The Littlest

by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  Riley pulled Mateo into his arms and held him as his parents faded. Matty cooed in between them and Mateo put his arms around them both. Riley buried his face in Mateo’s neck. He knew the emotional toll the visit had taken on his husband.

  “I love you, Mateo,” Riley whispered.

  “I love you.”

  ~*~

  Troy grabbed his suitcase and walked into the hall. Sawyer’s suitcase was already by the front door. They were headed to Riley and Mateo’s house in Arizona. Now that the babies had been born healthy, he and Sawyer could proceed with their own implantation. Troy could hear Sawyer in the kitchen and he headed in that direction. Sawyer was bent over the dishwasher and Troy tilted his head, looking at his ass.

  “I never get tired of seeing that,” Troy sighed comically.

  Sawyer looked over his shoulder and wiggled his butt. “Yeah?”

  “Oh yeah,” Troy waggled his eyebrows. Sawyer’s eyes went wide and Troy’s hair rose on end.

  “What is it?!”

  Sawyer pointed and Troy turned around.

  All ability to speak left him and he stood staring at his parents.

  Aidan took form in the corner of the kitchen and looked from Sawyer to Troy, then at Troy’s parents.

  Raymond and Celia Bishop stood together, hands clasped, smiling at their son. Aidan grinned and winked.

  “Well, got here a little late,” Aidan sing-songed. “Surprise!”

  Celia chuckled. “Hello, Aidan.”

  “Celia, Raymond,” Aidan nodded. “I’ll leave you be now.” Aidan turned to Sawyer. “Your mother will be visiting you.”

  “My…mom?” Sawyer leaned against the kitchen counter for support.

  “Yes, I should go now. You all enjoy your visit.” Aidan faded away.

  Troy stood in front of his parents. They looked as they did the last time he saw them – young and vibrant. He cleared his throat, but no sound came out. Sawyer’s hand threaded into his and he squeezed it for support.

  “Look at you,” Celia whispered. “You are so handsome, honey. I knew you’d be a big, tall warrior.”

  “A werewolf and an assassin,” Raymond smiled wide. “I’m so damn proud of you, son.”

  “You…know what I do? Who I am?” Troy stammered.

  “Of course we do! We’ve been watching over you, son.”

  Troy looked down at his feet. “I’m so sorry I didn’t do more that day. I could have done something, I could have saved you.”

  “There was nothing you could have done,” Celia shook her head. “We did what we had to do to protect you. I knew that man robbing the store would see you, so I stood in front of the aisle. I’d do it again, Troy. You’re my son.”

  “Let’s not talk about that.” Raymond stepped forward and smiled at Sawyer, standing dazed beside Troy.

  “Look at little ‘what does this do?’,” Raymond chuckled as Sawyer’s face heated. “You were destined to be with my son, Sawyer. I couldn’t be happier with the fates’ choice.”

  “You knew they were werewolves?” Troy’s mouth dropped open.

  “Of course we did. I’ve known John Quinton all my life. I wasn’t born a werewolf, just like Joe wasn’t, but we were all friends.” Raymond reached out to his son. Troy stepped into his arms and Raymond finally got to hold him again. Celia joined in, pulling Sawyer in with her.

  “Yes, well,” Raymond coughed, clearing his throat. “I’m looking forward to seeing my grandchild. You two take good care of each other. Your mother and I love you, Troy, we always will. Be happy and know that we are always nearby.”

  “You are such a good man, Sawyer. I’m so glad you and my son fell in love.” Celia stepped back and stood next to her husband. “Love you both.”

  They faded and Troy grabbed Sawyer, holding him tightly.

  “I didn’t want to interrupt.”

  Sawyer looked up to find his mother standing in the hall. Long black hair flowed around her face, and emerald eyes smiled at him.

  “Mom?” Sawyer whispered.

  “Hi, baby.”

  “Isabelle.” Troy smiled at Sawyer’s mother.

  “Well now, Troy Bishop.” Isabelle put her hands on her hips. “Look at how handsome you turned out to be. Almost as good-looking as my son.” Isabelle winked at Sawyer.

  “Have you seen Dad and the boys yet?” Sawyer stepped closer to his mother. She looked so beautiful.

