Bam's Ever

by Sandra R Neeley

  “Sit, Riley, eat,” she said as she sat beside Kaid again. Having stowed her pies on the counter top, in the far corner. Intentionally placing them behind the stacks of extra dishes and rolls of paper towels sitting there for her to indulge in later.

  Riley looked around the table and found Maverik glaring at him, and Maia looking at him with an expectant look in her eyes. He couldn’t quite decipher it; she looked wounded, but she also looked defiant. Almost daring him to approach her. Never one to back down from a dare, he walked over and took an empty chair from where it sat along the back wall, paused behind Bam and asked, “Do you mind if I squeeze in here, Bam?” Bam, completely lost in trying to figure out how to deal with Everly, didn’t realize he was even there and startled at his name being called from right behind him, “What?!” he whipped his head around to see who was there, “Oh, Riley. Hey. Where you been?” Bam asked.

  “Yeah, exactly what I’d like to know,” Maia mumbled under her breath.

  “You mind if I squeeze in here, Bam?” Riley asked again.

  Bam sat next to Maia at meal-times, so Riley was hoping to place his chair between them, so he could sit next to Maia.

  “Sure, go ahead,” Bam said. Bam reached out and gently shoved Maia’s chair a little closer to Maverik’s; then, he scooted his chair a little closer to Everly’s. He looked at Everly, “Do you mind?”

  Everly, of course, did not mind that Bam wanted to sit nearer her, “Not at all, do you need me to move over a bit?” she asked.

  Bam gripped her chair and gently moved her a little bit, “No, I got it,” he was very, very close to her face when he smiled at her as he moved her. Her heart began to pound, and she could think of nothing to say, so she just smiled at him ridiculously. Everyone in the house knew what was going on with them, so they were being very closely watched.

  Cristie had crawled up in Maverik’s lap, “Hi, Poppy.”

  He couldn’t help it - he just melted at the affection the little girl had for him, “Hi, Darlin’. I missed you, where you been hiding?”

  “Home,” she told him and eagerly looked at his plate for food she could pilfer. Unfortunately, there was none yet.

  Riley took a seat in the chair he’d managed to insert between Bam and Maia and looked right at her. She was pointedly ignoring him. “Hello, Maia.”

  Maia continued ignoring him, though she’d picked up a coldwater cornbread patty dripping with butter and handed it to Cristie, while smiling at the little girl.

  Riley watched her being nice to his daughter. He loved that though she was mad at him, she was still kind to Cristie.

  “I missed you these last few days, Maia,” he told her.

  He waited a beat, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Maia? Did you hear me, baby?” he tried again.

  She turned on him, “I heard you. Seems to me, if you’d been here, I wouldn’t have been missed,” she told him sharply.

  “I’m sorry for not being around. It’s just so hard to be near you and not be able to be with you.”

  Maverik snorted, his opinion obvious.

  Riley glared at Maverik, “And all these damn Alpha males in one place, sometimes my Panther just needs a break, baby,” he said to Maia quietly.

  Maia immediately countered, “Ya, know? There’s this new thing, it’s called a phone. You can use them to communicate with people when you can’t be right where they are. Oh, look! You have one right there in your pocket!” Her sarcastic tone turned biting, “Maybe one day you can learn how to use the damn thing!” Her voice had risen on each word, and the whole table went quiet as she finished.

  Riley looked at her, not even trying to defend himself, and nodded, “I know.”

  Valerie decided to take control of this dinner before it spun out of control, and the whole reason for it was greatly overshadowed.

  She started putting pork chops on plates and passing them around, so the side dishes could be placed on them, and the plates passed back to their owners. Before long everyone was very happily eating, talking, and enjoying themselves.

  Though it was Bam’s house and his family, Everly served Bam’s plate. She poured his tea for him, and she did not even realize that she’d done so, until she noticed that Bam was staring at her. “What?” she asked.

  “You gave me food,” he told her in a hushed voice.

  “Well, yeah, I did,” she said hesitantly. “I’m sorry, should I not have?” she asked him. Looking around to see if anyone was watching because she was now embarrassed, afraid she’d done something wrong, she found Avaleigh and Bane both smiling at her.

  Bane spoke first, “You did good.”

