WinterMoor

~Chapter Eight~

"Hi." Lexi greeted him as he came through the door, giving him a hug. "How'd it go?"

"Good. Shouldn't you still be asleep?" He asked.

"I only woke up a little while ago... I just had a shower and got some food, I hope you don't mind.." she checked.

He shook his head, taking off his jacket. He rolled his shoulders back and stretched.

"What do you wanna do today?" He asked, walking into the kitchen.

"I don't mind." She told him.

"My parents have invited us round for dinner and to stay the night.. before we have to start planning for the ceremony and actually doing too much work..."

"Okay..." She nodded.

"They've got a pool... I thought we could go in that this evening? My siblings will be there." He told her.

"Could I go and see mum?" She asked. "Are they here yet?" She leant against the kitchen counters opposite Layton as he made breakfast.

He zoned out for a moment and mind-linked Corey. "They're on there way... They're fine, beautiful.. but yes. Of course you can go and see them." He told her.

"Thank you."

"Coffee? Tea?" He asked her.

"No I'm okay... Thanks." She replied.

He turned round and grabbed a spoon, eating his cereal.

"Where were the boys this morning?" She asked.

"They train in the mornings, 9 till 11. I train with Corey at night, so there's always someone ranked not training just incase of an emergency." He told her inbetween bites.

"That's a good idea." She smiled.

It was still a little awkward between them at times.

"How many siblings do you have?" Lexi asked.

"I have an older brother, Tyler. He's 28. Then there's Heather who's 18, Simon and Rubie who are 5 and mums just had another baby boy called Luke... so there's 6 of us.. she always wanted a big household... She just decided to spread it out a lot."

"Was she young when she had Tyler?" She asked. "How come he's not alpha?"

"She was 17... He was born really early, and he's doing fine now but he lives with mum still and has quite a few mental problems.. He wasn't born with alpha blood..it's unusual for the second child to have the alpha traits... But it happens." He explained.

"And that's you..." She smiled.

He chuckled. "And you."

"Would it matter if I wasn't an alpha's daughter?" She asked.

He put his bowl in the sink and turned to her. "No. When I mark you, it transfers whatever chemicals are in my blood to yours, but it should be less painful as youve already got a lot of that in you." He told her. "We'll wait till you're ready.. I'm not going to rush if you don't want to."

"Do you want to wait till the ceremony to mate?" She asked.

"Don't mind.. not bothered.. I'm not worried about waiting to be honest, but if that's when you're ready to mate, that's fine." He told her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean, if it happens before I'm not worried... But if you're not ready until then, then we'll wait till the night of the ceremony." He explained.

"Ohhhh." She nodded. "That's fine." She reached forward and wrapped her arms round his waist and he responded, putting his arms on her lower back and kissing the side of her head.

"Do you want anything?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"Hows your hand?" He asked.

"Fine." She told him. "Can we relax for a little while? Before we go and see my mum and that?" She checked.

"Of course we can." He picked up and made her squeal, carrying her to the living room and dropping her gently on a bean bag before grabbing the remotes.

He squeezed himself beside her and put his arm round her neck, flicking through the TV.

"I changed my mind..." She told him, he frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't wanna go and see mum yet, I wouldn't know what to say.. she needs to think for a few days.." she said, not making eye contact.

He turned her head gently with two hands so that they were facing each other and he nodded, resting his forehead against hers.

"Whatever you want, beautiful.. you don't have to see her yet if you don't want to. Just tell me when you do, and we can go whenever? Okay.. don't get stressed out about it, let's just relax for a few hours, pack a bag and go to my parents house.. yeah?" He checked.

She nodded, resting her head onto his collar bone.

And they did just that... They watched a movie for a few hours and both packed a small bag. Layton drove them to his parents and they stopped for lunch on the way.

He knocked lightly on the door.

"LAYTON!!" His mum hugged him tightly. "Oh my gosh! You came!" She squeezed him and he laughed, hugging her back.

"Oh my!! You brought her!" She turned to Lexi. "Hi sweetie!" She hugged her tightly. "Oh, she's beautiful, Layton."

"Mum calm down." He told her. "I know she is." He grinned, putting and arm round her waist and kissing her forehead as soon as his mum released her.

"I'm so excited!" She turned round and walked into the house, beaming.

"LAYTONS HERE EVERYONE." She shouts, Layton lead her into the house, they went through to the living room.

"Simon. Rubie. Heather." Their mother shouted up the stairs.

All the kids came down the stairs and they greeted and met Lexi.

"Your father's upstairs with Luke, go and let Lexi meet him." Her mother told him.

Layton took their bags upstairs and put them into his old room, he took Lexi to Luke's room where his father was sat feeding him with a bottle.

"I told you that you would be fine." Layton walked into the room, greeting his dad.

"This is my dad, Robert." Layton told Lexi after a few minutes. "This is Lexi."

"It's wonderful to meet you, sweetie." He told her, looking up. She was looking at luke. "You're welcome to come over, we don't bite."

"He's grown so much already." Layton said, wrapping his arm back round Lexi as she came towards them.

"He's adorable." She told them, he was feeding happily.

"Very loud, but yes... Adorable."

"Mum's okay now?" Layton asked.

"She's much better." His father told him.  turned to Lexi. "She had a few stiches, they got infected.. but she's all cleared up now.." he informed her.

"Good." Lexi replied.

"Hows the pool? We were going to go for a swim later.." Layton asked.

"Fine.. I cleaned for all this morning.. make sure you take the kids with you." He told them.

"Well... We were going to go in at about 8 or 9... While the sun sets..." He told him.

"Very well, as long as you promise you take them in in the morning for me?" He asked. "Give your mother a bit of a break, that would be nice."

"Of course." He replied, pulling Lexi closer to his side.