"I'm so glad you finally found Adrianne again, Aaron," Aric told his brother with a happy expression. The two of them sat together at the kitchen table, having a snack. "I know you've been waiting for a very long time for her to return to you. It shouldn't have taken so long for her to be reborn."
Aric had just dropped by after returning from a long trip. He had been wanting to meet Alexi for sometime and now that he and Natalia were home again this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
"No, it shouldn't have," Aaron said, even as he patted his brother on the shoulder. "But there is always a reason. You and I both know that. Maybe I wasn't ready for her to return to me."
"I don't believe that for a millisecond, bro," Aric snorted causing Aaron to smile at his brother's disbelief. "Considering that you were only together about a year, before she was murdered with your pups in her belly I don't even have to know that you were more than ready for her to return to you before she was even buried. Yes, I know that we knew her since childhood, but that's not the same as being mated and having children."
"That's very true," Aaron sighed. "All that matters to me is that she is finally back at my side."
"So she remembers, your previous relationship?" Aric asked.
"She didn't at first," Aaron admitted honestly. "There wasn't even a hint of recognition when we literally ran into each other in that parking lot. Neither of us was paying attention to where we were going. Me, because it was very near the full moon and I had just had a board meeting."
"Those old curmudgeons giving you trouble?" Aric asked knowingly.
"You know how short my temper is near the full moon, not to mention my patience," Aaron told his brother.
"Much shorter than normal," Aric said. "Usually you hardly ever lose your temper or your patience. So did you go ballistic on them?"
Aaron chuckled darkly. "Nearly, but I managed to hold onto my temper. It was a close run thing though."
"I'm sure most of them would've died of heart attacks if they had seen you transform before their eyes," Aric chuckled, Aaron joining his brother. The scenario was very amusing, not that it would actually happened in reality. That didn't mean that Aaron couldn't imagine the board's reaction if he transformed right in front of them.
"I was thinking more along the lines of just transforming one of my hands into a paw and leaving deep scratches on the conference room table in order to send a message," Aaron told his brother.
"Well, that sure would've made an impression, probably just as much of one as you fully transforming into your wolf form."
"I would say so, considering most of the world believes that such creatures like you, I and Alexi don't exist," Aaron chuckled darkly. "I'm glad to have you and your mate home, brother."
"We are glad to be home too," Aric said. "We won't be going anywhere for awhile."
"So does that mean I'll soon have some new nieces and nephews," Aaron asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Yeah, it does," Aric snorted. "Both Natalia and I thought it was time to have a another batch of kids, since it's been awhile since we had some. Natalia was starting to feel empty nest syndrome and was also bored with traveling at least for right now."
"I'm so happy that you found Natalia brother," Aaron told Aric sincerely. "It is all I ever wished for you."
"Believe me, I understand, what Adrianne's death did to you. I thought I understood before I met Natalia about 165 years ago, but after I found her..."
"You understood to the depths of your soul the pain I was in, not physically or mentally but emotionally, especially after it first happened. That I lost my pups as well just made it worse," Aaron finished.
"Exactly, bro," Aric agreed soberly. "I know deep in my soul that if anything happened to Natalia that it would destroy me. Luckily, for me Natalia knows how to defend herself and she has some well homed fighting skills."
"It was a different time when we and Adrianne were born, you must remember that Aric. If it was not for the fact that Adrianne was heavily pregnant she might have been able to fight off Thaddeus, since our kind are stronger than humans unless they've built up some muscles, but he did the one thing that would immediately get Adrianne's compliance.
Aric raised an eyebrow in question and so Aaron asked him. "Don't you remember what the body looked like after she was murdered?"
"I'm trying not to actually," Aric grimaced. "To see your sister-in-law all torn up like that and to see her belly practically split open... Seeing the body gave me nightmares for many, many years."
"Exactly," Aaron said. "Thaddeus threatened her babies and that would have gotten her to comply. I know that Adrianne would have tried to talk some sense into him but he wouldn't have it."
"So Alexi remembers, what happened to her in her first life?"
"Yeah, she does and the fact that she was only 17 when she was murdered..." Aaron grimaced in remembered agony.
"At least you have her back now," Aric told his brother. "I'm sure something like that can't happen a second time."
"Alexi knows how to defend yourself, she carries mace, still, I can't help but worry about it happening again. As much as I would like to protect her, she isn't Adrianne, who was basically defenseless. Alexi is fully aware of the dangers in the world," Aaron said.
