C&C

The Beauty of Experience - Chapter 25

Added 2022-09-28 23:05:37 +0000 UTC

Andrea would arrive within the hour, and the prospect of facing her ex had Lena curling in on herself before she realized it was happening. It stemmed from years of emotional abuse and her misplaced sense of failure that made her feel half the size.

Bernardo’s sharp eyes narrowed in on Lena’s behavior and then he walked over to speak with Kara. “I want you to know that I will always think of Lena as a daughter, divorce or not, and that leaves me with questions for you. It’s a rare alpha who chooses an omega who has been claimed before. Can you look me in the eye and tell me you’re capable of raising and loving another alpha’s children?”

Kara sat forward to meet Bernardo’s intensity head on. “I am.”

Lena handled business negotiations all the time, though none were as volatile as the one that played out in front of her.

Both Bernardo and Kara seemed ready to fiercely protect her, and Lena’s heart was in her throat because of it.

“Why is that?” Bernardo pressed, his old school views of traditional alpha roles completely tested as he looked to Kara. “Blood isn’t a bond that can be broken. Andrea is their sire. She will always have a place in their lives.”

Kara kept her head held high and didn’t once flinch at his stance. “As she should. I’m not a replacement for Andrea, but I will be an active parent to the girls.”

Bernardo was hard to read as he drew upon all his experience as a CEO to stare at Kara without giving away his true feelings. He kept his tone firm as he grilled Kara, and in a lot of ways it reminded Lena of her own father and how protective he had been when still alive. “And you’re prepared for that? To be in each other's lives for the children no matter what?”

It went without saying what Bernardo was implying. That Andrea and Kara would have to co-exist for the rest of their lives, regardless of how they hated one another.

Lena had no doubt that Kara could put aside her differences for the benefit of the girls, but she didn’t trust that Andrea would.

“The kids will always come first. I knew that before I asked Lena to date me.” Kara asserted with a conviction that rendered Bernardo speechless.

He steepled his fingers thoughtfully. There was a touch of respect to his pheromones, faint but promising. “Family matters to you, even if it’s not one you played a part in creating. That is unusual for an alpha.”

Kara must have detected the change in him, since she squared her shoulders and postured fully. “Family is what we make it. I lost my parents when I was very young. I spent years in the foster system, so I know what it’s like to have no one. Just as I gave up hope, a family took me in. I might not share biology with my sister, Mr. Rojas, or my mom, but they are my family, and so are your granddaughters.”

Lena admired her mate’s strength, and the way Kara showed it without arrogance or by trying to dominate the conversation, but instead by being unapologetically vulnerable.

She slipped her hand into Kara’s, and stroked her thumb while Bernardo took his time reading the emotion on her face.

The silence between them was poignant and Lena refused to intrude on it.

Bernardo was the first to end it, with a line of questioning that hit at other serious concerns any father might have when a new relationship is unveiled. “What is it that you do for a living, Kara?”

Lena witnessed her mate translate that in her mind with the way Kara’s jaw tensed.

What are you bringing to this relationship and how are you providing for the family?

Business was a touchy subject for anyone, but in the Rojas family it was both a duty and a legacy. That was one thing other than their children that Lena and Andrea truly shared in common. They were both expected to follow in their family’s footsteps and to excel in expanding their fortune, the pressures of which fell heaviest on Andrea as she tried to prove herself to Bernardo.

Given the grief over Kara’s deal with Siobhan being a lie, Lena wouldn’t have been surprised if Kara informed Bernardo of how Andrea tried to sabotage her livelihood. But Kara was a better alpha than her ex and never brought Andrea into it.

“I own a pool cleaning business,” Kara admitted and kept to the kind of facts that Bernardo would care about. “I built it from the ground up, and now I have several trusted teams of people who meet my high standards of service.”

“So you’re ambitious, driven and not afraid of failure. Those are good qualities to have as an alpha.” Bernardo seemed relieved to discover that Kara was self-made, though whether or not he respected her line of work was difficult to gauge.

He didn’t insult their relationship by asking if Kara loved her, because it was evident given the claims on Lena’s neck.

This gave Kara a chance to turn things around, and Bernardo appeared surprised by how she seized the opportunity after he paused his interrogation.

“You said Lena will always be your daughter. Does that mean any future children she has will be welcome here with the girls, or will they be treated differently from their siblings?”

Lena held her breath at Kara’s fearlessness to ask a question that hadn’t even entered her own mind. She wanted to have several more children with Kara, but this was the first time she was forced to consider that they might not be welcome to join the girls in Mexico, or anywhere else Bernardo considered a family gathering.

Bernardo blinked at the direct way Kara addressed it, and then his eyes fell to Lena as though he saw her in a different light. For a fleeting instant, he lost his stoic facade and his eyes shined with something familiar. It was gone in an instant, and he turned to Kara with the same steel in his voice as he rasped, “Family is family. Any pups you have are of course welcome here.”

“So I have your word?” Kara showed the true colors of her alpha as she ensured that their daughters would never be deprived of making memories with their future siblings, or pitted against each other.

Bernardo held his hand out as if it was as good as any legal document and shook Kara’s with a force that jerked her forward. “On my wife’s grave.”

The touching moment brought a flood of tears to Lena’s eyes. Though she tried to hold them back, she failed miserably and sniffled into her hand. Her hormonal state was taking a toll on her, and while Kara turned with concern to wipe at her cheek, Bernardo stood up to pull Lena into his arms.

“Do not cry, Lena,” Bernardo soothed and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to give her. “You should have known a divorce wouldn’t change anything, eh? I am always here for you and the girls.”

