There’s no guarantee even that will work, given how Seth doesn’t believe in mates. But Ra nodded and smiled. His friends and people were coming. Now was not the time to dwell on the negative few.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
It’d been a long and laughter filled day. Deities Arvyn had only read about, and some he’d never heard of, turned up with food and gifts, friendly and happy to see their “father” so happy. It was good to see Paulie and Zeus in happier circumstances and even Wes and Cass called in for an hour. They were on their way to another case, but they came with congratulations and gifts for the unborn child. Hades was a surprise – somehow Arvyn thought the Lord of the Underworld would be someone really dour, lurking in a corner somewhere glaring at everyone and not keen on having fun. But Hades turned up with a smile, a cute little chipmunk mate who was hilarious to chat to, and two darling children strapped to his chest.
Poseidon was another shock – Arvyn had been imagining a giant man with long green hair and a fish tail. The god who turned up looked like one of the many twinks that used to catch Arvyn’s eye before he was mated. Poseidon’s mate was a lot bigger than he was, and an alpha wolf shifter to boot. But any reservations Arvyn had at meeting Claude quickly disappeared when the man hugged him close and offered him a place to run with others of his kind “anytime.” “One of the joys of being mated to a god,” he’d added and Arvyn had felt really touched by Claude’s open acceptance.
Having never had a problem with meeting new people, after spending so many years drifting, Arvyn found himself chatting with a huge variety of people. Osiris was slightly standoffish, but Arvyn found out he was a real music buff. The Lord of the Dead had surprisingly good taste. Horus was stunningly good looking and clearly used to being the center of attention, but after saying hello, Arvyn steered clear of him. The man spent too much time undressing everyone with his eyes. Anubis didn’t say a lot, but he seemed pleasant enough. He was the one lurking in the corner, instead of Hades, but he smiled and answered anytime anyone spoke to him.
The women kept to themselves, although they were pleasant enough when introduced. They were all stunningly beautiful, with thick dark hair and ageless faces, but they tended to hold themselves back, almost aloof, even with Ra. Bastet, who Arvyn learned had been their earlier visitor, spent most of the afternoon talking to Isis, Nephthys, Sekhmet and Hathor, and they all left by the time Helios arrived.
All in all, it was an amazing get together. Food eaten, children admired, the gods sat around chatting about everything and nothing and Arvyn was starting to feel tired and wanted some snuggle time with his mates. The sun had set hours before. Helios was enjoying a quiet drink chatting with Poseidon and Hades. But as he scanned the faces still mingling on their deck, Arvyn couldn’t see Ra or Kirill anywhere. Searching his bond, Arvyn grinned. He put down his bottle of beer and slipped into the house and up the stairs.
“I knew I’d find you here,” he said fondly as he stepped into the room designated as a nursery. Ra was sitting in a huge rocking chair that was gifted by Bastet, while Kirill was on the floor surrounded by a bunch of furniture pieces.
“Our sweet Kirill has had just enough happy juice to think putting up a crib, without reading the instructions, is a good idea.” Ra lifted his face for a kiss that Arvyn was quick to give him. “I tried to tell him I could do it in two seconds flat, but…”
“Some things should be done by hand,” Kirill said firmly. He held up what looked like two legs of the crib. “Shouldn’t there be four of these and how come they’ve both got a sticker with the letter A on them?”
Chuckling, Arvyn folded his legs and sat on the other side of the pile of parts. “Who was the one who gifted us with kit set furniture?” He started sorting out the straight bits that would form the base.
“Claude and Poseidon.” Kirill put down his two pieces and studied the pile again. “Apparently, Claude almost had kittens watching Poseidon try his hand at DIY and thought it would be fun to see us muddle through with it too.”
“Have you got the screw packet that came in it?” Arvyn laid out the four edges of the base and put aside the slats that would fit in it.
“They’re all different sizes too,” Kirill grumbled, throwing the packet over. “How the hell anyone can make any sense of this jumble of bits?”
“That’s why they come with instructions.” Ra chuckled and then he gasped, and Arvyn was up, at Ra’s side in a blink, Kirill mirroring him on the other side.
“What is it?” Kirill said urgently, his hand hovering over Ra’s belly although he didn’t touch. “Is it the baby? Did you over do it? Have you been on your feet too much today?”
“I’m not that big yet,” Ra protested, but Arvyn could see something was going on. Ra was rubbing over his adorable bump and definitely focusing inwards. “There. Quick.” He grabbed at Arvyn and Kirill’s hands and placed them on the side of his torso. “Can you feel it? Like the brush of a butterfly wing along my insides.”
Arvyn pressed gently on Ra’s side, his wolf coming forward, eager to be a part of anything to do with the baby. For a long moment, there was nothing, but then he felt it – a tingle under his fingers. Looking up, Kirill’s stunned smile showed he’d felt it too.
“New life.” There was a touch of awe in Kirill’s tone. “A symbol of our new life.”
“Of our love,” Arvyn agreed. “Ra, you… you honor us, you truly do.” He stroked over Ra’s belly. Looking up, he caught Ra’s eye. “Do you have any idea how much we love you?”
“I feel it every minute of every day.” Ra was smiling but his eyes were bright with tears. “It really wasn’t that long ago I was a bored god, living alone on a realm wondering about the point of my existence. But now, I have my gorgeous wolf, my wonderful vampire, a home full of love and laughter, and a new baby on the way.”
“It really is random, the way the Fates work.” Kirill leaned over, kissing Ra’s cheek. “I too was alone, even though I was surrounded by people, and then one day, just hanging around in a cell, a drop of blood hovered in front of my face and my life has changed for the better from that moment on.”
“And I was the drifter among us, evading cars one minute, and finding out about mates the next.” Arvyn’s free hand made its way around Kirill’s neck. “Three unique beings. All at different points in our lives. And yet…”
“Somehow we fit and look at what happens when we did.” Arvyn looked down where their three hands were joined, a new life growing underneath.
“Of course, we shouldn’t take that connection for granted.” Kirill’s voice had dropped into his horny growl. His hand moved, taking Arvyn’s with him, to the growing bulge in Ra’s pants.
Arvyn was happy to play, especially as the smell of arousal blossomed in the air. He curled his hand around Ra’s trouser-covered balls. “We should work on our bond, definitely.”
Ra moaned and wiggled in the chair. “I thought… I thought you wanted to build the crib,” he said as he pushed his crotch up into their hands.
“I’ll sew a quilt for it.” Kirill started nipping at Ra’s neck. “Wave your pretty hands, babe.”