It's Getting Hot in Here

by J. D. Light

  A dark eyebrow quirked, and a slow smile slid onto the man's face. "Who was that?" he asked, just as another handsome black man came up behind him, wrapping him in his arms.

  "Da, Dad, this is Jennings," Wagoner said, turning the phone slightly so that I came into view, and I froze. "Don't call him Jen-Jen. He doesn't like it. Do you Jen-Jen?"

  I blinked for a moment, raising a hand in greeting before subtly reaching out and smacking Wagoner's shoulder, making him chuckle.

  "Jen-Jen, this is Mark and Devon Foster, my parents."

  I blinked for a moment, cringing when I realized I'd just smacked their son right in front of them and cleared my throat. "Nice to meet you."

  The one he'd called Da––it hadn't really been clear which was Mark, and which was Devon––looked me over, his smile a little… I wasn't really sure, but for some reason I felt like my neck was too exposed or something.

  "You too," the other Mark or Devon said while the first one smiled, and then there was a long period of silence before Arden let out a really loud fart, making everyone in the room and on the screen freeze, and then Arden and Calen started giggling, and Wagoner chuckled, even though it had been his leg that had nearly gotten blown off.

  The Mark-or-Devons both smiled softly and then joined in the laughter when Calen made a fart noise with his mouth and he and his brother both started laughing again. Wagoner was the next to make the noise, making both boys laugh so hard he had to hold on to them to keep them from falling off of his thighs and nearly dropped his phone.

  It was hard not to be drawn into the silliness. There was something magnetic about baby laughter, and by the end of it, were all laughing hard enough to wipe tears from our eyes.

  "I'm sending you the address," Wagoner said after the laughter started to die down, taking a deep breath. "I need you guys to come watch these two goofs, so I can take my favorite employee to work with me.

  The man called Da squealed excitedly, not even hanging up before he was peeling out of his husband's arms and dropping the phone.

  Soon the phone was picked up by Wagoner's other father, and he smiled into the screen. "You know the rules, boy. We get to keep them now."

  I blinked in surprise as the phone was hung up, and frowned, looking down at Wagoner. "Does he mean they get to keep my sons?"

  "He means all three of you. They'll expect you to come to family functions now, and they'll be expecting invites to special events like birthdays, weddings… little league games when the boys get bigger." He shrugged. "You're family now."

  What the fuck? I wouldn't have even believed that I would be able to have a conversation with Wagoner two days ago that didn’t with me either wanting to kill him, or finally losing it and actually killing him, but suddenly, I was part of his fucking family?

  Not that the idea didn't appeal to me. His dads had been oddly endearing, even as Da made me the slightest bit nervous with is sneaky smiles, but I just couldn't imagine a family that would so easily just bring someone into their life.

  Arden wiggled off of Wagoner's lap, and he let him go, smiling after him as he quickly ran his little diapered butt over to the tub of toys, digging inside for something, while Calen seemed to relax back against Wagoner's wide chest, looking comfortable.

  Maybe I should worry that my boys didn't have enough survival skills if they thought the man was so amazing. Of course, I probably wouldn't survive much better since I too was starting to think things. Stupid things. The kind of things that got idiots like me killed or heartbroken in the end.

  "Go get ready for work," he said softly, drawing my eyes up to his face. "I'll watch them until you get back."

  I blinked, hesitating slightly. "Are you sure?"

  Did the man have kids of his own? He seemed to be really good with the boys, and he didn't balk at the idea of being alone with them.

  I hadn’t even bothered trying to date since I'd had the boys, since I'd never really had great luck with alphas before I had kids––which had definitely helped in the decision making that lead to me doing things the way I did––but I was pretty sure most of the alphas I'd dated in the past wouldn't have been good with them. They probably never would have even tried.

  "Yep," he said, accepting Arden back onto his lap when he returned with a toy I hadn't seen in a while. "Go get ready."