"You can't protect her from everything, as much as I know you might like to," Aric told his brother placing a hand on his arm.
"I know. Believe me, I know I can't smother her in cotton wool, as she wouldn't appreciate it," Aaron said with a wry smile. "She would only come to resent me, maybe hate me, even if she loved me at the same time if I went into overprotective mode."
"You have to remember that the medical technology is much better nowadays that she has a better chance of recovering if she is severely wounded. In this time there is nobody with the grudge that took it personally that his obsession married someone else."
"This is true," Aaron agreed, gravely. "People like Thaddeus are not going to be reborn and not just because he was human."
"But because he was an evil man," Aric finished. "So when do I get to meet your mate?"
"Soon, she's spending some time with her sisters," Aaron said.
"Sisters?" Aric questioned, as he caught his bother's meaning instantly. "So that means she's one of at least triplets."
"Yeah, she is and all three of them are very close," Aaron said.
"That's to be expected really," Aric said.
"Yeah, it is, though there are, exceptions," Aaron agreed. "When you do meet, you won't have any trouble recognizing her, as she looks nearly exactly like Adrianne. Same brown hair, the same mouth and cheekbones. The only noticeable difference really, is that she's several inches taller than Adrianne. Oh and her eyes are a different color as well."
"We have to consider the time in which Adrianne was born though," Aric said. "Most people would do shorter back then, but typically the women. Humans didn't know much about nutrition. With better nutrition, better healthcare..."
"I know," Aaron agreed. "Who knows how tall we would have become if we had better nutrition and healthcare back when we were born. That we grew as tall as we did considering the times is practically a miracle. We would probably be at least two or three inches taller if we had been born in this time."
Since both men just topped 6 feet that was really saying something.
"So does she remember everything?" Aric asked.
"Mostly," Aaron said. "I'm afraid I had to jog her memory as we had been dating for months and she still didn't remember, so finally, I was desperate. I had been hoping that her memory would start to return the more time we spent together."
"But it didn't," Aric said sympathetically.
"No, it didn't. She did feel a sense of familiarity, like we had met before, but that was the extent of it," Aaron said.
"So what did you do to get her memory to return?" Aric asked curiously, knowing that his older brother would have done nothing to permanently harm his mate.
"You remember that cameo she always wore? The one that belonged to her grandmother?"
"Yeah, I do." Aric said after thinking for a few minutes.
"Well, it was very special to her and so I kept it protected all these years, leaving it in a bank deposit box in whatever city I was living in. I was hoping I'd be able to return it to her someday. Since her memories weren't returning on their own I gave her the cameo as a present. I was hoping that it would jog something in her brain, as I knew my Adrianne was in there somewhere. I didn't really expect what happened, but I'm grateful because her memory started to return after she touched it."
"So what happened exactly?" Aric asked.
"It was like an electric shock shot up her arm the minute she touched the cameo itself. It knocked her out and she was unconscious for several hours. When she woke up though she had a humongous headache, but she had started to remember. She felt as if the memories didn't belong to her at least at first."
"Well, it seems like there's something unusual about that cameo," Aric said.
"Yeah there is. Alexi refused to touch it for several months afterwards, afraid it would happen again."
"But it didn't," Aric guessed.
"No, it didn't, but I can't blame Alexi for being rather wary of the same thing happening, considering she felt like her head was going to explode the first time she touched it," Aaron said with a dark chuckle. "You know our kind don't usually get headaches or least they don't last long."
"But this one lasted awhile," Aric said.
"At least a couple of hours, even with the headache medicine that she took," Aaron said.
"Wow!" Aric whistled appreciatively. "That must've been some headache!"
"You try having all your memories just flooding into your mind at the same time and see if you don't have a headache afterwards," Aaron said dryly. "It took a long time to sort out her memories and she kept getting flashes at odd moments."
"Yeah, I can see that," Aric said thoughtfully. "Well, I really am looking forward to meeting her."
"Well, you were pretty close in her original life, like brother and sister," Aaron said. "I know you missed her almost as much as I did."
"Yeah, I did, I thought of her as a little sister," Aric said sounding melancholy, until he remembered that Adrianne was now back amongst the living. "So any little nieces and nephews arriving in the near future?" Aric asked with a mischievous grin, as it was the same question his brother had asked him only 15 or 20 minutes ago."
"She's pregnant now," Aaron announced with twinkling brown eyes. "So it looks like our babies are going to be born close together."
