Page 33 of Knot Our Reality (Heated #5)

Emilia

I end up sleeping in even though I went to bed at like ten last night, but it’s nearly nine when I make the trek to Remington’s cabin.

Knocking lightly, I hear the sounds of tiny feet running for the door.

“Boy! Do not answer that door.” Victoria’s voice is sharp but quiet, and the footsteps immediately stop. “Thank you. Now, let me make sure it’s your mom.”

I wave when she peeks out the window to the side of the door.

The door opens, and the boys fly at me.

“Hold it!” Remington barks, and they freeze again.

Hawk glances over his shoulder at his uncle. “Sorry. We know to be gentle.”

“Oh, boys, come give me a hug.” I lower myself to the ground and open my arms for them.

Within seconds, my boys are in my arms, and it’s like everything in the world is right again. While it’s been nice getting to know the suitors, I’ve missed the hell out of my sons.

Sure, it’s not the first time I’ve been away from them. Every three months, I would spend my heat away from them before my pack died. But I haven’t been away from them except for work and school since their dads died.

“I’ve missed you both so much.” I cling to them, not ready to be away from them just yet. “I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.” Jasper kisses my cheek. “But too tight. ”

I laugh, releasing them. Jasper smacks one last kiss on my lips before hurrying back inside. He yells something about breakfast.

Meanwhile, Hawk stands there, staring at me with a stoic look on his face. My brows pinch, a frown forming as I stare back at him.

“What’s wrong, Hawk?”

He sighs. “I love and miss you, too. Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be, baby?”

“I don’t know. You were meeting new alphas and betas. I don’t know them, so I don’t know if I can trust them.” As usual, Hawk sounds much too old for his age.

I hum, pulling him back to me. “I can understand that, but I don’t want to introduce you to people who are just going to disappear from your life.

At least not before I’ve gotten to know them a little better.

I know you’re only looking out for me, but do you think you can wait a little longer to meet them? ”

He shrugs. “It depends on how long.”

Running through the schedule in my head, I realize the week five meeting I planned isn’t going to work. Not if this is so important to Hawk.

“I’m having dates with them this week, and those have already been decided,” I say slowly. “How about the week after? We can plan kid-friendly dates so you can meet them.”

Hawk considers me before nodding. “Okay. May I go finish breakfast now?”

“Of course, baby.” I run a hand through his hair before he darts inside. It takes me a moment to realize there’s no way I’m getting up on my own.

I sigh, turning my attention to my grinning brother. “You can wipe that look off your face right now. Help me up, please?”

“I’ll gladly help you up, but there’s no way I’m not going to laugh about it while I do.” Remington easily tows me to my feet.

“Really, Remy? Are you sure that’s how you want to play it?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow as Victoria steps into the hallway after having helped the boys back to the kitchen .

He shrugs. “What can I say? It makes me feel good when my independent big sister needs my help with something. Even if it’s towing her pregnant ass off the floor.”

“Remington Hawthorne!”

He immediately freezes, his eyes falling shut. “You totally set me up, didn’t you?”

I reach up to pat his cheek. “No, darling, you did that all by yourself. I just let you keep going when I knew she was there.”

“I’m sorry for giving you a hard time, Em.” He kisses the top of my head before turning back to his pregnant alpha. “Please don’t yell at me. I hate it when you’re angry with me.”

Victoria melts as he takes her face in his hands. “Ugh. Fine. Go away.”

I snicker as my brother kisses her before scurrying back inside. “Pregnancy hormones getting to you?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” She rolls her eyes, gesturing toward the porch swing. “Do you want to sit?”

“I should probably—”

“The boys are fine,” she assures me. “Camila’s in there with them. They both beg for Auntie Cami’s cooking for every meal of the day. They adore her.”

I lower myself onto the swing, waiting until she joins me before responding, “They love all of you. They love being surrounded by a pack—especially since it’s just been us for so long.”

“That’s not your fault, Emilia.” Victoria grabs my hand, squeezing it. “Now that there aren’t any little ears listening. Are you okay?”

“I am. I promise. We had to send one suitor home on his group’s date. In fact, you might remember him from your season. Daniel Kennedy.”

Victoria’s eyes flash. “They let that douche back on the show? After how aggressive he was with Remy?”

I shrug. “He said he apologized to Remy, and Remy gave the okay for him to be on the show. Whatever, it’s fine. He’s no longer my problem. Besides him, the rest of the suitors are amazing. This just isn’t going the way I thought it would, so it’s throwing me off.”

Which is how I end up spilling my guts to my sister-in-law before the boys come out, demanding I play with them.

I might be pregnant as hell, but that doesn’t mean I’m ever going to turn down playtime with my boys. I might move slower, but they don’t seem to mind.

After having lunch, Jasper ends up passing out on the couch when my brother gets a call from Bree, asking me to come over to their cabin.

As much as I hate leaving my boys for even a short period of time when I know I’ll have to leave them for longer tonight, I leave after Hawk rolls his eyes at me and calls me clingy.

Remington and Carter walk me over to Bree’s cabin so they can be in on the meeting.

I didn’t expect quite so many people to be gathered in Bree’s living room.

Finn is here, sitting beside Bree. Sophia and Chase sit on her other side while Tessa, Alejandro, and Conrad sit on the other side of the sectional.

That leaves the loveseat for my brother and Carter, while I take the recliner.

I sigh in relief as I pull the throw blanket off the back and wrap it around myself. It smells like Bree and her pack, which brings me comfort. When a pillow hits me in the face, I frown when I find Finn grinning at me.

