The summer heat is a familiarity now, and something that I will take advantage of while it is here. Matty is playing on a blanket with Rosalie, looking up every once in a while to send me a wide smile. He loves the sunshine, being able to stay outside all day and play in the grass and mud.

It is amazing how quickly he has grown. It seems like it was just yesterday that he was born, a scrunched up face, disgruntled about being forced from my body. He is a delight, though. Always has been. But lately, he has been pretty protective over all of his parents, not wanting to be away from us or for me to hold another baby.

He seems to be feeding off of our agitation and tension. They do say that babies are more perceptive than most people, sensing things that adults often miss.

It would be hard to miss the struggles of my relationship though. Erik and Ethan are both stubborn but in different ways. While Ethan cannot keep his emotions hidden at all, Erik keeps his locked tight, not letting anyone have a glimpse of what he may be feeling. Ethan, though, is stubborn in the way he never is the first to broach a subject. He always holds back, even if it is hurting him. Suffice to say, it is tough to get the two of them to work out whatever the hell is going on between them.

Matty waddles over to me, babbling a continuous stream of "Mama Mama Mama."

One thing my mates had decided was to teach him to call me by that name. I don't mind, mostly because I know it is one of the last times they really got along. Besides, it is not as if 'mama' is a derogatory term, it is just the way Matty sees me.

"What is it, little love?" I say, picking the little boy up so that he is sitting on my legs in front of me.

He smiles wide, leaning forward to pat at my chest. "Mama mama."

Seeing as he is only a little over a year, he uses the same word for me and for milk. Pulling up my t-shirt, I allow him to get latched, before sitting back in the chair and relaxing. This little boy is very attached to nursing, at the moment. I had tried to wean him a few months ago, and he had fiercely rejected it. After weeks of my baby being fussy and tired from crying, I had given in.

I don't mind nursing, but I always had the belief that once babies reached a year, it was time for them to stop. Taylor had assured me that it was perfectly okay to continue nursing Matty, as long as we were both okay with it.

It offers him comfort and puts me at peace of mind. There could have been many times that Matty was taken away from me while we were living outside of pack lands. If I hadn't been quick enough, or if the others hadn't been there to protect him, my baby could be gone.

That thought has me pulling him closer, looking down to see that he is practically asleep, dozing for a while before his eyes snap open and he starts to nurse again.

Rosalie coos from where she is sitting on the blanket. A stuffed bear is in her mouth, the ear wet from her gnawing on it. Her eyes light up suddenly, focused on something behind me. Before I have a chance to turn, Taylor walks into view, giving my shoulder a squeeze before settling down on the blanket next to his daughter.

"Sweet girl, were you good for Liam?" he coos, picking her up and cuddling her against his chest. Her hands tighten in his shirt, as if afraid that Taylor will try to put her down. He won't. He is just as bad as I am when it comes to missing his daughter. They have only been apart for no more than thirty minutes, and they are both acting as if it has been days.

"She was a perfect angel, as usual," I say, a small smile spreading across my face as I watch Taylor press kisses against the soft curls on Rosalie's head.

Out of all of us here, Tate and Taylor always seem to be the perfect family. I know that they went through a lot of shit with Zalo, but it only seemed to make them grow closer. They are the couple everyone aspires to be, and despite being happy for my friend, it still makes my heart ache.

"What are you brooding about over there?" Taylor says, his arms stretched behind him as he leans back against the blanket. Rosalie happily sits in his lap, hands wrapped around one of her feet as she gnaws on her toes. Ah, teething, the mighty beast.

"I'm not brooding," I grumble, squinting my eyes as him

Taylor just raises a skeptical eyebrow at me. "Mm, sulking then."

"I-"

"Whatever it is, Liam, you can talk to me about it. Better to let it out than to keep it bottled up inside. Eventually, it will just continue to grow until it bubbles over completely."

As always, Taylor is right. He just waits patiently for me to get comfortable in the plastic lawn chair, not pushing me to talk any further.

"It's just the whole thing with Ethan and Erik. They are both sulking in their own minds, not wanting to talk about whatever they are feeling. Whenever I try to talk to either of them about it, they just close up even more. I just don't know what to do about it anymore."

"Maybe you can just lock them in a room and refuse to let them out until they work out their issues," he says, a smile on his face and eyes lit with humor.

My own eyes widen at his words because he is brilliant. "That's perfect!"

His smile falls, watching me as I stand up from the chair, Matty cradled against my chest. "Wait, Liam, I didn't mean for you to actually lock them in a room."

His words fall on deaf ears, seeing as I already have a plan forming in my head. Matty snuffles against me, waking briefly from the movement of me walking. He starts to protest when I unlatch him, just like he always does. Rubbing his back, I soothe him back to sleep, pressing a kiss onto his dark curls.