  “I’m headed that way. I have a lot to say and not a lot of time to say it in. We got a little pass from the fates; I just happen to have a lot more people I need to speak with.”

  “I miss you so much, Mom.”

  “I know. I miss you, too, baby. But I’m never too far away. You all grew up so handsome. I’m so happy for you, Sawyer. You saved yourself for your mate and now you’ll be having a child of your own. Cherish every minute of it and know that I will always love you.”

  Sawyer held his mother. It had been so long, and he’d never gotten to say goodbye.

  “I have to go see your brothers and your dad.” Isabelle palmed her son’s face. “I can’t wait to see your child.”

  His mother’s form faded and Troy’s arms encircled him. Sawyer closed his eyes as Troy kissed his neck.

  “You okay?” Troy nuzzled Sawyer’s ear.

  “Yes, I’m good. I’m so glad I got to see her.”

  “I know what you mean. I’m sure Wyatt and the others are going to be just as happy.”

  ~*~

  Wyatt tilted his head to the side and smiled, listening. Gage was supposed to be taking a nap. Right now, though, he was certainly not sleeping. They’d had Gage for over six months and both he and Preston wanted to adopt him. It was all up to Gage, though, whether he wanted to be with them. They’d had the long talk about what it meant for him and Preston to adopt him and Gage seemed really happy about it. Wyatt couldn’t wait to have Gage for good. He heard a soft hiss from the back bedroom and turned around on the couch.

  “Gage?”

  “Ya.”

  “You’re not sleeping are you?”

  “I’m trying.”

  Wyatt snickered; he could hear the game Gage was playing. “Oh, really? So who’s telling you that you have an infection?”

  “You can hear that?”

  Wyatt chuckled. “I’m a werewolf just like you, Gage. I can hear everything. You should be trying to nap.”

  Wyatt jumped off the couch as a female voice spoke behind him.

  “Really now? From what I saw, you weren’t good at taking naps either, Wyatt Owen Quinton.”

  Wyatt lost the ability to speak. There, right in front of him, stood his mother. The emerald eyes regarded him with mirth but he was shaking.

  “You’ve grown so much, Wyatt. You’ve found your mate, and now you’ll have a child to raise. I’m so proud of you.”

  Gage walked into the room and looked from Wyatt to the woman. Wyatt looked scared to death. Gage shifted and stood in front of Wyatt, growling a warning at the woman.

  “He’s so adorable,” Isabelle smiled at the pup. “I would never hurt Wyatt, Gage. He’s my son.”

  Gage shifted back and looked up at Wyatt. “She’s your mommy?”

  “Yes, she is.” Wyatt whispered. “I’m so sorry, Mom.” Wyatt wiped at his eyes. He’d started crying and didn’t even realize it.

  “For what, sweetie?”

  “I…killed you when I was born.”

  Isabelle crossed the space between them and took Wyatt into her arms.

  “Don’t you ever say that! I loved you then and I love you now. I always told your father that if it came down to me or my baby, I wanted the baby to live. I wanted you to have a life. Please don’t ever think anything else. You were so worth it, Wyatt. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Now, I’ll be keeping my eye on you.” Isabelle narrowed her eyes at her son with a grin. “Just remember, you weren’t so easy at his age either.”

  Isabelle knelt down to Gage and palmed his face. “You’ve got a great man there
, Gage. He’ll protect you with his life and love you more than anything.”

  Gage nodded. “He’s my poppa. My mommy came to see me; she said I would be happy here.”

  Wyatt’s breath hitched. Gage had always called him and Preston ‘uncle.’ To hear ‘poppa’ meant everything. Wyatt picked Gage up and held him to his chest. He looked at his mother with a smile.

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Anything for you, at any time. I love you so much, Wyatt.” Isabelle noticed her son’s mate walk into the living room and she blew him a kiss. “Take good care of each other. I’ve got to go see your brothers!”

  Preston rubbed his eyes, but the woman was gone.

  “Was that…?” Preston stammered.

  “Yeah,” Wyatt smiled, taking Preston into his arms. “It was.”

  “Poppa?”

  “Yes, Gage?” Wyatt nuzzled Gage’s neck.

  “I’m naked,” Gage giggled.