“We both know you like holding pillows when you’re anxious. I just wanted to make sure you had one.”

I flip him off. “Fates above, what happened to professionalism around here?”

Bree snorts out a laugh. “You’re family, Emilia. There’s no professionalism when dealing with family.”

“While I agree—to a point,” Sophia says primly, but I can see the smile trying to escape. “There are serious topics we need to discuss.”

The mood immediately sobers.

“Sorry to put a damper on the mood, but the sooner we get this over with, the sooner Emilia can get back to her boys.” Sophia picks up her tablet, skimming something before flipping to another page.

“Simon’s lawyers are doing anything they can to make your life difficult, which is why I’m not telling you about this until now.

“There was a hearing this week. Simon’s council tried to use your appearing on Heated to have you labeled as an unfit parent.

” She holds up her hand to silence me, and I snap my mouth shut.

“It was dismissed—as I knew it would be. That’s why I didn’t bother telling you about it.

The judge informed them they could not file any more injunctions about you.

He told them they needed to hold all evidence until the custody trial.

Any further requests before then will be immediately denied. ”

I frown. “Is that a good thing?”

“It is.” Sophia smiles. “They’ve been trying to keep me tied up in paperwork and unnecessary court dates as if it’s going to mess up our strategy. What they don’t realize is they can’t mess up our strategy.”

“And that’s because…” I trail off, not sure where she’s going with this.

“Because all we need is for you to have a pack, then the courts will side with you. Nine times out of ten, the courts will side with the mother—especially if the mother is an omega. The archaic law about omegas being declared unfit without a pack was a surprise, but it in no way sets us back since you’re here to find said pack. ”

Chase clears his throat. “Alejandro and I have been working our way through our contacts. Now that attention has been brought to it and a few other laws that make omegas powerless without a pack, change is on its way. It won’t be in time for your case, but I want you to know we’re working on it.”

“We can’t protect you from it being used against you,” Alejandro continues. “But we’re damn well going to make sure it can’t be used against anyone else.”

I nod. We knew there wasn’t enough time for the law to be changed in time to help me, but this is about so much more than me. How many other omegas find themselves in a similar situation and don’t have the support I do?

Yes, this is about keeping my kids, but it’s also about making sure this never happens again .

“We’ve had a lot of requests for interviews and appearances.

” Sophia wrinkles her nose. “I keep telling them you’re busy with Heated .

One would think that would get them off my back, but it doesn’t.

You might need to do a few. You’re a known name and being on Heated will only make your fame grow.

Whether you want to be or not, you’ve become the face for this movement of abolished laws that essentially enslave omegas without a pack. ”

“That’s definitely not what I wanted, but I’m not surprised.

I’m willing to do appearances and interviews, but I need to approve them.

The first interview needs to go to Pack It Up .

If I’m going to do this, my business gets first dibs.

We have good relationships with some of the talk shows.

Call my assistant and let her know what we need, and she’ll make sure it happens.

” I turn to Bree. “Assuming we can make it work with the show.”

She immediately waves me off. “Don’t worry about that. We’ll figure it out. I’m even willing to allow them to come to the compound to record the interviews. That should get them creaming their pants. They’re always trying to get exclusives about Heated .”

We spend another hour or so working out our next steps, and I feel a lot better about all of it.

Do I want to do interviews and reveal my life story? I sure the fuck don’t, but this needs to be done.

As soon as the meeting is called to a close, I rush back to Remington’s cabin to spend more time with my boys. Bree clears the suitors away from the outdoor pool so we can bring the kids over. Because it’s not just me and my kids. No, any of the crew’s family who want to come can.

We end up having a huge cookout, and I feel a little bad that my suitors aren’t invited. It’s just too soon to introduce them to the boys. As is, I already promised Hawk he could meet the remaining suitors in another week. That means I need to get serious about getting to know them better.

I have to figure out who I’m willing to bring into my kids’ lives.

No pressure or anything .

“So what’s this I hear about you possibly being part of an omega pair?” Remington asks as he sits beside me.

I frown, glancing at Bree, who looks guilty as hell. Of course, she told him.

I shrug. “Or maybe we’re just attracted to one another.”

“There’s an easy way to find out. All I need to do is run your blood.”

“Seriously? It’s just a blood test? How is that possible?”

Remington laughs. “Because I’ve been studying it. There’s a particular marker I can search for. It only appears when the omega meets their match. I think it might be the key to figuring out the fertility issues, but I’m not there yet.”

“I’m surprised you told me if you haven’t confirmed it yet.”

He shrugs. “Sometimes I like to talk about my theories, but stop changing the topic. Will you let me test your blood?”

I sigh, wanting to say no, but I need to know.

“Fine.” I laugh when he pulls out a kit from his pocket. “Seriously? You’re just carrying that around? What? In case you need to draw someone’s blood?”

My brother flushes. “No, asshole. I wouldn’t do that. I have it for just this reason.”

A few minutes later, he has his vial of blood, and I’m sporting a neon pink bandage. At least he has the good colored ones.

“Since I’m here, I have someone coming to pick it up and bring it back to the lab. We should have the results later this week.”

I give him a smile as I thank him, when all I want to do is scream. Later this week could mean anything from Monday to Friday, and I hate not knowing when I’ll have the answers I need.

I push away all thoughts of it when Jasper calls for me to join him and Hawk in the pool. Who am I to tell my boys no?