Lena looked down at the fine silk in her hand and patted it against her eyes. She subdued the soft cry in her throat and breathed in the sweet relief of having Bernardo’s love and support.

It might not have been the best scene for Andrea to witness upon her arrival. None of them noticed her at first, and Andrea scoffed at the sight of them embracing.

“So, this is your revenge? You come to my father’s house and sob on his shoulder so he’ll believe you’re the innocent party in all of this?” Andrea slipped her arms over her chest and flared her nostrils in outrage.

The stand-off between them could have gone on for ages if Bernardo hadn’t been standing right behind Lena. He stepped in front of her before Kara had the chance.

Bernardo expanded his chest with a slow inhale and held back nothing in his criticism of his daughter. “Lena isn’t the one who has been deceitful. You led me to believe that you were still married and expecting to have more children. Meanwhile, you’ve been divorced for years, and during your marriage, you were disloyal to your wife. I didn’t raise you to behave that way.”

Andrea snorted at his calm speech and picked her words to do the maximum amount of damage. “You hardly raised me at all. You sent me to boarding school when I was grieving my mother’s death so you could travel all over the world with other omegas.”

“No, I gave you the education your mother wanted you to have,” Bernardo snapped, his teeth briefly bared as pain flashed across his features. “I honored her wishes–”

“Is that what you tell yourself? That you honored her by shipping me to America so you could sleep with omegas half her age?” Andrea’s scorn came out as a hiss and her lip curled in disdain for her father.

Lena gagged on the scent of her ex’s disgust and blindly reached for Kara to curl herself into the safety of her arms. She had witnessed her fair share of bitter arguments over the years between Andrea and her father, but not once had her ex made such accusations to Bernardo’s face.

“I spent a fortune giving you the best life I could and somehow you’re still just an ignorant child.” Bernardo stared at his daughter in disbelief and tempered his anger by treating Andrea as though she were throwing a tantrum.

The pressure of decades worth of resentment and festering trauma finally reached a breaking point inside of Andrea that forced it to burst out. She sneered at her father as she threw attacks at him in the form of questions. “Was she even in the ground before you started sleeping with half the cleaning staff, or did you help send her to an early grave by breaking her heart?”

Lena had long since been accustomed to Andrea weaponizing every insecurity she had, but it still left her reeling to witness it happen to Bernardo. The atmosphere thickened in the room, cold and overbearing like they were trapped beneath storm clouds.

Bernardo’s voice was thunderous as he walked toward Andrea, his pride and pain etched into his brow as he raged, “How dare you walk in here and vilify me when you’ve made a mockery of Lena and your family! You destroyed your marriage, and over what?”

“Where do you think I learned it from?” Andrea seethed in return, not once flinching away from the conflict. “Even now you don’t see the lessons you taught me, do you?”

“I loved your mother–”

“So much that you had to fuck my tutor when I spent my first vacation with you after mom died?” Andrea’s sharp tongue sliced through Bernardo’s posturing, and she tossed her hand up as if being struck with an epiphany. “No, wait, you loved her so much that’s why every time I saw you there was a new trophy on your arm. I guess I should be thanking you, right? Since you showed me that alphas aren’t equipped to love anyone except themselves.”

Kara cautiously dropped her hand to cover Lena’s stomach and eased them out of the way as Bernardo’s pheromones battled his daughter’s furious perfume.

The astringent scent burned Lena’s lungs, and though none of it was aimed at her, she experienced the awful sensation of her omega begging forgiveness. Kara put a stop to that by enveloping her in a protective musk to block out the worst of it, and Lena nosed into her mate’s shirt to calm her nausea.

“Let me tell you something,” Bernardo ranted and advanced on Andrea without care as to who overheard their fight. “Your mother is the only omega I have ever loved, and the only one I ever will. The women I share my life with know they have no place in my heart. They are content to be pretty distractions because I set them on a path to live good lives. I am honest with them that I will never allow myself the chance to feel anything stronger than fondness. Anything more would be a betrayal to your mother.”

Andrea’s defenses dropped at the realization that Bernardo wasn’t a cheater, or the heartless bastard that she believed him to be. The uninhibited scent of her despair was pungent enough to startle them all, and then she hid it with misplaced anger that should have been directed at herself.

“How noble of you to find a way to justify your shitty behavior. What wisdom did you think you were imparting as you cycled through omegas faster than suits?” The venom in Andrea’s voice wasn’t as effective with the warble of her chin.

For a sickening instant, Lena saw the young woman she had once loved beneath the layers of bullshit — the deep regret from every selfish action she had taken and how irrevocably damaged she became in the process.

Anguish threatened to spill down Andrea’s cheeks, though Bernardo showed his daughter no mercy as he called out her detestable actions.

“So, this is how you rationalize your infidelity? You blame me while trying to emulate who you think I am?” Bernardo scoffed, affronted by Andrea’s lack of humility for how she wrecked her own marriage. “All this time I thought you strived to be an alpha worthy of an omega like Lena, but it’s clear to me that you’ve never understood the value of real love. This is why she found someone who does.”

Whatever breakthrough Andrea might have been on the cusp of having was tarnished by the fiery outrage of her father acknowledging Kara and Lena’s relationship. She drew herself up to her full height to shout, “Are you seriously giving them your fucking blessing in the middle of our argument? Have they even told you that they’re planning to steal my children?”

Lena wasn’t prepared to be caught in the middle of their wrath and gaped in shock at Andrea’s deflection. She stared at her ex with wounded, large eyes and uselessly tried to make her tongue work.