  I felt like there was a part of me that should be more nervous about leaving the man alone with my kids. Nothing in the news lately was good, and crazier things were happening daily than someone I'd been working with for six months now taking off with my kids, but as irritating as he could be, I'd been seeing a side of him lately that made me feel unsure of the conclusion I'd drawn about him before.

  I hurried through getting dressed, serenaded from the other room by baby giggles, and my stupid ass couldn't seem to keep from smiling and even chuckling a little when I rounded the corner to find Wagoner still sitting on the couch while two of the cutest little boys in the world continued to bring him random toys, and he continued to line them up down one arm. He already had both outstretched legs covered and was somehow precariously balancing a stuffed animal on his head.

  "Why are you so good with kids?" I asked when curiosity got the best of me.

  Chapter Four

  JULY

  I smirked, taking another toy without even looking to see who handed it to me and placing it on my forearm next to another. "I don't have any if that is what you're asking."

  And I somehow knew it was. Somewhere along the way, this man had gotten a bad impression of me that he was holding on to however he could, and that impression would definitely have me with about eight different children with eight different omegas and me actually taking care of none of them.

  I knew I was right about that when his eyes shifted away while he pursed his lips.

  I chuckled softly, wondering what it was going to take to get us to a place where this man didn't think the worst of me. I was pretty okay with the occasional assault, especially if it meant some more of what had happened in that room, but I'd sure like it if he didn't think I was some kind of chronic omega breeder… or something like that.

  "I grew up in foster care until my parents adopted me. I was bounced around a lot because for a while my bio parents tried hard enough to get their lives together that I went back to them and then back into the system and then back to them and back into the system, so I was around a bunch of different kids and a bunch of different families." I took another toy from the one that seemed to be the more outgoing of the two while the other sweet boy just watched, giggling every once in a while. "Kids are easy. A lot of times it's the adults that make it hard."

  "I didn't know you were adopted." He laughed when I raised both eyebrows since he had just seen both of my parents. "I mean, obviously I had suspicions once I saw your parents, but I meant before that."

  "Yeah. My bio dad ended up in prison for life for killing my mom." I cringed, lowering my voice, even though I was pretty sure the two little innocents in the room probably couldn't understand what I was saying. "They were on meth and got into a fight or something and he ran her over with a car."

  "Oh, jeez," he said, eyes going wide. "Were you there?"

  I shook my head. There was definitely still pain inside me from losing them, but I couldn't say that I had been connected to them in the way a child should be to their parents since I'd spent the same amount of time in other people's houses as I had in theirs, and most of that time was spent fending for myself and being scared because of all the weird people who'd always been coming and going in the house.

  As an adult, I realized how lucky I was to get through that part of my life without something truly terrible happening to me… aside from losing my mom in such a gruesome way.

  "I was at a friend's house for the weekend. CPS picked me up from there. At the time I had already presented as alpha, so it was hard to find me a place, but Dad and Da took me in, and when they could, they adopted me."

  And they beca
me the parents I was meant to have. The parents every kid should have.

  The knock on the door was more like a pounding, but it brought the toy stacking to a halt as Jennings' eyes widened, and he seemed to swallow hard before squaring his shoulders and heading over to the door, the bold one following right along behind him while the shy one clutched my shirt a bit more tightly while spinning to peek over my shoulder.

  I wasn't sure why Jennings was so nervous. He definitely wasn't a shy man, and I was pretty sure if he thought my parents were dangerous in anyway, he would have already told me no to having them babysit and probably physically tossed me out into the front yard, but there was no denying that he was looking a little pinched right before he pulled the door open, smiling brightly.

  Da took that as a starting pistol, and I seriously had to wonder if he wasn't in mid charge toward the wood barring his way since he was practically sprinting as he barreled into the house, quickly bending to scoop the bold one up into his arms, making the toddler squeal and then giggle as he squeezed him to his chest.

