Page 20

twenty

ulgan

“U lgan, can you grab the charcuterie board from the fridge and bring it out to the car?” Ada calls from the front door, arms filled with bouquets of flowers for my mom, Selene, and Miss Laurel. I picked up Miss Laurel last week and she’s been staying with my mom at her house. My thoughtful mate decided that all of the ladies in my family deserve some fresh blooms.

“What is it with you humans and cheese boards?”

“Don’t you dare speak negatively about charcuterie boards,” Ada chastises me.

Ada has been teaching me about the beauty and art of making a proper charcuterie board. I still don’t see the appeal, but if it makes my love happy to put a bunch of stuff on a wooden tray, then I’ll be there each time to cheer her on and devour it.

“I promise to never disparage the almighty charcuterie again. I’ll bring it right outside. Do you need any help getting these flowers to the car?” I ask, holding out my arms.

“Thank you, my handsome mate, but I’m all set over here. You’ve got yourself an independent woman.” She balances the bouquets in one arm and raises her other to flex her bicep.

The past few weeks have felt like walking in a daydream. Ada and I have fallen into a daily routine that brings me such contentment and joy. Each day I get to wake up next to the most beautiful woman in the world, and at night we come back together to support one another, laugh, and make love.

I grab what we need from the fridge, and head outside. I place everything in the back of my Jeep, and then walk around to the drivers side to hop in. Ada is already in the passenger seat, which she calls her passenger princess throne. I don’t know where she comes up with this shit, but it certainly keeps me on my toes.

We drive the short distance to my mother’s house, where we’re meeting everyone for an early dinner. We’ve only just parked in the driveway when Selene comes bursting out of the house, hurrying over to the car.

“Hey,” I open my door and call out to her. “Mind helping us bring all of this inside?”

Selene ignores me and goes right over to Ada. The two of them hug and begin talking excitedly. Seeing my mate and sister get along so well is a relief.

“Ada, you will not believe who Mom invited to dinner tonight!” Selene is buzzing. Someone’s joining us today?

“Who did Mom invite? Hello, by the way,” I say, pulling her in for a brief hug.

“Hey, big bro. Mom has a guy over!” It takes me a second to process this. Ada and Selene both squeal with delight. My mother hasn’t dated anyone to my knowledge since her mate died, way before she adopted Selene and I. Who is this mystery man and what are his intentions with my mother?

“Come inside and meet him,” Selene says. “He’s actually a really great guy.”

That puts me at ease, at least. We unload the car and enter the house. I spot Miss Laurel first and she slowly gets up from her chair to give Ada and I hugs, her vines wrapping around each of us.

Mom’s voice calls from the kitchen. “Is that my Ulgie and Ada? Come in here you two. I have someone I want you to meet.”

As if she could sense my trepidation, Ada holds my hand, giving it a squeeze. We find my mom in the kitchen chopping vegetables on the island, and an older cyclops with graying hair and a mustache sits across from her on a stool, folding napkins into different animals.

“Oh those are so freaking cool!” Ada lights up with excitement. “I’m Ada, and this is my mate, Ulgan. Can you teach me how to make those?”

I guess her love for art extends to napkins, too.

“Ada and Ulgan, I want you to meet my friend, Harold. Harold, this is my son Ulgan and his adorable mate, Ada.” My mother beams as she introduces us.

“It’s nice to meet you, Harold,” I say, extending my hand to shake his. Ada always says that she can tell if someone is a good person by looking at their eyes. She swears that good people have kind eyes. Well, Harold only has one, but it’s clear to see how much he cares for Mom, because he can’t take that eye off of her when she’s talking.

“It’s great to meet you both. Edie’s been telling me all about you. Thank you for letting me crash your family dinner.”

Selene enters the kitchen, her arm is wrapped around Miss Laurel to keep her stable, and guides her to sit at the new table that I finished just last week.

“All right, now that all of the niceties are out of the way, somebody bring that cheese and crackers over here. I'm effing starving.” Miss Laurel is infamous around here for being hangry.

Sitting at the table with Selene and Miss Laurel, I watch Harold teach Ada the art of napkin folding, which he shares he learned while working at one of the top restaurants in the city. Ada runs over to show me the napkin bunny she’s made. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious.

All of the food is ready, and I help Mom to place all of the warm dishes on the table. The aroma has my mouth watering. Everyone takes their seat and digs in. It doesn’t escape my notice that Harold is serving Mom first before getting his portion. That certainly wins him some points with me. Ada’s arm is draped over the back of my chair and she’s lazily rubbing my back. Her touch grounds me.

“Ada, darling, you must join my book club next week for our monthly meeting.” Mom’s book club, the NecROMANCERS, read all kinds of alien and monster smut. My mother is a bit too open about what she reads, which means I’ve heard far too much about aliens with multiple dicks and monsters with tentacles.

