Page 92 of His Treasured Mate

“Great, actually. Terra is growing like a weed and Tommy is finally putting on some weight too. Now that he's off fulltime oxygen they are trying to get him to nurse. It's a process, but they're making progress.”

“Would it be okay to stop in and visit soon? I could probably give her some pointers on that. Lord knows we went through it all with the quads.”

“I am sure she would love that.”

My mate had been struggling since delivering the twins. She wasn't out in the community like people were used to and my sisters were constantly filtering concerns.

We were fine, just adjusting to life with two babies, one of which had extensive medical needs. For the most part that had been kept under wraps. Our Pack knew the twins were premature and that Tommy’s lungs had been underdeveloped at birth and therefore we were limiting contact to him for at least the first six months. Beyond that few people knew the extent of our concerns.

“Thomas, come join us,” Wyatt said when he noticed me.

“Thomas is here?” Clay asked.

“Looks like it,” Austin said.

“Wait, is James going to make it? Do we actually have the Six Pack together again at last?” Clay asked.

Emmett clapped me on the back. “Welcome back, buddy. We've missed you.”

Truth was, I missed them too.

My demands as Alpha had grown and were consuming far more of my time. I understood why my father never seemed to have any close friends. But I also wasn't willing to give up my boys. They'd been by my side since we were in diapers and I that was never going to change.

I may not get to see them as often, but when we did get together, like now, it was as if no time at all had passed.

Once James joined us, we'd caused quite the stir up in Kate's. I ignored the onlookers though and just enjoyed a rare meal with all of us together. These moments were precious to me and I never wanted to take even a second of it for granted.

After the initial ribbing and catchup and our food arrived, I turned to Emmett.

“So, what's up, boss? What did you need to talk to me about?”

“Boo! That's why you're here? For work?” Austin said.

“Some of us do have to work for a living,” James teased him.

Austin had never been able to fully commit to just one job. Even still he held down like five part time jobs instead of settling on just one fulltime.

While they started throwing verbal jabs at each other, I turned back to Emmett.

“You've been working with Luke on the greenhouse proposal?”

“I have. Figured that's what you wanted to discuss.”

“You aren't looking to move to that project, are you?”

“Me? What? No way. I love where I'm at. Why? Is there a problem?”

I chuckled. “No. I was just checking, because if you did have a new interest, you know I'd support that. But I have no plans to move you when things are going so well on the range now.”

“Okay. . .”

“Cruz would be next in line for a promotion like that, but Luke tells me you two have things flowing so smoothly together that he doesn't recommend moving him. Thoughts?”

“You aren't taking Cruz from me. I’m not even sure I could do all I do without him.”

“Understood. Thoughts on Brady?”

He stopped to consider that for a moment. “Probably not his favorite area. He loves being a cowboy, but we maybe could work something out.”