Page 39 of The Kingpin’s Omega Lover (River City Omegas #2)
Kensley glared over his mug of herbal tea. “For now. I love that kid with my whole heart, but damn. Somedays, I swear he’s allergic to sleep.”
Davia entered the dining room with a platter of hot bacon and fresh toast. She’d become a loyal housekeeper, nanny, and cook for their expanding family, and Malori was grateful for her every single day.
She adored children, excelled where their quartet failed, and helped create a warm home environment.
After checking how Bishop and Kensley wanted their eggs, she returned to the attached kitchen.
Malori made a quick sandwich out of a halved piece of toast, some butter, and a strip of bacon broken in half.
His growing bean wanted food, so he ate what was in front of him.
When the eggs arrived, Malori ate his two perfectly over-easy eggs, too, with more bacon and toast. Davia was amazing at producing eggs to order.
She’d opened up more about her past, how she’d come to work for Aleks, and his abysmal treatment of her. Her quick decision to give Thorn back to Malori and make no mention of Aleks’s disappearance made so much more sense.
Naturally, her loyalty was being well compensated.
Thorn finished his toast before the adults were done. King released him from his high chair and into Davia’s care. Thorn adored the woman, who had taken on a bit of a grandmother role. But Thorn had also known Davia since near-birth, so Malori would never begrudge them their bond.
Malori ate toasted bread with butter and jam until his stomach hurt.
The locally-baked bread was ten times better than any bread he could remember eating, even the artisan stuff King had ordered for the penthouse.
Everything tasted better here, and it wasn’t because everything he ate was seasoned with freedom.
It was also seasoned with love and hope and joy.
Three things he’d found because Kensley had come into his life.
Three things he’d found because Kensley had a charus and an older brother who’d move heaven and earth to save him.
Three things he’d found because Malori had been shot in the shoulder, instead of the heart, and because of the simple, unspoken, unbreakable bond he’d had with King from that very first moment.
He had his son, a baby on the way, and a man who loved them fiercely, without question—all because the universe had finally stopped taking from him and started giving.
“What is it?” King asked, his hand covering Malori’s wrist.
Malori blinked. “Huh? What’s what?”
“I’m not sure. You seemed…not upset. Distant?”
“Got lost in thought.” Malori twisted his wrist so they were palm to palm. “I’m grateful for this. All of this. I don’t think I say it enough.”
“You don’t have to say it, angel. I see it when you smile. There’s an energy in your eyes that wasn’t there until we left the city.”
“Well, there’s definitely a shift in emotion when you finally, truly feel safe somewhere. Intellectually, I knew the penthouse was safe, but there was always this undercurrent of danger by being in the city. Now that we’re out, now that all that in behind us…I’m at peace.”
King lifted Malori’s hand so he could kiss his knuckles. “I understand. This is the most at peace I’ve felt in my entire life. The most like I can breathe. I mean, I’m still scared of royally fucking up our kid, but you know?”
“I know. Pretty sure every parent fears fucking up their kid.”
Kensley nodded vigorously from the other side of the table. Bishop smiled and snagged another piece of bacon from the almost-empty platter.
“We’re all going to make mistakes,” Kensley said. “That’s part of being human. But you know what we’ve got? Family. And plenty of love to go around. Our kids will never know a day when they are not surrounded by love.”
“Amen,” Malori replied. “They might get a little bored sometimes, between tending the gardens, the orchard, and swimming for hours on end.”
“Hey, they’re going to have school when they’re old enough. They’ll be educated, so they can be anything they want to in life. Rook, Thorn, your new one coming, all of them. Because they deserve the whole world and more.”
“Yes, they do.” Malori smiled at his best friend on earth.
A year ago, Malori had been ready to lay down and die. Now, there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do to protect the people in this house. His family. His whole world.
The world wasn’t always a happy place. They would face adversity, but they would do it together, a united front against all enemies.
They would fight for their loved ones, their safety, and their home.
Lovers to their spouses; parents to their children; omega men in a world that saw no value in them.
But Malori and Kensley had proved the world wrong, and they would continue to do so.
And even if the world never changed its mind, they would have done their part.
They would have raised loving, accepting, tolerant children who saw past a person’s reproductive system, and into the depth of their character, their generosity, and their soul.
Their children, and every future generation, deserved nothing less.
Thank you for reading!