  Then Avaleigh said, “You did everything exactly right, Everly. Exactly right.” And Avaleigh had tears in her eyes as she watched them.

  Everly wasn’t sure what was going on, but when she looked back at Bam, he was looking at her intently, “Thank you, Everly.”

  “You’re welcome, Bramley,” which reminded her, “Hey, remember when we first met, and I told you that you could call me Ever. Why have you never called me Ever? Why is it always Everly?” she asked.

  Bam didn’t look at her for a second; he focused on his plate, then finally he looked up at her, “Because I didn’t think that you were my Ever. But now, I’m thinking that maybe I was wrong.”

  Everly was shaken. To her very core. This was the first time that he’d given any indication that he may be wrong about her not being his. She wasn’t sure that was what he meant, but she sure hoped it was. It sounded like it was anyway.

  She smiled when Bam reached over and placed a pork chop from his own plate onto hers, “This is one of the best ones.”

  “Thank you, Bramley.”

  He grinned at her as he took another bite of his food.

  On the opposite side of the table, Vince kept a steady eye on Brandi, and each time her glass of tea would get low, or she seemed to need something, an extra napkin, anything, he was on it, the one to give her whatever she searched for.

  There was more than one set of floundering Mates at this dinner, but somehow they managed to get through it without too much strife. Pretty soon the meal was finished and it was time for dessert.

  “What’s for dessert, Aunt Valerie?” Remi asked - the child thought that sugar was its own food group.

  “Maia made dessert, baby,” she told him.

  Maia answered him, “I made cake, Remi. It’s really good; you want some?”

  “Yes!” he shouted happily, “And Cristie wants some, too!” he informed them.

  Cristie, still seated on Maverik’s lap, nodded her head as she continued to gnaw on her pork chop and mumbled around it, “cake!”

  Maia and Valerie exchanged a glance, then both got up, “I’ll help you get it, Maia,” Valerie told her.

  In the bedroom, Valerie and Maia each picked up a cake, and Maia snagged the flower arrangement she’d made. They walked back into the kitchen and placed the cakes still covered, in front of Maverik. Then Maia placed the flowers in the center of the table. Delilah looked at the flowers then quickly looked up at Maia, her eyebrows raised. Maia shook her head no and placed a finger in front of her lips to indicate that she needed to be quiet. Avaleigh caught it and looked around for what Maia was shushing Delilah about. When her eyes found the pictures tucked into the flower arrangement, she looked at Maia, who subtly shook her head no and looked toward Valerie, who was handing Maverik a cake knife.

  Avaleigh barely managed to contain herself. She was so happy for Maverik that she wanted to run down to him and hug him while she cried and slobbered all over him. But she couldn’t, he didn’t know yet. So she ducked her head and wiped her silent happy tears. Remi watched and immediately crawled into her lap, looking up at her face. “Mommy’s good, baby,” she told him.

  “Happy ones?” he asked in a hushed voice.

  “Yes, very happy ones,” she answered.

  “That’s so weird,” he said, still not convinced that tears could be anything
other than sad.

  Daniel and Kaid didn’t even notice. They were so absorbed in a conversation about football and who had the best running backs.

  “Maverik, could you cut the cakes, hon?” Valerie asked, standing behind her chair, waiting for him to uncover the cakes and catch on.

  “Cakes? Two cakes? Damn, you must have known everybody was coming, baby,” he told her, smiling.

  Maia took the long way around the table to pinch Vince, who was focused on Brandi, on the way by, “Ouch! What was that for?” he asked her.

  “Pay attention to your sister for a minute,” she fake whispered at him.

  Vince, confused, looked from Maia to Valerie, where she stood a little away from Maverik, waiting for him to cut the cakes. Didn’t look out of the ordinary to him. He looked at Maia, who pointed at Valerie again. “Okaaay!” he mouthed at her and sat back to pay particular attention to his sister.

  Maverik pulled the foil tent off one cake, then turned his head to read the lettering on top of it, “Well, that don’t make no sense,” he said. Then, “Maia, you must left out some letters, baby. But it’s pretty.”

