It looks a bit strange to just have plates around three of the chairs, since the table is big enough to sit twenty people. It is impossible to imagine how it must have felt when Alpha Seren was here by himself.

My mates are already waiting for me at the table, both looking a bit confused. Ethan is sitting to my left, while Erik is sitting across from me, both of them relatively close.

"I thought we deserved a date night," I say, dishing up some food. They hold out their plates for me to put some scoops of casserole. "There are some things I think we need to talk about."

Ethan looks nervous but gives a nod of his head, while Erik has his default neutral expression on. It makes it impossible to tell what he is thinking.

"I think that's a great idea, Liam," Ethan says, handing me the salad.

"Me too," Erik adds, giving me a quick smile before his face shifts back to stoic.

We eat in silence for a while, none of us too eager to start the conversation. Biting the bullet, I set down my fork, taking a quick drink of my water before forcing myself to speak.

"The past year has been a mess for us," I say, knowing that I have to be brutally honest in order for us to move past this. "Honestly, I don't know how we lasted this long without a blowup. Ethan, you take everything to heart. Erik, you never speak to any of us about how you're feeling. And, I-I just kept ignoring what was going on.

"But, we have a baby who needs us. So we need to make a decision. Should we keep trying for this or... or should we m-move on?" The words are hard to think about and even harder to say out loud. The thought of not being with my mates makes me nauseous, but we all need to decide what's best.

"You're right," Ethan says. "We've all been half-assing this entire relationship. It's harder, I think than we were all expecting. All the stories we hear of mates; they live an easy life with a happily ever after. This whole thing has been a reality check. But, I don't want to give up."

His words seem to ring in the air, all of us silent. Surprisingly, it is Erik who breaks the quiet, looking between us. "No, I don't want to give up either."

"We should just lay all of our problems out tonight, talk about everything while we are alone." Erik and Ethan both nod their heads but none of us offer up a topic that concerns us. Standing up, I go into the kitchen to grab a note pad and three pens before walking back into the dining room.

"Here, write down everything that you think is a concern." They take the pens and a piece of paper from me, looking a little hesitant at first. "Sometimes, it is easier to just write something down instead of speaking it out loud."

It is hard to put my worries into words, seeing as it is a more general feeling than something specific, but I put it down anyway.

Setting down my pen, I see that Erik is folding his paper, while Ethan is still scribbling something down. Once he is finished, he drops his pen, looking in between me and Erik when he sees that he is the last one done.

"Alright," I say, handing my note to Erik, which he takes reluctantly. "Pass it to someone else, and let's get this over with."

Ethan hands me his paper while Erik hands his to his brother. "Who's going first?" Ethan says, looking in between us. "Alright, I guess I will."

He unfolds the paper, his breath catching when he reads the words, before looking up at Erik. "It isn't wrong to love me."

Crinkling my brows, I take the not from Ethan's trembling hand.

Feel guilty for loving Ethan as something other than my brother.

The words cause my stomach to twist, knowing that Ethan is punishing himself for loving Ethan as a mate, rather than a brother. Not knowing what to say, I set the piece of paper back down, watching my two mates.

"You're my brother," Erik murmurs, looking down at the table.

"We're mates," Ethan says in response, his words coming out harsh. "If we weren't supposed to be together, then we wouldn't be mates."

Ethan pushes out his chair before standing up. Walking over to Erik, he pushes against his brother's chest until he is leaning back in the chair. Ethan slips into the space created, straddling Erik's lap.

"You are not crazy or wrong." Ethan runs his fingers through Erik's curls, pulling his brother's face up so that Erik is meeting his eyes. "This is what we were meant to be."

He closes the space between them, pressing a soft kiss against Erik's lips before pulling away slightly. My eyes are wide the entire time, taking in the sight in front of me. Not once through our entire relationship have the two of them done anything intimate. Well, besides the kiss while we were fighting, but that one doesn't count.

Ethan is watching Erik, doubt creeping across his face before Erik tangles a hand in the back of Ethan's hair, pulling him down into a much deeper kiss.

A moan slips out of Ethan's lips, his hands cradling Erik's face as he starts to grind down onto his brother.

"Wow," I breathe, heat starting to curl inside me.

Ethan pulls away then, placing a finger on Erik's lip when he follows him. "Let's finish our discussion, and then we can all take this upstairs. Away from a room that our father can walk in to at any minute."

"That killed the mood," I mumble but am grateful that Ethan has the restraint that he does. I certainly don't want my alpha to walk in on anything too intimate.

Picking up Ethan's note, I quickly read over it, but before I have a chance to read it out loud, Ethan just says what he wrote. "I don't need to be sheltered by either of you. I love that you're trying to protect me, but you have to let me protect you, too."

"I'm sorry," I say, leaning over to lay my hand over Ethan's. "I just hate seeing either of you hurt."

Ethan smiles at me, turning his hand over so that he can twine his fingers with mine. "I know, and that's one of the reasons I love you, but I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself."

Erik looks like he wants to argue, but at Ethan's wide eyed gaze, he nods his head. "I'll try to not be overbearing." He then grabs my note, reading over it. "You're sorry for talking to others about our problems instead of having us discuss them."

Nodding my head, I take another sip of water, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat. "I noticed that I tend to lean on Taylor when I am upset about something and never come to you two. I want to work on not running to him with all my problems, and I- I think it would be better for us to become more independent, maybe even move into one of the houses close by instead of living in the pack house."

The two of them look at me, Ethan with wide eyes and Erik with a lifted brow. "We lived in one before, and I think it was good for us. We can concentrate more on our family, which is something we really need right now."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Erik says, his lips turning into a small smile. "Having some privacy would be nice."

