Page 3 of Roman (Destined Paranormals #7)

Chapter 3

Roman

I was nervous. I shouldn’t be, but here I was, sitting at the end of the road that would take me to Knox and Philip’s house. I was sixty-eight years old, and I had spent two decades raising and protecting my twin brothers, yet now I was hiding at the end of the road in my vehicle because the thought of seeing them was a bit unnerving.

There truly was no reason for my unease. Knox had been quite welcoming, but I had sadly pulled away from both of my brothers. Partly because I did not wish to interfere in their new lives but mostly because I was trying to be a good brother. I knew that I had been overly protective, and both of my brothers had expressed frustration with me on more than one occasion. They did not need me any longer, and I was trying my best to let them live their lives without me interfering.

Where did that leave me? Alone, but I had taken steps to make sure that I started living my life again. Well, I had thought I had. I was employed at the local college, but it wasn’t really what I’d expected.

Knowing that if I didn’t show up soon, I put my vehicle in drive and continued down the road until I reached a familiar driveway. I turned in, and when I noticed not only Knox’s truck but a large black SUV that I knew Ramsey drove, I realized I was the last one to arrive. A quick glance at my dash told me I wasn’t late. Maybe Ramsey and Phineas had simply been here for some time? The twins, despite being mated, were still incredibly close, and I knew that it had been an adjustment for them when Knox brought Philip down off the mountain.

I parked my own SUV and then reached for the bakery box. Philip must have been waiting for me to arrive because I didn’t even make it halfway to the door before he came running out toward me. I moved the box to one hand and then held out my arm for my little brother. He made a squeaking sound before he slammed into me. I wrapped my arm around him and gave him a tight hug.

“I’ve missed you,” he told me. “Don’t spend so much time away from stopping by to say hi.”

“I have missed you as well. Phineas too. And also the babies. How have you been?”

“We’re all good. I think the bigger question is, how have you been? It’s not like you to just disappear like you did.”

He wasn’t wrong. I had been such a constant in both of their lives for so long I was certain that my sudden disappearance was noticed. “I’ve been busy,” I told him. That wasn’t completely untrue, but we both knew that wasn’t completely the reason why I had stepped back so much.

“I’m not going to push,” Philip said as he looked up at me. “You have your reasons, and whatever they are, they are yours.” Philip offered a smile before he took a step back and then nodded toward the house. “Why don’t we go in? Knox has been marinating steaks all day, and I know Phineas is just as excited to see you as I am. There is so much to get caught up on, and we want to hear all about how teaching has been going for you.”

“Teaching is not new,” I told him as we started walking toward the door. “This is my second semester with the college, and we have talked about this already.”

“Yes, but we all thought that something else must have been going on with as busy as you have been lately.”

I slowly shook my head and gave Philip a sad smile. How did I tell my brother that I had purposely pulled away from both of them?

“What?” Philip asked with concern written all over his face.

I shook my head again. “It’s nothing important. How are the twins?” I asked, hoping to change the subject. It might have worked because Philip’s face suddenly lit up.

“They are growing like weeds. All of them. I know you asked about Otis and Madelyn, but Hazel is growing as well. They’re all walking and talking gibberish, and they have their own language, and we don’t understand it, but they love each other, and it’s amazing to see.”

My heart suddenly ached. I had missed all of that, and there truly was no reason for it aside from my own foolishness. I looked down at my brother, and before he could reach for the door, I stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“I will be better about spending time with all of you. The last thing I want to do is overstep, but I can see and admit that I have taken things too far in the opposite direction. For that, I apologize.”

“There’s no need to apologize, Roman. We know how busy you have been. We also know that the entire family dynamic has changed, and because of that, we can’t expect you to always be there for us like you were before.”

“This is a me issue, Philip. I am incredibly happy for you and Phineas. Don’t ever think that I’m not. But there has been some struggle on my side with suddenly no longer needing to be on alert all the time.” I shook my head. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t love the two of you still. I do, very much. And I adore my nieces and nephew. I need to get over my issues and be there for the two of you. That’s what family is for. I know that our parents would be disappointed in me with how I have been acting for the past several months. The reason our dad called me home was because he knew I would protect the two of you at all costs.” I shrugged. “Now that’s Knox and Ramsey’s jobs, and I had to adjust to that.”

“I’m sorry, Roman. We never met for you to feel like you had no place in our lives anymore.”

“I don’t,” I told him. “I just didn’t want to upset your mates more than I already had when they first scented the two of you. I’ll be better at being involved with the little ones. I know just how much help can mean.” I’d often longed for even a half hour to take a hot shower, but I’d never gotten it.