“Is this true, Lena?” Bernardo asked, his voice still hoarse from all his yelling.

“No, Mr. Rojas, it isn’t,” Kara grunted and stepped in to set matters straight. “Andrea’s skipping the part where she told Lena to take full custody–”

“After Kara punched me and I feared for my safety,” Andrea spat, resembling a child who was trying to tattle first. “I was under duress and not in my right mind.”

Bernardo’s parental instinct still kicked in despite the ongoing conflict and he squinted at Kara like a father filled with disappointment. “You hit my daughter?”

“Yeah, and I’m about to do it again,” Kara threatened with a snarl as she glared at Andrea for trying to twist the narrative to her advantage.

Lena gripped at her mate’s wrist to stop her from moving and shook her head as she addressed Bernardo. “We’re not filing for full custody. Kara is in the process of becoming their legal guardian, but we would never try to strip Andrea of her parental rights. Andrea ran off after we discovered that she slept with Kara’s friend to spy on our relationship. She also tried to sabotage Kara’s business.”

“Hey, Nia loved every second of my attention, and it’s not my fault I exposed your rebound as an idiot who honestly thought that being a pool cleaner gave her the credentials to work as an engineer.” Andrea frothed at the corners of her mouth and the buttons on her suit jacket strained from her posturing.

“Oh, I’m stupid?” Kara snarled, her biceps threatening the integrity of her t-shirt as she turned to Andrea like she might just throttle her in front of Bernardo. “That’s funny, I don’t remember walking out on my omega and abandoning my kids.”

Kara’s remark was the verbal equivalent of a matador waving a red cape and it provoked Andrea just the same. She stalked forward with flared nostrils and growled in Kara’s face, “They’re mine, not yours, and they will never see you as family.”

Lena knew what Kara was about to say just from the way she raised her chin, and she anticipated that all hell would break loose.

“They already do,” Kara revealed, though it was less of a brag and more of a simple fact that she used to push Andrea out of her personal space. She advanced forward with steel in her spine and towered over Andrea in contempt. “Maybe if your head wasn’t so far up your own entitled ass, you would see that. We’ve spent weeks trying to reach you, and instead of thinking of the kids, you put yourself first again.”

Andrea brought her hands up like she might shove Kara, then reconsidered as she vehemently spat, “Don’t stand there and try to berate me on what you think a parent should be. You have no idea what it takes to raise a family. While you play house, I’m the one out here working so that my daughters can have everything they want in life.”

“Yeah, I’m sure an absentee sire is top of their list. Do you even know who Sophia’s friends are? Any idea what instrument Andy wants to learn first? Can you name Natty’s favorite stuffed animals?” Kara fired back with the full expectation that Andrea would know none of the answers.

Kara smirked at the way Andrea blinked as she tried to recall any shred of information.

“No? You have no clue who your children are, because you’re never there to find out.”

The prospect of violence pushed Lena forward as she saw her ex-wife’s hand curl into a fist, and she tried to dampen the fire of her anger with the scent of her omega pleading for everyone to calm down. “What you see as frivolities are the things that will stick with them forever, Andrea. No amount of money you earn will compensate for that, but you can still turn things around. It’s not too late.”

Andrea scoffed at Lena’s attempt at reconciliation and drew Kara a hateful look as she hissed, “Does this make you feel like an alpha? Coming to my father’s home to attack me with Lena on your arm?”

“I’m not the one who needs an audience to perform in front of, Andrea. I’m here because it was my idea to bring the girls to Mexico to spend time with their ungrateful sire.” The animosity of Kara’s words should have warned Andrea to stop, but it had the reverse effect.

Instead of considering how she had failed so far as a parent, Andrea doubled down on her audacity. “I don’t care how many bites you leave on Lena’s neck. My teeth were on her skin first and it’s my seed she carried–”

Bernardo reached his limit for Andrea’s volatile personality and intervened before her rant could continue. “Enough. What kind of alpha are you, putting all of this stress onto Lena’s shoulders?” He motioned with his hand as if to inform his daughter of Lena’s condition, though Andrea seemed blind to it.

If not for Kara’s closeness, Lena might have staggered as the fear of Andrea finding out she was pregnant hit her. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that conversation, and judging from the way Kara bristled, she imagined her mate wasn’t, either.

Andrea’s focus switched onto her father and she frowned at him in disbelief. “Oh, you want to talk about stress, now? Where was that concern when you pushed me out of the house and into Obsidian North before I’d even graduated from college?”

“That was different. I was preparing you for greatness, to lead as an alpha–”

“You were forcing me into your shoes, no matter the cost to my own mental health,” Andrea sputtered with an incredulous laugh. “Is it any wonder I sought a way to alleviate it when you were crushing me under the weight of your ambition?”

Lena choked on air as she gaped at Andrea and forgot about the risks to her health as her blood pressure spiked. “Did you honestly just say you had multiple affairs because you were overworked?”

“Don’t act like you wouldn’t have done the same if the opportunity arose,” Andrea dismissively stated with a purse of her lips. “I saw your eyes wander.”

Lena recoiled at the implication and then surged forward only for Kara to catch her about the waist to hold her back. “Fuck you, Andrea–”

“You have, hundreds of times,” Andrea gloated straight to Kara’s face, as if that was all that mattered.

“There’s a difference between having eyes and sticking it in everything that moves,” Kara snarled in defense and positioned herself so that Lena was hidden from Andrea.

“I’m not going to be shamed for sharing a bed with you when we were married,” Lena insisted, albeit weakly as she fought her own remorse for being stupid and falling for all of Andrea’s lies at the time.