  Maia snickered, then reached over and pulled the foil tent from the other cake - she pushed it closer to the first cake. He looked at the cakes, then up at Valerie, who stood very nervously smiling at him. He looked back at the cakes, reached out and and moved one around the other. Then his face turned white. He caught his breath. His lips began to tremble, and he looked up at Valerie. “Valerie?” he croaked out.

  She nodded her head yes, then said, “I love you.”

  He dropped the knife on the table and grabbed her up and into his arms so fast, the humans only saw him hugging her, not him getting to her.

  He was crying, laughing, everything all at once, and he couldn’t care less who saw him. Valerie was crying and laughing. Maia was crying; then, Bam figured out what was going on. He jumped up and ran over to Maverik and Valerie hugging them both with a huge smile on his face.

  Delilah handed the flower arrangement to Kaid, “Pass this to Maverik Ass. He will want to see this.”

  Kaid looked at it, realized what it was and asked, “How long has this been here?”

  “Since the cakes were brought out, my Mate. You were otherwise occupied with important discussions of backs running,” she explained.

  Kaid passed it down, and it made it to the end of the table, where it sat for a moment while Maverik hugged his Mate, his wife, and murmured to her over and over again how much she meant to him, and how happy he was since she’d given him a second chance at life. “You saved me,” he told her, just before Vince came up behind her.

  “This is why you needed us all here?” he told his baby sister before hugging her tightly. She nodded against his chest. “I’m so happy for you, Valerie. You’re gonna be a great mom. Mom and Dad would be so proud of you, so happy you’ve found so much happiness.”

  “Thank you, Vince,” she told him. “And thank you for coming, it was important to me that everybody was here tonight. And you’re going to be a great uncle, too.”

  His smile turned huge, “Yes! Yes, I am!”

  Everybody had their turn to congratulate Maverik and Valerie on their new baby, Maia giving Maverik a special hug and whispering how happy she was for him and Valerie. Joanne hugged Maverik, holding his face in her hands, “You deserve every happiness, Maverik. I’m so happy for you.”

  Maverik hugged her back, “Thank you, Joanne.”

  Then a little voice reminded them of what was important, at least to him, “Are we ever going to eat cake?” Remi asked loudly from his booster chair.

  Maverik, still grinning ear-to-ear answered him, “Yes, little man, we are!” Then he cut into the first cake, making a few slices, and then the other. He saw that one was pink, and one was blue. He paused for a minute, “Aw cute, ‘cause you didn’t know if it should be blue or pink,” he said.

  “Kinda,” Maia answered.

  He looked at Maia, then looked back at the cakes. Then Goldy pushed the flower arrangement toward him. He glanced at the flowers then back at the cake. Then his brain started telling him what he’d just glimpsed. Slowly, he turned his attention back to the flowers with the little pine branches standing up throughout the arrangement. It was pretty, but what had his attention was the photographs tucked into the pine needles. He reached for the arrangement, picking it up and bringing it closer, so he could examine it.

  Maia took the knife from him, “Here, Daddy, let me finish that for you.”

  Maverik let go of the knife not even realizing that someone had spoken to him. He carefully pulled the pictures from the pine needles, turning the arrangement ‘round twice to be sure he got them all. He looked at each one, intensely focusing on the image, then he’d move it to the back of the stack and lose himself in the next image. When he was finished, he looked at Valerie again. She stood there, waiting for his reaction.

  He clasped the pictures to his chest, against his heart, then he said, “Two?”

  There were exclamations all around the table, but he continued, “Two babies?” he managed to get out.

  “Yes,” Valerie confirmed, her smile shining, “Twins. We’re having twins.”

  Maverik let out a sound that was halfway between a sob and a shout of celebration - he dropped to his knees and wrapped one arm around the small of Valerie’s back. He pulled her to him and lifted her shirt with his other hand, just enough that he could get to the soft skin across her belly. He pressed his lips there, once, twice, then whispered, “Daddy’s here, babies. I’ll always be right here.” Then he looked up at his Mate, her eyes shining and her smile huge as she looked down at him, “Valerie,” he whispered. He didn’t know how to put into words what was spilling from his heart. In just a few short weeks, she’d rebuilt his entire life. Given him a second chance at everything he’d lost and given him more love than he’d ever truly believed he’d deserved.

  She looked at him struggling to voice what he was feeling and knew exactly what he wanted to say, “Me, too, my love. Me, too.”

