Luke put his chin on his hand while Emma poured some cold brew into a cup. Just as Allen walked in, the bell above the door rang."Who is that?" Emma asked, amazed."Jimin, come here! Is this the coffee shop where you work?""Yeah. If I had known this was where your meeting was, I would have driven you here myself.""My author didn't tell me to meet here until an hour ago. If not, it would have been nice."When she said that, Emma looked back and forth between Luke and Allen and suddenly put two and two together."Wait, are you meeting Luke, the writer?"Luke looked up sleepily when he heard his name and looked around for the coffee he thought was ready, while Allen's eyes grew wide."How did you find out?"Emma poked Luke and laughed as she brought the straw of Luke's drink up to his face so he could drink. "This zombie over there is the great author Luke."They looked at each other for a second before Luke realized what was going on, which made him jump up and bow to say hello."I f
After dinner, they all sat around the small fire Lucus had started earlier and ate s'mores. Emma helped Clary hold a marshmallow on a stick over the fire until the outside was toasted and the inside was still soft. After having way too many s'mores, they walked to an area near their campsite and looked at the stars for a while. Zia and Lucus got out their cameras and tried different low-exposure settings to try to get pictures of the stars up above.Clary yawned next to Emma and said, "Mommy, I'm tired.""Yeah? Little one, are you ready to go to sleep?"She said, "Mhm," and rubbed her eyes."All right, go up."Emma let Clary climb onto her back, then slowly got up."What up, Lucus? I'll get Clary ready for bed. How do I know which room to go to?""The small tent can be used by you and Clary. I sleep in the big tent with everyone else. I've already set up the sleeping bags and air mattress, so you can just go in.""Thanks."Lucus gave Clary a kiss on the cheek and a quiet "good night"
"Oh, Lucus," she said.Emma reached out and touched Lucus cheek to get him to turn around and look at her."No matter what happens between us, the fact that you are Clary's dad and have the right to see her will not change. I shouldn't have taken that from you. I won't do it again. I'll keep my word."Lucus said, "Thank you," in a soft whisper.Before he sighed, Emma smiled. "Also, I'm pretty sure it's the same for me."When Lucus looked at Emma with a questioning look, Emma shook her head."I didn't think I'd see you again, and I didn't want to, either. So, it never occurred to me that we would become a family again. But I couldn't see myself with anyone else, so I thought it would always be just me and Clary.""Was anyone else ever here?"Emma didn't say anything, so Lucus said quickly, "You don't have to answer. I'm sorry. I was wrong to ask.""No, it's all right. A few years ago, this beta told me I had just started working at the cafe at the time. He was a very nice guy who alway
Lucus rubbed at the knots in his shoulders, drained from preparing everything for the weekend. It had become his new habit to prep the ingredients for the weekend now that he didn't come in on Saturday and Sunday mornings to bake everything himself. Jay knew enough to bake everything to his approval, so Lucus was happy to just set up the kitchen to make it easier on the younger alpha. The door to the kitchen swung open as Jay popped his head through the door."Umm, Lucus there's someone asking for you.""For me? Like a customer? Did something happen?""No he asked for you by name? I think he knows you?" Confused as to who it could be, Lucus wiped his hands on his apron and followed Jay out the door to find Emma leaning against the counter."Emma?""Hey!"Emma smiled at Lucus, giving a small wave. "Sorry, I hope you don't mind me dropping by unannounced...""No that's totally fine! I thought you were spending the whole day with Zia?""We were supposed to but there's some last minute
Someone is enjoying the exhibit. Emma pulled her arm away from the stranger's grip."Playing hard to get, that's fine. Mark, it's a pleasure to meet you."Mark stepped even more into Emma's space, and Emma had half a mind to toss the drink she had on the Alpha. She took a few steps back to increase the distance between them."If you'll excuse me. Emma turned to walk away when she felt her wrist being grabbed."Hold on, don't go."Anger coursing through her veins, Emma twisted her arm so that Mark's arm was bent at an unnatural angle.Listen, Mr. Mark. I'd rather not make a scene, but there's no saying what I might do if you harass me one more time. Do I make myself clear? She added a bit more force to his arm, knowing that it was difficult to overpower Emma from this angle no matter how much stronger the alpha was. The years of self-defense classes she had taken in case she or Clary were ever in danger were finally paying off. When Mark's grip loosened, he let go and took a step back.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I don't have to go into work today..."Lucus frowned as he filled Emma's mug with coffee. The night before, they had come home and fallen asleep fairly quickly, Emma taking the bed and Lucus the couch once more. In the morning, the two had eaten a quick breakfast of toasted bagels and scrambled eggs before Emma got ready to leave."I'm sure. It's just a lot of going around, and I don't want to drag you all over the city.""I don't mind...""Lucus, I'll be fine on my own. You haven't had a weekend to yourself in a while either. Just enjoy the afternoon, and I'll be back to help prepare for dinner. Okay?""Fine..."Emma chuckled a bit at Lucus pout, shaking her head as she waved before she left the apartment.The real reason she didn't want Lucus to come with her was because she wasn't ready to have the conversation that would come with the errands yet.Emma had thought about their current arrangement of switching off between city and to
"Lucus.""Hmm?""Do you believe in fate?"Lucus gave a small huff of laughter. "What?""Just... remember how I used to hate the idea of fate? I thought it was ridiculous that everything was laid out in front of us. I didn't like that my decisions would mean nothing if fate had already decided it all.""Yeah. You were very passionate about it.""I was," Emma chuckled. "But these days, I've been reconsidering."Lucus gasped mockingly. "You mean to tell me you believe in fate now?""Shut up and just hear me out.""Okay okay. I'm listening.""I don't believe in fate. But I am starting to think that maybe life works out the way it does because it's meant to. Although it's ultimately our decision, I feel like it nudges us in a certain direction.""Are you talking about something specifically?""Well, I'm talking about us."Lucus stayed quiet, silently encouraging Emma to continue."I know that we've thought a lot about the what-ifs if we hadn't chosen what we had seven years ago. But maybe
As lovers, it was interesting to explore their new dynamic as a reunited couple. They didn't have the honeymoon stage of new lovers, but there was still a sense of giddiness that surrounded them. They were remembering certain things they had forgotten about each other as well as discovering things that had changed. There were fewer moments of awkwardness and more moments of comfort.After Emma had gone back to town that day, she spent a few hours talking to Lucus before finally falling asleep at close to two in the morning. What had started as a call to tell Lucus about some of the things Clary had shared about her field trip became a conversation that ranged from debating the best place to buy fried chicken to internet safety for children. At one point, they went back to their past."I missed you. So much."It was a little past one, and the world outside Emma's window was calm. Lucus quiet confession was whispered through the phone, and Emma felt her heart clench a little."I missed