A Very Holland Valentine: Holland Brothers 6 (3 page)

"None. But at least now we know where she stands on the idea," Simon said. He'd always liked the idea of adding to their family. Yes, there were plenty of kids running around here these days, with the twins and Charlie as well as the soon-to-be addition of Jason and Alex's baby, but he'd always wanted a large family.

Simon loved Hayley. She was his daughter as far as he was concerned. But ever since they had found out that male weres could become pregnant, Simon had wanted to share that joy with his mate. To create a child that was a part of each of them. These things took time though, not everyone managed to fall pregnant on their first attempt. Simon had also wanted to make sure Hayley was comfortable with anything that might happen. Now that he knew she was, there was nothing to stop them.

"I think we need to get back to practicing. Lots!" Zack said with a lecherous grin and waggled his eyebrows.

Simon threw back his head and laughed. God, how he loved this man.

Walk with Me

The house was a mess; with so many babies being born, they had run out of room. So the eight of them had gathered around the kitchen table one night once all the kids were asleep, and plans began to form for a large expansion of the house. They were lucky they were on a double block and had the room, otherwise Rick wasn't sure what they would have done. Once they had a rough idea of what they wanted, in came architects, and then the plans were submitted for approval.

Now the building was taking place, and didn't the house look like a construction zone. Half the house had been cordoned off so walls could be knocked out to make room for the new rooms going up. There was scaffolding all over the place. Piles of bricks and bags of cement mix covered their once-beautiful lawn. Not to mention the dust. Every time they wiped a surface to try and clean up, the dust would just settle straight back down again.

Simon, Zack, Marcus and Brian, along with their kids had all moved, temporarily, to their parents' house until the renovations were complete. This helped lessen the number of people and children around the area. Rick silently thanked God that none of them were pregnant at the moment. That left Rick, Jake and Charlie, along with Alex, Jason and their three-month-old son, William, in the house.

During the day, you could hardly tell half the household was missing due to the noise level with the construction. But once knock-off time arrived and the tools went down, peace reigned for a few hours. At least while Charlie and William slept.

Rick still remembered the night William arrived. The little brat was eager to meet the world and arrived a full week early. Jason had been terrified, but Alex had managed to keep his mate calm while Dr. Owens was called and they got ready to go to her surgery for the delivery. The entire family had gathered, just like they had for every birth so far.

They had all waited with bated breath for Alex to announce the birth of his child. His brother looked so proud as he walked out to the waiting room with his arms full of his son wrapped in a blue blanket. They had all been right, William was a large boy, weighing in at over nine pounds—and that was with the week early. Rick hated to think how big he might have been if Jason had carried him to term. He had a feeling their next Alpha had just been born.

Time would tell if he was correct.

Rick was snapped out of his thoughts as Jake's fingers lightly trailed down the side of his arm. He lifted his head and turned, smiling up at his mate, who was seated behind him on the couch. Jake leaned in and kissed him lightly.

"Love you," he whispered against Rick's lips.

Rick shivered. He would never get tired of hearing Jake say that. After everything they went through, Rick never thought he would be lucky enough to hear those words. Now they were finally together, happy and had a beautiful daughter. Rick really didn't think life could get any better.

Jake smiled at him and nudged his head in the direction of Alex. Rick looked over and grinned at the sight. Alex sat in his armchair, Jason curled up on his lap and holding William. Neither of the men were paying the least bit of attention to what was on the television, or the room surrounding them, both too taken with the little man Jason held in his arms. Alex's large hand was moving in gentle strokes across his sleeping child's body.

"Feel like taking a night-time stroll with me?" Jake asked quietly.

"I'd love to."

Charlie was in bed, she'd been put down over an hour ago, and she shouldn't wake up until roughly midnight. She was only waking up once during the night now, much to Jake and Rick's delight.