Andrea’s smug grin was all for show, though her ego seemed bigger than ever. “I’m not trying to shame you. I’m just making it clear that even without a ring, my history with you will outlast this fling with her.”

Bernardo had a grave look on his face as he spoke to his daughter. “If this is how you behave, I see now why Kara knocked you on your ass. If anyone spoke to your mother like that when she was carrying you, I’d have done much worse.”

“Of course you’d defend that asshole, she’s–” Andrea’s throat closed over as her father’s words fully registered and she gawked at Lena like she had just been told her life was over.

Bernardo ignored his daughter in favor of escorting Lena into a chair, his hushed words filled with comfort and love. “Sit down, Lena. All of this yelling isn’t good for you.”

“How long?” Andrea rasped, her voice barely above a whisper as the color drained from her face.

“That’s none of your business, and if you tell anyone before we get the chance…” Kara’s threat remained open-ended, and even Bernardo seemed to approve as he glared at his daughter disapprovingly.

The news sucked the fight right out of Andrea, and she sank into a chair utterly defeated. She looked shell-shocked, as if the entire concept of Lena and Kara’s relationship had been meaningless up until now—a phase that she thought she could withstand in order to win Lena back. With a new pup on the way, that fantasy was over, and the reality of what Andrea truly lost was all that remained.

Bernardo handled the matter with softness and grace. “This situation has not been a healthy one, and for the sake of the children, it’s imperative that we find a way to progress as a family. That means no more interfering in their relationship, Andrea, or I’ll cut you from my will.”

That threat must have seemed inconsequential when compared to all else that took place. Andrea hunched forward in her seat, making eye contact with no one. She breathed heavier and gathered herself up to flee through the side door. It would have been a good escape route if all three of their kids weren’t waiting right behind it with Lillian, who backed up and attempted to look innocent.

“We thought we heard voices in here.” Lillian shrugged as her astute eyes landed on Andrea. “Your voice certainly does travel through walls and down halls, but we couldn’t quite make out the conversation.”

“Mommy!” Natty latched onto Andrea’s legs, oblivious to the tension of the adults in the room. “I have a new friend for Frederico. Mama bought him for me. His name is Guillermo.”

Sophia lunged into her mother’s arms, and Andrea looked down at her in blatant shock as she inhaled omega pheromones.

Andy stood more than two feet away, posturing and glaring at her namesake. “Did you miss us?”

“I-yes–” Andrea wheezed, so caught off guard by the consecutive changes in her life that her usual commanding presence was subdued. She awkwardly placed her hand on Sophia’s shoulder and didn’t chastise Natty as the little one creased her pants by clinging to her knees.

Andy didn’t offer any greetings, and the jut of her chin was hurt and accusatory. She stayed beside Lillian while her sisters rejoiced and stared her mother down with the same pent up fire Andrea had displayed for Bernardo.

All of Andrea’s behaviors were caving in on themselves like a poorly constructed house of cards, and for an absurd minute, Lena took pity on her.

One wrong breath, and Andrea risked alienating herself from their daughters and her father. Andrea didn’t deserve any kindness, and for once it wasn’t Lena who stepped in to rescue her ex.

Kara showed compassion by mentioning Andrea’s sudden appearance with a partial truth that only Lillian and Andy would see through. “Your mom just got here. She had a pretty tough meeting to handle, but now that it’s over, we’re all going to celebrate by taking you guys out to dinner.”

Bernardo appeared surprised that Kara took it upon herself to defuse the situation without bringing up their private conversation in front of the children.

“That’s right,” Bernardo bluffed and put out his hand to Sophia. “I’m going to take you all to Playa del Carmen to my favorite resort. It’s been too long since we spent time together as a family, and we have a new omega in our family who deserves special acknowledgement.”

Sophia blushed and pressed herself into her grandfather’s side, unaware of Andrea’s eyes sliding over to Lena.

They stared at each other, and Lena’s lip curled in a severe frown that warned her to be silent. She could think of worse places to spend a weekend than Playa del Carmen, but it would certainly mean several days of family bonding time if they traveled together. Lena worried about her father-in-law’s plan although she would never contradict him.

“We don’t really have to make a big deal out of it,” Sophia insisted and self-consciously touched her neck in a mannerism that was all Lena.

It encouraged her that Sophia didn’t run off and clearly mistook Andrea’s momentary softness as a happy reaction to the news. Sophia preened for no reason, and Lena knew that her daughter wanted to mark this milestone with a party like all her friends must have done.

“Nonsense, we’re going to make a big deal,” Bernardo decided and wandered off to arrange their impromptu vacation within a vacation.

Natty jumped up and down because she loved the tranquil waters of the beaches. “I want to see dolphins!”

An hour later, they were all filing into Bernardo’s jet with their luggage, and Lena lamented that she couldn’t pour herself a cocktail. She sat down next to Kara, and Andy positioned herself right across from Andrea so she could glare at her sire for the entire flight.

Lena sipped fruit juice and watched Sophia choose the spot right between both of her grandparents. They doted on her for her many achievements at school, and their loud voices prevented Lena from falling into deep reflection.

“Don’t get any wrong ideas,” Lillian cautioned and patted Sophia’s knee with fondness. “We’re not making a fuss because we see you as an adult, or because you’re allowed to go on dates. This is about you and finding joy in your evolving identity.”

“I might go on one date. Eventually. In a few years.” Sophia smiled, too full of happiness to even notice how Andrea straightened her spine at the idea of her middle daughter dating someone.