"That's pretty amazing, I'm so happy for your bro!" Aric said, as he slapped his brother on the back. "It seems like a rather big coincidence though, that both my mate and yours are pregnant at the same time."
"It does happen sometimes you know," Aaron shrugged. "You and Natalia might've planned your pregnancy, but Alexi and I really didn't. We just decided to let nature take it's course. Considering we were just reunited after centuries of being apart we weren't necessarily very anxious for pups right now, but that doesn't mean they're not welcome and that we won't love them."
"I understand Aaron, believe me I do," Aric said as he put a comforting hand on his brother's broad shoulder. "You fear something happening to your pups again before they're even born."
"A little, but not a lot," Aaron said. "This is a different time then the time we grew up in. Most people don't know I'm extremely wealthy, because I keep it on the down low on purpose, so it's unlikely that anybody will try to extort money from me by kidnapping Alexi or one of the pups. It doesn't mean we don't have to guard against it, just that I'm not socially prominent and live pretty quietly by my own choice. Yes, I own a lot of businesses but that's private information, and I avoid any type of reporter like the plague. Still, I don't think it's likely to happen, so long as we are careful. Besides, this is no small town like we lived in the first time. No, this is a large metropolis, with millions of people and my address, just like any business I own are not public. I'm not saying it's not possible for someone with a nefarious plan in mind to find me, but what happened is unlikely to happen again, due to Thaddeus's irrational jealousy and rage."
"So you think that just because we grew up in a relatively small town at least compared to today that that should protect you both," Aric said.
"Not everybody knows everybody else like they did where we grew up Aric. There was only a few hundred people in the town we grew up in, which was quite large for the time, but it was small enough where everybody knew everyone else, the men's names, the wives names the names of the kids in each family," Aaron explained. "Most people don't know me from the Jack down the block or the Nathan who's my neighbor. This city is teeming with life because there are so many people, which is not the relatively small community we lived in during our childhood."
"Are those real people you know or are you just using those names to make a point?" Aric asked knowing how his brother thought.
"You know me to well," Aaron chuckled. "I was just using the names, because they popped into my head. We don't actually have neighbors named Jack or Nathan. We do have a Daniel though and a David. We also have a Betty that lives across the street, with her husband and four kids."
"So you have anonymity," Aric said.
"I'm not someone that has their face in the business section of the newspaper on a regular basis and like I said just now I avoid reporters like they have the plague, so most people wouldn't recognize my face at least, though they might recognize my name. Believe me, some reporters have been pests, they've tried to get me to give an interview or try to sneak a picture of me to put in their paper. Security has had to handle them more than once and the police have also been called a few times to remove them from the parking lot of my office building."
"Maybe you need to give an interview occasionally as that will likely get them off your back," Aric suggested his lips twitching in amusement.
"It might, at least for awhile," Aaron said. "But I wouldn't trust them to stay out of my business, even if I gave them an interview every few weeks. The tabloids are always looking for dirt on the rich and famous
and they've tried to publish articles about me several times, but my attorney put an end to that. They threatened to sue the paper if the article wasn't retracted and an apology issued."
"Well, you are the one that wanted to start a business, which puts you very much in the public eye, no matter how you try to protect your privacy," Aric chuckled at his brother's annoyance.
He couldn't blame Aaron for being so annoyed as the paparazzi were like sharks and if they sensed the least amount of blood like a scandal they were all over you. Even the regular reporters could be just as bad, even if what they printed was the truth instead of fiction.
"It gave me something to do," Aaron shrugged. "I kept myself extremely busy on purpose and you know why."
"Yeah, I do," Aric agreed more soberly. "Now though, maybe you can relax a little. You have Adrianne back again even if she's Alexi now."
"Yeah, I do and I've already made plans to cut back considerably. I want to be here for my mate and my pups once they get here," Aaron said. "It's not like I need to be there all the time to prevent a takeover or something. After all, you own 15% of the company and Natalia owns another 15%, while I owned 30%, but I transferred 15% of that to Alexi just a few weeks ago."
"Yeah, the board can't take over, because between the four of us we own 60%."
"Originally, it was just the two of us that owned 30% apiece, but then, you met Natalia and I finally have Adrianne back."
Suddenly both brothers heard the sound of the door being unlocked.
"Well, it looks like Alexi is home," Aaron said smiling, as he rose, so he could greet her.
