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I reached over and placed my hand on Charlie’s. “It can wait a day or two, but reach out to Mica. He has several rental houses.” That was why I’d even thought to mention it. We’d all picked on him about it until we saw how much of an income stream it had become for him.

“Really?”

I nodded. “Mica has I think six or seven rental houses now. Of course, you can always sell it if you’re looking for a lump sum.

There will be upkeep costs, but Mica can tell you all you need to know about renting it.

” I shrugged. “He might even be willing to manage it for you. He’s already taking care of all of his.

He has it all organized and knows what he’s doing.

I think he only spends a day a week checking on everything. ”

Charlie nodded. My phone vibrated in the cup holder, and I figured it was probably Clay getting back to me. I needed to get us to the restaurant first though. Once we were there, I’d send him a quick text letting him know I’d get back to him later.

“Do you need to check that?”

I shook my head as I backed out of the driveway. “No. It’s probably just Clay getting back to me. I asked him a question earlier, but it can wait.”

“Okay.” Charlie seemed preoccupied, so I took a quick peek. He wasn’t hiding anything from me, and when I reached out through our mate bond, he looked over at me. “You started the wheels turning,” he told me.

I chuckled. “All right. I just wanted to make sure you were all right. I know things have been stressful lately. That’s not what I want for you.”

Charlie let out a loud sigh. “Yeah. I was nervous about meeting your parents. I really wanted them to like me. I don’t have parents anymore, and I felt it was important that they like me.”

“Cutie, Dad really likes you and thinks you’re an amazing balance for my grumpy ass.

Ma, well, unless someone absolutely hates her, she’s going to love any and everyone.

She’s just a bit too excited about everything.

” Boundaries were going to be put in place, and she was going to have to accept them.

“I like your parents,” Charlie said quietly. “I really want to get to know them better.”

“And you will have lots of opportunities. We just need to make sure that Ma understands that this is our life and we are only two, not three. There is no room for her to be in our relationship beyond a motherly role. She’s not going to be redecorating, she’s not going to be in the room when you give birth, nor will she be naming our kids.

” Charlie gave me a horrified look. I nodded.

“No.”

“Yes. That’s why I’m so upset. I need her to understand that we want her in our lives, but it’s our life.” I wasn’t sure if Charlie understood just how much she was already scheming.

“Okay, I get it now. I’m no longer upset. That’s…no. I’ve met her once, and yeah, I’m sure I’ll get to spend a lot more time with her before we have kids and I end up giving birth, but I don’t think I want your mom there seeing all of that. I get she had five kids, but just no.”

I chuckled. “Good. And yes, we will have many more family dinners. But I’m glad you are finally starting to understand why I am so adamant about boundaries.”

“How did you find out all of this?” Charlie asked.

I didn’t get to answer, though, because his phone rang.

“Hey, Justin, we’re almost to the restaurant.

” Charlie nodded. “Does she need to be admitted?” More nodding.

I found a spot and pulled over into a parking lot.

It sounded like plans were changing. “No, no. It’s fine.

I understand. Maybe we can do next Saturday?

Are you off then?” Charlie looked my way.

“You work the morning shift? So a later dinner would be possible?” Charlie nodded again.

I did the same. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I had no plans for next Saturday. “Yeah, next Saturday works for us.”

I put the truck in park and waited. I picked up my phone and saw that the earlier notification had been Clay responding. I opened it and saw that he’d replied with a novel and quickly closed it. Yeah, I’d definitely read that at a later time. I put the phone back in the cup holder and waited.

Charlie ended his call and looked at me.

“It’s not too terrible, or you’d be freaking out.”

“True. And no, it’s not. But dinner plans have changed because Sam is in the hospital.”

I nodded slowly. “I figured as much. Are she and the baby all right?”

“Yeah. She was having Braxton-Hicks contractions. But her blood pressure was a bit high, so they’re keeping her for another hour or two to make sure it comes down. They think it’s just the stress from what she thought was preterm labor. She’s fine. Justin apologized.”

“It’s not that big of a deal for me. I understand.”

“And next Saturday works for you?”

“It does as long as it works for you and them. We were just talking about it being just the two of us this week. But I understand things change. Especially when a pregnancy is involved. I’m glad she’s all right.”

“Me too. Justin said he’d let us know if things change this week, but he’s supposed to work the morning shift starting Wednesday.”

“Sounds good to me. Now what? Did you want to continue on to the restaurant or go somewhere else?”

Charlie closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat. “Honestly, can we just grab some pizzas or something? I think I’d rather go home and cuddle up. It seems like there’s been so much happening this week, and I’m just done with the week, I think.”

I handed Charlie my phone. “There are a few pizza apps on the phone. Order whatever you want. Please add a large supreme for me.” I put the truck in gear and left the parking lot. We needed pizza and ice cream. I knew where to get the ice cream, but I’d leave the pizza up to Charlie.

“If I’m getting a pepperoni, mushroom, and black olive, is it okay if I swap one slice of mine for a slice of yours?”

I looked over at Charlie and nodded. “I’ll give you the whole pizza if that’s what you want. I just prefer supreme. But I’ll eat everything.” I stopped at a red light and glanced at the phone. “Oh, that’s a good one. Add a large order of wings too.”

Charlie gave me a huge smile. I leaned closer and kissed his nose before I noticed the car beside us moving. The light had changed.

“Did you want anything else?” Charlie asked.

“Nope. The pizza and the wings should do it. Since we have time, I figured we’d stop at the Korner Kone and grab some ice cream first. That can be dessert. Does that work?”

Charlie’s eyes widened, and then he nodded. He held the phone up. “It’s ready for you to pay.”

I took the phone and managed to get the pizza and wings purchased without issue. I needed to add Charlie’s face to my phone so he could do it in the future. I handed the phone back.

“It says twenty minutes.”

“Then we should have plenty of time to get ice cream first,” I said as I turned into the Korner Kone. Charlie gave me another huge smile, and I couldn’t help but smile back. Dad was right. He really was a good complement to my grumpy ass.