  “Yes, you are. You should put some clothes on.” Wyatt set Gage back down. Gage looked up at him with his big blue eyes.

  “Do I hafta nap?”

  “Nope,” Wyatt chuckled. “I think nap time is over.”

  “’Kay!” Gage ran back to the bedroom.

  Preston watched as Gage ran down the hall, his giggles reverberating around the apartment.

  “Did he just call you poppa?” Preston asked quietly.

  “Yeah, he did. Took me by surprise.”

  “Are you ready for that?” Preston cupped Wyatt’s face in his hands.

  “Are you?” Wyatt searched Preston’s eyes.

  “Oh, yeah, Wyatt. I’m ready for all of it.”

  ~*~

  John hung up the phone with a huge smile.

  Isabelle had visited Xander and Grayson. Their husbands, Jagger and Taylor, had also gotten a visit from their mother. Grayson said it was the best thing for Taylor as he had always blamed himself that his mother had died from her cancer.

  Looking out over the ocean, he felt a kind of peace in knowing that his sons had all gotten to see their mother. Isabelle had done a wonderful job raising Sawyer, Grayson and Xander. He didn’t think he could have done it better.

  “Oh, but you did, honey.”

  John stiffened. He glanced over his shoulder to see Isabelle smiling at him. She looked like she did the day of their wedding. Absolutely beautiful.

  “You haven’t aged a day, John Quinton. You still look as handsome as the day we took our vows.” Isabelle motioned towards the beach. “You always did love it here.”

  “I proposed right here.” John smiled as his wife walked along the sand towards him.

  “I remember. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so nervous. Well, except for the day you told me you were a werewolf,” Isabelle chuckled.

  “You laughed at me.” John raised both brows.

  “Well? Some guy tells you he turns into a wolf, your first rational thought isn’t. ‘Oh, okay. No biggie, I’ll just buy some Kibbles and Bits and we’ll be good.’”

  John chuckled. “You always did have a great sense of humor; Sawyer gets that from you.”

  Isabelle looked out over the water. “I’m so proud of you, John. All four of our boys are gay and you didn’t even bat an eyelash when they came out to you. They’re so very lucky to have you. Jagger and Taylor, too. You treat them as your own.”

  “Because they are,” John turned to his wife. “Just like Preston is. Those boys are mine. They didn’t deserve what was done to them by their own families.”

  “I love it when you get feisty,” Isabelle winked.

  “Jesus, Iz, you haven’t changed a bit.”

  “No, but you have.” Isabelle took John’s hand. “You have another chance to be happy, John. That’s all I want for you, you know that, right? It’s time for you to move on and find love again.”

  John shook his head. “There will never be anyone like you again.”

  “There will be, and you need to be open to it. You have to let me go, John. You deserve so much happiness.”

  “I had that with you. I don’t want to go through that again, don’t you understand? Any woman I’m with will eventually die. I can’t change her, she’ll end up feral.”

  Isabelle cupped John’s face. “You were the greatest love of my life. You gave me four beautiful boys and I was happy, John. You can make someone else happy and in turn, they’ll bring love back into your life.”

  “God, please don’t leave. I miss you so much,” John whispered, closing his eyes.

  “I’ll always love you, John.” Isabelle brushed her lips softly against her husband’s. “Be happy, honey.”

  The warmth left his lips and John opened his eyes slowly. Isabelle was gone. A gust of wind swept across his face and a whisper floated on the wind.

  Be happy.

  ~*Chapter Eight*~

  Mateo watched as their house filled with people – and laughter. All of the men had gotten visits from loved ones long gone. Isabelle had even visited Nadine and thanked her for helping John raise her boys. They were emotional meetings for all involved and Mateo had to thank the gods and the fates for allowing him to see his parents again. Riley was in better spirits as more people showed up.

  Sam and Dakota had come with them from Ireland to Arizona and stayed. With Matty and Kane as mates, they’d wanted to give them more time together before separating them. Riley spent most of his time in the kitchen baking and Mateo had tried to drag him away more than once.

  Gage and Ethan were chasing Matty and Kane around the house, with the babble ball bouncing off everyone and everything.

  Ethan was in the process of being adopted by Tristan Miles and Scott Delange. They were getting married in a few months and Ethan was going to be the ring bearer. Both little boys had lost their parents to rogues and now both had found families.

