102- Just accept the kind and the good.

We parked and I grabbed Riveria, while Milan grabbed Torrin. They were both sleeping but transferred easily into our arms. I shuffled her onto my shoulder, while he cradled our son in his arms. We smiled at each other and walked into the house together.

“Wow,” Milan gasped, as he took in the ground foyer.

“Aunt Verona doesn’t do anything halfway,” I chuckled. “I'll give you the grand tour later, they're probably all out back.”

He nodded and followed me through the house into the great room and adjoining kitchen. “This is amazing. I guess you weren't kidding about the whole you have money thing.”

I laughed. “Nope, not exaggerating.” It felt good to be here, I realized.

Milan sniffed. “Something smells great.”

I nodded toward the array of pastries on the table. “Tessa's work. Probably Ford’s as well. They typically go overboard for, well, everything.”

We crossed the great room toward the porch door, and were nearly there, when the door opened.

Brooks stopped in his tracks, staring.

“Hey,” I said, grinning like a cat with a canary.

He blinked at me, slack-jawed for a moment. I spotted a familiar silhouette through the door and moved forward, still grinning. Shaking his head, Brooks took a step back onto the porch and moved so I could join him.

“Uh, Carrick?” he called.

Carrick turned, and whatever he was about to say to his mate died in his throat as his eyes landed on me.

“Hey, twin-cousin,” I said casually. My chest rumbled and I realized I was purring with joy. Carrick stammered something unintelligible and then took a couple of steps toward me. “Wow,” I said, as I caught sight of Wane in his arms. “He's getting big.”

“Yeah…” Carrick glanced at his son, and then back to me. “Yeah, he is.”

I tightened my grip on Riveria a little, and then reached out my other arm. “Here, let me say hello to him.”

Carrick started to hand Wane to me and then hesitated. “You might want to put down… that uh… baby,” he said obviously, afraid to ask if she was mine.

I couldn't resist a smirk as I kept my arm extended. “Actually, I'm quite adept at holding two at the same time.” His eyes started to narrow in confusion, so I turned my head slightly to indicate Milan. At last, Carrick noticed the man in the doorway behind me. He gasped as he took in Milan and the second baby in my mate’s arms.

“Eron… who?” he stammered. “Surprise,” I laughed.

His nostrils flared, and I knew he could tell that the man behind me was an omega.

“This is Milan,” I said, proudly. “Loui, this is Carrick and his true mate, Brooks. And their little Wane.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Milan said. “I've heard a lot about you.”

Brooks was the first one to take his hand. “Welcome to the family,” he said with a grin. “Brace yourself, it’s a little chaotic.”

Milan chuckled. “So, I've heard.”

Still grinning like a fool, I patted my daughter. “This is Riveria. And that’s Torrin.”

Carrick’s expression of surprise softened at their names. He exchanged a quick glance with Brooks and blinked rapidly, as if fighting tears. I could tell from the way Brooks bit his lip for a moment that he was familiar with my parents’ names.

“They're precious,” Carrick said. “How old?” “Just a bit over a month,” I said.

Carrick shook his head. “You asshole. That’s four, if not five full moons! I’ve called you after every one, and you didn’t breathe a word of this?!”

I shrugged and laughed. “I figured I'd take a page out of Rion's book and surprise everyone.” “You sure did.” Carrick thumped me on the back. “Holy shit, man.”

“Excuse me,” Tessa said, slipped by us and into the house. “I'm just coming in to get – Eron! You’re back! Oh my god,” she gasped. Her eyes darted between me, my mate, and our babies. “You… Are those twins? Are you kidding me?!”

She whirled on Carrick. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't know!” he said holding, up his free hand innocently.“Oh my god,” Tessa repeated. She darted between Carrick and Brooks, and threw her arms around me. “Oh, Eron. I'm so happy for you.”

Apparently, her shriek hadn't gone unnoticed. And then just a few moments we were surrounded by my cousins, my Aunt Verona and Uncle Jacob, and several other family members. Milan was obviously overwhelmed, but doing his best.

