BK 5 - Chapter 43 - Passing Out the Letters
Buddy and Maxie approached the awaiting men slowly. Maxie was humiliated that they were embarrassing her this way, but she had expected it. They hadn't been so rough with Emma's mate, Asher, because he was a sweetheart. Buddy was an actor who they didn't immediately trust. Before anyone could say anything, they heard little feet running toward them.
"Move out of my way. Let me through. I need to see who this man is who thinks he's going to take my Aunt Maxie." Penelope pushed her way through the men and stopped in front of Maxie and Buddy. She looked like a doll with her blonde curls and little green dress. However, her eyes were narrowed, and her arms were crossed as she studied Buddy.
"Who do you think you are coming here and claiming to be my aunt's mate?" She asked. Buddy looked at the men behind the little girl, and for a second, he didn't know who was scarier.
"My name is Buddy. It's nice to meet you." He held out his hand to her, and she shook it briefly with a firm grip, just like her Grandpa Trey showed her.
"You can call me Princess Penelope. What man has a name like Buddy?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. The men were too busy laughing at the little pup to ask him questions themselves. She was doing a fine job on her own.
"It's a nickname. I don't like my real name, so everyone calls me Buddy." Penelope tilted her head to one side and tapped her little foot.
"Your voice sounds familiar. Do I know you?" She asks.
"I'm an actor, and I play the voice of Sammy the Turtle on the show Timmy's Playhouse," Buddy answered. Penelope's eyes got big, and she started squealing as she threw her arms around him.
"You're Sammy? He's my favorite. Come with me. Let me show you around." Penelope took Buddy's hand and began pulling him through the men. "Watch out, guys, someone important is coming through. Ignore them. They have no manners."
Buddy looked at Maxie, who was laughing next to him. To his surprise, the men moved aside to let Penelope take him into the house.
"Everyone, I want you to meet Buddy Sammy," Penelope announced.
"Hi, Buddy, it's so good to see you." Grandma Cat came over and hugged him tight. "How are you, sweetheart?"
"I'm doing okay. I was devastated to hear about Grandma Valerie. I can't believe you all had this secret I never knew about." Buddy said, looking around at everyone. Grandma Cat chuckled.
"We've gotten really good at hiding our secrets. I'm so glad you've mated to Maxie. Come meet everyone." Cat kept her arm around him while Penelope held his hand. Maxie shook her head, watching them as she followed. The eldest and youngest women in the family had stolen her mate five minutes after they arrived.
Buddy was overwhelmed by the amount of people in the family. Some he had met, but most were new to him. It was also nice to meet other humans who had also found out they were mates to other members of the family. After everyone had arrived, Grandma Cat had them gather in the enormous family room.
"Thank you all for coming. Yesterday was a day of sadness, losing our beloved Grandma Valerie. You all know how much she loved this family and cherished each and every one of you. In her room, we found a large bag of letters that she wrote for everyone. We were going to hand them out after the funeral in a few days, but I believe it's better if we hand them out now so you can each decide when you want to read yours." Everyone looked at each other in shock. Penelope was sitting on her new best friend's lap, and she turned around to hug him.
"Will you read my letter with me, Buddy Sammy?" He looked over at her parents, who smiled at him. Buddy felt slightly awkward about how quickly Penelope had taken to him, but he hugged her back.
"Of course I will." He replied. He figured her mom and dad would be busy reading their letters, so the least he could do was help Penelope with hers. It was going to be a hard day for all of them.
Across the room, Xavier looked around at his cousins and siblings with their new mates. He was eighteen, almost nineteen, but he hadn't found his mate yet. He felt like the forgotten child in his family. His sister Emma and brother Roger were the stars because of their magic. His younger sister Jasmine was fifteen and the baby. That didn't leave anything for Xavier other than being the forgotten middle child.
He knew it wasn't true, but he didn't feel like there was anything special about him. He'd hoped to find his mate at eighteen, so he'd at least have that, but he hadn't. When he started going to school at UC Davis like Roger, he thought maybe he would find his mate there. Xavier was going to school to be a doctor. His plan was to open a practice specifically for the humans they helped at the group homes. He wanted to give them a safe place to get the care they needed without all the chaos of the bigger, busier offices.
Xavier looked like his dad and Roger but wasn't as big as they were. He watched Grandma Cat pass out the letters, and his heart ached. He missed Grandma Valerie. She was the one he talked to the most about why he wanted to practice medicine, and she was his biggest supporter.
Grandma Cat handed him his letter with a sad smile. He took it, but he wasn't going to open it until he could go somewhere alone. His dad had told them about the letters Grandpa Roger gave him and Aunt Lisa. He'd also said that when he read his, that's when he met their mom. Xavier wanted to go somewhere to read it where no one would bother him. Maybe he'd be lucky, and his mate would find him the same way it had happened with his parents.
Buddy watched Grandma Cat hand out the letters, and when she came to give Penelope hers, she handed him one with his name on the envelope. He looked up at her in shock, and she smiled slightly.
"Sometimes Grandma Valerie knew things before we did." She said as he took the letter with a shaky hand. Buddy looked at Maxie, who was just as shocked as he was.
"Let's open our letters when we get back to your house. I don't want to do it here." Maxie said quietly. Buddy leaned over to whisper in her ear.
"It's not my house. It's our house. Unless you want to find a new place of our own." He said, giving her a quick kiss. Maxie shook her head.
"No, that house is perfect for a family, and it's nice to be surrounded by your parent's memories. I love you." She replied, lying her head on his shoulder.
"I love you too." He said, kissing her forehead.
"Okay, that's enough with the I love you talk. Can we eat before we read my letter?" Penelope asked. Everyone silently agreed they would rather read their letters in private. No one felt like cooking after losing Grandma Valerie, so they had called a caterer to bring them breakfast. After eating, they would go their separate ways to read their letters. As anxious as they were to see Grandma Valerie's last words to them, they all knew it wasn't going to be easy.
