Flicker (mxm)

Chapter 9

Church's POV

Wade pulls his truck up to a small house in a clearing surrounded by trees. He gets out of the truck and comes over to my side.

"Does your family know we are coming?" I ask.

"No. I thought it'd be a nice surprise." Wade pulls me out of the truck and into his arms. I wrap my legs around his waist. He doesn't put me down. Wade carries me to the door and knocks three times. I turn my head into his shoulder, nervous to meet his family.

The door opens and I close my eyes tightly, curling closer to Wade in his arms.

"Wade! Sweetheart, it's so good to see you!" A woman's voice says. There is a gasp. "Is this," she trails off.

"Yes, Mom. This is my mate Church." Wade turns me in his arms I look up from my spot in his shoulder to see a short woman with reddish-blonde hair. She has curious eyes and a soft friendly face. She smiles and reaches out towards me. I flinch away slightly burying my face back into the crook of Wade's neck.

I hear Wade explain the situation I had come from. They talk for a while and I try not to listen. Soon I feel myself drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

I wake up to my body shifting. I open my eyes. Wade is adjusting me on his lap. I am facing his chest. Wade talks with a happy sounding voice. I whimper softly, trying to get his attention. I reach out tugging gently on the hem of his shirt. Wade slowly pulls me into a sitting position.

"Church," Wade says softly. "This is my mom, Jenny. My dad, Kef, and my two little sisters Erin and Rosa."

His dad looks exactly like Wade. Only older. He has the same hair and facial structure. But he has his mother's eyes. Jenny has straight strawberry blonde hair. And so do his little sisters. They look to be about ten years old. Twins, I realize. Like Noah and Eden, they are identical as well. They have wide brown eyes and tanned skin. One wears a blue necklace with a heeled E hanging from the chain. The other wears a pink necklace with a bedazzled R. She's smile at me so I smile back.

"Aww, he's sooooo cute!" Rosa squeals. "He's as tiny as we are! Aww your so pretty! Oooh, you have a tail! Can I touch your tail? And your ears? How do you have four ears? Can you hear better with them? How old are you? Do you like the color pink? I absolutely love pink! It's my favorite color!"

"Rosa," Wade interjects. "One question at a time. Okay?"

Rosa sighs dramatically. "Okay..." she groans. I giggle. His family turns to look at me. I flush, burying my face into Wade's shoulder.

"Um," I start to speak, getting everyone's attention. "I'm s-sixteen. Pink is my favorite color too." I whisper. Rosa beams. Erin smiles at me but she still hasn't said anything yet.

"How old are you two?" I ask.

"We are nine," Rosa says.

Wade must see the confusion on my face as to why Erin wasn't talking.

"Erin is mute. She doesn't speak. Not anymore. But she's still a normal little girl. Right, Erin?" Wade explains to me.

Erin smiles at her big brother, nodding twice.

"Are you hungry at all Church?" Jenny asks. I shake my head no.

"Do you mind if we ask a few questions then?" Kef glares at me. I flinch and snuggle back into Wade.

"So you're not a virgin? Such a pity that you were whoring around. Not even waiting for your mate to show up." Kef says to me. I wince. Why was he being so mean to me? What did I do wrong?

"Father," Wade warns.

"You probably liked it, didn't you? Such a shame you got mated to my son. He deserves much better. A nice girl from a strong pack." Wade let's out a terrifying growl. His eyes glowing. His wolf is surfacing fast. His claws come out and rip into the fabric of his jeans. Small beads of blood begin to show through the rips. I put my hand on his arm and he calms just enough for his wolf to back down.

"I think that it's time for us to go. Okay, Church? We can go home and see Noah and Eden. And you can tell them all about your family." Wade doesn't give me the chance to answer. He scoops me up and makes his way to the truck.

Just as we are about to leave Rosa and Erin burst through the front door, running to my side of the truck. I open the door to ask what's the matter. Before I can even get a single word out, the girls had scrambled up into the truck and thrown their arms around me.

They hold out a pink bracelet and a blue necklace. They look like they were haphazardly braided together. They have one little charm on each. On the bracelet, a pink poodle charm. On the necklace, a bluebird charm with a gem for an eye.

"We made these for you a long time ago when Wade told us that he was gonna bring his mate home someday when he found them. Today he said you didn't get a lotta love from where you came from and we wanted to make you feel okay so that you would come back with him to visit us. So we put these on. The charms are our favorite ones in our collections. It will give you good luck and make you feel loved. But you gotta take care of them. Wade doesn't visit a lot because he and daddy argue a lot. He says that he doesn't like that Wade likes boys. But we think you are a good person even though we only met you a couple of minutes ago when you woke up. We want you to come back more." Rosa says.

The girls put their creations on me. My heart squeezes, they gave me something they loved so that I would feel loved. I knew then, that I would never ever take them off. "Thank you. I love them." I smile and hold them close to me. I feel Wade lean over and wrap his arms around us. He gives us all a tight squeeze before pressing a kiss to both of their heads.

"You and mama are always allowed to come to visit us any time you want to. And I promise that you can see me and Church whenever you want to. Just call me and maybe we can even pick you two up and go out for ice cream sometimes. Go back to the house before mama thinks that we took you with us." Wade says to his little sisters.

Rosa squeals and Erin smiles widely. They run back into the house, but not before waving goodbye. I wave back, grinning as the little girls begin to dance in the window.
"They are so sweet," I whisper touching the charms.

Wade smiles at me from the driver's seat. "Alright. I promised you a baby." My ears perk up at this.

"I want to make our first time together special. So tell me when you're ready. I want to make you feel good, not like what those other men had done to you. I want you to feel my love for you. I love you Church. And I am so sorry about my father. I didn't think he would do anything like that today. I thought he would be more accepting of you. But don't listen to what he says. I will always love you no matter what."

Tears begin to well up in my eyes. I reach out and grab Wade's hand, intertwining our fingers. I don't plan on letting go any time soon. I kiss each of his knuckles before leaning my head on the center console, patiently waiting to arrive, and then I will tell Eden and Noah everything that has happened. I hope they will be so proud of me.