on Morgan, her smile dimmed a little.
“Will you two have children?”
Why would she be sad about that? Kenny thought about it for a minute and glanced down at his mate. He hoped so.
“Maybe. How would you feel if we did?”
Ava’s face scrunched up in confusion, and she shrugged. “It’s up to you two. I have nothing to do with it.”
But that wasn’t the case at all. Kenny opened his mouth to point that fact out, but Ava yawned.
“Night.”
She shut the door, ending the conversation before Kenny could say anything else. He made a mental note to talk to her again. Maybe he needed to be a little clearer that she was a part of their family.
He made it to the bedroom, Morgan already snoring in his arms on the short trip. Kenny, knowing his mate might be sore from helping with the delivery, decided a bath would help relax him further. He easily stripped Morgan of his clothes and slipped a robe on him, laying him on the bathroom rug while Kenny got the tub ready.
He added some bath salts and beads and waited for the tub to fill up. He got undressed himself, wrapping his dreads up in a bun to keep them from getting wet. He removed the robe from Morgan before picking him up and sinking them both into the hot water.
Morgan let out a moan and sighed in relief from the warm water. He mumbled words, but it sounded as if he was still asleep. Kenny held Morgan close to him as he leaned his head back and just relaxed. He let out his own sigh as he let the bath salts and hot water do their job of helping him relieve some tension.
“You think she doesn’t want to be a part of our family?” Morgan asked.
“I think she does, but she isn’t sure how to be a part of it yet,” Kenny said.
Morgan sighed, his soft hair tickling against Kenny’s skin.
“She asked me if there’s a way for us not to fight Lyndon,” Morgan said.
Kenny lifted his head. “That’s fair. After all, he is her father.”
Morgan was quiet for a second. “If he said he’d leave me be, would there still be a need to fight?”
Kenny rested his head on top of Morgan’s.
“Personal anger aside, leave you and Ava or just you?”
Morgan went stock-still under Kenny.
“I don’t think he would let either one of you go without a fight. Leaders like him are power-hungry, and letting you two go is a show of weakness. At least to him it is.”
“As scary as it is, I don’t think Lyndon would care if it was Ava, just as long as he had a toy he could torture and break,” Morgan said.
Kenny turned Morgan around abruptly, and water splashed over the side of the tub as he stared Morgan in the eyes.
“You aren’t broken. He didn’t break you.”
Morgan shuddered in his arms.
“Bu—”
“No buts. You got up and ran away not once but three times, you found a job, you made it on your own. He didn’t break you.”
Morgan stared at him, his eyes getting glossy with unshed tears. His lip trembled, and Kenny pulled his mate to his chest and hugged him.
“I need to hear you say it, Piglet.”
Morgan sucked in a shaky breath.
“I’m not broken.”
Kenny ran his wet fingers through Morgan’s hair. “I will protect you. I swear on my very life.”
Kenny washed Morgan off, and Morgan returned the favor. They were in bed before midnight, Morgan curled up against him. Kenny lay there listening to his mate’s snore for a little while. He would never let anything happen to his mate ever again.
The next morning, Kenny made his way to the kitchen where the smell of burnt food wafted from. The back patio door slid open, and Hodge and Rudd came strutting in along with Indigo and Gabriella.
“Daddy, it smells gross,” Gabriella said.
Kenny had to agree. One glance into the kitchen explained why. Dillan was at the stove stirring a pot of who knew what.
“Dillan, what are you doing?” Kenny asked.
Dillan jumped but turned to him with the biggest grin as if he wasn’t trying to burn the house down.
“Making breakfast since Kash is currently in bed after giving birth.”
Kenny peeked at the contents of the pot. He guessed it was oatmeal or something close to it.
“Dillan, you know you aren’t supposed to cook in the kitchen without Kash.”
Dillan stuck out his lower lip and batted his lashes. “But I’ve been learning under him this whole