“Many years from now,” Andrea interjected, mustering a playful tone that didn’t quite transform her face. She looked more alarmed than amused, and Lena sensed that Andy was smirking from behind the book she clutched.

“Isn’t that kind of a double standard? Didn’t you encourage me to ask someone out when I was fourteen?” Andy lowered her book to pose the hard questions to her sire.

“My views on parenting have changed since then,” Andrea lied and glanced over in envy as Natty snuggled into Kara’s shoulder.

Natty seemed sleepy and clutched Frederico and Guillermo loosely by their necks. She wouldn’t even put them down as her eyes began to drift shut. Kara managed to hold all three of them in her buff arms and Natty slept through the conversation.

“There will be a lot of time to date alphas,” Bernardo softly rumbled and surprised everyone when he corrected himself for making an exclusionary statement. “Or omegas and betas. Or even someone who was born with the wrong pheromones and biology and decides to take evolvents.”

“The point is that you shouldn’t stress or let any of your peers pressure you into dating too soon,” Lillian intoned, saving him the trouble of listing off even more possibilities. “We want you to feel empowered, and not just in your personal life. Alphas might have a reputation as leaders, but omegas can lead, too. We can do anything.”

Sophia liked the sound of that, and Lena teared up from her mother’s little speech, because she suspected that her daughter needed to hear that advice.

Her emotions continued to fluctuate as they arrived at their destination and ordered dinner to Bernardo’s private pool side.

“I bought this place,” Bernardo revealed with a grand gesture to his favorite resort. “Well, technically I bought stock first and then negotiated to buy the company last month. “Guillermina loved the view of the coast from this spot. We visited before most of the restaurants and tourist attractions popped up.”

Natty turned her attention to Guillermo like she believed he had a special connection to her grandmother just because of their names. “Do you hear that, Gui? You’re going to love it here.”

It might have been more touching if Natty hadn’t immediately tried to dip her stuffed animals in the shallow end of the pool after showing them around.

The resort staff fell over themselves to provide a five-star meal outdoors. They carted out seafood, choice steaks and a lot of vegetarian options for Sophia.

It became a feast of gourmet food, all laid out on a table that stretched alongside an outdoor bar. The buffet brought everyone together naturally as the mouth-watering aromas drifted in the warm evening air. Bernardo encouraged the kids to grab a plate and help themselves.

Lillian took Natty by the hand to help her pick out what she wanted, and the little one in turn reached for Andrea to join them.

Whatever tumultuous emotions her ex experienced, Andrea at least showed restraint in airing them and took Natty’s other hand. It didn’t absolve her of any wrongdoings, but it did bring a sliver of hope to Lena’s heart that peace might be attainable eventually.

Kara stared at Andrea with a pensive frown as she loaded up Natty’s plate.

Lena sidled up to her mate with the desire to ease some worry and slid her hand into Kara’s back pocket to grant them some brief intimacy.

There were many long and serious conversations that they would be having about the events that transpired. Not to mention whatever backlash Andrea was sure to hit them with despite Bernardo’s warning. Lena wasn’t going to sweep any of it aside, although she had no qualms about putting it on the back burner where it belonged for now.

“If I squint hard enough, I can almost convince myself this is what a normal family vacation looks like,” Lena whispered and flicked her lashes at Kara to bring a smile to the alpha’s lips. She used the fragrance of her omega to tease her mate’s senses and subtly pushed her chest out because her tits never failed to make Kara happy.

It worked like a charm, and Kara’s grin lit up her whole face as her eyes danced across Lena’s cleavage. She inhaled deeply and locked her arm around Lena’s waist to guide her into the back of the line. “And here I thought this could be our new tradition. We could pick our vacation destinations based on where we need to hunt down an ex. Then we can force them to have dinner with us.”

“Oh, I’m sure that would go down like a lead balloon,” Lena drawled with humor and lifted two plates to hand one to Kara.

“Are you kidding? Andy would totally be into it for the awkward conversations, and I know for a fact that Sophia would love proving to everyone that she’s the best at tracking them down.” Kara’s smug assessment was all in good fun, and she lifted several pieces of grilled chicken and some vegetable kebabs for Lena before grabbing a steak and some seafood for herself.

Lena grabbed her mate by the chin to squeeze at her cheeks and narrowed her eyes playfully. “You’re cute when you’re being terrible, you know that? If I could get away with having you all to myself for five minutes, I’d do some wicked and unspeakable things to you. I can’t decide if I like this side of you better, or if I prefer that you’re easy going and willing to endure all of this.”

“In all seriousness, you don’t have to reward me for being flexible. I knew what I was getting into that night you let me into your…” Kara dropped her attention to Lena’s lips and her pupils dilated at the memory of their first time. “Home.”

Lena knew that wasn’t how Kara intended to end that sentence and smirked at her mate as she raised a dark brow. “Who said I was rewarding you for that? How you handled the situation with Bernardo and the way you looked out for all of our kids was very sexy. I’m allowed to show my appreciation however I want.”

Kara worked to keep the smile off her face and leveled Lena with a look that conveyed lust right along with adoration. “Is that right?”

Lena hummed in affirmation and trailed her palm down Kara’s arm to entwine their fingers together. “It’s one of the perks of being your omega.”

“What’s the others?” Kara asked without any hesitation.

“I’ll show you in private later,” Lena promised under her breath and dragged Kara towards the table where the rest of their family was already eating their meals.

Natty placed both of her sopping wet stuffed animals on the chair next to her and pretended to feed them. She didn’t smash the food into their faces for a change.

