Accept me, Please?

Chapter 5

Once the door closed behind Carlito and Dianne, Raul let out a tired sigh, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

Topaz turned from where she'd been gazing at the door, to observe at him, a tender expression on her face. "Are you tired?"

"Emotionally tired, yes. Between my son, and other things, I feel as if I've been on a rollercoaster ride the last few weeks," Raul answered.

"At least he's not mad anymore."

"True. How about you and I find our movie to watch? I have Netflix, although, I usually only watch it with Carlito. That means he always finds the movie," Raul said.

She grinned at him, "Which means, tonight you finally get to experience the joy of movie finding."

Raul chuckled as he stood up and stretched. Hearing her gasp lightly, he turned his head. He found her staring at his stomach and looked down. His shirt had come up when he'd reached for the sky. Lowering his arms, he watched her glance away, then clear her throat.

"All right, Topaz, let's find a movie," Raul said. Then, moving over to sit next to her on the couch, he grabbed the remote and they began the hunt for something to watch.

After much scrolling, the two of them finally found a movie they could agree on and begin to watch it. The evening started with plenty of room between them, but as if drawn by a magnetic force, Raul and Topaz slowly moved toward each other. It wasn't long before Raul's arm was behind her, and her head was on his chest.

They never saw the end of the movie because they fell asleep snuggled into each other.

#

"Oh, look Carlito" a girl whispered. "Aren't they cute?"

Raul blinked his eyes open to stare at Carlito and Dianne who were standing in the middle of the living room. He cleared his throat, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Time?"

"A little after eleven," Carlito answered. "Did you watch a movie?"

"We started watching it and I'm pretty sure I watched more than she did," Raul told him. Then he yawned before rubbing his burning eyes again.

"You should go put her to bed, Dad. Topaz did say she has to work tomorrow," Carlito said.

Raul looked down at the woman snuggled in his arms, breathing in her sweet peppermint scent. "I know."

Carlito huffed, causing Raul to look up at him as Dianne giggled.

Carlito had a pouty expression on his face as he stared down at Topaz. Letting out a long breath, he said, "You stare at her the way I remember you staring at Mama. She really is your mate, isn't she?"

"Yes," Raul agreed, "she is."

"I talked to the Alpha, and he told me what he'd told you," Carlito admitted.

Raul raised his eyebrows. "Did you think I had lied to you?"

"No. I just... I guess I just didn't want to believe it was true. You weren't going to tell me though, why?" Carlito asked.

"I knew it would hurt you to hear it. I loved your mama, Carlito, but she isn't coming back. Fate has blessed me with another, giving both me and my wolf the will to live again. Please, don't begrudge me this happiness," Raul begged softly.

"I won't, not anymore," Carlito agreed, with regret in his voice. "You should take her to your room."

Raul shook his head. "She's human. She would be upset waking up next to me like that."