Suri

Nightingale

"I told you we should have just said it to him sooner," Dev said to Atlas while we walked back to the house, the clouds now open for the sun since the rain finally stopped.

"It slipped out of my mind after everything that happened, alright? Lay off me, will you?" Atlas exclaimed as he rolled his eyes at him.

"Those two are always fighting, aren't they?" I turned to Wes who had his arm around my shoulder.

I guess now that we knew Keith knew, there was no need to hide anything, though I'm still not entirely used to it.

"Funnily enough, it was Atlas and I who always didn't see eye to eye and Devon was the mediator. Ever since you came into our lives, that kind of did a flip especially after the two of them fell for you... hard." Wes explained and my cheeks blushed at his last

sentence.

It's still crazy to me that all three of them ended up choosing to be with me before the mate bond even existed. Sure, it was a magical thing of some sorts to have, but knowing that our original connection was formed by ourselves I guess makes this whole thing even more special.

"There's no point in arguing over it, guys, so stop being a dick to each other." I told Atlas and Dev and they gave each other death glares before letting out a lighthearted chuckle. "You're right," Atlas agreed.

"My apologies, big brother," Dev said with a cheeky smile, half serious and half teasing, but it works either way.

"Seems like you're the new mediator," Wes whispers to me at the side and frankly, I quite like that.

Keith was leaning on the edge of his table when we got inside. His tie was loosened and his hair ruffled. It was the look of Keith after work hours, though it was hard to pinpoint what the expression on his face meant as he just stared straight at us. Was he annoyed? Pissed? Mad? That we had kept it to him? What would he do? Would he separate us? Would he move me away from them? I would never agree to such a thing. I would never ever wanted to be separated from th-

"I'm really happy for the four of you," he shared with genuine happiness in his face and all my negative thoughts flew out of the window instantly.

Um, wait what? That was easier than I thought it was going to be.

"How long have you known?" Atlas was the one to ask the first question.

Keith turns to look to his left as he seemed to be in thought before turning back to us with a content smile. "I knew before even bringing in Suri here that she was going to change a lot of things in this house, and one, or rather three of those, would be all of you. I just had no idea the extent of the change, but I already noticed it back then during the fourth of July party."

All the brothers reacted to his statement in shock.

"What? I hated her back then!" Atlas exclaimed before turning to me with a soft tone. "No offense, baby."

I chuckled. "None taken."

"Same, I barely even took notice of her before." Wes comments, but gives me a wink that said - 'now there's only you'.

My cheeks warmed.

"I didn't understand my feelings back then either," Dev shrugged his shoulders.

Keith smiled broadly. "That's the thing. Neither of you understood it, but I did. Atlas, I saw it in the way you looked at Suri with a fiery gaze, both out of hatred and passion. It wasn't hard to see from the outside perspective that you were continually just denying your feelings for her.

"Wesley, on the other hand, you may think you looked at Suri as just one of the girls you play and dumb, but you had no idea she was changing you little by little. You wanted her out of your lives, but by doing so, you just kept needing her more and more." Holy wow, Keith was speaking some deep realizations, and I mean, Marianas fucking Trench deep.

And by the looks on Atlas and Wes' faces, he was hitting the nail in the coffin.

"Devon, my son, you fell for her the moment you saw her. Well, you all did, but most of you kept denying that feeling. So much so that you began to think that was the truth. But I saw the way you watched her and I had never seen you look so... at peace." I saw Dev smile and push back tears.

Damn. Keith really noticed all of that and none of us had any idea.

"Granted, those were just feelings, but the mate part, that was different. I only found out the same time as you three did, which was on your birthday. I waited, and waited, and waited for either one of you to tell me, but none of you did. Now my question is... why?" The three of them glanced at each other with guilty and embarrassed expressions.

"We thought you would take her away from us if you found out..." Atlas was the one who confessed and both Keith and I had the same astonished expression.

"Take her away, how?" Keith asked with a calm tone, as if he was really trying to figure out the mindset they had for them not telling him.

Atlas explained what they had talked about before on the night they found out I was their mate, while I was probably snoozing away in bed.

A few moments of silence later, Keith moves up and starts to walk towards the boys while I stand at the side watching them.

For the first time, I saw the three brothers looked intimidated by Keith, and I too was worried about his reaction.

Relief coursed through me when he spread his arms out and pulled all three for a wide hug.

"Family isn't always just blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who you know would bleed for you and you for them. Whatever happens, we are in this together, remember? I will always, always prioritize your safety, and never one for the other." Keith says before turning to me and ushering me to join the hug.

"I am happy that you've all finally told me, and I am also even happier that it is Suri because who else would have been perfect for the three of you other than her?"

I blushed at his words before he pulled me in closer and we all huddled in one big hug.

I loved that hugs were starting to happen more often now.

"Now, for the surprise I was talking about. Come with me to the living room." Keith instructed, and when we walked to it, we were all surprised at the giant lights set up all around the area and men tweaking with their cameras. What is going on?

"What do you think? We're due for a new family portrait, aren't we?" Keith asked with a broad smile and I couldn't contain my giddiness.

I didn't care that I wasn't made up. I didn't care that I wasn't wearing fancy clothes.

All I cared about was the people I loved the most surrounding me as we took pictures smiling and laughing.

Absolutely nothing could be better than this. Better than being with people that I belonged with in a place where I belonged, too.

"1, 2, 3, say cheese!"

And then a flash of light forever immortalized the family I had longed for and had thankfully found me.

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