed to the floor and stared at the room before him.

It was perfect. From the drapes to the table runner.

If it was so perfect, why did it feel so wrong?

It was quiet. It had been a long time since the house was this quiet.

Back when Liam’s father ran the pride it was a common occurrence, but not recently.

Not his with his misfits living here. He didn’t like it growing up and he didn’t like it now.

He got up and looked around the room. He couldn’t put his finger on what was missing. He had made sure that the napkin rings matched the candelabra. The punch bowl sparkled. The lights in the chandelier dimmed. The tree was a work of art, each bulb perfectly spaced apart.

Throwing up his arms in frustration he went to sit down on the sofa and remembered last minute he had just vacuumed it.

In his effort to preserve his slip cover he missed the sofa and hit the floor.

He looked up and grinned, only to realize he was alone.

There was no one there to razz him. He finally figured out what was missing. His friends.

He jumped to his feet and grabbed his coat.

You could have the most beautifully decorated house in the world, but that is all it would remain.

A house. What made it a home was friends and family and that’s what he wanted most. A home.

He hoped that his friends would forgive him for the way he had been acting lately.

Smiling, he headed out to the diner to eat lunch with his family.