Teal pressed a finger into the crease between Ronan’s eyebrows. “I’m sorry for how hard this is on all of us. It’ll be over soon.”
“Don’t worry about the rest of us,” Niall chimed in from the table. “We’ll be fine. Take care of yourself.”
Teal nodded at the beta before leaning down to give him a quick hug. Jax received a shoulder squeeze, and Sorcha got a peck on the lips before Teal hurried into the living room to say goodbye to the boys and head out the door.
After Teal’s driver pulled away, Ronan left for his job site, Jax disappeared into the office, and Niall began getting the boys’ lesson plans set for the day.
“Do you need my help today?” Sorcha asked the nanny. He wanted to be useful, but he didn’t want to get in the way.
Niall seemed to sense his dilemma and always replied with enthusiasm. As Sorcha had gotten to know the beta more over the past week, he’d discovered that behind Niall’s gorgeous face was an absolute rock of a man who, in his own quiet way, lifted everyone else up.
“I really appreciate everything you did with Zayne last week, helping him not dwell too much on his daddy. I’d love it if you could do some learning activities with him this afternoon. It’s sweet to see how much he already loves you.” Although mildly embarrassed by the praise, Sorcha also relished it. “I promised the little dude he could have screen time this morning, so he’s set up in front of the TV with a few stuffies and his blanket,” Niall continued. “You can join him, of course, but if you wanted to do something for yourself, that would be okay.”
“Something for myself?”
“I’ve seen you in passing for over three years now,” Niall reminded him. “I know how much time you spent on projects in your uncles’ garage. Dale and Abe were bastards for treating you the way they did, but I always got the impression you enjoyed the work itself.”
Sorcha pursed his lips. “That’s true. My uncles admitted I had a knack for it. Telling me my furniture restoration skills were ‘asgood as an alpha’s’ was high praise from them. And I did enjoy it when the finished products came out right, except…”
“You didn’t enjoy working your fingers to the bone and being yelled at all the time?”
“Exactly.” Sorcha grimaced.
“Well, now you can work for fun, on your own schedule. If you want.”
Sorcha thought about the half-baked idea he’d had the other day, contributing to the household income by doing projects he enjoyed. Selling his creations. He thrived on the artistry of it, making beautiful items out of things that were sometimes dirty or broken.
“It’s a good idea,” he said to Niall. “At least, it’s something tangible for me to do.”
“That’s right. And if you don’t want to do it, or if it’s giving you a complex reminding you of your uncles or anything like that, you can stop.”
“I do miss it,” he admitted. “But you’re right that it makes me a little leery. I want to move on from before. I don’t want the work to…remind me.”
“You live here now, little omega,” Niall said sagely. “And you’re safe. You can make your art solely for the enjoyment of it. No one’s going to compel you to produce beyond your limits. Ronan and Teal would never allow that.” Niall walked over to Sorcha and gave him a quick, blink-and-you’d-miss-it kiss on the mouth. “Jax and I wouldn’t either.”
With that wholly unexpected gesture, Niall turned and sauntered into the living room. As though pressing his lips to Sorcha’s was no big deal. Sorcha looked after the beta in consternation. Who knew? Maybe Niall went around kissing all his friends.
Sorcha made his way to his uncles’ old garage. He was grateful they’d left his tools. Even if they weren’t the best quality, Sorchawas attached to them, and they’d been perfectly adequate for his work. He ran his hands over the large electric sander bolted into a table and examined a collection of scrap wood in the corner. It smelled nice. Oak always did.
Two hours later, Sorcha was sanding the edges of a picture frame. He’d used his finishing tools, along with his small torch, to carve and burn designs into the wood. It was a rudimentary effort, and he’d felt some latent fatigue from his heat coursing through his body, but he’d had fun making it, losing himself in the process.
He’d opened the large garage door for better light. A knock against the vinyl siding had him turning toward the driveway. Jax leaned against the wall, holding a plate.
“Niall asked me to bring you this sandwich. He said to tell you the boys ate an hour ago and he didn’t want to disturb you but thought you ought to eat something.”
Sorcha ran a forearm over his sweaty face before looking down at his phone. “Oh my goodness. I had no idea it had gotten so late.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun, right?” Jax put the plate down on Sorcha’s work bench. “It’s not just you. Niall rescued me from the office a few minutes ago since I hadn’t taken a break either. He made me eat a sandwich and then sent me out here to get some fresh air.”
Sorcha bit into the ham and veggie melt, chewing thoughtfully before asking, “Niall really enjoys taking care of everybody, doesn’t he?”
Jax barked a laugh. “That’s an understatement. He lives for it.”
“He’s really something,” Sorcha said distractedly, thinking about that peck on the lips.
Jax gave him a pointed look, to where Sorcha feared the big beta could read his mind. But all Jax said was, “He certainly is something.”
Sorcha usually felt a kind of bond with Jax, since they were both newcomers to this house. But in this moment, he felt something different. Protected. Somehow, he didn’t think Jax would mind that Niall had given Sorcha a little kiss. But it was impossible to know for sure. The beta was hard to read. And so…big. Almost as big as Ronan. And maybe even more intimidating, with his long hair and tattoos.
