Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

EPILOGUE

3 years later

RILEY

I looked around for the millionth time, trying to find the damn bear. Of all the animals she could have as her favourite, that bear was the one that she could not be separated from for more than five minutes. Except at times like this where that thing was nowhere to be found.

Whoever said that packing for a toddler was easier than for a baby was a complete liar.

"Boys, have you seen the bear?" I shouted from across the room, hoping that I would be heard despite all the noise coming from the living room.

The lack of reply did not surprise me but it still annoyed me, so I decided to march over the lounge, ready to give my mates a piece of my mind. You would think that raising a child with two dads would be easier and yet, I was always the one in charge of getting our little child of chaos ready whenever we were going out or were about to travel.

"Listen, you two, you better be more cooperative if you don't want to be begging for forgiveness tonight," I said as I stepped out of the bedroom, my warning a mix of irritation with a pinch of mischief. "Now, I am going to ask again, have you seen the bear?"

I froze in my spot the moment the guys came into sight. "What the..."

Lost for words was one way to describe my current state.

My two fierce, powerful Alphas were sitting on the floor, legs crossed, as each of them held an empty plastic teacup, pinching the handle with a pinkie sticking out and pretending to be drinking out of it. Between them was our tornado of a daughter who was pouring imaginary tea in their cups with a sweet smile on her face.

I was not sure what I was more shocked by- the fact that my little girl had instilled complete obedience in her dads or that my tomboy toddler was playing something relatively girly for her. She was more the hide-and-seek, kick-a-ball around and wrestling kind of toddler who had nearly no interest in dolls or other toys that girls her age liked.

Rafe looked up at me but didn't dare to move. I would have burnt that bear up to now if it was up to me, he mind linked.

Rafe Macalister, you better not let your daughter hear you say that, or you might be sorry. And what on Earth are you two doing?

Maggie wanted to have a tea party, Aiden replied through our link, and we couldn't say No. Don't worry, love, the bear must be somewhere around.

As if she sensed that we were talking about her behind her back, Maggie growled, demanding her dads' complete focus.

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin. I promise that you have our undivided attention." My dragon mate's apology was so genuine that one would think that he had really messed up with something grave.

"Seriously, Aiden, how many times do I need to tell you to come up with a better nickname than Pumpkin? Our daughter is the future Alpha of the Windfire tribe- we need to take her seriously, even if she has the cutest, squishiest cheeks in the world."

Rafe pinched Maggie's cheeks and our classy little lady responded by practically throwing daggers with her eyes. Daggers that she forgot all about the moment he kissed her on the forehead- yeah, she was my daughter, alright, and forehead kisses were definitely mine and her favourite type of kisses.

"Oh, because calling her Giggles is so much better?" Aiden protested. "I guess we will know which one Maggie truly prefers when she grows up."

I stood there listening to the two of them, amazed by how much Maggie had changed our lives and how much she had her dads wrapped around her fingers. I knew that both of them would move heaven and earth for me but their dedication to our baby girl was on a completely different level. It was incredibly endearing but, at times, pretty shocking how much control this tiny shifter had over two of the most powerful Alphas in the UK. Some tribe members even joked that it was Maggie that they needed to bribe whenever they required their Alphas' approval for something.