Aaron strode out of the kitchen oozing confidence and Aric was sure that the two were now kissing at their reunion. He couldn't wait to get to know this new Adrienne, because at one time they had been close and he would like to be close again. In a platonic way of course.
~~~Aaron and Alexi~~~
"Aric!" Alexi exclaimed excitedly as soon as he stepped out of the kitchen. "It's so good to see you again."
"Well, I see you remember me," Aric said smiling. "I can't say I'm displeased that you do."
"Well, once I started to get my memories back it took me awhile to sort all of them out," Alexi explained when she gave Aric another hug. "Aaron talks about you all the time, which only helped me remember you faster."
"Still, it's nice not to be forgotten," Aric said and Alexi agreed.
Aaron said nothing he watched his mate hug his brother. He didn't feel the least bit jealous and normally, seeing another male hug his mate would've made him feel intense jealousy, especially if it was a stranger. The difference here though was that it was his brother, one that had a mate of his own. Besides, his brother was also an Omega and two Omegas romantically together never happened.
It looked like Aric and Alexi were slipping right back into their previous relationship, the one they'd had before his mate had been murdered. The two had always been close, Aaron remembered fondly, not romantically, but as siblings. It looked like their previous relationship was going to get back on track nearly immediately, which wasn't a bad thing at all.
"So have a good time with Amelie and Audra?" Aaron asked his mate once Aric and Alexi were finally done hugging each other.
"Yes, I did. The two of them were arguing what to do with the extra bedroom now that I moved out," said Alexi shaking her head in exasperation.
"Haven't they been arguing about that for several months already?" asked Aaron.
"Yes, they have," Alexi said with an exasperated expression, patting her very pregnant belly unconsciously. "But they're also both very stubborn and both are determined to get their way. They'll probably be arguing about it for awhile yet."
"I bet you're glad you're not involved in their arguing," Aric said and Alexi nodded firmly.
"Oh, believe me I am, as I would lose anyway. I never win any argument with either of them unless they decide to concede and that doesn't happen very often," Alexi said.
"So how many are you carrying?" Aric asked Alexi. "Or do you know?"
"Of course, we do, as we went to one of our kinds doctor's. Somebody I know I can trust. Her name is Alex Blake," Aaron told his brother,
"She was very gentle with me," Alexi said. "It was clear that she genuinely cared about me and the pups I'm carrying. She was cool, calm and collected the whole time, which I appreciated."
"Of course, she's also an Omega as well, so that's likely part of the reason she was. You know they tend to be gentle and caring. She genuinely loves being an obstetrician specialist," Aaron said.
"And if you insist on knowing it's triplets just like me and my sisters," Alexi exclaimed even as she patted her stomach lovingly again.
"Well, congratulations," Aric said with a grin. "Just so you know my mate Natalia is pregnant to, though not as far along as you obviously are."
"Well congratulations from me," Alexi said kissing Aric on the cheek. "I know you never had a mate back before I was murdered.
"I'm not surprised," Aric told Alexi gently. "It was unusual enough to have two sets of twins, from two different families turn out to be Immortal. The town we grew up in might've been fairly large, but it wouldn't have compared to the great cities with tens of thousands of people, so to have two sets of twins from two different families turn out to be immortal in the same town had to be the work of the gods. Our town really wasn't that large. It was what? 500 or 600 people?"
"That's about right," Aaron confirmed.
"Aaron said that really not that many Immortals are born," Alexi told Aric.
"That's true, at least when you consider the population of the world. There are billions of people all over the world, so imagine if only a hundred sets are born every 50 years or so," Aric said.
"That's not really many at all," Alexi said.
"Of course, Aric's numbers are just a loose estimate. No shapeshifter really knows how many Immortals are born around the world at any given time. That doesn't mean that our numbers are large though, not compared to humans or even the regular shifters anyway," Aaron said. "Why don't you stay for dinner, Aric. I'm sure you and Alexi would like some more time to get reacquainted."
Aric looked uncertain until Alexi looked at him with her puppy eyes. "Please stay Aric. We haven't seen each other in so long."
Alexi pushed out her outer lip as if she was pouting and Aric caved.
"Alright, fine," Aric finally said causing Aaron to grin smugly. His brother never had been able to resist Adrianne's puppy eyes, but then, neither had he, as when it came to his mate he would've given her the world on a silver plater if possible.
"Call your wife and invite her over for dinner too. I'm sure Alexi would love to meet her and I haven't seen Natalia in awhile either," Aaron suggested.
