Mated to the Alpha and His Beta (Lanie Stanton) novel Chapter 261

Chapter 261
Mason
“You all go.
It’ll be fine. I’ve watched these pups on my own, and you all deserve to go out and have a good time. What’s a grandma for, if not to spoil them with some cookie baking and some cartoons?” Gabriela hugged Lanie and patted her back before pulling away to rub both her shoulders up and down.
“It’s just that with Stella being so… Lanie cleared her throat and looked to where our daughter was playing with a pair of human dolls. “I know Quinn wants to see her, and I know Stella said she understands, but…”
“You just tell her that Stella wasn’t feeling well, and you left her at home. She’ll understand. I’m sure she’ll be disappointed but won’t think twice,” Gabriela assured her.
said.
“Anyway, taking all three pups with us to a party wouldn’t leave much chance for you to relax,” Xander
Lanie rolled her eyes. “Like I’m going to relax much anyway. I’m sure there are going to be a lot of people there with a lot of questions.”
“You let me handle the questions, love.” I laughed, thinking about it. “You’re not going to be the only one who’s going to get pestered for answers.”
I jerked my thumb toward Xander. “Or the only one who’s gonna have to explain this dude.”
Xander lifted his lip in a snarl I knew was mostly for show.
Mostly.
“Daddy, Abba, no fighting,” Stella piped up from the floor.
I scooped her up and kissed her cheek. “No pouting.
Biologically, she was my brother’s, but dam n if she didn’t still feel like mine. I knew Xander felt the same way about the twins, too. The babies we’d raised from birth were now all fast approaching being entirely grown, and all three of them belonged to all of us. I still thought there’d always be a special bond between me and Stella, though.
“Abba” Stella said this seriously, pressing her forehead to mine. “Member when you gave Mommy that blanket? Wiff the starts on it?”
“The oh, the stars” I nodded. “Stars, Stella.”
“Stars,” she corrected herself. “When I was just a little baby”
I remembered, but how could she possibly remember that? Come to think of it, I hadn’t even seen that blanket around in a long time.
“Do we even still have that blanket?” I thought to Lanie.
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Stella squirmed to get down, and when I let her, she went back to the dolls. “I wanted my dollies to know about it. Because it was something Abba gave me, before we went to live with Daddy and Papa.”
“Do you remember that?” Lanie asked curiously.
Stella frowned, her tongue peeking out between her teeth for a moment as she concentrated. Then she shrugged and looked up at us both. “You and Abba were with me before Daddy and Papa and Grandma. And Izzy and Allie weren’t here. But I’m glad they are now. Cuz I love them.”
“You all had better get going, or you’re going to miss the whole party,” Gabriela put in when all the rest of us were quiet, not sure what to say.
None of us talked much about the things Stella had said on the way. Lanie was really quiet, even though Zane tried to make her laugh.
“You gonna be okay?” I thought to her.
She looked at me in the rearview mirror. “It’s going to be really weird seeing everyone again. Maybe this was a bad idea”
“No worse than me whisking you away without telling anyone where you were going. It’ll be okay. You have all of us with you. I bet everyone will be so interested in Xander and Zane they won’t even pay a attention to little old me and you.”
This earned me a smile.
any
As we pulled up to Quinn’s house, I could already hear the sounds of music and laughter coming from the back yard. We went in through the front door. The house was crowded with people holding drinks and plates
of food.
“I think Quinn’s probably out back,” Lanie said. “Come on, let’s go find her first.”
“If anything starts to upset her too much, we’re out of here,” Xander said sternly to me and Zane through the link. “Mason, I’m counting on you to run interference with anyone who tries to dive too deep with her.”
“And me, I’ll just be my charming self and provide a distraction,” Zane shot me a grin.
Lanie really was distracted, because she didn’t seem to notice the three of us exchanging a conversation through the link without her. She smiled a greeting and waved a hand at some familiar faces. She went
through the back sliding doors onto the deck, and I saw her wave.
“Quinn!” she called excitedly.
I
“Here we go,” I thought to Xander and Zane. “It’s party time.”
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