Andy ripped the tail from a lobster and tormented Sophia with the claw before setting her sights on her main target. “So, mom, who are you dating now? I’m surprised you’re solo on this trip. Apart from the year you ‘made’ Natty, you’ve always had a new omega on your arm.”

The intentionally antagonistic conversation starter would have been more effective if Andy wasn’t complaining about the exact same behaviors that Andrea noted in Bernardo.

“You made me?” Natty asked in amazement and swung her head towards Lena.

With a soft chuckle, Lena added some more vegetables to her daughter’s plate and refused to elaborate on how that happened. She glanced towards her ex with intrigue and wondered how she would respond to their eldest’s question.

Andrea set down the crab leg in her hand and dabbed her fingers on a cloth napkin. “Oh, I’ve decided not to see anyone for a long while.”

Lena bit back her impulse to say that was a shame and follow it up by suggesting a therapist. She caught Lillian pressing her lips together to actively hold back her unkind thoughts.

Bernardo sliced through his steak without comment, though from the twitch of his moustache, he was both judging Andrea and reflecting on the bad example he unintentionally set.

“Why?” Andy asked, blunt and to the point as she sat back to chew on her lobster with a similar squint to the one on Lena’s face.

Kara cleared her throat and kept her head down, and Bernardo motioned to a member of staff, who promptly poured Kara some Scotch.

Andrea shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject entirely as she met her eldest daughter’s eyes. “It’s not that important. Tell me, how is your new school? Have you made any friends there?”

“Do you actually care?” Andy fired back, her casual demeanor too relaxed to be natural.

“Andy,” Lena cautioned, sensing the full scale attack her daughter was about to launch.

If they hadn’t already ripped into Andrea, Lena might have condoned Andy going after her own pound of flesh. It would be in bad taste now with Andrea already licking her wounds without a means of escape.

Andy snapped another tail off a lobster with a touch of violence. “What? It's a valid question. She didn’t answer any of my calls or texts for weeks.”

“I’m sorry about that. I was in a bad place mentally.” Andrea bowed her head contritely and sucked on her inner cheek. “I felt like an inadequate parent, and I selfishly chose to wallow in my own feelings instead of thinking about yours. Will you forgive me?”

Her question brought a heaviness to their table, and she scanned the faces of her children with eyes full of desperation. It hurt to witness it, and Andy let the silence stretch on so long that Natty jumped in to answer for her.

“Yes, mommy, we can forgive you.” Natty lacked the understanding and experience of her older siblings, but she had also missed Andrea over the weeks of no contact.

Andrea’s genuine answer must have softened Andy a little bit. She didn’t nod so much as drop the subject and glance towards Sophia.

“I thought you were just busy with work. Didn’t you have an important conference?” Sophia blinked around at all of the adults, intelligently working out that they concealed some part of the story from her.

“That was an excuse,” Andrea admitted and shouldered the burden for her bad decisions. “I should have told you the truth, but now we’re all here and I want to make the most of our time together.”

Sincerity wasn’t Andrea’s forte and neither was apologizing. It spoke volumes that everyone collectively chose to accept what she said and moved on before the awkwardness ruined the rest of the vacation for the kids.

Owning her shit was at least a step in the right direction, though Lena wasn’t ready to extend any olive branches to her ex unless she could beat her with it first. She angled herself towards Kara and smiled as her mate filled a glass with fruit juice and passed it off to her.

Lena settled her hand on Kara’s thigh affectionately and sipped her drink. She sputtered on a mouthful as Kara made conversation.

“Andy’s school is putting on a summer concert before the end of year. I know it’s only spring, but I hope you can all make it.”

Despite Kara’s light tone, her eyes bore into Andrea’s to convey that she better not screw up the opportunity they were giving her.

Lillian and Bernardo raised their brows respectively, while Andy shrugged like it wasn’t worth mentioning. “It’s probably going to suck, anyway, so if anyone can’t make it–”

“I’ll be there,” Andrea rasped and took her cell phone out of her pocket to pull up her calendar. “What day is it?”

“June sixth,” Kara rattled off from memory, and locked Andrea into several other plans for the girls while she was at it.

Andrea recorded the dates of performances and special events as Bernardo looked on in approval. His moustache twitched into a smile at Kara’s way of handling his daughter. By the time they finished dessert, Andrea’s schedule was booked up and Lena felt relieved that she wouldn’t have to contact her ex to ensure they coordinated.

The staff at the resort lit torches at the pool side and the kids went for an evening swim. The morning might have been messy and fraught with conflict, but Lena was at peace with the outcome, all thanks to Kara acting as a buffer.

They worked out sleeping arrangements by talking to the girls. Sophia wanted to go with Andrea, and Natty wanted to tag along with her big sister, although she did try to persuade Kara to join them.

Lena detected both gratitude and melancholy on her ex’s face. She behaved awkwardly around their middle child, and Lena assumed they would have more conversations in private about Sophia’s status as an omega.

Andy headed off to her own private resort room, citing the need for space, and that left Lillian to drink cocktails with Bernardo under the heated pavilion.

Kara nursed her drink until she was certain that Andrea and the girls were heading to bed, and then nuzzled into Lena’s neck. “I don’t know about you, but after the day we’ve had, I’m ready to turn in.”

Lena hoped her mate wasn’t actually exhausted and tipped her head back for a kiss that Kara immediately delivered. The warm pucker of Kara’s lips lingered against her own, and she grinned as she felt Kara’s hand cup her bottom.

“I think getting into bed is exactly what we need,” Lena teased quietly and dropped her hand behind her back to discreetly fondle Kara for a few precious seconds.

