Felix smiles against his lips, leaning away to straighten Kade’s collar. “We did silly things when we were ten.”
“Nothing too bad, though.” Kade grins. He’s a manager at his workplace now, after being a senior programmer for the past five years. These days, he has to drop by the office more often, and Felix sometimes helps him dress, even if Kade can do all that himself. “You remember that, right?”
Felix runs his fingers down the smooth buttons of Kade’s shirt, following the dip of his sternum, then his midriff and abs. He still hasn’t had enough of this, either. Being husbands with Kade, being parents, sharing his life with his bondmate. “I’m getting better with remembering, I think.”
“You do remember that I love you,” Kade says, kissing his forehead.
Felix smiles, his cheeks heating. Funny how he’s still flushing at that, ten years later after they married. Sometimes it almost seems unreal, living this life with Kade and Bethy.
“Dad, ew,” Bethy says, covering her eyes. Then she peeks out at them through a crack in her fingers, her eyes bright.
Felix beams at her, reaching over to ruffle her hair. “It’s not gross, Beth. When you get older, and if you find someone you want to be bondmates with, I hope you’ll choose a person who will care for you. That’s the most important, okay? Not money, not status, and especially not what the people on TV say.”
Felix looks pointedly at Kade, who grins sheepishly. Kade doesn’t think money is everything now.
“I know, I know.” Bethy flops down on the table, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. “Find someone like you and Dad. This relationship thing is troublesome.”
Felix laughs, piling four slices of toast on Kade’s plate. Kade sips from his mug, then kisses Felix on the lips, tasting like coffee.
“This is worth it,” Felix murmurs against his alpha, kissing him softly. “All of it was worth it. Even if it was painful and troublesome.”
Kade chuckles, his chest rumbling. “Wish I didn’t have to work. Want to stay in with you all day.”
“Take tomorrow off. We’ll spend the whole day in bed.”
“Okay, that’s not rated for kids,” Bethy says across the table, covering her ears. “I’m not listening.”
Felix laughs, and Kade kisses him again. “We meant spending time in the best of ways, Beth. Reading and playing games, and all that.”
Kade cocks an eyebrow at ‘games,’ and Felix grins. Okay, maybe they’ll be playing those games too, but only when Bethy’s away at school. Then they won’t have to worry about her overhearing growls and helpless moans, and all the little sounds that accompany those times.
Felix wriggles, his heart skipping with anticipation. Kade rolls his eyes. But he’s smiling too, catching Felix’s wrist to sniff at it. He still hasn’t gotten tired of the lavender scent, even after thirty years.
“You guys are seriously sappy,” Bethy says. “Worse than the other parents at school.”
“A good thing,” Felix says. He snuggles close to Kade, breathing in his husband’s scent, fingering the silver ring on his finger. His own ring gleams, and Kade catches his hand, kissing his fingertips. “Okay, now you’re being way sappy, Kade.”
“So?” Kade grins, nibbling on his fingertips, his teeth little sharp points on Felix’s skin. Felix shuts up. He wants more of that, and Kade reads it in his eyes. “More when I get home,” Kade murmurs. “Think about it.”
Felix smacks his arm. “That’s a whole nine hours!”
“I’ll be home all day tomorrow,” Kade says, smiling. “I promise.”
“I guess I can live with that.”
Bethy shakes her head and sighs, and Felix watches her fondly, leaning into Kade. They’ve talked about her—Kade thinks she might present as alpha, but Felix knows in his gut she’ll be a beta. Either way, they’ve agreed it doesn’t matter, as long as Bethy’s happy with the path she chooses.
“I guess I’ll tell you a secret,” Felix says, leaning toward her. “It’s about Kade and I. Do you want to hear it?”
“Really?” Kade mutters. Felix looks at him sidelong, smiling. They don’t have any secrets between them these days, and it’s a relief.
Bethy glances warily at Kade. “What is it?”
“We skipped out of school once, when we were ten.”
“You just told me to be good!” Bethy frowns. “Did you get into trouble?”
“We did.” Felix grins wryly. “We almost got into trouble with our parents. Kade and I snuck out, trying to catch an ice cream truck. The science teacher was furious. We missed most of her class and ended up just waiting for our next class. She wanted to write notes to our parents... Kade told her he was helping me with bathroom stuff.”
Kade chuckles. “Worth it,” he says. “Before that, you’d never even had ice cream from an ice cream truck.”
Bethy’s frown melts away. “Really? You’ve never?”
“Your grandfather wasn’t very lenient,” Felix says. “Uncle Taylor shared his with me, though. Then I bought Kade and I some ice cream. We were bonded even then, you know. The ice cream man saw our markings.”
Bethy peers at Felix’s wrist. Felix turns it toward her, showing her the bite marks. She frowns. “You have two markings. I thought you’re only supposed to have one.”
Felix exchanges a look with Kade, and Kade’s smile is mellow, bittersweet. “Both are from this man,” Felix says, pressing a kiss to Kade’s lips. “I got lost in between. But Kade helped me find my way back. Then he marked me a second time, when he found out I was pregnant with you.”
Kade slips his arms around Felix’s waist, pulling him close. “Glad I did,” he growls, kissing down Felix’s neck. “Mine.”
Felix smiles, nuzzling his bondmate’s hair. “Yours,” he whispers, his heart swelling with love. “Always.”
It had been a long journey, finding his way back to Kade. But it was worth it, and Felix only regrets the time they’d spent apart. But they’re together now, they have Bethy, and things are going perfectly in their lives.
“Come on over,” Felix says,
