One helicopter ride later, we are staring at a house in what appears to be suburbia. If that's really a place. Everyone has perfect grass with a white sidewalk cutting through it. Every house has a white driveway, perfectly manicured bushes, and a small front porch.
Chris spins in a circle. "I'm pretty sure everyone has 2.5 kids and a dog here."
"How do you even tell the houses apart?"
"They're numbered, Conner." Mike walks up to someone's door.
We follow him, careful not to step on the grass.
"Hi! You must be Mike."
"Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you in person, Chanell."
"You too. Come on in."
They have an immaculate front room. Everything is fancy and looks expensive. I walk into Conner trying not to touch anything.
Drogon grabs my waist. "Walk straight, you two."
Chanell laughs. "Let's try our actual living room."
We follow her to a big living room. It has a nice entertainment center with a big TV. Nice couches and chairs. Not fancy. There are some toy boxes along the wall.
"This is better. You don't have to be afraid of touching things. The front room is for..." She stares at the wall. "I don't know. So, we can pretend to be fancy if someone knocks on the door, I guess."
Conner, Chris, and I crack up laughing.
She motions to the couch. "Have a seat."
I sit so close to Mike, I almost sit on his lap. "I'm Althena."
"Mike told me you have 4 mates?"
"Yea."
"I don't know much about 4. I have 2 myself. They should be coming home from work soon."
"They live here?"
"Yes. Mine do. You can live however you want. My mates and I find that easier. I understand how you're worried about living together. How old are you?"
"17."
"So young. You're still figuring everything out. The way I do it when we're home, I will sleep between my boys every time they let me. But they each have their own room here. If I have to go away for some reason, they'll sleep in their own rooms. If I need time with one of them, I'll stay with that one in his room. There are no rules. It's about how you feel and what you need that day. Do you know who your mates are?"
"Mike and Conner so far."
"Do they each have their own places? Do you go back and forth?"
I shake my head and Mike answers, "She's known about me for a while. She's only known about Conner for a couple of days."
"Oh. You are really new to this. You're not cheating on Mike with Conner. Get that out of your head now. That's not the way it is. They are yours."
My eyes fill up with tears.
"Oh sweetie." She runs over and hugs me. "I know it's confusing. You've heard all of your life, 1 mate. 1 husband. Now, it's suddenly different for you." She sits on a foot stool in front of me. "I remember when I first found out about Ryan. It ripped my heart out. I believed I was cheating on my mate. But I could not leave him alone. It damn near destroyed me. I had no one to ask. It felt so wrong. But I loved them. There's nothing you can do. You're going to love the 4 of them. You won't be able to leave any of them alone. I promise, you're not cheating on them. They are yours, forever."
"What about babies?"
"That's a personal choice. I have 7. We weren't planning to do genetic testing to see who the father was. But 5 of them came out looking exactly like their dads. So, we opted to test. It ended up being 4 with one mate, and 3 with the other."
"Will you even it out?"
"I'm good with 7. But if Alex wants another, I wouldn't say no. But I think he's happy with 3. The kids don't know who their biological dad is. We are in agreement not to tell them. As far as they know, they have 2 dads and 1 mom."
Drogon sits back. "Whose last name do they have?"
"Ours. We changed our last name to Vonraza. It's a combination of our last names. We decided on the last name when we decided not to know who the children's fathers were. So, that kind of went sideways. But I like us having the same last name anyway."
"I like different last names."
She smiles. "There are no rules. You get to make them up as you go. I will say, most of the babies will come out looking like their fathers. Do not think you're going to be able to hide it from yourselves. It won't happen. The kids could have different last names. It wouldn't affect anything. It's about what works for you. And depending on your mates jobs or titles, they may want their children to carry their last names. They can keep titles, businesses, packs, or whatever in their bloodlines easier."
"HI HONEY. I'M HOME." It sounds like something shatters.
Chanell jumps up and screams. "YOU BETTER NOT HAVE BROKEN MY VASE AGAIN."
"WHY DO YOU PUT IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR?"
She plops down. "He's such a clutz. This will be my 3rd time buying that vase."
A man comes in with a suit on. He's carrying a briefcase. He kisses her head. "Sorry, baby. Buy another one. I'll be more careful."
"I'll find another place for the next one. This is Althena. I told you about her before."
"4 mates?"
"Yea. Mike and Conner so far."
"Mike." They shake hands.
He stares at Conner. "How old are you?"
"Almost 18."
He points at Conner and looks at Mike. "Do not kill him."
"HI SWEE... WHY IS THERE GLASS EVERYWHERE?"
"GIVE YOU 1 GUESS."
Another man walks in. This one looks like he just got off a motorcycle. He takes his gloves off. "You know... If you watch where you're going, you will quit breaking shit."
"Bite my ass. This is Althena."
