feel better. But not from Maz. Maz didn’t lie, and Lucan’s quiet hum of approval signaled his agreement with those words. Then again, Lucan had delivered that same message when he’d told Sando he loved him. They wanted him. They truly, really wanted him.
“Do you love me?” he asked Maz, his voice barely more than a whisper.
“I do, kitten.”
Lucan gasped softly. Was this news to him? Hadn’t he known about Maz’s feelings for Sando?
“I don’t know if what I feel for you, both of you, is love. I don’t have anything to compare it to, so I don’t know how to recognize it. You two have made me feel so many things I never have before, and it’s wonderful and amazing, and I want it all and more…but I don’t want to lie to you.”
“Do you like us?” Lucan asked. “Do you like being with us? Spending time with us? Being near us, in our arms and our bed?”
“Yes. God, yes. Very much. I love being with you and all the things we do. The lunches and the driving lessons, the talks in the clinic and…” He swallowed. “And the sex. The sex was really nice as well. I think about you a lot during the day. Well, you more than Maz, but maybe that’s because I don’t know Maz as well as you? No offense,” he quickly added. He didn’t want to hurt the alpha’s feelings.
“None taken, kitten. I completely understand, and that’s on me. We’ll talk about that some other time, but for now, just let me say that I’d love for you to get to know me a lot better.”
“I’d like that too.” Sando felt light, giddy almost. Was that happiness?
“Whatever you feel is good enough, kitten,” Lucan said. “We’ll trust that the rest will come. You’ll figure it out. For now, just keep talking to us. Tell us what you’re thinking and feeling, what you want and need.”
“I really like how you say ‘us’ all the time,” Sando said. “It makes me happy to be a part of that. Of you and whatever you have. I want that.”
“Right now, I’m pretty sure we’d give you the moon if you asked for it,” Lucan said, and Sando’s heart went all warm and fluttery. Then his stomach rumbled again, even louder this time, and he giggled.
“I think right now he needs breakfast more than he needs the moon.” Maz smiled. “Let’s get you something to eat, kitten.”
“I don’t want to get up.” Sando clung tighter to Lucan. “I like this.”
“Maybe we should call you monkey instead of kitten,” Lucan joked. “Go snuggle with Maz, little monkey. I’ll make us something to eat.”
“I can make breakfast,” Maz protested.
Lucan gently pushed Sando, who obediently rolled off, then crawled right into Maz’s open arms. The alpha felt just as good to cuddle with, and he let out another happy sigh. “We wouldn’t want to poison him on his first day with us, now would we?” Lucan grinned, and Sando giggled again. “He’s a much better doctor than he is a cook…thank fuck,” Lucan fake-whispered to him, and Sando’s heart beat stronger, happy and free.
For the first time since his father had returned, he felt like he was home again.
For the first two days, Sando did little but sleep, eat, and snuggle. Lucan observed it with a mix of gratitude and worry. How bad had his physical and mental health been that he’d needed this much time to recover?
“I think his sense of safety was compromised the last few months with his father,” Maz said to Lucan when the two of them were in the clinic while Sando napped in their room.
Maz had just seen an emergency patient with bleeding issues ten days after giving birth, with Lucan assisting him as best he could. As soon as the patient had left, he’d closed the clinic again, and they were chatting in the reception area.
“Our physical presence restores that. It helps to remind him he’s safe and loved.”
“Makes sense. And it’s not like I mind having him cling to me all the time, but it’s such a difference with before.”
Maz nodded. “I don’t think he ever realized the importance of touch, of hugs and cuddles. Maybe he was a snuggler all his life, but he never got to explore that side of him. We may be awakening more needs he was never aware of.”
“He hasn’t said anything about going back to his father, right?”
“He checked with me to make sure all shifts were