Rick stood and held his hand out for his mate, pulling him from where he had been lounging on the couch. Jake didn't let go of his hand. As they walked past Alex and Jason, Rick stopped.

"Would you mind keeping an ear out for Charlie? We'd like to take a walk," Rick asked his brother quietly, not wanting to wake William.

"Sure," Alex replied, briefly meeting his eyes so Rick knew he understood what he'd been asked before he turned his concentration back to the men in his arms.

They left the lounge room and headed out. Rick shoved his feet into a pair of black and white thongs, stacked in one of the many shoe racks they had in the entranceway. Jake pulled out a dark blue pair and slipped them on.

His mate's toes wiggled as he got his feet situated in the shoes. Rick couldn't believe how sexy he thought they looked. They were toes, for crying out loud. Rick put it down to them being Jake's toes and left it at that. He didn't have a toe fetish, but he did have an anything-Jake fetish.

Jake cleared his throat as if the man knew exactly what Rick was thinking. The man's lecherous grin told him exactly that.

Still holding hands, they closed the door behind them and stepped out into the cool early November night air, setting out down the street. The stars were bright tonight, the moon large and high in the sky, only a couple more nights until the full moon. Rick couldn't wait.

Although they could shift at any time now that Charlie was born, they had not managed to escape and run anywhere near as often as they used to.

"I'm looking forward to the run on Thursday," Rick said quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace that had settled around them.

Jake let go of his hand and wrapped his arm around Rick's shoulder, pulling him in close against his body as they walked side by side. Rick placed his hand on Jake's waist and inhaled his mate's intoxicating scent. Even after all these years, after everything they'd been through, that scent had never stopped affecting him.

"I can't wait to run and chase you down. Make you submit to me," Jake whispered in his ear before he gently bit Rick's earlobe. Rick shuddered at the husky voice and stumbled. Jake was right there to catch him, though, making sure he was safe. Just like he had been since Rick was sixteen, even if he hadn't realised it at the time.

Rick moaned as images of their last full moon run came flooding back to him. His prick stiffened in his pants, and Rick had to reach down to adjust himself, because he really was quite uncomfortable now.

"I take it you like that idea?" Jake asked as they continued their stroll down the street.

"You know I do."

"I do." Jake's sexy chuckle had Rick wanting the man to throw him down and ravish him. He somehow didn't think Mr. and Mrs. Perkins would appreciate them going for it on their front lawn, though.

More's the pity.

"I hate you right now," Rick growled playfully at his mate.

"Nah, you love me. I know you do."

"I really do." There was no point in denying it. Rick had tried that for ten long years, if he couldn't pull it off then, he had no hope of pulling it off now.

Jake tightened his grip around Rick and held him close. Rick sighed as Jake bent down and kissed the top of his head. Life really couldn't get much better than this.

A Very Holland Valentine

Forever

When they said forever,

What did they mean?

When they said love,

Was it a scene?

A scene from a movie,

not quite real.

Those romances created and foretold,

lived over a romantic meal.

This is not us,

we live each other.

We bleed into each other's hearts,

like liquid ether.

Forever is nothing,

forever is a drop.

A drop in the ocean of always.

Hold me, don't stop.

Forever is always,

more than a valentine.

My love is forever,

won't you always be mine?

~ By Kara Salter ~

Chapter One

Zack sighed. He loved his mother-in-law, really he did. However, living with her for the last few months was starting to wear a little thin.

Since their house was currently undergoing major reconstruction, Zack, along with his mate and their daughter, and Brian, Marcus and their boys had all moved in with Maryanne and Joe.

Zack couldn't believe how lucky that had turned out to be. There was no way he would have been able to stay home and hide himself away from all the construction workers while pregnant. He shuddered to think of what would happen if one of them should see him.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything?" Maryanne asked him for what seemed like the thousandth time that morning.

Zack reached down and placed a hand on his swollen belly. "I'm sure. We're just fine," he replied.

