Chapter 90 Family confession
Serena headed to the porch while Logan went around back to see the kids. Santino watched Logan disappear around the house.
“Don’t stare at him,” Serena muttered to her twin.
“He has a temper,” Santino argued, but he smirked at her. “Tell me something I don’t know,” Serena said with a humorless laugh. “Look, are mom and dad inside? I guess I have some explaining to do.” “Yea, you definitely do,” Santino said. He slipped his arm around his sister’s shoulders. Serena smiled as they went inside to find Thomas and Charlotte.
Serena’s parents were huddled together in the kitchen whispering. The moment they saw Serena, they both stopped whispering and stood up straighter. “You’re back,” Charlotte said. Serena nodded, joining them in the kitchen. “Logan is outside with the twins,” she clarified when her father looked around her.
“Are you going to tell us what is going on with him?” Charlotte asked. Serena sighed.
Nodding, she sat down at the kitchen table. Santino, Charlotte, and Thomas all joined her. They looked at her expectantly. For a moment, Serena just picked ad a crack in the surface of the wooden table.
“I’m sure that was awkward for everyone,” she started.
“That’s an understatement,” Santino blurted out. Thomas held up his hand to silence his son.
“You must understand our concern,” Thomas said. “There was clearly tension between the two of you, and for Logan to drag you off…he didn’t even give you a chance to speak to the twins or make sure we could look after them.”
“I know,” Serena said. “That’s why I texted you to tell you I was fine and we would be back soon.”
“You shouldn’t have left in the first place,” Charlotte argued. Serena groaned. She always felt like her parents were expecting more of her, like she wasn’t ever doing thing to their expectations. It was what she had tried to tell Logan. “I know!” she snapped. “Can you just back off and let me talk. This isn’t the easiest
situation we find ourselves in.” Charlotte and Thomas nodded, backing off. “Alright, fine,” Santino grumbled, crossing his arms. “I found out a while ago, but Logan is my mate,” Serena said. “I didn’t want him to know though…he’s involved with someone else, and I have the twins… anyway, when he saw me in wolf form, he understood.” “That makes sense,” Charlotte said. “You should have hidden that from him.”
“Probably not, but it was my choice,” Serena said. “Besides, that’s not why he was really mad at me.”
“No?” Thomas asked, glancing to the nearest window. Serena shook her head. “He’s smelled me in wolf form before, he just didn’t know it was me. This time…I guess it jogged his memory because he remembered when we first met,” she explained.
“When you first met?” Charlotte asked. Serena glanced at Santino who raised an eyebrow at his sister.
“The masquerade party after my graduation,” Serena reminded him. Santino snorted and then laughed. Then his eyes widened. “Holy crap!” he said, “Wait, that was the guy from the treehouse?” Serena nodded, her cheeks reddening when her parents realized what Santino was talking about.
“Yup,” she said. “I knew from the moment I met him, but he didn’t remember me. I didn’t see the point of dredging up an inebriated one-night-stand from years ago.” “Honey, that’s interesting and all, but why would Logan get so mad about realizing that?” Charlotte asked. Serena swallowed and then cleared her throat. “The twins,” she said simply. Her parents and brother all took a moment to digest the information. They exchanged looks and then started nodding. “He’s their father?” Thomas asked.
Serena nodded. “I didn’t know for sure, not until I got the DNA results back, but there were…things,” she said. “Luna Flo thought the twins looked like Logan as a kid, and the way they all bonded so quickly. I had my suspicions, but I couldn’t tell anyone until it was confirmed.” “But you didn’t tell anyone,” Santino pointed out. “You didn’t tell Logan.” Sighing, Serena dug her thumbnail into the pulpy wood in the crack on the table. “No, I didn’t,” she admitted. “I guess I was waiting for the right time. I needed to figure out how it would affect the twins, and then there was Logan himself. I didn’t know enough about him…” she trailed off.
Her excuses were still valid in her own mind, but she wasn’t sure if her parents would understand.
“It is natural to want to protect your children,” Thomas said in validation. “I think you made some difficult decisions. You shouldn’t have had to do it on your own.” “Thanks, Dad,” Serena said. “I didn’t want to tell anyone though, and then have Logan find out that everyone but him knew the truth.” “Another good choice,” Charlotte added. Serena nodded. “I know this is all weird, but Logan and I agreed only to tell our immediate families,” she said. “I’d appreciate it if you guys kept this to yourselves for now.” “We will” Santino said. “You are a lucky female.” Serena scoffed. 2/4
“How so?” she asked. “To have a one-night-stand, get pregnant, and then serendipitously run into their father again and figure out who he is…the chances of that slim,” he said. Serena smiled. She hadn’t thought about it like that, but he wasn’t wrong! “I wish it was that simple, brother,” she said. “There are a lot of things about Logan being their father that are more complicated than lucky,” she explained. Santino shrugged. “The truth is out now, though,” he said. “Thank you for telling us,” Charlotte said. “I don’t know what is going to happen.” Serena admitted. “We still have a lot to work through, and there are things we haven’t figured out yet.” “Is Logan going to be their father now?” Thomas asked. “That’s another conversation altogether,” Serena said. “For now, he knows the truth. He lost his temper a little, but he knows he was out of line, and we were able to talk about everything. He knows not to step out of
line with the kids.” “You trust him, then?” Santino asked giving her a hard look. “I do,” Serena said. She heard the kids laughing in the yard and it brought a smile to her lips. She was happy that they had time to spend with Logan now that he knew the truth. She thought it was best for them to have some time together, just the three of them. It would be a good time for them to bond more as a family, even if the twins didn’t know he was their dad. “It’s been a long day,” Serena said. “Can I have a snack and a cup of coffee before talking more about this?” Her parents nodded. Getting up from the table, Serena got herself a snack while the coffee pot was bubbling. Santino appeared beside her with a mug. She looked out the kitchen window to watch Logan and the kids playing together. “He is good with them,” Santino commented. “I know he is,” Serena said. “He always has been. Did I tell you about the time there was a thunderstorm, and Logan stayed to make sure the kids were okay? A tree collapsed on our house and Logan stayed with us the whole time. He didn’t even know the kids were his then, but he still protected them, gave them strength.” “He’s a good man, a good Alpha, and he’s obviously a good father,” Santino said. “You
should let him in more.” “Let him in?” Serena asked, raising an eyebrow at her brother as she poured herself a mug of coffee.
“Yea, let him get to know you too. Maybe he would ditch that other girl he is tramping around with,” Santino said. Serena laughed and shook her head.
“I doubt it,” she argued. “Serena, you remembered him from your encounter because you had kids that you thought might be his,” Santino pointed out. “Logan remembered your encounter and had no real reason to, other than he wanted to.” Santino’s words gave Serena something to think about. It meant that through the years, Logan was holding on to something more than in their past than he had told her, maybe more than he’d wanted to admit to himself. “You’re overthinking it,” she said, brushing off her brother’s words. She grabbed her coffee and her snack and went back to the kitchen table. Charlotte and Thomas were waiting patiently, but Serena didn’t like the way they were watching her so closely. It
was like they were judging her silently. They said they were okay with everything, but she didn’t believe it. She knew her parents loved her and the twins. She also knew that they supported her and trusted her. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t impose their own thoughts and feelings on her, though. Especially since they had always been more critical of her than Santino.
Serena sighed.
“Alright, should we get back to it?” she asked.