"No, I have no desire to talk to him. I just hope he doesn't get in the way. This kind of stuff is his thing. He thinks that gives him the right to take over," he replied, not bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice. He was a little upset that no one had told him he'd be there. After the brief lunch the meeting continued and it was easy to see who was going to help and who wasn't. The Mexican wolves were clearly not going to help but James didn't blame them.
In Mexico vampires and werewolves had been fighting since the European invasion. Werewolves were native to the lands while vampires came with the Europeans. It was a bloody feud that few wanted to get involved in that mess. Most of the American werewolves didn't care what happened outside their territory. Unless, of course, it was directly affecting theirs. So far Tony had South Montana, North and South Dakota, and Oregon. Unfortunately, in James' opinion, he also had West Texas.
Some of the alphas like North California, Mississippi, and New Jersey, only came for him and/or Lily. Most had left now since James had made himself clear he wasn't for sale. The only one he'd let come even close was his boss, Freddie. That was only because Freddie meant well and was a good wolf. Some of the Canadian alphas were still on the fence and James knew Tony hoped, at least, one would join them. While the Canadians were pacific wolves when forced to fight, they were fast, deadly, and efficient.
The Roberts house, as typical, was brimming with life. "Hey Uncle James," his niece said, waving.
"The old man is your uncle?" Wendy said, giving him a smug smirk. When they first met Wendy was no different from everyone else. Fan girling without the crush part. Lily then infected her with that "Let's pick on James" thing of hers. Now the teen loved to remind him that he's not a twenty-something anymore.
"He's not old," Eliza said and he was about to thank her when his niece added. "Well, not that old." James narrowed his eyes at the girls.
"Do I need to get your dad," he asked Wendy. She feigned innocence and gave him a look of confusion that had Eliza giggling up a fury. Despite Wendy's smart ass remarks about his age, he was glad Eliza had someone to spend time. James could consider Wendy a slightly decent role model... maybe. "You two behave," he warned them and continued into the house. He shuddered, realizing how old saying that made him sound.
Stepping out onto the back porch, James found who he was looking for. A. J. was playing with Matt and a couple other children. They were under the watchful gaze of several mothers. Surprisingly, his mother was one of them. He stiffened realizing that she was talking to Lily. Fear clamped down on his stomach. Why were they talking? What did they even have to talk about? The two women must have felt his gaze because soon they glanced over at him.
His mother said something to Lily, who gave her a nod, then got up and walked over to him. "Hello James," she said with a cautious tone. She looked different from when he last saw her. Her brown hair was lighter, streaked with white. Wrinkles adorned her eyes and mouth. But her dark eyes shined with a confidence he'd never seen before.
"Hey mom," he replied then unable to stop himself he added, "So dad let you come here all by yourself, did he?" She gave him a tight smile.
"James, your father, doesn't have a say in what I do for over ten years," she told him. "We got a divorce," she added with hesitation. His mouth dropped open in surprise. He'd never heard of mates getting a divorce. His look of surprise made her smile more.
"After what happened to you. Then Harley ran away soon after we moved to Texas, I didn't want to live like that anymore. So I reached out to the alpha's mate and she got me some help and away from your father," she explained. James' father was a man who loved control and he wasn't afraid to use physical force to achieve compliance. James had been on the receiving end of his fists more than once.
"It was so difficult to leave, you know. We're mates so every fiber in me told me that I should stay. Mates are meant to be together," she said with a sigh and James couldn't help but look at Lily, still with the mothers.
"So you and Dad didn't come here together?" James asked, bringing his eyes back to his mother.
"No, we came together. He asked me to come along and I agreed," she said, giving him a smile. "I wasn't the only one who got help. He's trying and has come a long way. He's still not there but as I said he's coming along." Not sure what to say to that he stayed silent. "That boy of yours James is just beautiful. I'm so happy for you," she said, grinning at him.
James gave her a small smile in return, glad to see she wasn't the soft spoken mouse of a woman she used to be. "Yeah, he is. I saw you met Lily," he said, trying not to sound like he was fishing for information.
"Yep," she replied plainly and he gave her a some what frustrated look. "I like her," she said just as plain then gave him a hug. "I've missed you so much James," she said, sounding a little teary now. He relaxed and hugged her back, just now realizing how much he'd missed her too.
"I miss you too, Mom," he said, his voice a little rough with emotion.
"Let's not do this again," she said, pulling back and dabbing her moist eyes. "Well," she said, giving him a smile. "Lily has my number. I'd like to meet for lunch or something before you head up north. Now, I'm going to see if anything actually got done in that meeting or you men just clucked like a bunch of old roosters," she said. She gave him a quick kiss before disappearing into the house. Lily had his mom's number? Was that good?
James grinned with a chuckle and went over to join the children. A. J. yelled excitedly when he saw him. "Come here squirt," he said with a laugh. James piced up his son and liftied him up in the air, causing the boy to squeal with laughter.
"Me, me!" Matt said, holding up his arms. James took a boy in each arm, gently swinging them around, much to their delight. It wasn't long before all the children were lining up for their chance.
"Alright, alright," Sandy said, walking up to them. "That's enough for tonight. Time for you to head home or to bed," she told the children. Whines and complaints are what she got back but Sandy stooded her ground... thankfully. James was about to surrender and beg for mercy. A. J. walked to him, holding up his arms. He grinned and made a last ditch effort to pick his son up.
"You ready for bed, A. J.?" He asked and got an enthusiastic no in return. "Of course not. What a dumb question. How about we go read a story instead," he offered.
"Story!" the toddler yelled in agreement, making James wince.
"Alright, let's go," he said, carrying him to the house. He gave Lily a grin and a wink as he passed her, receiving an eye roll and a see you later in response.
Next thing James knew Lily was shaking him awake. He groaned before remembering A. J. was asleep. "What time is it," he asked after a yawn cautiously sitting up.
"Nine in the morning. You have one hour before today's meeting starts," she told him with a smug grin on her face. Well damn, he thought surprised, glancing over to see A. J. was no longer next to him.
"Thanks Lily," he said, getting up and stretching then remembered. "So I saw you met my mom," he said and she nodded with an mhm and sticking her hands in her pockets. "So..." he said, dragging the word out.
"So what," she asked back with a sly grin. She knew exactly what he wanted to know.
"What did you two talk about," he asked and she smirked at him.
"You look worried James," She teased him and he grinned at her, standing up.
"Not worried but curious," he replied. Why would he have to worry besides the infamous tendencies of mother in laws and their son's girl get along? Not that they were actually in laws yet.
"No you're definitely worried," she teased. "Worried that she'd tell me all the embarrassing stuff you did as a kid?" James scoffed as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Embarrassing stuff? I didn't do anything embarrassing. I was the cool kid remember," he told her with a cocky grin. Lily rolled her eyes at him with her own scoff.
"Oh well, I'd consider that whole helicopter thing pretty embarrassing but I guess that's just me," she said. James jaw dropped then snapped it shut a moment later. She didn't... she wouldn't... "Oh God, you're actually blushing. James Lacrosse is actually blushing," she said through hard laughter. "This is going to be black mail gold," she continued.
"Lily," he warned her and she grinned at him smugly.
"Blackmail gold," she repeated then screamed as he lunged at her and ran out of the room laughing.
"Lily, don't you dare," he yelled, chasing her out of the room. Lily opened and clenched her fists as she paced the kitchen. "It's not working. Did you do it right?" Lily demanded and the doctor looked up at her with a sharp look. "Don't look at me like that, sitting dork," she snapped.