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Charlie shook his head. “No need. You keep your truck. I’ll give up my car when it comes time to start driving our kids somewhere.

It’s not exactly stroller-friendly. And honestly, I’m not sure that a car seat will fit in the back all that well.

” Charlie tugged on my hand. I was too busy suddenly thinking about Charlie being pregnant with our kids.

Two days ago, the thought of kids never crossed my mind.

Now? Oh yeah. I definitely wanted kids. The sooner, the better, as far as my gorilla and I were concerned.

It would, of course, be up to Charlie, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t think about him being pregnant.

“Come on, Silver. You promised food, and I’m hungry. I didn’t expect such a workout last night, and now I need to replenish lost energy. Especially if we’re going to have a repeat later today.”

I smiled as I followed my mate to the diner’s door.

I reached for it before he could, and the smile he gave me was worth everything.

I followed Charlie in, stepping up behind him and immediately scanning the place for my brother.

I found him. Actually, I found all four of them.

Charlie either scented or sensed my reaction because he looked up at me. “What’s wrong?”

I smiled down at Charlie. “They’re all here,” I said quietly. Charlie’s smile fell a little.

“There you are, Silver,” Sally, one of the waitresses, said as she noticed me. “Your brothers are over there,” she added, then looked at my hand where it was on Charlie’s shoulder. “But maybe you’d like to sit up there?” She pointed to the corner booth in the front of the diner.

“Yes, that would be great.”

“Good. Just go have a seat, and I’ll be with you in a few.”

I led Charlie to the corner booth, and immediately, he slid into the seat facing the front, leaving me to look out into the diner. Exactly where I wanted to be so I could watch my brothers. They noticed exactly where we were, Clay and Flint both tracking our movements.

I narrowed my eyes at my brothers, who actually had the nerve to look embarrassed.

“I know you want coffee,” Sally said as he came up to the table, then turned over the mug and poured coffee for me.

“But how about you, cutie?” she asked. Sally was sweet and was amazing at her job.

But the fact that she called my mate “cutie” didn’t sit right with me or my gorilla.

“Coffee is great,” Charlie said. He gave me a look, and then I felt him kick me under the table. “Why are you growling?” he asked.

“So it’s like that, is it?” Sally asked.

I looked up at her. “Yes. This is Charlie. He’s my mate, and you know I don’t mean anything by it.”

Sally rolled her eyes. “As if you or your gorilla could catch me.” Sally looked back at Charlie.

“Do you know what you want?” she asked him.

“I recommend special number two. It’s a tall order of hotcakes, three eggs made your way, two sausage patties, four strips of bacon, hash browns, and a side order of two biscuits and sausage gravy. ”

“Oh yum. Yes, that sounds wonderful.” Charlie closed his menu and placed it back in the holder on the side of the booth.

“How would you like your eggs?”

“Over medium. Can I get some toast to go with them?”

“You got it.” Sally smiled at Charlie. “And for you, big guy? Do you want your usual?”

I nodded. “Can I get a glass of orange juice this morning as well?”

“Oh, me too, please?” Charlie added.

“Sure thing. Be out in a bit, and I’ll be back with your juices.”

Sally left, leaving me with Charlie. I reached across the table and grabbed his hands. When he laced his fingers with mine, I smiled at my mate.

“Isn’t that cute.”

I growled up at my brother. “Don’t think I can’t and won’t make your life miserable, Flint.” Charlie looked over at my brother, and I could sense his unease. I gave his hands a gentle squeeze. “Be nice to my mate, or I will bash you the next time I see you.”

Flint snorted. “Relax. I was just picking on you. It actually is sweet.” Flint slid in beside Charlie, who scrambled to move over to the other side of the booth.

I sent my brother another glare. “I’m Flint,” he said, holding out a hand.

“Since my brother isn’t going to bother introducing you to us.

Welcome to the family, and congratulations. ”

Charlie immediately relaxed, which caused my gorilla to do the same. “Hi. I’m Charlie.”

