RAINBOW

By the time Mason arrived home, the food was ready and Papa Jamie called us to the table. I sat at one of the sides of the table in front of me sat my brother and Mikaela while Papa Jamie and Dad took both corners of the rectangle dining table. The chair next to mine was empty but I was already used to it, maybe one day Kang Dae will sit beside me. I shook my head and my gaze fixed on the dishes on the table.

Mikaela was not lying, Papa had prepared an entire feast for us. The table was full of different dishes, a varied mix of foods.From mac and cheese to potato salad, purees, meat, pork, and even some Korean dishes that Papa Jamie and I like. My mouth was watering from seeing all of the plates, Papa was always an amazing cook. Mason was about to grab some of the food but Papa scolded him. 

“No eating until we do our prayer, Mason,” Papa said in a serious tone and Mason retracted his hand from the food, pouting. Mika gave him a short kiss on the cheek to calm him down and Mason softly smiled at him.

“Would you like to do the prayer sweetie?” Papa asked looking at me and I nodded with a smile on my face. Everyone held hands as I recited the prayer.

“God/dess, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to sit together at this table and for allowing us to enjoy the food we are going to have. May your blessings continue to fill our household.” I said with a smile and looked at how my Dad was staring at me; he looked so proud of me.

“Can we eat now? I’m hungry.” Mason asked looking at our omegan dad with puppy eyes; you could tell how hungry he was because he was pulling the puppy eyes card.

“Yes, you can eat now, Mason.” Papa sighed and gave him a sign to go on.

“Nice,” Mason said and started to fill his plate with as much food as he could and Dad did the same. 

Mika also grabbed some food and placed it on his plate, he didn’t grab much and I wondered why, but putting that aside, I proceeded to fill my plate with my favorite dishes. After I was content with the amount of food I got, I joined the rest of my family who were already eating.

“So how is work going, sweetie?” Papa asked me and I looked at him smiling.

“It’s going great, I have a huge photoshoot soon,” I answered and grabbed a bite of my 

“Really? As a photographer or model?” Mason asked curiously with his mouth full of food so I could barely understand what he said, Mika lightly pinched his arm looking at him, Mason sighed and swallowed the food in his mouth and asked me again. “Model or photographer?”

“This time as a model, it’s an international brand that designs collars for omegas,” I answered with a big smile on my face. “They have so many beautiful collars.” 

“Omegas these days are so lucky, back in my days we all had the same plain and boring collars,” Papa said after letting out a sigh. 

“I think you looked beautiful in your collars. Well, you always looked nice.” Dad said and Papa blushed, Mason cringed while Mika and I giggled. 

“Oh shush honey, you are making me blush,” Papa said embarrassed, drinking some of his soda. He blushed much more out of nowhere and looked at Dad with a slight smile. They were probably talking through their bond’s link but it was better not to think about what they were saying; I would rather not know what they were saying. 

We kept talking for a while until we were done with the food, Papa went to the kitchen and brought some dessert. He had prepared his famous choco-flan cake, it was one of the best things I got to eat growing up. Papa gave each of us a piece but Mika rejected his.

“What? Why don’t you want dessert, sweetie?” Papa asked confused looking at my friend, Mikaela awkwardly smiled and then looked at Mason.

“You barely ate dinner too, is everything okay?” I pointed out worried, looking at him.

“Well, I started a new diet,” Mikaela confessed after a sigh.

“Diet? Why? You look fine as you are.” I said still confused. It didn't make sense to me that Mika was on a diet, I know his physical condition is important to him, and he always keeps an exercise routine to take care of his figure.

“Well…” He looked at Mason again and my brother grabbed his hand leaving a soft kiss on the back. 

“We have decided the date of our wedding, it’s going to be in a few months,” Mason said and Papa squealed. I was happy for them too, I admire how true their love is and Mikaela Shaw has a nice ring to it, but that still didn’t explain things.

“Omg! Congratulations!” Papa said excited and gave a hug to both of them. “If you need help with preparations you can ask me.”

“Congratulations! But what does that have to do with your diet?” I asked confused and Mika awkwardly smiled.

“Well, I need to fit in my wedding suit,” Mika said pouting and crossing his arms. 

“Mikaela, you are perfect. I’m sure you’ll fit in it.” I said in a serious tone, looking into his eyes.

“I told him the same thing, but he ignored me,” Mason said and Mika looked at him with a frown, they kept looking at each other for a while, probably fighting over their link.

“Fine! I’ll eat the cake.” My friend gave up, taking the piece of cake Papa had offered him before.

“So now that Mika and Mason gave us their news…” Papa said with a smile and then gave me a curious look. “Don’t you have something to tell us, sweetie?”

“Mmm, not really,” I said confused, I didn’t have any big news.

“Are you sure?” Papa asked again, expecting something from me.

“Yes, I am sure.” I firmly said, frowning my eyebrows. What was he up to? What does he want?

“Oh come on, sweetie. You can tell us about your new boyfriend.” Papa said looking at me with a mischievous smile on his lips. How does he know about Kang Dae? We were not boyfriends but I could tell he was referring to him.

“New boyfriend?” Mason asked confused looking at me and so did my Dad, I looked at Mikaela and he shrugged, there’s no way he or Julien told Jamie about Kang Dae.

“I don’t have a new boyfriend.” I sharply said in a serious tone.

“You don’t have to lie to us, sweetie. One of my patients saw you at Bamboo House with a handsome-looking alpha. She said you looked like you were on a date.” Papa said with a soft smile. “You can tell us about him.”

