He huffed and leant back in the up-turned barrel. “And didyougain your degree in nosiness before or after you qualified as an accountant, Aliya?”
Aliya stared at him with dark eyes, the tip of her tongue darting out to touch the corner of her mouth. Then a huge grin spread across her face as she leant across the table, reaching out to touch Oliver’s wrist. “I like you, bonitinha. Call me if my brother is ever unkind to you.”
“Aliya!” Colin shouted, slapping her shoulder. “They just found out they’re having a baby. Not. Appropriate.”
Aliya shrugged and winked at Oliver. “Same genes.”
As her attention turned back to her parents, Lucas squeezed his knee under the table. “Apologies,” he whispered. “It appears my sister and I have developed a similar taste in men.”
Oliver cocked a brow and took another sip of orange juice. “Five foot nine, blonde-haired man-children that have no sense of tact or self preservation?”
Lucas grinned as he lowered his head. “Tempests.”
They chatted and laughed for several more hours, but despite the company, Oliver just couldnotshake the feeling of dread. He desperately wanted to be happy, to hold Lucas in a joyous embrace and proclaim that everything was going to be alright. But as he stood alone in the kitchen, washing his hands, a sudden crippling panic gripped his chest. He swallowed, tryingto blink back the tears welling in his eyes. Breathing was hard, but he could manage if he just focused on the golden chandelier.
“Filho?” a soft voice called from the patio door. Oliver glanced up and saw Davi standing in the doorway. “I thought you were getting a glass of water, but you have been gone a long time.”
Oliver swallowed, his gaze drifting to Lucas and Aliya rough-housing in wolf form on the lawn. “S-Sorry,” he said, leaning back against the counter-top. “I just feel?—”
“Anxious?” Davi said, drifting across the kitchen until they stood shoulder to shoulder.
“Yeah.”
“It’s normal, filho. Especially when you have experienced loss. I had five miscarriages before Aliya finally stuck. People think IVF is some miracle procedure that guarantees you a baby. It doesn’t.”
Oliver’s mouth hung open as he stared down at the omega. “F-Five?” Davi nodded. “How did you—I’m so sorry. How did you keep going?”
Davi gave a soft shrug. “I gave each of them a name, grieved with Colin, then tried again. I’ve always wanted to be a pai, so…” he sniffed and gave a resolute expression. “So I count each of them as a blessing. Not a curse. But now I have these two idiots, so counting my blessings is hard some days.”
Oliver chuckled as he looked back out into the garden. Aliya jumped on Lucas’ back and held his scruff between her massive jaws. The patio furniture had toppled over at some point, and Colin had his head in his hands as he stood in the shed doorway.
“Hard to believe they’re in their thirties, yes?”
“You’re telling me,” Oliver replied, smiling as he thought of his own brother.He should really call his parents…But then his phone rang.
“Sorry,” he said, glancing down at Nancy’s number. “I’ll be right back.”
Slipping out the kitchen and into the living room, he flicked on the light and sank into one of the pink velour armchairs.
“Hey,” he said, pulling a blanket over his legs.
“Ollie love, hey. How’s it going?”
Oliver didn’t quite know how to answer that, so he settled on, “Fine. You?”
“Erm—yeah. Interesting.”
Oliver narrowed his eyes. “Go on.”
“Well, Patrick’s been arrested. Border force caught him trying to get on a ferry at Folkestone.”
Oliver sat up straight. “Motherfucker.”
“I know. Harry and I had to drive all the way down to Kent to collect him. Fuckers wouldn’t meet us halfway.”
“Wankers.”
“I know. Kentish? More like Cuntish. But the worst thing was that our mate Paddy hummed theentireway back. I haven’t been able to get Bohemian Rhapsody out of my head all fucking day.”
