Page 35 of Talk About… Dramay
My dad Brandon wasn’t about to let anything stress me out so I let him take care of the details. He wanted his little girl home.
“Speaking of, they know about me, but you guys are new to the pack,” Roman reminded me. “So, we have a little wiggle room for awkwardness at least.”
“You’ll win them over for simply coming here with me. They’ve been trying to get me home for years. Hell, since I left,” I admitted.
“Parents love me,” Lane said. “Unless I’m playing the role of ‘every parent’s nightmare.’ That’s different.”
“Tattoos and bad boy persona, who could resist?” I teased, giving him a grin over my shoulder.
“I am a bad boy, Princess,” he teased back.
“There’s the sign,” Roman said, pulling my attention back to the road where there was a huge wooden ‘Welcome to Rockwood Valley’ sign on the side of the road.
My stomach churned as I gave him directions through town. Thirteen years was a long time. There were new shops mixed with the old as we drove down the main drag. Yet, it still had the same Rockwood Valley feel that I adored.
When we pulled up outside the huge white house I grew up in, all of the nerves faded away.
My dad stepped outside and I was flinging the door open before I registered it, running across the lawn.
“Dad!” I yelled, both of us meeting halfway as he crushed me in a hug. He smelled like vanilla and spices, like he’d spent all day baking and a sob broke free as he held me tight.
“Oh, my girl is home,” he said, the same emotion filling his voice. “Finally.”
“I’m sorry,” I choked out but he wasn’t having it, shushing me from going down that road.
“You’re home, Little Bird, that’s all we care about. We’ve all missed you.”
“We have,” Mom said, her voice far more gentle than I remembered. I pulled away only to be tugged into her arms, the hug a lot less bone crushing but it felt sincere. She brushed the tears from my cheeks, her smile gentle and the soft wrinkles on her face hit me right in the feels. “I’m glad you’re home.”
It was strange but nice to know she’d softened even more.
“Me, too,” I said, the words cut off as Adam pulled me into a hug next. His scent was mint and pine, woodsy and masculine and another familiarity that hit me square in the chest.
“Hey, Little Bird,” Steve’s voice was next as he pulled me into his arms. My alpha dad was quiet and reserved, but even he looked emotional at our reunion.
“Hey, Dad,” I said, giving him a hug back and breathing in the scent of berries and cinnamon, like a fresh pie. We weren’t as close as I was with Adam and Brandon, but I always knew he loved me. He just never quite knew how to show it.
“I’d like you to meet my pack,” I said as I wiped my tears away.
I turned to find them standing shoulder to shoulder, soft smiles on their faces as they witnessed the reunion. When I held my hand out, Roman was the first to move, Hudson and Lane following until they were surrounding me.
“My betas, Roman and Lane, my alpha, Hudson,” I said, pointing each of them out. “You’ve heard of Roman, but Lane and Hudson and I are still new.”
“The fact they followed you home speaks of their character,” Adam said, holding out a hand to shake each of theirs. The only one who didn’t wince was Hudson, who only looked amused.
I glanced around, realizing our moving container wasn’t here.
“Where’s our stuff?” I asked, glancing around.
“Actually, it’s at your grandma’s house. Your house,” Brandon explained. “Not that I wouldn’t love having you, but I thought you’d want your own space and nest. We packed it with essentials but don’t feel like you can’t change literally everything. It’s yours now, Little Bird.”
Tears burned in my eyes as I threw myself in my dad’s arms again. “You’re too good to me.”
“We have thirteen years of missing you to make up for. We may have gone a little overboard. Even your mom came over and helped us,” he whispered.
“Really?” I asked, my chest aching at the realization of how much love I’d left behind. I’d clouded everything in my depression it seemed.
“You know she loves you,” he said gently. “She’s slowed way down on work and we’ve been spending lots of time as a pack. So, get ready for lots of family time.”