Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

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57 Chapter 57

57 Chapter 57

Damien’s POV 1

The sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand jolted me awake at exactly 5:47 AM. For a heart-stopping moment, panic flooded my system as I reached for it, expecting some emergency from the northern territories where Sera was conducting her heritage search.

Instead, I found a text from Ophelia.

*Emergency at the hospital. My mom had a stroke. Can you handle Adrian today? I’m so sorry – I know this is last minute but I can’t

reach anyone else and I have to get to Portland immediately.*

I scrubbed my hands over my face, trying to shake off the lingering drowsiness. Of course I could handle Adrian for a day. How hard

could it be?

*Of course. Take care of your mom. Adrian will be fine.*

Her response came immediately: *Thank you SO much. I’ll leave the spare key under the flower pot by the door. He knows the routine.*

Twenty minutes later, I stood outside Sera’s modest apartment building, still slightly disoriented by the early hour and the suburban

quiet. The key was exactly where she’d said it would be, hidden beneath a ceramic pot containing.

I let myself in as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake Adrian before necessary.

“Mr. Damien?” A small voice drifted from the direction of bedroom. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, buddy, it’s me, I called softly, following the sound of his voice down a short hallway. “Aunt Ophelia had to go help her mom, so I’m

going to hang out with you today.”

Adrian’s bedroom door was cracked open. He was sitting up in bed, his dark curls sticking up at impossible angles and his blue eyes still

heavy with sleep. He wore Spider-Man pajamas that were slightly too big for his small frame, the sleeves covering his hands completely.

“Is her mom going to be okay?”

“I think so,” I said honestly, settling on the edge of his bed carefully. The mattress dipped under my weight, and he scooted closer

“But Aunt Ophelia wants to be there with her, just like how your mommy

if you got

solemnly, apparently satisfied with this explanation. “Are we going to have adventures

do you usually have?” I asked, genuinely curious about how

someone preparing to deliver a comprehensive lecture, “first we have breakfast. Aunt Ophelia makes really good

get dressed and maybe watch cartoons if there’s time

on his nightstand and realized we had exactly forty-seven minutes to accomplish all

him to

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57 Chapter 57

up with more confidence than I felt. “But we

time.”

bed with the kind of instant energy that only children seemed capable of summoning. “I

at stirring.”

had thoughtfully left out a box of pancake mix and a note with basic instructions, but she’d apparently overestimated my domestic capabilities. The note cheerfully suggested “just add

proved to be an excellent sous chef, chattering continuously as we worked through the pancake process. He told me about his friend at school who could allegedly burp the alphabet, about the new teacher who wore

reading to him about dragons who lived

pancake with disastrous results. “Mommy says that’s how you

very wise,” I agreed, scraping pancake fragments off

so wrong so quickly?

me show you,” Adrian said, reaching for the spatula with the fearless confidence of someone

the bubbles on top, and then you flip

for someone whose hands were barely large enough to grip the handle properly, he demonstrated the

did you learn to do

“She says everyone should know how to cook at least

edible pancakes, which Adrian declared “almost as good as Mommy’s

Victory, apparently, came

a bright, cheerful building that buzzed with the controlled chaos of dozens of small children arriving for their day. I watched other parents navigating the drop-off routine with practiced ease, and tried to project the same casual

out

Adrian said as I walked him to his classroom, his small hand warm in mine.

that’s what you want,” I said, surprised by how much

going to draw of you today.

give you superhero muscles.”

said, crouching down to Adrian’s level. Without

that was