Finley was sitting at the kitchen counter of his parent’s house, while his mom dished up salmon patties and red potatoes as his dad poured drinks.

“So, guys,” Fin started.

The tone of his voice, that slightly nervous hesitation, had both of his parents turning around and giving him a mirrored look of worry and interest at the same time.

“I think I have a plan for next year.”

His mother practically dropped the pan she was holding, and then quickly recovered and put it down. She pushed it off the burner with exaggerated slowness. His father put down the bottle of wine he was pouring and leaned against the counter.

They both appeared to be holding their breath and Fin hated that he had brought them to that state because of his lack of focus.

“You aren’t quitting school, are you?” Ruth said, clutching her nonexistent pearls.

“No. Actually, I have a plan. Cassie helped me figure it out.”

“Oh lordy,” Jeffrey said, shaking his head. “Son, I don’t think you should always listen to Cassie. She has lots of ideas and not all of them are feasible.”

“Like that idea to attach the cubs to bungee ropes so they wouldn’t fall out of trees?” His mother whispered.

Fin was sure his sister-in-law had probably been joking… maybe.

“She actually helped. You know how she doesn’t mince words, and for some reason, the world just is a little simpler for her. She is brutally honest and made me decide what I liked to do. The first thing I said actually made my bear and I really happy. It’s funny, I can’t see why I didn’t think of it before. I am a little worried about what you guys will think.”

“Son, don’t keep us in suspense. If you want to go to clown college just come out and say it. We have never been prejudiced against carnies and we aren’t about to start now,” his dad said.

“No, not clown college. I love kids, and you know that the twins like me. I’ve watched all the other kids around here at some point. Micah, Kingston, Maisie and Mallory, I’ve even spent time with the cougar cubs and we all had fun.”

“Honey, what are you getting at? You want to make babies? Because you know I’m all for that as soon as you find your mate, that is,” his mother said cautiously.

“No, not making babies. Taking care of them. I want to spend next year taking early childhood education classes. I realize it may delay my actual graduation, but I figure I have all the time in the world, so why not finally do something I want to do? I’d rather leave college with a degree that I can actually use. Then I can come back here and open a daycare and preschool center for our cubs. I’ll use my own money and since Cash pretends that she doesn’t make any money, Cassie wants to invest too. It will be a place that we can staff twenty-four seven. I can get some of the younger clan members that want to work in there, we’ll do preschool learning, and have a safe space for the cubs to get together regularly and be like normal kids. The parents won’t have to do the round-robin of calling everyone trying to find sitters anymore.”

His parents were quiet for a moment, and then a moment longer before either of them spoke. Ruth and Jeffrey Rochon were thoughtful, if not indulgent, parents. They never lied to their kids, so what they said next could be the deciding factor on whether or not Finley was going to go ahead with his future.

“You never could stop bringing home strays,” his father said with a smile.

“No bringing them home! You keep them at the center, thank you. I don’t want to be overrun in sticky faces and torn up floors,” his mother said with a wink.

“You guys think this is okay?”

“Son, I can’t say that I’m not surprised. I really hadn’t thought this was the direction you would go. But if it makes sense to you and your animal, we aren’t going to stand in your way. Your father and I have been waiting not so patiently to figure out what your heart wanted to do. You love the kids; you’d rather be with them than the rest of us most of the time. As soon as you said it, it makes total sense. Go back to school, figure out your classes. It doesn’t matter when you graduate,” his mother replied.

Jeffrey looked thoughtful, and then appeared to have a light go off in his brain. “I think I’m going to talk to everyone about maybe setting up a daycare for the human children too. Separate of course. It would help our crew out and if it was in town all the better.”

Leave it to his dad to go bigger. Jeffrey wasn’t a logger; he was a seafaring bear, if there was such a thing. But he had made his peace living a little farther from the ocean so his mate would be happy.

“I think that would be great. I’m relieved that you’re behind me on this. I’m sorry I’ve been such a slacker. If it’s any consolation, I hated it. It takes work to not care about things.”

“You were going against your nature, dear. Nobody was going to be able to convince you that you needed to find your way but you.”

Finley shook his head, a little chagrined. There was a little embarrassment when you realize something that everyone else had been seeing all along. But his clan and his family would always have his back, even when he was being a dumbass.

“I have research to do about classes. I’m gonna hold off mentioning it to Rain for a little while, though. I know he’s busy with, well, everything.”

“You know your brother misses you. You really need to figure your shit out,” his father said bluntly.

“There was a time we’d just let our bears wrestle it out. That doesn’t seem like it’s an option anymore. I know he’s busy with Quinn and school.”

“Don’t be an idiot. He’s your brother and we are family and clan. Don’t make me send the alphas after you.”

His clan had a number of bears that had that alpha in them. Currently, Cage held that title, but it would be passed down when he was ready to focus on other things. Cash had alpha in him too and he often used it to get the boys to do what he wanted. But this was too delicate a matter to have someone else get involved in.

“I’ll figure it out. Let me get started back at school and I’ll send him an email.”

“Send him an email? He’s your brother, not the insurance company. Go, fix it,” his father ordered.

Fin nodded, because his rift with his brother was not as wide as it had been. When Rainier had found his mate, a lot of things had fallen back into place when it came to the family pecking order. Fin understood that, or at least he thought he did. He’d been raised in a clan full of happily mated couples. He knew enough that when the Fates put the One you were meant to be with in front of you, your world would never be the same. The way his family talked about their mates made every young shifter growing up yearn for that connection, devotion, and love they all seemed surrounded by.

If you had asked Fin a few months ago if he was worthy of a mate, he would have emphatically said no. If you asked him now, he’d still say no. Maybe in the coming years, he’d be a mate someone could be proud of.