  Mateo scanned the room, looking at all the men occupying it. Hayden and Ross were in the corner talking, while Jude stood with Justice and Jaxon Salvatore on the other side of the room. Now that he was a werewolf, Mateo could sense arousal, among other things, and a huge wave of it was emanating from Jude every time he looked at Hayden.

  Mateo snickered and directed his thoughts at Jude.

  “Just give in, Brooks.” Mateo smiled as Jude stiffened and eyed him, glaring.

  “Shut up, Esposito.”

  Mateo winked and walked into the kitchen. Riley was crouched down looking into the stove. Four perfectly browned quiches were ready to come out.

  “Wow, what else did you make?” Mateo sniffed hungrily.

  “A huge rack of lamb and a turkey.” Riley stood up and smiled.

  “That’s it?” Mateo chuckled.

  “Nope, I ordered fifty pizzas.” Riley’s stomach growled. “God, I’ve never been this hungry!”

  Mateo eyed Riley from head to toe. “Me neither.”

  Riley chuckled. “Later, baby. We can break the bed again.”

  “It can’t hold out much longer. It’s already on the floor after we broke it last time.”

  Mateo had to smile. Because they’d kept the broken bed, it sat on the floor, which made it easier for Matty to jump on it and wake them up. Riley was having a doggie door put in for Matty in the next week.

  Everyone sat around the table, laughing and enjoying the feast. Riley held Matty in his arms as he ate. Maggie was curled up in Mateo’s arms, sleeping peacefully. At almost two weeks old, she was very intuitive.

  Riley smiled at Dakota with Kane. They had waited so long for kids, and had finally gotten their wish. He could never thank Josephine enough. Talk around the table turned to the visits from their loved ones.

  “It was weird,” Tristan sighed sadly. “I know they sacrificed themselves for me, and I never understood it,” Tristan looked down at Ethan in his arms. “I get it now.”

  Scott leaned into him and Tristan nuzzled his mate’s hair.

  “I know what you mean.” Wyatt looked over at Gage, asleep in Preston’s arms. “I’d do anything,
kill anyone, to protect him.”

  “Wyatt’s a dad.” Sawyer grinned at his little brother. “Who’d have thought you’d beat me to fatherhood?”

  “You’ll be a father soon enough.” Wyatt took his brother’s hand across the table.

  “Sooner or later, we all will.” Troy looked around the table. He smiled at Hayden, who seemed to inch back a bit.

  “What’s wrong, Hayden? Not ready to be a dad?”

  “Kind of need a wife first,” Hayden mumbled.

  “What?” Jude spluttered.

  “Oh!” Mateo laughed. “Surprise, surprise, Hayden! None of us had a wife and we still had kids. Oh, I forgot you’re bi.”

  “So did I,” Jude groused. He looked up to see all the guys looking at him. “What?”

  “Nothing,” Scott coughed into his hand.

  “So, Vince,” Riley turned to Vince Markov and his FBI agent husband, Keegan. They had gotten married a while back, after Keegan was assigned by James to go undercover in an attempt to bring Vince into the folds of the Skull Blaster unit. Vince and his group of assassins kept showing up at the Blaster’s assignments, and it made sense to James for them to work together. With Keegan as bait, they got Vince’s attention in a hurry. The mission had not only been successful, it had earned Keegan a husband. Notorious assassin Vicious Vince was still vicious, he just happened to be in love, too.

  “I heard you both got a visit.”

  Vince grinned, pulling Keegan into his side. “I did. My mom, dad and sister. Keegan’s dad came by, too.”

  “I told my dad I was gay. Even though he probably figured it out, since I had a husband.” Keegan’s face heated. “I’d always been afraid of telling him.”

  “So, what did he say?” Riley sat forward with his chin in his hands.

  “He said ‘duh’.” Vince answered for his husband.

  “He told Keegan he always knew and couldn’t have cared less. Then he told me I’d better watch his son’s back.” Vince kissed Keegan on his forehead and stood up. “Anyone else want a beer?” All hands went up and Vince laughed, walking into the kitchen.

  Kane stirred in Dakota’s arms, yawning and stretching out his legs.