Ethan nods his head. "I'll talk to Dad about it. He has talked about setting up those houses soon anyway, just in case our pack expands some more."

Erik looks back down at the note again, and I reach over snatching it away. My other issue is more selfish now that I think about it. It probably wouldn't be good for us right now, not when we are finally starting to get along.

But Erik seems to have read it before I had a chance to snatch it away. "Another baby."

Looking down at the table, I poke at the remainder of the food on my plate. "Yes. I-I know it probably isn't a good time. I shouldn't have brought it up."

The two of them are silent for nearly an entire minute, my body becoming tenser as the seconds pass.

A hand falls on top of mine, and a second later, a different hand falls on my other one. Looking up, I see that the two of them are watching me, Ethan with a broad smile, while Erik only has a small twist of his lips, the fondness clear in his eyes.

"We've talked about it before," Ethan says. "Do you think Matty is ready?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I look over in the direction of the stairs, as if I would be able to see my baby over there. "He is getting better. He would have to get used to it eventually."

"There isn't anything wrong with wanting another baby, Liam, stop looking so guilty," Erik chides, giving my hand a squeeze.

"Next heat moon is a couple months," Ethan says, his eyes squinted as he tries to count the months. "We can try then."

"R-really?" I say, completely surprised by their agreement. Despite having been talking about it for months now, I just thought they would want to wait some more. Especially since we are just starting to sort things out.

"I think it would be good for us," Ethan says, and Erik nods his head in agreement. "We are finally settled down in a safe place and we are doing better. Besides, we still have a while until the next heat moon. If we decide it isn't a good idea sometime before then, we can just continue using protection."

All the doubts are flowing through my mind, but their gentle assurances are slowly soothing my worry.

"Think of it this way: we had Matty when we first became mates, and we will have the next baby when we are moving into a real relationship." Ethan gives my hand another squeeze before I pull away.

Leaning over, I give him a firm kiss before doing the same to Erik, slightly difficult with how hard I am smiling.

Someone clears their throat behind me, making me jump a foot in the air. Whirling around, I see that Alpha Seren is standing in the door way, a knowing smile on his face. Matty perks up from where he was resting his head on his grandpa's shoulder, looking directly at me before reaching in my direction.

"Mama," he says, bottom lip wobbling.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, I see that it is well past eight o'clock- Matty's bedtime.

"Sorry to interrupt," Alpha Seren says, "but this little boy is refusing to go to sleep."

Matty comes easily enough to me when I hold out my arms, curling against my chest. "I think our date was coming to a close anyway," I say, my hand rubbing up and down Matty's back. "Thank you for watching him."

"Oh, it's no problem." He walks into the kitchen in order to cover the leftover casserole with some saran wrap. "We were doing pretty well up until bed time."

"Thanks, Dad. We appreciate it," Erik says, coming to stand behind me.

Ethan is gathering all of our dishes and putting them into the sink, where someone is bound to get around to cleaning them.

"I'm going to head upstairs with him," I say, moving towards the stairs. "If he stays up much longer, it will be impossible to get him down for the night."

"Be up in a little bit," Ethan calls over his shoulder as Erik helps him with cleaning up the kitchen.

Matty cuddles close to me as I walk up the stairs, only getting upset when I set him down on the bed. "Hush, love," I say, pulling off his day clothes and changing his diaper before putting on a warm pair of footie pajamas. "Mama's here."

He quiets down when I pick him up, carrying him into the room he shares with Rosalie. It is right across the hallway from ours, and peeking inside, I see that Rosalie is already fast asleep in her crib.

There is a bed under the window for Matty, a railing on the side to keep him from rolling off. In all honesty, I had been skeptical about moving him into a twin sized bed, but Micah had needed the other crib for his own children.

"Alright, little love," I whisper, setting Matty on the bed before laying down beside him. "It's night-night time."

He just watches me with wide eyes, cuddling close. Pulling up my sweater, I help him to latch before laying my head on the pillow. I usually don't put him to bed anymore, not wanting him to get used to nursing to sleep. But, I know this will be coming to an end soon, so I indulge him.

Sure enough, he slowly nods off to sleep, waking a few times and continuing to nurse until he is completely passed out. Unlatching him, I pull down my sweater and slip off the bed. Grabbing his blanket, I tuck it around him, leaning down to press a soft kiss on his cheek before walking out of the room.

The room next door belongs to my little sisters, and I peek my head inside, smiling when I see they are both asleep. Avery and Nik have been helping a lot with them, taking on their night time routine so that I don't have to balance them with Matty. It has made my life so much easier, easing a burden I have been carrying since they were born. Now, I have the pack to help me raise them, instead of doing everything by myself.

Ethan and Erik are in our room by the time I make it in there, and the sight has my heart swelling with joy. It has been way too long since we have all slept in the same room. Sleeping in here by myself has been miserable.

Erik is sitting up against the headboard, reading a book, while Ethan must be showering since the water is going. It is easy enough to change into something more comfortable before climbing onto the other side of the bed.

Despite it being only a little after nine o'clock, I am exhausted. It has been impossible to sleep without my mates, waking up multiple times in the night and being unable to fall asleep again in an empty bed.

Turning over, I scoot next to Erik, pressing my nose against his hip and breathing in his scent. His hand finds my hair, fingers petting me. It is soothing, enough so that I find myself drifting.

We have done enough talking for the night, and despite the heat still curling inside me from the wonderful sight from earlier tonight, I am too tired to try anything. The bed jostles sometime later and Ethan scoots up behind me, arm wrapping around my waist.

The warmth of his body adds onto my exhaustion. Sometime later, I hear the bedside lamp being turned off and feel Erik scoot down so that he is laying. With my mates on either side of me, I fall asleep with a smile on my face, the feeling of contentment only growing.