Simon and Zack had been completely surprised by this little bundle of joy. They'd been trying for nearly six months when Hayley had sat them down and asked for a brother or sister.

After the first couple of new moons with Zack not falling pregnant, he had started to get a little worried that there might be something wrong. He and Simon had decided to keep their attempts to themselves so they could surprise the family when and if he fell pregnant, and if it didn't happen, then he wouldn't have to share their disappointment with everyone.

The realisation that Zack was indeed expecting came as a complete shock. Zack hadn't been like Jason, Brian and Rick. He hadn't had an ounce of morning sickness. He'd woken up one morning, in the room he and Simon were sharing at Maryanne and Joe's. It was the last week of school for the year, less than two weeks till Christmas, and Zack was looking forward to the holidays. He'd started to get dressed, only to find out his favourite pair of jeans were extremely tight. Zack turned to Simon, who was also getting dressed for his day at the office.

"Do I look fat to you?" he asked.

Simon stared at him, wide-eyed. "Is that supposed to be some sort of trick question?" Simon asked him, looking Zack over warily.

Zack giggled at how careful his mate was being. "No, you smarty, my pants aren't fitting. Do I look like I've put on some weight?"

Zack lifted his shirt so Simon could take in his body and twisted this way and that. Simon sucked in a breath, walked up to him and dropped to his knees. Holding Zack still, Simon leaned forward and placed a kiss against his belly. "Yes, love. It looks like you've put on some weight."

Zack stared at his mate for a second before his actions clicked. "You mean…" He stared down, his hands holding his shirt rucked up under his chin, at the small protuberance he could see in his belly. "But… how? I haven't…"

Simon kissed his stomach again and whispered, "Love you, thank you for making me the happiest man on earth. Love you too, little one. Can't wait to meet you."

Zack wiped at the tears gathering in his eyes, then placed one hand on the small bump and threaded the other through his mate's silky locks.

That had been seven weeks ago, his principal, Donald Murphy, hadn't been happy about the late notice of their supposed surrogate giving birth and Zack needing time off. Hopefully he'd given enough notice in December for his boss to find a substitute; he didn't think it would be a problem with the six-week school holiday period. Classes were just starting back up now in the last week of January, and Zack missed his students.

Thinking about his students also made him think about something else he missed. Home. Thankfully the construction work should be finished soon, and they would all be able to go home. He loved Maryanne and Joe to bits. But the woman fussed like there was no tomorrow. He knew she did it out of love, but sometimes Zack hid in his room just to get a moment of peace and quiet.

Of course he couldn't tell his mate that his mother was smothering him. All the Holland boys thought sun shone out of their parent's butts, and most of the time, Zack agreed.

However, even though this was the fourth pregnancy in the family, none of the other three had had to live with Maryanne. Yes, she had visited, but she always had to leave as well. There was no leaving for either Zack or Maryanne at this time. He really couldn't wait to get home.

"You hungry, Zack? I can make you something to eat if you'd like," Maryanne asked as she walked back into the living room not even five minutes after she'd asked him the last time.

"I'm fine, thanks." Just then, his stomach grumbled. Okay, maybe he was a little hungry. "A sandwich might be nice if it's not too much trouble," he conceded.

"No trouble at all. I'll be back in a minute."

It had been all right at the start of the school holidays, but as soon as he started to show more than he could reasonably cover up, Zack was confined behind closed doors.

Hayley was also missing during the day now. She had gone from a half day at kindy last year to a full school day at prep. Zack hated that he wasn't there for his girl on her first full day at school. Simon was dropping her off in the mornings on his way to work and Maryanne picked her up in the early afternoons when school finished and brought her back. Another hour or so and Zack could see his little girl again. He missed having her around during the day. He'd gotten so used to having her right there during the school holidays.

She was growing up so damn fast. Some days he felt like he blinked and she'd changed on him. Zack knew it was all a part of growing up, but that didn't mean he had to like it.