MATED TO SERIES COLLECTION

72. ETHAN / LARA: HOMECOMING

I pinched the bridge of my nose and slowly blew out a breath. There was a mountain of paperwork on my desk that needed to be sorted. Then there was some pack business that needed to be dealt with. On top of all that I knew that Luca would be waking for his bottle. I was fucking tired but there was no chance of just taking a quick nap.

With a glance at the crib to make sure that Luca was still asleep, I sat up and reached for my phone when it vibrated. It was a message from Silas.

Have you done what I asked?

Fuck! How could I forget that? It was on the top of my priority list but I haven't gotten around to it. I typed a reply and waited. It didn't take him long to reply again.

Get to it! We're boarding the plane now.

Want me to meet you at the airport?

This time he took a little longer to reply.

No. It's not a good idea.

I locked my phone without replying and placed it aside. It wasn't a good idea for so many reasons, but I wanted to be there. I wanted to see for myself that Lara was okay. That was another thing I needed to add to my list—doing some research for Silas. Just as I pulled some papers in front of me, Luca started to squirm. I sighed and dropped my head into my hands.

His cries began—soft at first and then louder and louder until it couldn't be ignored.

Muttering a few curses under my breath, I pushed the chair back and got up. Where the hell was Avery? She was supposed to be watching Luca. I told her that I had some work to get done.

"Hey buddy," I muttered as I carefully picked him up. "Can't you let daddy work for a little while?"

He let out a loud cry and but quieted down a little when I held him against my chest. His small fists clutched at my shirt. I rubbed his back and I walked out of my office and down the hall towards the kitchen. It was empty like I knew it would be.

"Avery?" I called out.

There was no reply at all. My anger and irritation continued to rise when it was clear that she had left once again without informing me. This parenting thing was supposed to be done by both parents, not just one. All I've been doing these past few weeks was feeding and cleaning and bathing my son. If he woke in the middle of the night I was the one who got up because Avery made no move to feed him.

She hasn't even held him since the day she gave birth to him. It was like she actually avoided being around him. How could a mother do that? Wasn't her parental instinct urging her to care for him? A part of me had hoped that something in Avery would change when our baby was born, but I was wrong. Very fucking wrong.

Avery was still a self-absorbed bitch. She still didn't give a fuck about anybody but herself.

"It looks like it's just you and me, baby."

I warmed his bottle and then grabbed everything I needed and made my way up the stairs and into the nursery. Taking a seat on the rocking chair, I guided Luca into position before I started feeding him. His eyes started to droop half way through his feeding. When he was done drinking his milk, I burped him like my mother had showed me before I changed his diaper and then took a seat on the chair again.

My eyes started to droop as I continued to rock the chair. Luca fussed a little and then stilled. I brushed my lips along his forehead as I relaxed. With the comforting weight of my son against my chest and the sound of the rocking chair filing the room, I slowly drifted off to sleep.