  "What do we have here? Look at you precious little boys." He waved at the shy one still peeking at him over my shoulder, even though he gripped me tighter, he smiled at the crazy man before burying his face against me.

  I stood, moving around the couch as Dad stepped up behind Da, tickling the bold ones neck while placing a hand on his husband's shoulder, and I couldn't help the happiness that bubbled up in my chest as I watched the two people I owed so much to accept two more children into their lives like it was what they lived for, and I was pretty sure they did.

  Da reached out quickly, grabbing Jennings wrist and making the man gasp as he was jerked into a hard hug, and I smothered a laugh when the man sent me a panicked look.

  "You are a cutie, aren't you?" Da asked, pulling back to look the man over. "My boys have such good taste."

  Jennings sputtered, and I laughed, knowing damn well that Da was doing that thing he did and didn't at all believe that Jennings and I were a couple.

  Dad chuckled too, pulling Jennings away from his husband and giving him a hug as well. "I'm Devon, just in case we didn't make that clear earlier, and the man already planning your wedding to Wagoner is Mark, but you can call us Dad and Da if you'd like."

  I laughed again, shaking my head but not bothering to correct anyone. Everyone always thought Da was the menace, but Dad was just as bad about trying to marry all of us off, he was just a bit more low-key about it. Like a background encourager who put ideas in Da's head and then sat back and watched the carnage.

  "Da, Dad, this is still Jennings," I said, indicating the still gaping man. "And these are Bold and Shy." I indicated each boy, and Jennings rolled his eyes, finally shutting his mouth.

  "First, we––" he quickly indicated me and then himself, looking almost frantic. "––are not dating. And the shy one is Calen and the bold one here is Arden."

  Dad reached for Calen, smiling happily when he went easily.

  "So, you work at Slick?" Da asked Jennings, kissing Arden's little fingers when he looked to be trying to examine the inner workings of my omega father's mouth.

  "Yes. I'm a bartender."

  I pursed my lips, raising an eyebrow at the man, wondering why he was downplaying his position. "He's also one of my managers." And he'd worked hard for that role. I knew a lot of people wondered why I'd given him that much responsibility when he'd only been working for me for six months, but Jennings was a hell of a worker.

  Hell, the man had two little boys, which almost always made things complicated and meant for last minute call-ins most of the time, but I'd been so surprised about him calling in, because he never had before, I'd thought the guy was like seriously sick.

  I'd barely said a word to anyone as I rushed out of my parents' house to go check on him. I hadn't even been worried about needing to go in a little early, since it was only like thirty minutes before I normally got there on Saturdays, but when Lizzy had said he wasn't going to make it to work, I'd maybe overreacted a little, thinking the worst.

  "Well," Da said, nodding toward the door. "These two are going to be amazing, so no worries about that. You should get on off to work."

  "Are you sure you don't mind?" Jennings asked, drawing his bottom lip into his mouth for a little nibble.

  "Not even a little," Dad said, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder and then push him in the direction of the door.

  "Thank you, guys. I really, really appreciate this."

  "I assume you'll be coming to dinner next Saturday, and of course, bring these two?" Da asked, not even trying to pretend he wasn't using the situation to his advantage.

  Jennings smiled knowingly but nodded anyway. "I'll be there."

  For some unknown reason, Jennings agreed when I suggested we ride together. I'd actually thrown it out there as a joke, completely expecting him to laugh in my face, but to my surprise, he agreed, patting my chest as he walked by and then leaving me standing there staring after him for a few beats with my mouth hanging open before I managed to get it together and chase after him, baffled by the small smile on his face.

  "Okay, we need to talk about some things," he said after a few moments of silence.

  I flinched. "What things?"

  "I owe you an apology."

  I nearly wrecked the fucking car. "For what?"

  He licked his lips, turning in his seat to face me. "For misjudging you."

  What the fuck?