It wasn’t enough to make her completely erect, even if it did result in a muted moan.

Lena knew exactly what she was doing as she walked off with an exaggerated sway to her hips. She said goodnight to Bernardo and her mother and bit her lip as Kara followed after her at a delay to stare at her ass.

She kept her seduction private by saying nothing and waited until they were in the long hallway with nobody else around to finally address it. “Weren’t you ever told it’s rude to stare?”

She tossed the remark over her shoulder, and grinned at Kara while she fluttered her lashes coyly. They had no way of knowing what tomorrow would bring, and Lena wanted to make the most of their night together.

“Hey, it would be ruder if I didn’t,” Kara stressed and held her hands out as if in emphasis of Lena’s attractive curves.

Lena pulled the key card out of her pocket and brandished it in accusation as she playfully rounded on Kara. “Are you saying I’m asking to be objectified?”

Kara plucked the card out of Lena’s hand and pinned her against the wall to cop a quick feel. She palmed the swell of Lena’s breasts and sucked at the claim nearest the freckle on Lena’s throat hard enough to make her writhe with pleasure. “I’m saying with the way those hips move, you’re lucky we’re almost at our room.”

Lena couldn’t have agreed more, and she gasped at how effortlessly Kara lifted her off her feet to continue kissing her and nipping at her neck. She barely registered they were over the threshold of their stately room and whimpered the second Kara set her down to lock the door.

“I think it’s time you lose those clothes, Lena. Why don’t you take them off for me?” Kara’s assertive tone turned the request into a command, and she appeared thoroughly at ease with that as she surveyed the room.

The furnishings and bottles of champagne didn’t hold Kara’s interest, but the bouquet of flowers did. She strode over to lift out the biggest red rose of the display and twirled it between her fingertips as she eyed Lena expectantly.

Lena regarded her mate through her dark lashes and slipped out of her clothes. It was an equal act of obedience and love to bare her breasts for Kara, and she saw her mate suck in a breath as she let her bra fall to the floor. “Someone’s gotten a taste for being in charge. I was meant to dote on you tonight.”

The little reminder brought a smile to Kara’s face and she prowled closer to trace the flower down Lena’s throat and across her breasts. She followed it with her mouth soon after, looping her tongue around the hardened bud of Lena’s nipple after teasing it with the petals.

“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll get your turn,” Kara promised and stepped around Lena to tickle across her shoulders with the crimson flower. “When I let you.”

Kara guided her straight to the bed and lifted Lena onto it with a helping hand. She shimmied out of her jeans before ridding herself of her shirt.

Lena appraised her mate with lidded eyes that dragged down her toned physique and settled between her thighs. The sizable girth of her cock was weighted down with lust and Lena longed to have it inside her.

“I see all this confidence has gone straight to your head,” Lena drawled deliberately and spread her legs to flaunt the soaked material that kept her cunt from view.

“Yeah, but you love it. That’s why your panties are already wet and I’ve barely touched you.” Kara took the liberty of peeling the panties off her, and they both enjoyed how luscious and glazed Lena’s pussy was beneath them.

Lena parted her labia with two fingers and swirled them around her clit so Kara could watch the flutter of her entrance become a clench of need. “What can I say? Seeing you excel as a parent really gets me going.”

“Well, if you like that, just wait until I sign up for the PTA,” Kara rumbled, unable to keep her hands off of her mate any longer. She massaged at Lena’s inner thighs to hold them open and pushed into the slick heat of her cunt with a controlled thrust to tease them both.

It never failed to elicit tingles of pleasure throughout every part of her body. She rested her weight on her elbows and stared down at Kara’s cock making slow progress in spreading her open. Her arousal glistened on the tip of Kara’s glans, and it pumped ever deeper.

“You’re just the alpha I need, did you know that?” Lena pinched at her nipples and rubbed their soreness away as Kara’s longer strokes massaged all of the right places inside.

“Tell me that again after I make you come.” Kara lunged forward with a moan of satisfaction when their pelvises met.

The complete submersion made her pussy clench. She gasped from the gentlest of thrusts and pushed down into them with an eagerness to rut.

Lena whined the moment Kara denied her and pouted as the alpha’s hand settled on her hip to keep her flush against the bed.

Kara took full command of Lena’s cunt with the sensual grind of her pelvis, and all of Lena’s expectations of a wild and debauched night melted into the unparalleled satisfaction of making love. She looped her arms around Kara’s shoulders and pressed her palms into the solid muscles that moved fluidly with every thrust she gave.

“Shouldn’t I be the one worshipping you for a change?” Lena breathlessly asked, her head tossed back and neck bared for all of Kara’s ravenous kisses. She almost felt selfish for enjoying the attention and raised her knees up to secure them about Kara’s hips.

She loved erotic feeling of every intimate glide of Kara’s cock pushing into her. It brought a blush to her cheeks that she couldn’t conceal.

Kara grinned as she huffed at her skin, and Lena shivered as her mate licked at her claims. “Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing by giving me your pussy? All those hot little spasms are just for me.”

Lena couldn’t argue with that logic and saw her chance to persuade Kara into giving her the pounding that she craved. She worked her cunt around Kara’s cock with intentional contractions, and pulled her mate deeper to stimulate her base.

“You mean these, Kara?” Lena innocently questioned, knowing that Kara couldn’t resist the warm clench of her pussy. She increased the intensity with lustful ambition and smirked at Kara’s inability to thrust. “Does it make you throb when I squeeze you so tight?”

“Fuck, Lena, how am I meant to last if you keep doing that?” Kara gasped, her ragged breaths tickling Lena’s breasts as she fought the urges of her alpha.