“We’ll talk more later. Knox is wondering where we are because he knows I came rushing out here to greet you.” Philip pushed the door open. “He also said the steaks are ready.”

With that, Philip disappeared into the house. I followed him in, giving my eyes a moment to adjust to the darker interior. It wasn’t that it was dark, just that the sun outside was still quite bright.

“Did you get new furniture?” I asked as we walked farther into the house.

“No. We did have to rearrange things, though, because of the twins.” Philip looked left, then right before he turned completely around and glanced up at me. “Maybe? I think Knox might have added a few more pieces since you were here last, but we haven’t gotten rid of anything.”

I nodded slowly. “The place looks good. I guess it’s been too long since I’ve been here last.”

“Yes, it has.”

I looked up at the sound of Knox’s voice. He was carrying a plate of food in one hand and had a toddler on his hip on the other side. Philip rushed over to him and took who I realized was Madelyn.

Phineas came in, followed by Ramsey. Phineas was holding his daughter, Hazel, and that meant Ramsey had Otis, Philip and Knox’s son. I smiled at Phineas, who walked right over and stood in front of me. I held out my arm and pulled him close for a hug.

“It’s good to see you again,” I whispered to him.

Phineas pulled away, looking up at me with a sad smile that mirrored Philip’s from earlier. “It’s good to see you too. I’m glad you finally agreed to come for a family dinner.”

I looked around at the others in shock. Family dinner? I gazed at Philip first, but he was busy fussing over placing the babies in high chairs. Ramsey was glaring at me over Philip’s head, but Knox offered a friend smile. “We can talk later,” Knox said. He turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

I glanced down at Phineas and tried to smile. “I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t realize you were having family dinners. I’ve been busy, and I didn’t want to interrupt your time with your mates.” I said it loud enough so it could be heard by the others in the room though. Ramsey continued to glare at me, and now that his arms were empty, he stood there with his arms crossed in front of him. Knox sat another plate down on the table and a bowl from the other hand and then whacked Ramsey with the back of his hand.

“Stop. We’re going to be nice,” Knox told him. The gargoyle looked over at Knox, and after the two stared at one another for a moment, Ramsey finally uncrossed his arms and nodded.

I offered an apologetic smile to Phineas. “I’m sorry, Phineas. I have a lot to make up for because apparently, I’ve messed up, just as I have been doing for the last decade or so.” I reached out and gently patted my brother on the shoulder before I walked around him, taking my box of treats to the table and placing it among the various other plates and bowls.

“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to put the donuts out for everyone or continue holding them all evening,” Philip said.

I smiled at him before I glanced around the room. “I’m happy to have them here, although not something I made myself, obviously. I couldn’t come empty-handed, and I know how much you and Phineas love donuts.”

“The bakery reopening cannot happen fast enough,” Phineas said as he moved to my side. Just moments ago, he was upset, and rightly so. But now, he offered a huge smile as he reached into the box and pulled out a powdered donut. “Please tell me it’s raspberry-filled.”

I shrugged. “I think so, but I haven’t tested any of them. They said they were raspberry-filled.”

Philip leaned over and grabbed a maple iced donut. “Oh yeah. Maple and bacon.” He took a bite and moaned. Knox sighed and shook his head when I looked at my brother-in-law.

“Sorry,” I told him.

“Don’t be. We stop in and get donuts every Saturday morning.”

“What?” Phineas said. “You’ve been holding out on me? Why haven’t you been sharing them? It wouldn’t be much for you to bring some up when you come up to Treasure Ridge for our Saturday meals.”

“We’ve tried. They don’t last long enough to make it to the evening,” Knox said. Philip turned around, and although I could no longer see my brother’s face, I had no doubt that he was glaring at his mate.

“You’re coming up for the bakery thing next weekend, right?” Phineas asked.

“That was the plan, yes.”

Knox touched my shoulder, and I moved to sit in the chair he directed me toward.

“I really can’t wait for the bakery to reopen,” Phineas said. “Philip is lucky that he lives down here. There’s nothing for us on Treasure Ridge.”

“Sweetheart, I would have gotten you donuts anytime you wanted them. All you had to do was say something,” Ramsey told Phineas as he cupped my brother’s face. He leaned down and kissed him on the forehead before he stood back up.

“It’s not the end of the world if I don’t have donuts.” Phineas sat down in the chair Ramsey had pulled out for him. “I just like them.”

I looked down and bit my lips to keep from smiling. I knew for a fact that both of my brothers had a fondness for donuts. It was why I’d brought them with me.

“These are good,” Philip said around a bite of donut. “Not as good as the ones you used to get us from the council bakery, but they’re really not bad.”

I nodded slowly. “I’m not sure what happened with the council’s bakery, but I’m sorry it closed. It hasn’t been shut down long, has it?”