"That's a good idea," Aric said. "I better do that before she starts to cook dinner. I wouldn't want her to be mad at me for not giving her some sort of advanced warning."
"No, that wouldn't be good," Aaron chuckled. "Natalia does have quite a temper on her."
"Yes, I would love to meet Natalia," Alexi agreed. "I'm sure we can become good friends."
"I'm sure you will," Aric chuckled. "She doesn't abuse her alpha status like so many do, not that she can't be commanding when required."
Aric walked away and pulled out his phone as soon as he was out of hearing range.
"We had better start cooking as we do tend to eat a lot and we're about to have two guest for dinner, which isn't far away," Aaron told Alexi softly.
"You're right," Alexi agreed that she and headed for the kitchen.
"You just sit at the kitchen table and let me do most of it," Aaron told his mate firmly.
"I want to help," Alexi said.
"I know you do, but I know what standing on your feet too long does to your ankles," Aaron told her kissing her tenderly. "You can just talk to me while I'm doing most of it as I always enjoy our conversations. It reminds me of our first lives and how we talked about everything."
"Not everything," Alexi giggled as she remembered, "but yes, we did talk about most things. Very unusual for the time."
Aaron started chopping vegetables for a salad, as he and Alexi talked softly together.
"So I've been meaning to ask you for awhile when did you learn to cook?" Alexi said.
"A very long time ago. I had to find something to keep me busy you know, so I didn't think about your murder constantly. I learned to cook long before it was popular for men to undertake in such a female activity. There weren't any restaurants around you know and I had to feed myself somehow. I couldn't just depend on a friendly farmer who would invite me to eat with his family."
"Or friendly townsfolk," Alexi said and Aaron nodded.
"Exactly," Aaron agreed. "Despite what you may think there was some men that did cook, even if that was just grilling a bird or a rabbit on a spit over a fire. While I could've done that and did often, I wanted to do better. I never took any official lessons, as it would've been rather strange for a man to do that in that time. I just picked up recipes here and there."
"Well, I say you took your studies seriously, as you've turned into an excellent chef," Alexi said.
"Believe me, I have quite a few failures before I had success, though at least I could follow a recipe. I bought many recipe books once they were introduced into the book world. Of course, by then, there were also restaurants you could go to. Still, learning a new skill kept me busy and from dwelling on your murder so I kept at it, as it kept me distracted and at least cooking had a practical purpose."
"I can understand the need for distraction when your mate was murdered and with pups in her belly no less," Alexi said seriously, "and some good did come out of it, as you became an excellent chef."
"I suppose," Aaron said, looking sad and thoughtful all at once. "I would've preferred to learn for another reason though."
"While I can't blame you for that, there's no point of dwelling on it. I'm back, I have my memories and I have no intention of leaving your side. Try not to dwell on the bad things that life threw at us and instead, dwell on the good," Alexi said, as she put Aaron's on her belly, so he could feel the lives growing within her. "We will watch our children grow and accomplish great things. I will not be murdered this time and neither will our pups. This is a whole new life for us, a life we can enjoy to the fullest. I know we both have many regrets, but let's not allow them to interfere with our happiness."
"You're absolutely right," Aaron said, even as he kissed his mate on the forehead. "You were always so very wise, even at 17."
"Well, I'm nearly 40 now so I should be even wiser," Alexi told her mate with a wink and a mischievous grin.
"You certainly don't look nearly 40," Aaron chuckled before he returned to his cooking. "You really don't look anymore than 30 at most and a very young 30 at that."
"Well, you don't look like you're hundreds of years old either," Alexi teased back. "You really don't look much older than I do."
"That is one of the advantages of immortality," Aaron told Alexi with a smile in his voice. "We'll always look young, but old enough so that people won't wonder why a couple of kids are wandering around without parental supervision."
Alexi chuckled at that rejoiner her laughter low and sensual making Aaron grin even as he cooked dinner, because he loved the sound of his mate's laughter, something he had imagined he would never hear again.
Aric stood silently in the kitchen doorway, but said nothing, as he backed away from it because it was clear it was a rather private conversation, that he didn't need to hear, if only because he didn't need his brother or Alexi mad at him for eavesdropping. For one thing, Aaron would probably discipline him for eavesdropping on a private conversation, something he didn't want and for another he didn't want to risk his budding relationship with his brother's mate.
~~~Aaron and Alexi~~~