I leaned into Marcus, just thankful he was here. I'd never had a lot of people in my life who I could count on—just Mama and Coop—but now I had Marcus. I could hardly believe that he had come to wrap me in his arms and pick up the pieces after me. 

"I gotta tell Coop," I muttered into his shirt. 

"Here, give me your phone."

I unlocked it and handed it over and listened to him tell my brother what had gone on. He kept his voice calm and soothing, and he made plans with Coop to exchange the animals in the morning. I would have been a fucking mess if I'd had to tell Coop that the doctors didn't fucking know what was wrong with Mama, and I'd barely had a minute with her.

Marcus had to tug me out of the car and up the stairs, and he pushed me down on his couch. Everything had been moved around to make room for Whisper's habitat, and at this point, I didn't even care there was probably a huge-ass snake lurking behind my head, thinking about how to swallow me up. I almost wished for it.

Marcus brought me a cup of water and forced me to drink it, then set it carefully aside and straddled my lap. He took my face in his hands and kissed me so gently, so tenderly, I nearly broke all over again. The tears I'd had to hold back earlier broke free, coursing down my cheeks, and Marcus kissed each one away until they were gone.

"Feel better?" he asked, snuggling into my neck.

"A little, yeah."

I listened to the rise and fall of his breath for a while. 

"You know... right before my mama... right before..." I had to clear my throat. "She was asking about you."

"You told her about me?" Marcus leaned back to look at my face.

"Not until she asked. But she knew something about you before I told her. She said there was something different about me. About me with you. That something about you was sticking to my ribs like a good meal. And she was right." Hell, this was the wrong time to say it, the wrong time to tell him this, but tonight, with my mama, I had suddenly been forced to realize that everything is temporary. "Marcus, I fucking love you, and maybe it's too early and maybe I'm—" 

Whatever I was going to say after that was lost in Marcus's kiss. It was brief, because he pulled back to say, "I love you, too, Killer."

"Say my name."

"I love you, too, Killian. I don't give a fuck if it's too early. I've seen what kind of man you are, rescuing Princess Buttercup, adopting Mr. Jenkins, integrating them with Sally. You've protected me since before we were ever a thing." He touched our noses together. "I want to make you mine and keep you forever."

My chest was so tight I could barely breathe. "Do you mean that?"

"I know I can be pretty flippant, and crass, and just all around goofy, but that's not something I could ever joke about, Killian." He rubbed his hands through my hair and I lifted my hands to settle on his waist.

"I didn't mean that. I meant are you really sure? It's not just a spur-of-the-moment high emotion thing?"

"I really fucking mean it." Marcus laughed, and it was clear it was at himself. "It's all I've been able to think about for weeks. I've been going crazy, hoping you felt the same, but too afraid to ask."

I pulled him close. I wanted to touch as much of him as physically possible, to feel him so present with me in the here and now.

"Killian?" Marcus's breath skated across my neck, sending goosebumps prickling up my arms.

"Yeah, Blondie?"

He snuggled deeper into me at my use of his nickname.

"Would you..." he hesitated, and I tried to think what could possibly be between us that could be more intimate than what we had just shared. Tentatively, I let my hands drift down to his ass—a question, not a request. But just that light touch made Marcus gasp and nod. I wanted it. I wanted that closeness with him. And yet I felt guilty. 

"Is that okay?" I asked, feeling as though my entire world was falling down around me. "Is it okay to want that when... when..." I couldn't bring myself to say it. "That's not betraying her?"

Marcus pressed his lips lightly to my forehead, as if in benediction. "What we have between us is a celebration of life, babe. A celebration of love, and joy, and intimacy. Everything your mother taught you to embrace, everything she would want for you to have." 

"I want her to meet you." I couldn't help the tears falling down my face. "I want her to meet you, and love on you the way a mom should. I want her to see our children and play with them and spoil them and make them absolute sugar demons right before handing them back to us to deal with the consequences. I want to live in a big house with tons of animals. I mean, we're practically parents already."

"Of course we're parents," Marcus said, tears softly falling down his face as well. "We have a giant family with five kids. And we'll just keep adding more."

I blinked in confusion. "Five?"

"Sally, Princess, Blubby, Mr. Jenkins and Whisper."

Uh-oh. My face fell.

"You didn't... forget Whisper?"

My face fell further.

"Not Blubby, too? Killian, my kids are not illegitimate. You love me, you love us all."

"I do love you." I stood, pulling Marcus's ass tighter to my body, forcing him to wrap his legs around me as I carried him to his bedroom. "I love you and all of our kids... even Whisper."

I lay him down on his bed and smothered his body with mine.

"Killian?"

"Mmhmm?"

"There's one last thing I need to tell you... In case it matters... In case it's a big enough deal we need to break things off. And I won't blame you. I get it—" 

I pulled back so that we could see each other’s face. "I think you better tell me what it is so I can decide before you decide for me."

He took a deep breath. "Okay. I learned from the doctor this morning that... that I might not be able to have kids soon. That all those baby bits are drying up a bit early for me. So if you need someone who can give you kids, you need to tell me, I need to know, I need—"

Now it was me who was silencing him with a kiss, and I understood how he had probably felt earlier. His fears were just so ridiculous to me. I couldn't fathom letting go of what we had just because he might not be able to have kids. "I'm not letting you go," I told him when I broke away. 

"Thank fuck," he said, pulling me down for a kiss. I let my hands roam over his chest and arms, taking my time, enjoying the moment. We removed our clothing slowly, piece by piece, my hands lingering on the ever present satin glory of his panties. And then we were naked, raw in a way I had never been with anyone else before.

"Please tell me you have a condom," I whispered into his hair as he stroked our lengths together.

"Um..."

"Shit." I let my forehead fall to the bed and I rolled onto my back. Marcus curled into my side and snuggled. "How am I supposed to take your virginity?"

"Only my butt virginity!"

I loved the easy way we could switch between laughter and sensuality.

"I take it you don't have any either? I guess I should be glad you're not presumptuous. Or pushy."

"I'm feeling pretty damn pushy right now, Blondie."

His hand danced over my nipples. "What if... would you be okay... if we did without? I know it's still kind of risky. My heat is, like three weeks away, if it even comes, and there's still a chance I can get pregnant, but I trust you, and more than that, I need you, and I'm surprisingly not terrified of being bound to you forevermore."

As Marcus spoke, an exhilarating, terrifying idea seized me. "Since this seems to be the night of crazy ideas..." I sat up and pulled Marcus with me, grabbing both of his hands. "And like everything we've said tonight, it's okay if you say no, but Marcus, would you do me the honor of being my mate?"

Marcus burst into tears and lunged into my arms, which hadn't been exactly the reaction I'd expected, but he swiftly pulled back and peppered me with kisses. And then I pushed Marcus down and slowly stretched his hole until he was practically gushing slick, begging me to knot him, to make him mine. And when I entered him, his smooth, pale back before me, his ass so tight, and smooth and warm, it felt like he was sucking me in, bringing me to a home I'd only just found. And with my knot locked deep inside him, filling him with my seed, I bit deep into his shoulder, marking him forever as mine, binding us together forever.