Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 194

Jesse

Out of all the mates in our group, I was most aware. It wasn’t like I wanted to mock the others, but the fact of the matter was, I was the type of person to be aware of what was going on with everyone.

If something was off, I was going to notice it.

Now, with Rain, this didn’t count because he wore his heart on his sleeve. He always made it so obvious when something was wrong, and couldn’t hide his emotions even if he tried. If he did try, then he ended up being more obvious than usual!

The others depended. Colby and Matt could hide their emotions, but not from me. Lia also depended, while Michael did a pretty good job of hiding it unless it had to do with Gabi and the kids. If it had to do with one of them, then he showed how upset he was because they were his family.

Not that we weren’t, but they were his mate as well as children. It was a little different.

Today I was out with Lia. The two of us were going for a walk, trying to enjoy some of the fresh air. I did offer the other mates to come out.

Lia stopped so fast I nearly ran into her. This was a little odd for her, so it did make me raise an eyebrow. Better yet, she was gushing over children.

It wasn’t like Lia didn’t like kids. Look at how she treated her nephew and niece? She loved them and couldn’t get enough of those kids. Neither could I, but seeing her gush over children was so strange.

Lifting a brow, I watched and couldn’t stop staring. Most times, she would notice when I was staring at her, but this time she wasn’t. It was more than a little jarring to think she was so distracted by these children. This made me wonder what was up with her and this sudden maternal instinct.

When I had seen this increase in maternal instinct, it ended up being a pregnancy. This was what I had seen in my own pack so that’s why I was thinking perhaps Lia was pregnant. But she wasn’t pregnant right now. I’d smell it in her.

Shrugging, maybe her heart was kicking in or something. It felt like it had been a while since her last heat, even though it wasn’t, making me wonder what the hell was going on with her.

Sighing, I turned my attention back to Lia and her strange behavior.

“Oh my god, look at them,” she whispered, crouching slightly. “They’re so tiny.”

It was a given that they were tiny, but I wasn’t going to deny the fact that they were cute. But I wasn’t having the same reaction Lia was. Why the hell would I have the same reaction to some kids I had no relation to at all?

The only kids I thought were cute were the ones who belonged to Michael and Gabi. Those kids were really cute. Very cute.

I followed her gaze and saw a toddler wobbling down the sidewalk in a too-big sunhat, clutching a stuffed bunny in one hand and a juice box in the other like it was the holy grail.

“Cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Lia sighed, eyes practically sparkling. “Look at their chubby little cheeks.”

She huffed and kept walking, muttering something under her breath that I was pretty sure was a creative death threat.

I fell into a step beside her, hands stuffed in my pockets. “You know, if I disappear mysteriously one day, you’ll be the first person they interrogate.”

She didn’t even look at me. “Good. I’ll lead the investigation and conveniently never find the body.” “Cold,” I said, mock-offended. “And here I thought we were having a bonding moment.”

“We were, and then you opened your mouth.”

I laughed. “Okay, okay. I’ll give you a break No more baby jokes. For now.” She arched a brow at me. “You say that like you deserve a medal.”

“I think I do. For bravery. For walking next to you after openly provoking you. It takes guts.” “Or a death wish.”

“Same difference when it comes to you.”

She tried to hold in a smirk and failed. “You’re lucky I like you.” I bumped her shoulder gently. “I know.”

I jogged a step to keep up. “Seriously, though, you’d be kind of adorable with a kid.” “Jesse, I swear-“

“Can’t help it. That little sigh you made. That was prime mom energy.” “I did not make a sigh.”

“Oh, you sighed. Full-on dreamy, ‘aww’ sigh. Like your ovaries woke up and picked a fight with your common sense.” She groaned. “Why are you like this?”

I grinned wider. “Gifted.”

She shot me a side-eye. “Keep talking, and I will test the limits of my fire magic on your eyebrows.” “Okay, okay.” I held up my hands. “Truce. No more teasing.”

“Good.”

A beat of silence passed before I added, “But, like, you’ve thought about it, right?” She glanced at me, guarded. “What, kids?”

“Yeah. You. Tiny hurricane of power and sarcasm. Raising an even tinier one.”

She was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. “Sometimes. Not in a ‘white picket fence and minivan’ way. Just… I don’t know. I think I’d want that. Someday.”

I nodded. “Yeah. You’d be good at it.” She blinked. “You think?”

“Hell yeah. You’d be the kind of mom who teaches her kid to throw fireballs before they can walk. Protect them with everything. Love them so hard they’d never doubt it for a second.”

Lia looked away, cheeks flushed just slightly. “Well… I’d try.”

She smiled, then glanced over again, more serious this time. “It’s kind of terrifying, though. Letting people matter that much.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But it’s also the best part.”

She gave a small, thoughtful hum. “You think it’ll last? All of this?”

I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I looked up at the sky, pale blue and stretching wide above us like a promise. “I don’t know. But I want it to. And I’ll fight for it. For all of us.”

She looked over, something unreadable flickering in her eyes again. “You’re kind of intense, you know that?”

I shrugged. “Only about the things that matter.”

She gave a soft laugh, then sighed and slipped her hand into mine. Just for a second. Just enough. “I guess I’ll let that slide,” she murmured.

I squeezed her fingers gently. “How generous of you.” And we kept walking, side by side, steps quiet but steady. Whatever came next, I figured we’d face it together.

Though I didn’t want to think too much about this right now because the discussion was getting very heavy. Heavy discussions were something I was fine with, but it was at a time when I just wanted to enjoy my walk with Lia and not think about possibly being a father.

One day, but we would address that issue when we ended up getting pregnant, and until then, I wasn’t going to let it bother me.

Lia and I walked arm in arm for a while, just enjoying the air. Lia did see another kid and ended up gushing at them so loudly that she squealed. It caught the attention of a lot of people, making her blush. She didn’t think anyone would’ve heard, but they did.

“I need to get a grip,” she muttered, giving me a look

“Hey, maybe we should go somewhere you won’t end up gushing over cute little children,”1 teased. She narrowed her eyes. “Jesse, you’re making me want to throw you.”

“First gush at that baby over there.”

Sure enough, she did look in the direction of the baby and ended up squeeing. This time, Lia buried her face in her hands and sighed.

“I think it’s time we leave the park”

Chuckling, the two of us finally did leave the park I still thought her behavior was odd, but the fact of the matter was I wouldn’t let myself stress about it because I knew she was going to be okay. If it tit continue then I would end up just dealing with it as would the rest of the pack

At least we had each other to lean on.