Lorenzo gave his father a doubtful look. “What’s that you’re putting on the meat?”
“It’s just a mango lime glaze. I made it myself,” replied his dad proudly.
Lorenzo exchanged glances with his brother, who shrugged.
“You sure it needs it?”
Their father frowned at them. “How can my sons have so little culinary adventurism?”
His brother walked away chuckling. It had been five days since Sadie agreed to stay, and both had been more relaxed and happier in each other’s company. He was starting to think there was a good chance he could make a future with her. Sadie was calmer now that she could had a way to speak to her daughter.
He let her keep her phone – of course, he did. He wanted her to be able to contact Mandy whenever she wanted, and also so that Mandy could contact her. Maybe she could use the phone to contact others, but he wasn’t worried about that anymore. He had offered to take her home once, and she said no. She was there, if only for the two weeks and that was something. It gave him… hope and that wasn’t something he’d really had in a long time.
Over the last five days, they had eaten many meals with his family, Sadie had submitted to far too many walks for her liking – though given that they had taken to holding hands, she didn’t grumble too much, and they had even been down into town on a couple of double dates with Diego and Laurel. Not to mention the good night kisses they had started to share. They were… enjoying themselves.
His family was having a barbeque. His dad set up a small pool, and a water slide and his nephews were running around like crazy.
Sadie was sitting with his mother and the nephews too young for the pool. Sadie was currently bouncing his baby nephew on her knee and making all sorts of delighted noises as he cooed at her. She saw Lorenzo watching and smiled.
His dad nudged him excitedly. “Sadie certainly likes kids.”
Lorenzo grunted in agreement. “She should. She already has a daughter.”
His dad stared at him. “Oh, ah…”
“She’s with her dad. They’re getting a divorce.”
“I see,” said his dad slowly. “How old?”
“Twelve.”
“That rather complicates things.”
Lorenzo looked at him, and his dad gave him a pained smile. “Of course we’d welcome any child here – you wouldn’t be the first to find a mate who already had children. Look at Julio – his mate had four kids, and they’re all happy here. But they were all under five. Maybe Sadie won’t want to move her here.”
“Maybe,” admitted Lorenzo.
It would mean moving schools and leaving her friends behind – moving away from the city to their mountain would be a big change for them. Plus, there was her dad. Sadie still wasn’t divorced from him, or the matter of custody settled. If Sadie did get custody, which hopefully she would, he would still have a lot of rights, and one of those may be that she does not move away from him. It was something he had been thinking about, or rather, trying not to think about.
His dad moved the meat around on the barbeque. “Course, if she couldn’t come here…”
Lorenzo stared at him. “You think I should move down there to be with her?”
It was something he hadn’t ever considered. People in the leap generally didn’t leave. They were born in the leap, they lived and worked in the leap, and then they died in the leap. It perhaps sounded boring to those outside the leap, but being a part of the leap was part of who they were. His jaguar chuffed at him. Would his jaguar cope outside of the leap? He supposed other shifters did. They survived on their own, but weren’t they lonely? It had never occurred to him to leave. It was true; others had left the leap before – but not in his lifetime. He wouldn’t say the leap was perfect, but…
His dad placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, boy, I’m not saying you should, just…” He cast his eyes over to his own mate – to Lorenzo’s mom, who was currently laughing while getting sprayed with water by her eldest grandson – he had shifted to his jaguar and was shaking the water out of his fur, much to his parents’ annoyance. “If it came a choice between the leap and my mate, I know who would have won.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“Just don’t tell your mother I said that,” he added hastily. “She looks sweet, but if she thinks I encouraged her youngest cub to move away from her – she might be a little less sweet.”
He laughed at the worried expression on his huge father’s face, but he considered what he had told him. Would he be happy living away from the leap? Would Sadie even want that?
His jaguar let out a small roar. Yeah, he wasn’t sure either.