“I would love to! What are you reading this month?” Goddess, help me.

“There’s this wonderful author named Ivy Knox that writes the most delicious books. We’re currently reading her series about dragon alien shifter brothers that have landed on Earth. The male lead is so yummy.”

No man should have to hear his own mother call another man “yummy”.

“Say less, you had me at dragon alien shifters.” Ada has shared her book collection with me, so it comes as no surprise that this kind of book would be right up her alley. Just the other night she was trying to explain why she has a ‘feral love’ for a series by an author named Hazel Mack. According to Ada, the series is about a town kind of like Whispering Springs where monsters live, but as Ada put it, “That is one small town I wouldn’t mind visiting, if ya know what I mean. Everyone is freaking gorgeous!”

The dinner winds down, and the ladies go to the living room to relax while Harold and I wash the dishes.

“There is nothing sexier than a man washing dishes.” Ada winks at me and pinches my ass, making sure that no one else saw.

Whispering into her ear, I growl, “You’re going to pay for that later, little mate.”

“Can’t wait!” She gives me another wink before sauntering off to the living room, giving me a show by swaying her hips in the way that I like. That lucious woman is a handful, and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.

After Harold and I finish up, we join everyone else in the living room. Ada moves over on the couch to make room for me. I sit down and without warning, Selene bombards me with questions.

“Ada was just telling us that you’re both thinking about planning a party to celebrate your mating ceremony. I would love to volunteer my event planning services.” I should’ve known that Selene would be all over planning this party, and to be honest, I’m quite thankful. Party planning isn’t something I’ve ever had to do, so I have no clue where to start.

“Does this mean that you’ll be staying in town?” Ada asks, trying to keep her excitement in check.

“I figured Whispering Springs could use an event planner, so yes, I’m staying.”

“I’ve missed having you around, Selene. It will be awesome to have you living close by.” The news gives me a sense of contentment.

“Yes! This is the best news ever! Rue, Isla, and Hannah are going to freak when they find out!” Ada runs over to give her a hug, and then joins me back on the couch.

“Honey, I’m so happy to hear that we’ll be seeing more of you.” Mom has unshed tears in her eyes.

Looking at the clock, it’s time for me to show Ada her surprise. Everybody else at the dinner was already in on my plans, so hopefully this will go smoothly.

“Okay, everyone. I have a surprise that I need to show Ada, so we’ll be leaving now.” I probably could’ve been more eloquent in my announcement, but I’m just too excited to care.

Ada shoots me a confused look, but decides to go along with it once she sees how excited everyone else in the room is. She hugs everyone and promises to call Selene the next day to meet up for lunch to discuss the party.

Hurrying Ada into my Jeep, we head toward our destination.

“Baby, where are we going? You know that surprises make me nervous.” That I do. I rest my hand on her thigh like always and rub my thumb in soothing circles.

“This is a good surprise, I promise.” My hands are shaking lightly, a mix of nervous energy and excitement.

We finally reach our destination, and Ada shoots me a confused look as I put the car in park and go around to open her door for her.

“Ulgan, what am I looking at?” she asks, still trying to piece together the puzzle.

Before us is a two story white Cape Cod style home with a spacious front porch, gabled roof, and large windows that will let in a good amount of natural sunlight.

Ada is standing in front of me, and I can’t stop myself from wrapping my arms around her waist and resting my chin on her shoulder. “The house is ours, Sunshine. Do you like it?” I ask, whispering into her ear and kissing her cheek. A lump forms in my throat as I wait for her to respond.

“Wait a minute. This house is ours? How is that possible?” She turns to face me. Astonishment is written all over her lovely face.

“I worked with Declan to design the house, and helped his crew to build it whenever I had free time,” I say with pride.

“When the hell did you have time to do all of this?" she asks, confused still.

“Sunshine, we’ve been working on this since the day we drove over to see Miss Laurel. If I’m being honest, Declan’s crew did most of the work. Maybe it was a bit presumptuous of me to do this, but it helped to give me hope. Hoping that one day you and I would be together and live here.” I will do anything to make this woman happy. “Could you see yourself living here?”

“This is real, isn’t it? You actually built my dream house. Oh, Ulgan, this is incredible.” She jumps up, wrapping her arms around my neck. I spin her around and allow her laughter to envelop me. “Can we go inside?” she asks, once I’ve set her down.

“This is your house, Sunshine. You can see anything you like. The inside isn’t finished just yet, but I want you to be included in all of those decisions. Can I recommend that you start at your art studio on the second floor? It has a great view of the spring.”

“You made me a freaking art studio!” Ada grabs my hand and drags me into our home. “Holy shit, you’re totally getting laid tonight.”

Taking a page from Ada’s favorite books, this orc is ready for his happily ever after with his Sunshine.