“So we’ve heard.” Flint gave me a worried glance. “I’m not sure how long Ma will hold off, but you can thank Slate for spilling the news to her.” I groaned. “Clay beat us to it and punched him for ya.”

I glanced over at my brothers, where Clay was staring at us. I nodded to him once and turned the usual scowl into what I would call a sinister grin.

“What does that mean?” Charlie asked.

“It means that while my brothers are helping us move your stuff into what is now our house, Ma and Dad are probably going to show up.”

Charlie nodded once, started to say something, but then stopped at Sally’s reappearance with our juices.

“Are you moving over here, Flint?”

“Naw. I’m just saying hello.” Flint offered Sally a flirty smile. “Do you think I can get a couple pieces of cherry pie?”

Sally sighed. “You know you can. I’ll bring them when I get a minute.”

“Thanks, Sally. You’re the best.”

“Yeah, well, just remember that when you’re leaving my tip.”

“You know I will.” Flint watched as Sally walked off to the next table before he turned back to me. “When do you need us to help you move?” Flint looked over at Charlie. “I assume you’re not packed.”

“Umm…no.”

“Yeah, we can do that. I’ll get them together, and we’ll drop by with boxes and packing stuff after work.” Flint winced as he glanced my way. “What do you want to do about Ma?”

“Nothing at the moment. I cannot keep her from dropping by the house. I don’t have to let her in, but I’ll deal with it if she shows up.”

Charlie wiggled his hands free. I thought he just wanted to reach for his drink, but when I looked at my mate, I realized he was irritated. “Why would you do that to your mom?”

Flint beat me to the answer. “We love her, Charlie. We adore our ma. But she can be a bit much at times. And if she thinks that she can get away with stopping by your place every day, she will. She’ll show up when you’re not really wanting visitors.” Flint cleared his throat. “When you…you know.”

It took Charlie a moment to realize what Flint was getting at. When he did, he looked at me with wide eyes. “She wouldn’t just show up like they did this morning, would she?”

“She would. But she’s not going to have her key for much longer,” I told him. “And these yahoos all know they’re not allowed to just come on in anymore.” I looked pointedly at Flint. “Ring the bell first and wait for us to answer. And even better would be if you call before you come over.”

Flint let out a little growl. “We wouldn’t have dropped in if you’d let us know last night.”

“I was busy.”

“All right, I have food for them, Flint. And your pie is at your spot. You had better get back to it because Slate was looking at it like it was his last meal.”

“Shit.” Flint slid from the booth. “It was nice to meet you, Charlie. I’ll see you later.” With that, he hurried across the diner and back to his own table. I watched as he grabbed something from Slate before he gave his shoulder a not-so-gentle slap.

“All right,” Sally said. “I have food for the two of you.” It didn’t take long for Sally to fill our booth with multiple plates. As the food kept coming, Charlie’s eyes widened.

“Anything else?” She asked once her tray was empty.

“There’s no more room?” Charlie said.

“You should see when he’s with his brothers and they all order the same thing.” Sally pointed over her shoulder. “I keep telling Denny he needs to get bigger tables for as much as shifters eat. Enjoy your meals, and let me know if you need anything else.”

I sat there, waiting for Charlie to figure out where he wanted to start. Once he decided on the eggs, I picked up my own fork and dug in. My stomach had been growling for a bit now, and when you placed the food directly in front of me, my mouth was watering.

Charlie took a bite of his eggs and moaned. I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from reacting how I really wanted to. I knew those moans in a different way, and I was almost certain that if this continued, I’d be in trouble when it came time to leave.

“Are you not hungry?” Charlie asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Oh, I am. I’m just working through some things.

” I cleared my throat. The first thing Charlie and I would be discussing once we left was the mate bond because right about now would be the perfect time to be able to say something to him without others hearing us.

But I had to wonder, would Charlie be able to figure it out?

Would I be able to explain it well enough for him?