Walking upstairs to the bedroom, I see that the door is cracked open. Matty settles nicely into his crib, grabbing his pacifier and sticking it in his mouth as I tuck a thin blanket around him.

The shower is running behind the closed bathroom door, so one of my mates must be in there. As quietly as I can, I tiptoe out of the room, hurrying downstairs in search of my other mate.

Ethan is easy to find, leaning against the kitchen counter while munching on some of the berries that had been picked earlier this morning. He looks up when he sees me, a smile spreading across his face, but before he can talk, I sidle up to him.

"Hey, love, can you please go check on Matty. You know how clingy he gets sometimes," I say, knowing that Ethan will do anything for the little boy. Matty has his Daddy and Papa wrapped around his little tiny finger.

Ethan nods his head, rinsing off his fingers before heading to the stairs. "Of course."

After giving him enough time to reach the room, I run up there as quickly as possible. Erik is still in the shower, thank goodness, but the sound of the water turning off has me quickly closing the door and locking us all inside.

Ethan looks over at me in confusion, seeing as Matty is fast asleep and I am blocking the only exit. "Liam, what's going on?"

Erik walks out of the room before I can answer, wearing only a pair of black briefs and toweling off his hair. He freezes when he sees all of in the room, eyes flicking between me and Ethan as he slowly lowers the towel from his hair.

"What's going on?" he asks, not seeming to mind in the least that he is practically naked, while the rest of us are fully clothed.

"I have no idea," Ethan mumbles, crossing his arms across his chest.

Leaning back against the door, I look between my mates. "We are all staying in here until you two talk. I am tired of this stalemate of communication. All of us are suffering, especially him," I say, pointing to Matty. "So you two are going to swallow your pride and try to overcome your stubbornness for a moment so that we can work this out.

"We are all going to talk about this like adults, in a civilized manner, or else our son will wake up." My eyes squint marginally. "We all know how Matty gets when he is woken too early from his nap."

Both of them wince, eyes darting over to the peacefully- practically angelic- baby sleeping in his crib, pacifier bobbing as he suckles in his sleep. Our son seems to have a flair for the dramatics, letting his displeasures be known to the entire world.

The room becomes silent, the only sound being Matty's sleepy breaths.

"Let's just get this over with," Ethan grumbles, looking away from his son and meeting his brother's eyes. "Erik, I love you, more than a brother is supposed to love his brother, but I do. And I want this relationship to work, for us to work."

Erik looks shocked, mouth falling open before he seems to gather his bearings. He gives a small shake to his head, green eyes hardening. "I love you too, Ethan, always have. That- that's why I shouldn't be part of this relationship."

His eyes fall to the ground, one of the few times I have ever seen my mate show his shame. "I'm the reason this pack has suffered so much, and subsequently our relationship. I should never have doubted you about Zalo or have sent you out to find our pack lands while you were still healing. It was stupid and went against everything I believed about protecting you. But this I can do. I can leave and let you and Liam and Matty be the happy family you all deserve."

I don't even have a chance to respond to my mate's shocking words before Ethan is stepping forward, pulling his brother into a hard kiss. The gesture sends a spike of arousal through me, heat settling in my groin. It is hard to shake away the arousal, but I do, knowing that this is not the time.

"Erik, don't you dare fucking say that," Ethan says that, only leaving an inch of space between his and Erik's lips. "You say it is your responsibility to protect me? Well, it's my responsibility as your brother to protect you. Even if it is from yourself."

"And this relationship can't survive without you, Erik. We are all in this together or not at all," I whisper, barely able to hold back the tremble in my voice. It hurts to hear someone you love talk so lowly about themselves. All I want to do is shake him until he realizes that he is just as important and just as wanted.

But Ethan seems to be doing enough of that already.

"You always talk about how babies can see the truth in a person, right, Liam?" Erik asks, looking over at me. Ethan rests his forehead against Erik's temple, seeming to already know what his brother is about to say. Something in my chest tightens because I can see the hurt and determination in his eyes. "Well, Matty must see something in me, something that the two of you are impartial to."

"Erik, no..."

He nods his head, turning to press a kiss against Ethan's forehead before pulling away completely. "So, I'll continue to protect you guys, just as I always will, even if it is me you need protecting from."

And with that, he moves over towards me, pushing me softly to the side so that he can walk out the door, seeming to completely forget that he is still only in his underwear. It is with that one movement that my legs lose their ability to hold me up any longer, and I slide down the wall, the tears freely falling now. A piece of my heart just walked away, while the other one looks like he is barely catching his breath, hands trembling as he runs his fingers through his hair. But Matty sleeps on, the only one remaining intact from this conversation.