Cocking an eyebrow, Jackson studied his brother for a moment, before saying, “I’m not sure…if you asked me that right after Danny’s birth, my answer would have been ‘hell, no’ but now…maybe. On the rare occasion I see Danny playing by himself, the thought crosses my mind that it would be great if he had some siblings, like we did growing up, but then I remember that I nearly died giving birth and…”
“But you didn’t.”
“No, but only because of Colton’s gift,” Jackson replied. “I’m not sure I want to put Steel through that again.”
“What if you knew it wouldn’t happen again? Then would you do it?” asked Dakota.
“I don’t know,” Jackson replied. “What about you? Do you plan to have more kids?”
Dropping his gaze, Dakota stared at the floor for a few seconds before murmuring, “Slate wants more, but I’m not ready and I’m not sure if I ever will be. Please don’t think I don’t love Max, cause I do, but Mom said my son…or any kids I have…can get my gene and I’d never want them to suffer like I did growing up.”
“You mean Max could be an empath like you?”
Nodding, tears filled Dakota’s eyes as he looked at his brother. “I won’t know until he’s a little older, but if he does, it’ll break my heart cause I know what his life will be like.”
“And that’s why you don’t want to have any more kids,” Jackson said softly. “Have you told Slate about this?”
“No…he loves being a father…more than he ever thought he would, and I’m afraid it would hurt him,” Dakota murmured, tears finally rolling down his face.
“Oh sweetie,” Jackson murmured, getting up and walking over to his brother. Grasping Dakota’s hand, he tugged him up and wrapped his arms around him, murmuring, “Slate loves you, and I know he would understand your feelings about it.”
Burying his face against Jackson’s shoulder, Dakota stood there, letting his brother’s alpha power soothe his soul. When the tension finally left his body, he took a step back and wiped the wetness from his face. “I know Slate wants me to be happy but…but…”
“C’mon,” Jackson crooned, leading his brother over to the love seat in his study. Once Dakota sat down, Jackson shut his study door, then sat beside his brother. “Let’s sort this out, okay?” After getting a nod from his brother, he continued, “First, you don’t have to decide right now about getting pregnant again because you can’t unless Slate is in histoirchighperiod. And according to Oracle, that won’t happen this soon after the birth of Max.”
“I know that,” Dakota muttered.
“Right, so this isn’t something you need to worry about right now,” Jackson said. “Now, about Max…it’ll be a while before you know for sure if he’s an empath, right?”
“Yeah…Mom said if he has my gene, then it normally becomes active about the age of five.”
“Until then, Max is just a normal kid, right?”
Shrugging, Dakota said, “I guess so.”
“Okay. Does Slate know this?”
Shaking his head, Dakota replied, “I don’t think so…at least I haven’t told him about it.” Sighing, he added, “You’re gonna tell him…”
“No sweetie, but I think you should,” Jackson said softly. “And my recommendation is for both of you to sit down with Ian and Mac to talk about how likely it is that Max carries the gene.”
“They would know this?” asked Dakota hopefully.
“Maybe not about the empath gene exactly, but they certainly know about genes and might be able to give you the probability of Max becoming one,” Jackson said.
“That would be good.”
“Yup…but you should also talk to Mac or Ian about the feelings you are having. Right now, your hormones are still running wild, and it will take some time for them to settle down, so I wouldn’t be surprised if, in six months, you feel differently about everything.”
“Maybe…but…”
“Hey…I’m not saying you will, but all you really need to remember is nothing’s going to happen for a while…plenty of time to figure things out.”
Nodding, Dakota leaned over and hugged his brother. “Thanks…I feel better about it already.”
“I’m glad...but you have to talk to Slate about it. And the sooner the better. Promise?”
“I will…tonight after Max is asleep,” Dakota said, getting up and picking up the tray. “I better get back to my kitchen and start on lunch.”