“We are not dating, we are just friends.” The ambient started to feel tense as I started to lose my cool.

“Are you sure? You don’t like him even a little? You have to start looking for an alpha, honey. You know how bad your heats are.” He started giving the same speech as always. I thought the dinner was going to be calm and not stressful, it was going so well but it was too good to be true.

“I can deal with my heats alone, I don’t need an alpha.” 

“You need a mate, Victor. You can’t be alone forever, at least give that alpha a chance. Look at your brother, he is mated and about to get married. And Byron, he is happily married and expecting a pup. When are you going to take that step?” And that was the drop that spilled the glass.

“I’ll take it when I want to and right now is not that moment. If you are going to keep nagging me about this I’ll take my leave.” I angrily stood from my chair and looked at him with disgust. “And you should stop comparing me to Mason, I’m not your real son, you can’t tell me what to do with my life.” 

I grabbed my things and walked to the main door, hearing Jamie calling my name but I didn’t look back I just walked and walked until I was out of that house. I held my tears back, I didn’t want to cry, not here. I needed to go home, but my legs had another plan and I stumbled with a rock falling on the floor. God/dess… ‘Why do you hate me so much?’ I laid there on the floor until I felt strong arms grabbing me by the waist and lifting me up, I recognized that scent and bit the inner part of my cheek.

“Are you okay, kitten?” Dad said, settling me in his arms princess style, I hid my face in his chest and I couldn't hold it anymore, I cried, holding on tight to him, wetting his shirt with my tears.

I felt how we moved and then how Dad sat on a bench that was probably near us. He released his pheromones to calm me down, just like he always used to do when I cried or felt bad when I was a kid. After a few minutes, I stood and sat next to my Dad, he didn’t say anything, he just stayed there next to me. I sighed.

“I’m sorry…” I broke our silence.

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“But I do have to, I ruined dinner.” I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands.  “Sorry Dad, it’s just…Papa always gets on my nerves and I said mean things to him…”

“It’s okay, kitten. He is just worried about you and wants you to be happy. And I’m not siding with him because he is my husband. We may not be blood-related but you are still our little kitten and we want you to be happy.” I felt his big hand softly caressing my hair, giving me some comfort. “Your Papa knows how sad living alone can be, he used to live alone when he was young until he met me and he doesn’t want you to go through that.”

“I know. It’s just I don’t want to force myself to do things I don’t want yet and if I mate with someone in the future you’ll be the first ones to know about it.” I sighed and he nodded, now caressing one of my cheeks with his hand. 

“All will come in due time, you’ll find the perfect mate for you. The God/dess probably has big plans for you, I’m sure you’ll meet your fated mate.” Those last words vibrated in my mind and I wondered if it was a nice idea to tell him that I already had. Dad always kept the secrets I told him but this one was so big that I was scared he would tell Papa.

‘Tell him.’ Vivi said in my mind. ‘Are you sure?’ I asked him, insecure. ‘Yes, tell him.’ Vivi insisted.

“About that…I found my fated mate, Dad.” I confessed and he turned to look at me, eyes wide open and shocked at my sudden revelation.

“What? You did?” He asked and then processed what I had said. “Is he the one Jamie was talking about?” 

“Yes, that’s him. His name is Kang Dae, he is a few years older than me and he is also my neighbor.” I told him, I began to feel my cheeks go a little numb from smiling unconsciously as I talked more and more about him.  “He moved in recently and he is so nice to me, he smells like chocolate cake and knows how to make the most delicious sweet rice cakes I’ve had in my life.”

“You like him a lot, huh?” I blushed at his question. Did I like Kang Dae? Of course, I did, it hasn’t been long since we met but I was already deeply in love with him. 

“I-I do…but our relationship doesn’t have a label yet. I’m sure he feels the bond, I hadn’t asked him about it.” I sighed looking down and nervously playing with my fingers.

“Well, if you like him and he likes you then you should talk about it.” Said Dad, putting one of his hands in mine and I started playing with his fingers. “I remember it wasn’t easy for me to talk to your Papa at first, I knew he was my mate before him, I wanted to tell him but I also was nervous. Maybe this mate of yours feels the same so you should take the first step and ask.”

“I want to…but I’m scared,” I confessed biting my bottom lip.

“Scared of what?” He asked.

“What if he rejects me? Or what if I’m not what he expects? O even worse what if he hurts me?” 

“Kitten, he is your fated mate, he wouldn’t hurt you. And you are gorgeous and have a wonderful personality, if he doesn’t accept you then it’s his loss. But I know the God/dess wouldn’t give you a bad mate.” Dad said and took my chin with his hand, making me look at him. He softly smiled. “So don’t be afraid to take the next step with him and don’t worry if he hurts you I’ll make sure he pays for it.” He said in a serious tone and I giggled at his protectiveness. 

“Thanks, Dad, I’ll think about it.” I sighed and leaned towards him, resting my head on his chest. “I should probably go and apologize to Papa.”

“Let’s go, I know you wanted to eat that choco-flan he made. And don’t worry I won’t tell your Papa about your mate.” I giggled at his words and stood up walking back to the house, Dad following me from behind.

When we got back to the house, Papa was waiting at the front door. I approached him and looked into his eyes and then hugged him tightly. Dad returned my hug, covering me with his arms and leaving a light kiss on my head. We stayed there without saying anything, at that moment words were unnecessary, what happened was all in the past and everything was forgiven.