"Oh, multiple mates. We were talking about you the other day." He holds out his hand to me. I shake it. I've seen guys do this. "Who are they?"
"Mike and Conner." I point at them.
"I'm Ryan. Don't kill each other."
Alex points at Conner. "He's 17."
Ryan laughs. "The search is over so young. Seriously though, don't kill each other."
Chris puts his hand up. "Why would they kill each other?"
Alex smiles. "They are going to be together constantly. They are going to have to watch how the other one interacts with her. They are not going to agree about everything. Fights are going to happen. You have to remember, you want what's best for her. You want her to be happy. It takes both of you."
Ryan throws his jacket and winks at me. "If someone killed your mate, would you ever forgive them?"
"No."
He smirks. "That's why you don't kill each other. You will lose your soulmate. She will despise and hate you from that day on. You cannot come back from that. You will have taken her soulmate away. You have to protect each other."
Alex nods. "You're a family now. It may not be like any other family, but it's yours. You have to protect the whole thing. Also, don't get jealous of each other. That's a hard one at first."
"Yea, that is. Every time you took her out the first 6 months, I would get clingy."
"You really did."
"I felt, in some way, I was losing her. That's not how it is. She's mine. I needed time to come to terms with it."
Conner stares at the floor. "You don't get jealous anymore?"
"No. There's no reason to. When she's with Ryan, I know she's safe. She's happy and loved. They'll come home eventually. If I get worried, I'll send a text, but I try not to even do that. They need time away from everything too."
"We each take her out once a week for a date. It gets her out of the house and away from the kids. With both of us working full-time, she doesn't need to work. Whoever didn't take her out that night, stays home with the kids."
She smiles. "That's what works for us. It doesn't have to be the same for you. You'll figure out what works for you as you go. But I had 7 kids close together and being a stay-at-home mom, I need those date nights for my sanity."
"I bet."
"Then we send her out twice a month with her friends. Spa days or shopping. Whatever else girls do. Once she does get locked down with 4 of you, remember to push her out the door sometimes. Even the 4 of you can't be everything to her, she needs friends and time alone too. Keep an eye on that with her being so young. She may not understand what she needs or be able to explain it."
"It's hard at first to understand what you need. I can tell now if I need some alone time to reconnect with one of them. But at first, all I knew was that I needed something. No idea what it was."
Alex nods. "We try to stay on top of it now. That's another reason we implemented date nights. Time to relax and reconnect with each other. We each spend a weekend away with her every six months too."
"Those are nice. If Althena is anything like Chanell, you're going to want to plan those weekends with each other and not with her. Chanell will get excited if we even mention it. Then if something happens, and we can't swing it that month, it'll break her heart. So, Alex and I plan the weekends away and fill her in after it's settled."
"Be honest with yourselves about what you need too. Do you need a relaxing few days on the beach? Some entertaining shows? Shopping? A few days at a sleezy hotel where you can just..."
Chanell smacks him. "17."
"Have tea and enjoy cookies."
I crack up laughing.
She shakes her head. "17 not 12."
"You're the one who stopped me, woman. Maybe I need some tea and cookies."
"Seems like it."
Cyrus, who has been completely silent until now, sits up. "Do you do anything s****l with each other?"
"No."
"God no." Alex laughs. "I'm her mate. He's her mate. We are not mates to each other. Family yes. We have the same kids, the same home. We share everything, but we're not mates. We're not attracted to each other in the slightest."
Ryan smirks. "If she wants us at the same time, she'll get it. But the most exciting thing we do together, when she's not around, is turn this room into a fort and eat pizza with the kids."
I stare at him. I think he just said what I think he said.
Chanell grabs my knees. "How many kids do you want?" She shrugs her shoulders at Mike.
"A lot. Like 8 or 10. Maybe 20."
The boys laugh.
"That's a lot. Don't be in too big of a rush to start that part of your life though. I wish I would have waited a couple more years. I started having mine at 22. You'll become stuck at home a lot after you have them. It makes you slow down."
Alex nods. "22 was young. We went from going out to every concert and having all the time in the world to ourselves, to going out once every 6 months. I wouldn't trade it for the world though."
"I wouldn't either. But I think 2 more years of drunken concerts would have been nice."
"You want to get drunk and see a concert for our date next week?"
"Ugh. No. I'll have heartburn and indigestion for a week." They laugh and she smiles at me. "Enjoy being young while you can. It doesn't last forever. And keep in mind, everything will be fine. You'll have your mates, family, kids, and a home. It will work out. They are yours. You may not end up the exact same as me, but I promise you'll be happy."
"They'll do anything to make you happy. That's all that matters in the end." Ryan winks at Chanell. "Seeing that smile."
Mike stands up and helps me up. "Thank you. This did help. I can tell already."
"Any time. And you have our numbers, feel free to text us if questions pop up. I'm sure they will. We're happy to help."
"Thank you."