One time she hid one sock of each set we had for the boys then asked me to get them ready to go out for a walk. So I got them dressed and went to put socks on and couldn’t find any matches. Not a single damn one. It didn’t help that as I was putting a sock on Landon he would pull it off and throw it when I was trying to find its match. Finally I turned to her, exasperated, only to find her laughing with her hands over her mouth and tears streaming down her face. After that I would get the boys ready, but she had to put on the socks and shoes.” Caleb placed his box on the floor.
“I think I would have liked her,” Kate said, looking at the other faces.
“You sound surprised.” Caleb started on packing up the blankets and towels.
“She was absolutely beautiful and she was the mother of your children.” Kate left the sentence to hang between them.
Caleb looked up and saw Kate biting her lower lip. He put the box down and was quickly at her side.
“Yes, she was beautiful and, yes, she was the mother of my children, but she wasn’t my mate. I knew that. I have kept my heart set aside for one woman, my mate. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy, Kate. I’ve dated, but I kept things light and simple. I let the women know up front that the relationship wasn’t long-term and I never fell in love. You are everything to me. You’re gorgeous, sweet, and kind. I bet that even if I hadn’t been your mate you still would have offered to help with no thought about repayment.” He tilted her head back and looked her in the eyes.
“I’ve waited my whole life for you, Kate, I may not be completely in love with you now, but I know I’m falling fast.”
He leaned down and grazed her lips with his. She sighed and stood on tiptoe in an attempt to capture his lips. He stood up straighter and smirked down at her.
“Patience, Kate, I’ll be in charge of your pleasure.”
He felt his jeans shrink when her eyes became unfocused and she gave a breathy little sigh. He knew then and there that Fate had paired them correctly. She responded to him beautifully. He also knew that having Bran there would just add an entirely new dimension to the lovemaking. He cleared his throat and stepped back. She took a deep breath smiling up at him. She pointed to another face on the wall.
“Who is the older man?” she asked, starting a second box for the clothes.
Caleb gave a bark of laughter. “That old bastard was Renee’s father, James Langford and he hated me. I mean hoped-I-would-die kind of hated me.” Caleb picked up a blanket and folded it.
“What! Why?” Kate asked.
“Well, he had it in his mind that she would mate within the leap and stay home and raise lots of grand-babies for him to dote on, being the good little wife,” Caleb said.
“Let me guess, she hated staying still.”
Caleb nodded. “The only reason we were able to meet in Nepal is because her mother, before she died, made her father promise to send Renee to school. She was in graduate school when we met. She lived every day to its fullest, knowing that someday she would have to return to the leap and give birth, staying until her children were grown. She was wild and crazy, always wanting to try something different. She could have had another ten years to herself before being asked to reproduce for the leap, but her father made sure she was one of the first asked. So she asked me to be the father, knowing it would drive him crazy.” He smiled.
“The look on the old man’s face when we showed up and she announced that I would be the father of her children was priceless. But he couldn’t dictate who she reproduced with, so we made arrangements with a local fertility clinic and then the boys came along.” He placed another blanket in the box and picked up a washcloth. He gripped it tightly in his hands.
“I knew he hated me but never really paid attention. Most of the leap accepted me and I made quite a few friends there, but I could never seem to