  Seriously, I needed to pull over before I wrecked the car. Trying to look at the expression on his face and the road at the same time was not working all that well.

  "You misjudged me?"

  "I'm pretty sure, yeah," he said on a sigh. "You don't like cheaters or alphas that use omegas and treat them badly."

  What the hell does that have to do with anything?

  I blinked at the road before glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. "Does anyone?"

  "I don't know. They shouldn't, but I think some people don't really care about any of that shit unless they are the ones getting cheated or treated like they don't matter." He curled his lip. "I could see the way you were looking at Jack. You were disgusted by him."

  I matched his expression. "I'm a little pissed at myself that I didn't step in before then. It might not have been my business, but Cal deserved for someone to have his back, regardless of the fact that he might not have appreciated it."

  Jennings groaned, letting his head fall back against the headrest with a thump. "The day you hired me, when I was leaving, I overheard you and that omega talking. It sounded like you were firing him because he was telling people about your relationship and you didn't like it. You just sounded so cold when you were talking to him, and I've been on the receiving end of a bad breakup before."

  I knew immediately who he was talking about since the omega in question had actually been fired for spreading rumors about us dating. I'd had to tell him twice, since the first time hadn't seemed to register. He'd said a lot of shit after that too as he was cleaning out his locker, but as soon as Lizzy caught wind, she'd embarrassed the fuck out of him with the truth, and had actually physically tossed him herself, telling him not to bother putting anyone at Slick on his resumé.

  "You thought we were dating, and I broke his heart?" I asked, starting to get an idea of what might've caused this animosity that I hadn't felt with our first meeting, but had definitely come up against nearly every interaction since.

  "Yeah," he said on a whisper, cringing when I looked at him.

  I huffed out a small laugh, reaching over to pat his thigh. "I mean, I can't really blame you. You didn't know me, and being the owner of Slick puts me in a position that probably leads to a lot of speculation about me dating my employees. I could see how someone would think I was a dick who went through tons of omegas."

  "But I didn't know him either, and I'm not usually one to put those kind of stigmas on others. I let my past experiences with alphas dictate whose side I took before I
had any of the information. I know there are good alphas out there. Sometimes I just forget. But even worse than that, I never really gave you a chance to prove you weren't like that. I had you in a box, and I wasn't letting you out, even with so many signs that you weren't the man I had in my mind."

  Oh damn. I hadn't expected this.

  "What past experience with alphas are we talking about here?" I asked carefully, not completely sure of my footing in this whole situation. "Were you cheated on or hurt by your son's alpha father?"

  "No. I didn't know the alpha father. Lee and I had both kinda sworn off alphas––yes, because of bad experiences––but we really wanted kids, so we decided to go get inseminated together. I'd been cheated on by two different alphas in a row, and actually had an STD scare with the last one, but it turned out to be the worst UTI in the history of puss-piss, and he had actually been knocked around by his last boyfriend and was too nervous about getting into a relationship with another. We decided we were just going to live together and raise our kids together, and when they grew up and moved out, we were going to have cats and dogs and probably some goats…" He trailed off, swallowing hard. His voice was a strained whisper when he spoke again. "But that's not how things went."

  "How did he pass away?" I asked quietly, thinking of the two sweet little boys, one of which belonged to a man I'd never met, but had given birth to one of those precious babies. He deserved to be remembered and thought of.

  "His heart gave out." Jennings swallowed hard, before reaching up to massage the front of his throat, his chin wobbling. "Everything was perfect up until that last week. He kept saying he wasn't feeling well, and we both thought he might be getting close, so he spent most of his time lying in bed or on the couch. When I went into labor, I made sure they wheeled a bed in there for him because I wanted to be able to watch him. His mom flew in because my family and I don't get along, so for a long time, she's been mom to both of us. When I had Calen, Lee got to stay with me, but just before it was time to take the baby home, he went into labor." He smiled softly, his eyes not focused on anything in particular as he stared out the windshield.