  He smiled at her and pressed his face to her belly, again kissing his babies nestled there.

  Maia got down on her knees beside her daddy, “I’m so happy for you, Daddy.”

  Maverik reached out an arm and wrapped it around her, bringing her to him. “I love you, baby girl. I’m so happy you’re here to share this with me and Valerie. It’s that much more special because you’re going to be a great big sister to them. You’re gonna get to share it with us.”

  “I know, I’m so excited. I can’t wait to meet them,” she told him.

  “They are very lucky to have you for a big sister,” Valerie told her. “And I’m going to need your help with so much, Maia.”

  Maia lit up, “I can’t wait to help; just let me know what you need, and it’s done!”

  Maverik stood; he had his Mate in one arm and his daughter in the other. Life was perfect. He looked around the room, amazed at all the changes in the last year. Their lives had all definitely taken a turn for the better.

  They were all holding their Mates, their wives, smiling, crying. Each remembering how much richer their lives were since the women had come into their lives. And, Avaleigh seemed to be the catalyst, the very first mating of their clan. She rested her head on Daniel’s shoulder, and he rested his head against hers.

  Bam sat in his chair, crying unashamedly. Everly didn’t realize it, but she’d begun to stroke his arm, her Fox trying to soothe him. Bam’s Bear loved that their Mate was soothing them, and while Bam was busy lost in emotion for his friend, Bear surged forward and seized Everly in their arms. Before Bam knew what was happening, he had swept Everly onto his lap and was holding her, pressing her face into his neck, kissing her hair, stroking her back with one hand, her hair with the other. And she was holding him, too, reveling in his attentions.

  Bam buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. Bear whispered, Home, in his mind. And she was, she was his home. She was the
only person, the only thing, that would ever be home to him. Maybe they didn’t need to be golden. Maybe all they needed was each other.

  He opened his eyes and found Delilah watching him from across the table. Actually, they were all watching him. Even Maverik was watching him, with his Valerie now sitting on his lap, his hand resting protectively across her belly.

  Maverik nodded at him, then said quietly, “As it should be.”

  Bam wanted it to be like this, always, just like this. But he had so many questions. What would happen if she glowed for someone else. What if she found out all about him and knew he wasn’t good enough for her.

  Delilah’s Dragon rumbled. He snapped his eyes to hers. “I told you not to say that again.”

  He just looked at Delilah, her abilities obviously expanding with her pregnancy; she could read minds now. Wonderful, he thought sarcastically.

  “I am wonderful. And I will find your answers. Maverik Ass is correct. As it should be,” she told him.

  Bam closed his eyes and held Everly even closer. She snuggled tighter into his arms and let off a little moan that had him almost whimpering in response. Need this. Ever, Bear told him.

  Bam didn’t answer Bear, just held his Ever and hoped this moment never ended. Bear was right - they did need this forever.

  Chapter 13

  Later, as Avaleigh and Ms. Sadie cleaned the kitchen and put the leftovers away, most everyone had moved to the living room to visit and watch Ancient Aliens, which was Delilah’s favorite show, and Lord help anyone who made her miss her show.

  Maia sat on the couch, with Cristie on her lap, doing her best to ignore the fact that Riley had not joined them in the living room. Only Riley, Kaid, Amos, and Bam and Everly had not yet moved into the living room. It took a little while, but Bam had eventually shown up, Everly still tucked in his arms as he searched for a place to sit. He chose the huge overstuffed chair closest to the fireplace. Bam couldn’t see the TV from there, but he didn’t plan on watching it anyway. Everly didn’t even stir as he sat and arranged her on his lap. They just sat there, holding each other, eyes closed, much as they had in the kitchen. Even Avaleigh and Ms. Sadie had finished cleaning and come to enjoy the company. Maia looked around at her family, and suddenly she was so irritated that he was avoiding her in her own home that she could not take it any longer. She kissed Cristie and handed her to Ms. Sadie before stomping toward the kitchen in a huff to tell him if he couldn’t even sit and talk with her, he needed to get the hell out. But the words she overheard in the hallway had her pausing just outside the archway that led into the kitchen, where she just barely had a view of Riley as he sat speaking with Amos and Kaid.