“Sounds like a dilemma for you to work out,” Lena mused and waited for Kara to catch onto her game.

The solution was obvious, and Lena grinned victoriously as Kara groaned in acceptance and quickened her pace.

The faster lunges forced Lena’s slick walls into submissive compliance, and she couldn’t clench nearly as hard as she had been. Not that it mattered when the charge of Kara’s hips had her quivering inside.

Lena’s arousal turned creamy with the friction and their natural rhythm brought them closer together. They were trying to outlast one another, and Lena unfairly tangled her fingers into Kara’s hair to exhale provocative moans into her ear.

It threw off Kara’s tempo, and for a gloriously uninhibited moment, the alpha slammed into her like she was racing to the finish.

“You get so hard when I beg like this.”

Kara’s cock stretched her full and the gratification of all the hot friction made her lose some bravado. Her lips trembled with the beginnings of a moan that couldn’t release from her chest in the middle of Kara pounding into her like that. She pressed her fingers into Kara’s back and the smooth and lush silk in her pussy canceled out a couple of attempts to clench harder. The obscene noise of sex was another sensory rush and Lena liked nothing better than listening to it.

“Hear that, Lena? That’s your cunt telling me what it needs.” Kara’s brag was the right shade of raunchy for Lena to appreciate it, and the touch of alpha arrogance brought extra flair to her mate’s performance.

Kara used the power of her quads to bottom out, and the soft striations within Lena’s cunt strained from the tension of a knot beginning to form.

Lena gyrated with the hopes of taking it and made pathetic little noises as Kara refused to let it seal them together. She admired her alpha’s self control and rasped broken moans as she received what she wanted.

She loved the casual dominance of Kara pinning her to the bed with nothing more than rapid penetration.

“What is it you need, Kara?” Lena grunted selflessly and raised her cunt up just so Kara could slam her back into the mattress.

The slap of their loins meeting was sending ripples of bliss through Lena’s clit, and she dug crescents into Kara’s skin as she neared a climax. “Should I get on all fours for you? Drape myself across the bed so you can fuck me across it all night?”

“I’ll settle for recording your pleasure so we can watch it at home like we planned.” Kara trembled through her arms as she held herself up to give it to Lena harder and glanced at the phone that she tossed onto the bed when she had stripped.

Lena craned to find it, and Kara made use of her position to kiss at her breasts and suck at her nipples. She was voracious with them, tugging with her lips as Lena’s chest heaved with the restless urgency for release.

Petals flew across the sheets in Lena’s haste to grab Kara’s cell phone. They ruined the single rose with their rutting. It was no less beautiful scattered beneath Lena’s frame, and the heady scent of sex mixed with the floral perfume as she thumbed Kara’s camera on.

Lena practically flung it at her mate as Kara’s hips jerked and the tension in her core finally broke in sweet euphoria. She couldn’t see through the blur of ecstasy, but she tried valiantly to hold her thighs widespread so Kara could film it.

She quaked from the warmth of Kara’s essence pooling against her cervix, and then pleaded for more by rubbing her clit to lengthen her internal convulsions.

Lena couldn’t wait to flaunt it all for her mate and didn’t hesitate to present on all fours the second Kara pulled out to admire her glazed slit.

She would have stayed in that position if Kara hadn’t flipped her onto her side and hooked her leg up and over her strong shoulder. The excessive spread of her legs kept her pussy open, and Lena groaned as she saw Kara film the evidence of their mating.

“Look at all this seed, Lena. You’re so full already–”

“But I can take more. You’ve got so much to give me, haven’t you, darling? You can’t possibly stop now.” Lena hoped the video picked up her salacious bargaining.

She seduced Kara by running her fingers through the glistening fluid that trickled between her pussy lips. Smearing it all over her clit in hypnotizing swirls, she begged with the clench of her entrance for Kara to fill her again.

“I wasn’t going to stop,” Kara promised through a moan and pushed the swollen glans of her cock back into Lena’s silken chasm. She held onto Lena’s thigh with one arm and kept the camera focused on the partition of Lena’s pussy.

Home movies weren’t something Lena considered a necessity before, but documenting their love in the throes of passion was suddenly appealing. She wanted these memories to last forever and wondered if Kara would ever watch them in years to come.

The thought of catching her mate watching their private porn brought a smile to Lena’s lips, and she lost herself to the fantasy of Kara revisiting this in the future once their pup was born. She mindlessly brushed her palm across the barely-there baby bump and moaned as Kara spontaneously orgasmed.

“Are you thinking of how many pups you’re going to give me?” Lena teased, her words barely audible from breathlessness.

She stroked over her abdomen, fascinated by the change in Kara and the throaty rumbles of her pleasure as she slotted herself deeper.

“Just picturing how beautiful you’ll be in a few months when you’re really showing,” Kara admitted and tossed the phone aside to cup Lena’s cheek. She slowed herself down to better merge them together, and gradually allowed Lena’s inner heat to envelope her knot.

It was the sincerity that did it for Lena, the unabashed and all-consuming love written on Kara’s handsome face. She still wasn’t used to being looked at like that, and it stunned her every time she witnessed it.

“You’re always going to see the beauty in me no matter what, aren't you?” Lena pondered that as the dimensions of Kara’s cock changed, reaching its girthiest inside of her. “Kara Danvers, one day I’m going to marry you. I didn’t get it right the first time, but nothing would make me happier than committing myself to you for a lifetime.”

Kara kissed her hand and smiled an adorable, dimpled smile. “No take-backs. You’re mine forever.”