“Almost two months, actually,” Ramsey said. “The couple and their daughter who were running it ran into some issues. The council thought it would be better that they move on.”

I knew instantly that there was more to that story than he was saying. Most likely, he simply couldn’t tell us what exactly had happened.

“That’s not the full story, but Ramsey won’t say. All I know is I wasn’t allowed to leave the mountain for a few weeks, and Knox brought Philip and their twins up to us every weekend for family dinners.”

I glanced between Knox and Ramsey and realized that they had done what they needed to in order to keep my brothers safe. I appreciated that, but I was also a bit hurt because I’d not been clued in that there was something going on. I wasn’t an enforcer though, and I no longer worked for the council directly.

I cleared my throat. “Everything is all right now though?”

Ramsey stared directly at me. “It is, yes. The council has hired one of the new enforcer’s brothers to run the bakery. He’s going to be getting some help from a few others, from what we’ve all heard, but there is going to be a party of sorts to celebrate it reopening. A lot of the enforcers like their sweets, and they’ve been without for some time.” Ramsey chuckled. “That, and they are trying to make the guy feel welcome.”

“It’s a big deal to suddenly move from one realm to another,” Phineas told his mate as he looked over at him. Hazel made a noise, drawing all of our attention. She was glaring at her fathers, who weren’t paying attention to her. Knox came to the rescue, though, and placed a large spoonful of diced fruit on the tray of her high chair. Next came small bites of steak and, of course, a cup of milk.

She dove right into her meal, grabbing bite-sized pieces of food and then shoving it into her mouth. Knox added some small bites of salad, which was her next choice. It was good to see that she was eating a variety of foods.

“Would you like steak or chicken?” Knox asked me as I continued to watch my niece eat as if she’d not been fed in a while. I knew differently, but that was simply how shifter children were. I glanced around, noticing that nobody else had been served yet.

“Whatever is left is fine with me,” I told him. “Please see to Philip and Phineas first,” I added.

“They’re both having chicken,” Knox said as he used the tongs to place a pair of chicken breasts on each of their plates. “Did you prefer steak or chicken? Ramsey wants a steak, and I have more than enough for you to have either.”

I glanced around and wondered when things had become so formal and awkward between all of us.

“Truly, whatever you have,” I told him. “I appreciate the invite.” I handed my plate over, and Knox took a large steak and placed it on it. “Thank you.” I took the bowl of salad that Phineas was holding out toward me and offered my brother a smile.

Once we all had plates piled high with food and all of the babies were happily eating their small bites, things seemed to finally relax between all of us. Of course, Ramsey continued to send me glares every so often, but I knew that was in part simply who he was. But also, he wasn’t a fan of me. He and Phineas had scented each other first, and it had been a bit difficult for me to accept that one of my little brothers had found their mate and would be starting an entire new life with someone. He absolutely adored my brother and their daughter though, and that was all I could ever ask for either of my brothers.

“So…” Phineas said suddenly. “How’s teaching going? Are you enjoying it?”

I looked at my brother like he was asking me a forbidden question. He wasn’t, but I simply didn’t know exactly how to answer him.

“It’s…different,” I said. That was true. It was indeed different. “I’ve actually told myself I was going to take the weekend to decide if I was going to continue teaching or not. I’m not sure it’s a right fit for me any longer.”

The room went silent except for the babies talking while they ate their meals.

“Maybe it’s not that it’s not the right fit, but perhaps it’s the location,” Knox suggested. That earned him a glare from Philip. “What?” Knox said as he looked over at his beloved. “I wasn’t suggesting he move away. But he wouldn’t be the first to not feel the most comfortable at that particular college. I was only suggesting that it might be more enjoyable for him if he was teaching somewhere else.”

I nodded slowly. “I’ve considered it. I’m trying to keep an open mind about all of it.” I glanced around the table and tried not to lock eyes with my brothers for too long. “I’ve given it two semesters, and although that’s not really a long time, it’s been enough to let me know that things have changed drastically since I taught last.”

I had considered teaching elsewhere. Had even thought about moving away in order to do it. In the end, I’d always come back to the fact that I knew I would miss my brothers and niblings too much if I left. I couldn’t do it.

“Are you really thinking about teaching somewhere else?” Philip, who was sitting directly beside me, asked quietly.

“I have thought about it and have even looked into it a little. If I did, it would be completely remote. I’m not planning on moving, except perhaps to a bigger place.”

Immediately, Philip’s shoulders slumped, and I realized he was actually concerned I might move away. In thinking about it, what did I expect? I’d not spent a whole lot of time with them in too long. I needed to do better and make sure I kept a relationship with them.