I was swamped with hugs, congratulations, and everyone told me how relieved they were that I had a true mate. I felt a warmth and affection from them that I never felt before. Or maybe it was always there, and I just hadn't wanted to see it. After everyone had met my new family and fawned over the twins, Milan and I snuck upstirs and set up a couple of portable cribs in my room.

I gave him a brief tour to get away from the chaos and eventually we found ourselves back in the great room. we went back downstairs. The kitchen was quiet again, as everyone was back outside enjoying the nice weather.

“This is amazing,” Milan said.

“Yeah. How do you feel? It’s a bit much sometimes.”

“It's going take a little while to get all the names and faces straight,” he said. “But seems like one big happy family.”

I chuckled and started dusting off one of my fancier coffee makers. I doubted anyone would actually expect me to provide drinks, given that I had just come back. But after a few months with the limited equipment at the Caffeinated Cat, I found that I was actually excited to get back into it. For longer than I cared to admit now, I had been making coffee at the family gatherings more because I knew it was expected than anything else.

I never resented or hated it, but I would have been just as happy if I offered someone coffee and they declined it. Now however, I felt like I was positively itching to whip up a few big batches of drinks.

“They all really seem to love you, you know,” Milan said softly.

“I know,” I said.

He watched me as I stated to set up.

“How much coffee are you making?” he asked when I pulled out a huge tray of mugs. “Well, it looks like a lot of people out there,” I laughed.

“You're making some for everyone?”

I shrugged. “It's kind of my thing.” And it was my thing, I thought as I smelled the first drips of fresh coffee. My grin widened. And I liked it.

“Did I hear Eron is back?” asked a voice.

Milan and I both turned, and I saw that Kessel the warden was here.

“Kessel,” I said in surprise. “I thought the hunter was taken care of. What are you doing here?” I asked in concern.

“Not to worry,” he said brightly. “I was just invited because after a few months on lockdown, I'm practically family now,” he said with a laugh.

I joined him, laughing in relief. “Kessel, this is my mate, Milan. Our twins are upstairs.”

“I'm sure I'll meet them sometime,” said Kessel. “Congratulations. It’s nice to meet you.” He shook Milan's hand, thumped me on the back, and then started to head out of the kitchen. “I'm afraid I am in a bit of a hurry though. A warden’s work is never done,” he lamented.

“Another hunter?” I asked. If I had been in cat from my fur would have puffed up at the thought. “No, nothing to worry about. Well,” He wrinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes. “Nothing a

shifter needs to worry about. We’ve got some rumors of a feral bear. So, I'm going to go check it out.” “Be careful,” I said.

“I will. Welcome home.” “Thanks.”

Kessel waved and headed out of the room.

“Rumors of a what?” Milan asked as the warden left.

“Feral bear. Feral is the term we use for a shifter who has started breaking our laws. In this case, it’s a bear.”

“Feral sounds pretty… intense. What laws?” Milan asked.

“Probably turning people. More than one, that is. Obviously without permission from the Alpha Parliament, and most likely without the permission of the humans he’s turning too.” I shook my head sadly. “Unfortunately there are some shifters out there who are just bad people, no different than humans.”

“Awful. I hope he hasn’t turned or hurt too many people yet.”

“Me too. I’m sure the wardens will take care of it.” I went over to the pantry and was pleased to see my large assortment of ingredients were all right where I left them. I grabbed a couple of flavored syrups and my eyes landed on a little container of chai tea. Inspiration struck and I grabbed it.

I poured a serving of coffee into a mug and stirred in a shot of hazelnut, a shot of vanilla, and then swirled in a bag of chai tea. While it steeped, I went to work mixing up some of my signature summer iced coffees. When they were done, I tossed the tea bag, sprinkled cinnamon on top, and set the mug down in front of my mate.

“Here you go.”

Milan laughed. “Thank you,” he said and I finally He kissed me.

** the end of all the V worlds and all my dreams**