Boston Avant-Garde 6: Chiaroscuro (31 page)

Caroline Aasen was bobbing back and forth, looking as if she were trying to follow all the conversations in the room at once. “Stop this nonsense! Stop it!” She clutched at Lars’s arm. “I want grandbabies! I lost all my babies, and then I lost your father. Now you’re leaving me all alone, and I won’t have it!”

Mattie wanted to dislike this woman with her overbearing personality and rude ways, but something Caroline said struck a chord, and Mattie couldn’t let it pass. They were the same. Mattie wanted a home and a husband and children to love just like Caroline. She’d felt alone for so long; now she had two men who loved her.

And a baby on the way.

Something had happened between the three of them in that little tumbledown cottage in the woods. Mattie couldn’t have said what kind of power bubbled beneath the surface of the mundane world, but there was no denying what she’d felt when Owen and Lars had filled her pussy full of their essence in the heat of the moment.

Lars gazed at his mother with something akin to pity. Mattie gnawed her lower lip and wondered if she’d come to regret what she was about to do. She took a deep, fortifying breath and let it all tumble out. “You’re not alone, Caroline. We’re here. Owen, Lars, and I are going to be a family—and we’re going to have a baby too.”

Owen cocked his head, his dark gaze sweeping her from head to toe. She got the feeling he wasn’t really that surprised. Lars, on the other hand, was speechless.

“How?” He turned and reached hesitantly for her flat belly. “Are you sure?”

Mattie thought of the oceanic moment when the three of them had been so close that they’d almost lived inside each other’s skin. They could have a commitment ceremony if they wanted, but nothing would compare to the bonding that had occurred right then when they’d conceived their first child.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

Selena squeaked, obviously trying to hold back a yelp of delight. She was practically vibrating in place, hands gripping Malachi’s arms so tightly she was going to leave a mark.

Lars swept Mattie up into a hug, reaching for Owen and holding them both close. “That’s the most incredible news ever.”

“It’s going to be a pretty amazing baby considering where it was conceived, and on Halloween morning, of all times.” Mattie gazed up at her men. “And also taking the gene pool into account.”

Caroline peered at them in consternation, her mouth opening and closing as if she couldn’t decide how to react.

Mattie decided to throw her a bone. “That would make you a grandmother, if you’d like the job.”

Mattie could see the war going on behind the older woman’s polished exterior. Finally she caved. She carefully wiped away a tear before it could smudge her makeup. “I’d be honored.”

Lars pulled back from his lovers to draw his mother in closer. “Mom, I’d like you to meet Owen Bloodmoon and Matilda English.”

“You can just call me Mattie.” Mattie gave the other woman a warm hug.

Caroline gazed at them all as if she were trying desperately to understand where she could fit into all of this. “And I suppose you can all call me Mom.”

* * * *

Owen glanced sideways at Mattie as she bounced in the middle seat of the truck. “Ugh, how can you be so calm?”

Lars exchanged grins with Owen over the top of Mattie’s head. “Well, love, he probably doesn’t need to pee—again.”

“It isn’t my fault, you know.” She wrinkled her nose, looking so cute Owen could hardly resist the urge to lean down and kiss her. “Although all those pregnancy books say the constantly having to pee is supposed to come later. What if I can’t even
leave
the bathroom by then!” She looked thoughtful. “Do you think our new master bathroom will be big enough to set up my easel?”

Owen rolled his eyes, looking away from the road long enough to shoot Lars a withering stare. “If Mr. Has To Have Everything gets his way, I’m pretty sure there’ll be enough room for your studio and a bed in the master bath.”

Lars looked offended. “I just want it to be roomy enough for all three of us.”

“You’re the one with the closet-space issue.” Owen didn’t really care that his lover had a bigger collection of socks and belts than Owen did jeans and T-shirts. He happened to think it was sexy that Lars took care of himself and was trying to do the same for Owen and Mattie.

Mattie sighed and rested her cheek against Owen’s arm. “I’m just wondering how silly it will look when the ‘addition’ you’re planning starts to resemble a monster crouched behind the original house.”

“That’s why I hired the architect,” Lars explained for the millionth time. “And you two are going to be thanking me before this is all over. The three of us and a whole pack of kids using one bathroom and two bedrooms would be like bad reality TV.”

Owen felt a flutter in his belly, but he wasn’t sure if it was the mention of a “pack of kids” or that fact that he’d just made the final turn that would bring them to his grandmother’s house. It had been so long, but nothing much had changed on her rural street.

The rough wood houses were clustered together amid the grasses growing knee-high and waving in the fall breeze. Yellow, red, and brown leaves fluttered to the ground and clogged the gutters edging the tiny square houses. Owen saw several of the residents relaxing on their porches or working in the yard. He nodded as he drove by, though he received more stares than acknowledgments.

“It’s beautiful,” Mattie said softly. “Is this where you grew up?”

Owen swung the old truck into his grandmother’s driveway. “This is it.”

His heart was hammering against his ribs. He got out, closing the driver’s door behind him. On the other side of the vehicle, Lars was helping Mattie down. Owen had just started up the front walk when the door flew open.

Grandmother hadn’t aged at all in the fifteen years he’d been gone. Owen was struck speechless by the memories that hit hard and fast. A thick white braid hung over her right shoulder. The colorful woven belt at her waist had probably come from her own loom. Her denim skirt was long, just brushing the fringe on her moccasins. Everything, from her warm brown skin to the light in her eyes was exactly as Owen remembered.

She held out her arms, and Owen was powerless to stop himself from running to her. She touched his cheek with her warm palm. “Welcome home.”

He held her against his heart, feeling so many things and knowing he didn’t have to say a word. She knew. She’d long forgiven him for that night when his actions had caused the death of his grandfather. It had been up to Owen to forgive himself. With Lars’s and Mattie’s help, he’d been able to do just that.

“The shadow has left your eyes,” Grandmother told him. “Your grandfather would be proud of the man you’ve become.”

Owen reached shakily for Mattie and Lars. They approached hesitantly, Mattie chewing her lip and gripping Lars’s hand as though she intended to remove his fingers.

“Grandmother, this is Mattie and Lars.” He gave her the insolent look she’d chastised him for a million times during his youth. “Although I suspect you already knew that.”

Grandmother drew Lars and Mattie into her embrace. “Thank you, thank you for bringing my boy home to me.”

Mattie gazed up at Owen as she clutched Grandmother tightly around the neck. “We’re family, and blessed to be so.”

Loose Id Titles by Kaitlin Maitland

Daggertail

* * * *

The BOSTON AVANT-GARDE Series

Strung Out

Crescendo

Impetuous

Encore

Bellicoso

Chiaroscuro

* * * *

The CLAN McKINLOCH Series

Stars, Stripes & Xmas Bells

Hearts, Candy & Clover

Junebugs, Haunted Hauses & Jack-o-lanterns

Kaitlin Maitland

Kaitlin Maitland is an avid reader and a rabid horse enthusiast with a love of drama in everyday life. She began writing at the age of twelve after growing tired of waiting for her favorite authors to write sequels. Now she’s scrambling to write her own sequels while keeping up with a variety of exciting new characters and settings. Kaitlin makes her home in the Midwest and while she has yet to travel to a distant planet, she finds plenty of story-inspiring drama close to home.

Find Kaitlin on the Web at
http://www.kaitlinmaitland.com
.