Page 55 of Roommates' Alpha
I blinked. The men were regulars—coming in at least once a week to camp a table, play their games, and eat plenty of pizza. But I hadn’t realized that Eric had gotten so casual with them.
“Let me put in this app order and get drinks for my big table, then I’ll bring yours. The usual, right?”
The men nodded, then headed toward their favorite table.
“Earth to Owen!”
I turned my attention back to my mates and friends. “Sorry, what was that?”
“Ryan was asking if you wanted to hold a party to announce us being a thing,” Xavier explained.
I hummed and bit my lip. “Maybe in a few weeks—after we’re certain Micah is pregnant. I’m not ready for Mama to be all over this yet. She’d be calling every few hours to ask if he’s taken a test.”
“She can’t be that bad,” Micah said, paling slightly.
“Oh, she is,” Ryan, Zane, Linden, Brendan, Alonzo, and I all said at the same time.
∞∞∞
~April~
I sat across from my mama at her kitchen table. It was time. The kid gloves had to come off. I’d told her about Micah and the others, but had arrived early so that I could have a long-overdue talk.
“Oh Owen,” she babbled. “I just can’t wait to see those grandbabies! Don’t worry I’ll come over every day to help out and…”
“No, you won’t, Mama.”
She paled. “What do you mean, I won’t? You’re not going to try to keep my grandbabies from me, are you?”
I shook my head. “No, but I will be enforcing healthy boundaries.”
“Nonsense,” she argued. “Babies are a lot of work, and you’ll need all the help you can…”
“There are five of us, Mama. Even if Micah has multiple babies, like Jace, there are plenty of hands to make sure everything gets done.”
“Sweetie, I just want to help,” she retorted.
“You can help,” I stated. “By being a good grandmama, and not by trying to be another parent.” I paused. “I know you’ve wanted this for a long time. But you have to trust us to be able to take care of our children, as their fathers. Look at Uncle Eli and Aunt Janice, they’ve got grandbabies too, but they aren’t always over at Jace and Ryan’s houses. They trust their sons to be able to parent, and to ask for help if they need it.”
Mama sniffled, and I crossed my arms.
“No waterworks,” I stated. “It’s not going to work. These are my mates, and I’m not going to let you try to dominate their lives.”
“I don’t…”
“You do. You try to force yourself into the lives of everybody around you, and it has to stop.”
“Owen!” she cried, aghast.
I leveled a stare at her. “None of that either. I love you Mama, but I’ve watched everybody walk on eggshells around you for years. Nobody wanted to be the one to say it, but I will…”
I took a deep breath. “Mama, you need to chill. I know you have strong opinions… about everything. But you yield them like a sledgehammer. Rather than discussing anything, and trying to understand another person’s point of view, you act as if your thoughts are the only correct ones, and you badger other people not until they agree with you, but until they just don’t want to deal with you anymore. It causes people to not like you, and I don’t want you to have that kind of relationship with my mates.”
“Owen, I…”
I made a closing mouth motion with my hand. “No arguing, Mama. This isn’t a dialog, nor is there room for compromise. I’m telling you how it’s going to be, and you’re going to respect that. If you don’t, I might have to consider severely limiting your time with our children.”
Her eyes were wide, and she swallowed but didn’t interrupt.