#Chapter 252 – Exhausted
Victor comes home late that night, looking exhausted. Alvin, however, is invigorated, running through
the house shouting for Ian, eager to tell him all about his day.
“Hello, you,” I murmur, as Victor comes over to my spot on the couch and leans down to give me a kiss.
“Hello,” he replies after our lips part. He then slumps back into the cushions and closes his eyes.
“What did you get up to?” I ask, curiously looking after our son pounding up the stairs. “Lots of Alpha
stuff? He’s certainly excited.”
“Of course he is,” Victor murmurs, a little smirk playing on his lips. “He got to spend the whole day
crawling all over firetrucks with his absolute ‘favorite person in the whole wide world.’ A direct quote, by
the way.”
“His favorite person?” I ask, a little appalled. “I thought that was me…”
“Nope,” Victor says, opening his eyes and looking at me, his smirk growing. “Apparently we both lost
out. It’s Mark.”
My eyes go wide as I gasp. Then, I give Victor a swift little kick. “Mark! What the hell are you doing
stalking my ex!?”
“Not ex,” he says, raising his eyebrows. “Exes. Plural.”
My mouth falls open, confused, but he continues.
“Did Edgar ever mention that in another life he’d like to try being a fireman? Because that’s precisely
what he did –“
“Oh gross!” I shout, but I can’t help the laughter that bursts from me as well. “You spent the day with
two of my exes! Ew!”
“Yeah,” Victor says, smiling and resting his head back, closing his eyes again. “I got lots of tips. Mark
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtsays you like this thing where –“
I give a little shriek of indignation and kick him again, harder this time, but Victor just laughs and
catches my foot, starting to rub it. “I’m just teasing you, Evie,” he says, happy. “It was a bit of a surprise,
but it wasn’t a big deal in the end. No brawls for your honor or anything.”
“Rude,” I say under my breath, glaring at him and admiring his handsome face as I do. “There should
have been at least one brawl. Or a duel.”
“Next time,” Victor murmurs, taking a deep breath in through his nose.
I settle back against the couch pillows, folding a page over in my book and resting it on the floor. I’m not
really mad, of course – I’m not ashamed of my love life. Frankly, I should be proud of my little collection
of men. I should get an award for it – they’re all very good looking.
“What did you get up to, though?” I ask after a few minutes, letting him wind down. “Did you solve the
Amelia problem?”
“Not solve,” he says softly, clearly thinking it over. “But we’ve got the solution started.”
I open my mouth to ask for more details, ravenously curious, but then I shut my mouth, considering that
if he wanted to talk about it that he’d talk about it. It’s not that I think he’s keeping it from me – it’s just
that…I think he’s tired. And I can live with that.
“Come on,” I say eagerly, leaning forward and taking both of his hands. “Let’s go have some fun.”
“Fun?” he asks, opening one eye and peering at me. “I’m too tired for fun. Just want to rest.”
“That’s all right,” I say, laughing and pulling him up towards me. “We can work with that. Boys!” I shout,
aiming my voice towards the stairs. Instantly, I hear a pounding upstairs as they respond to my call.
“Ow,” Victor says, flinching away from my yell and turning his head sleepily against the couch cushion.
“No, don’t call them. They were being so nice and quiet and elsewhere.”
“Too late,” I reply, grinning as the boys come pounding down the steps.
“What’s up, mama?” Ian asks, running over to us, his voice eager.
“Is everything all right?” My sweet Alvin asks, looking between us, always eager to help.
“Unfortunately, no,” I say gravely, my too-serious face letting my boys know that this isn’t really true, but
instead the start of a game. Ian gasps dramatically, putting a hand over his mouth as Alvin’s eyes go
wide, looking between his father and me. “Your father has been poisoned by a witch!” I say, throwing
my hands in the air.
“OH no!” Ian cries, throwing his hands up as well. Alvin dashes to his dad, taking the lapels of his suit in
his hands and giving him a worried little sake.
“Yes,” I say, gravely. “He has been poisoned with a sleepy potion, and he’s so tired, and he can’t
possibly be urged to move.” I watch Victor as I say this, noting the little smile he works to keep from his
mouth as he plays along, pretending to sleep on the couch.
“What ever will we do?” Alvin gasps, a big grin on his face.
“Well,” I say wisely. “The only cure is to make sure daddy is as comfortable and happy as possible. And
then he’ll sleep it off and be fine in the morning.”
“I can do it!” Ian says, jumping into action and starting to pull pillows from the couch, heaping them on
the floor to make a bed. Alvin joins in, pulling heaps of blankets from the closet and stacking them up.
“Good plan,” Victor murmurs, peeking through his lashes and watching his kids. “This is a game I can
get into.”
“I thought you’d like it,” I say, moving forward to lay my body out along the long length of him, resting
my head on his chest. “It’s a new variant of my own favorite game – mommy is under a spell where she
can’t get up so you have to bring her breakfast in bed.”
“A classic,” Victor murmurs, tracing his hand lazily up and down my spine. I smile, relishing every
moment of this.
“Okay, mama,” Ian says, panting a little from his work and coming back over to us. Alvin pops up next
to him. “We made papa a bed. What’s next?”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Well,” I say, sitting up. “You’ll just have to carry your father to the bed and tuck him in. He certainly
can’t get up or walk. He’s asleep.”
The boys eagerly jump to it, crawling over their father and tugging on his big Alpha body, working to get
underneath him and push him around. Victor, delightfully, doesn’t help at all, instead making his body
as heavy as possible. The boys shriek and groan at the heaviness of him and I can’t help the laughter
that tumbles from me as they first haul him to a sitting position, and then get his feet on the ground, and
then push him until he falls to the floor entirely (making sure to move the couch cushions there first, of
course, so he’ll have a soft landing).
Victor can’t help his laughter either as the boys then begin to roll him to the bed they’ve created for him,
wrapping him up in the blankets as they go. We’re all four of us laughing hysterically, happily, when
Victor comes to his resting spot propped up on a heap of pillows and blankets before the television.
“We have to make him comfy now,” I instruct the boys. “He needs snacks, and the TV turned to his
favorite movie.” The boys hop to work, Alvin dashing for the kitchen and Ian heading for the TV, trying
to pick something his dad will like.
In the meantime, I curl up at Victor’s side, putting my head on his shoulder as he wraps his arm around
me. “See baby? Who takes care of you,” I murmur.
“Thank you, Evelyn,” he says a little dryly. “I don’t know what I’d do without you to entice the boys to
drag me off the couch and maneuver me around the room like a corpse.”
“Not a corpse,” I murmur happily. “Just under a witch’s sleeping spell. Much better.”
“Papa,” Ian calls over his shoulder, still flicking through the channels. “Do you want to watch a jail
movie? Maybe it will give us some ideas so that we can make grandpa John’s stay in his cell more
comfy. He didn’t seem very happy when we saw him last time. Maybe he needs more pillows…”
I go rigid when I hear this and sit up straight, looking between my mate and my son.
“What?” I breathe, staring down at Victor.
He grimaces, looking up at me. “Um,” he starts. “So, there’s something I didn’t get a chance to tell
you…”