Kiss Me if You Can-Chapter 10Vol. 2

"I can’t talk about the client, mom."

"Oh, right. Sorry. I hope they get better soon."

His mother quickly adjusted her words and changed the topic to something more mundane. Pete, who had climbed onto Josh’s shoulders, started tapping his head and wriggling his hips.

"Do you like riding on Daddy’s shoulders that much?"

His mother asked with a smile, adding, "You’ve never asked to be carried by me, though." Pete nodded his head from atop Josh’s head.

"Daddy is really tall. Like this tall."

As Pete stretched out his body while still sitting on Josh’s neck, Josh quickly grabbed his legs to keep him steady. With that, Pete could move freely without any danger, but he seemed to be unsatisfied.

"I could go higher."

"You’ll grow up big soon, Pete. Then you won’t have to climb on anyone’s shoulders to see from that high up."

"No, Daddy."

Pete buried his face in Josh’s head and rubbed his lips against him, and Josh was puzzled by this unexpected behavior. For a moment, Pete hesitated in the same position, then mumbled with his lips still on Josh’s head.

"You saw him last time, the pretty one."

"Huh?"

Josh froze for a moment. Then Pete shook his body as if frustrated.

"At the amusement park, we went to ride the train. You gave me a piggyback ride."

Ah.

Now Josh understood what Pete was referring to. It was Chase. When the boy mentioned him, Josh felt his chest tighten. He cleared his throat hastily, then spoke up.

"Do you want to see Chase again, Pete?"

Pete answered softly, "Yeah."

"Is he pretty?"

"…Yeah."

There was nothing more to say. In fact, the only time Pete had met Chase was that day. Fortunately, Chase’s appearance matched Pete’s preferences, so that was a small relief. Josh decided to subtly probe Pete’s feelings.

"Should we meet him again next time?"

"Yeah! When? When?"

Pete asked eagerly. Josh hesitated, then cleared his throat quickly to adjust his voice, which had become tightly constricted. At that moment, his mother, who had gone to the kitchen, returned and asked.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Uh..."

It was an ordinary question, but Josh paused to think for a moment. Perhaps now was the right time?

"Josh?"

His mother asked, confused, and after a few seconds of hesitation, Josh finally spoke.

"What about Emma? It’s the weekend, is she not coming?"

When Josh turned to glance at the clock, his mother replied.

"She’ll be here soon for dinner. Could you help with some of the preparations?"

As he followed his mother into the kitchen, Josh opened the refrigerator and found some large steaks. After a moment, he looked up.

"I’ll cook these."

After taking the meat out, Josh opened the door that led to the garden. By that time, Pete had been sitting on Josh’s shoulders, but now it was time for him to get off. After placing the steaks at room temperature, Josh returned inside and set out some toys in the living room for Pete to play with while dinner was being prepared.

"Wait for a bit, Pete. I’ll be back soon."

After kissing Pete on the cheek and patting his head, the boy grabbed the toys without a fuss. The puppy doll that had always been with him was gone. When Josh realized that, he asked his mother, who had crossed paths with him in the kitchen.

"Do you not talk about Jason?"

"Huh?"

His mother blinked, unaware until now. Josh glanced back and muttered to himself.

"He’ll miss it... I should buy him another doll, I guess."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

His mother nodded enthusiastically and quickly began preparing dinner. Josh, meanwhile, headed out to the garden to check the grill. After his father passed away and Josh grew up, using the grill to cook steaks became his role. As he finished preparing the grill and confirmed the gas was connected properly, Emma’s car pulled up in front of the house.

"Pete, you little troublemaker!"

As soon as Emma entered, she ran straight to Pete, hugging him tightly and showering him with kisses. Afterward, she noticed Josh and looked at him in surprise. Before she could say anything, Josh explained first.

"It’s a long vacation. With more staff members now, we’re rotating shifts. I’ll be here for a few days."

He said "a few days," but in reality, it was unclear how long it would be. Once the contract was over, he would have to decide whether to return to the East or stay here.

If he didn’t plan on quitting and if Chase’s condition didn’t improve, he’d probably stay in this state.

Emma responded indifferently, "Oh, really?"

After checking the steak’s doneness, Josh headed back to the garden, but before he could go outside, Emma asked.

"By the way, Josh, who was that pretty person you met with Pete the other day?"

"Right, I remember now!"

His mother also recalled the moment and chimed in. Josh, flustered, looked between the two of them. Emma winked at Pete before continuing.

"Pete has mentioned it a few times—he went on a date with an incredible beauty! What happened? Is it someone serious? According to Pete, they were an angelic beauty, really, really pretty!"

"Did that really happen, Josh?"

His mother added enthusiastically. Josh felt awkward but figured it was better to get it over with after dinner.

"I was actually going to say something... after dinner, we can talk over coffee."

Josh tried to sound casual, but the reaction was explosive.

"Oh my God, Josh!"

"Who is it? How did you meet them? Why wait to talk later?"

"Josh, I’m so curious! Can you give us a little hint?"

His mother and Emma took turns pestering him. Josh awkwardly smiled and said, "Later." He went out to the garden to light the grill and prepare the steaks. His mother and Emma watched him silently from the kitchen window, putting pressure on him without saying anything, but he continued to ignore them.

@Funhap

"Alright, now tell us."

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

Throughout dinner, Emma glared at Josh, waiting for an answer. Once they finished eating, they had to wait for Pete to finish his bath and settle down for bed. As soon as Josh appeared from downstairs into the living room, Emma clenched her fists and stood up, as if there was no turning back. But Josh walked towards the kitchen.

"Josh!"

"Wait, I haven’t had my coffee yet."

"Here."

Before Josh could finish speaking, his mother hurriedly handed him a mug. Seeing his hesitation, she raised her eyebrows and said.

"Here it is. Hurry up and come to the living room."

She pushed him toward the couch, her impatience obvious. Josh couldn’t resist and walked over to the living room.

The three of them sat on the sofa, and for a while, no one spoke. Emma and his mother waited for Josh to speak, but Josh just sipped the horrible coffee in silence. Finally, after finishing his coffee, he couldn’t delay any longer.

"Ahem."

As he cleared his throat, both Emma and his mother’s attention immediately shifted to him. He could feel their eyes sparkling with excitement. Taking a deep breath, Josh finally spoke.

"I’m planning to get married."

"What?"

"What did you say?"

The bombshell announcement made both his mother and Emma scream in surprise. Josh felt embarrassed by the stronger-than-expected reaction, but it didn’t end there. The two of them quickly exchanged looks and then began bombarding him with questions.

"How? Josh is getting married? Mom, can you believe it?"

"I thought you’d never get married."

"Who is it? How did you meet? Are you serious? Are you sure you won’t regret it?"

"Do you know about Pete?"

"Mom, we’ve met."

"Oh, I see. So, you both agreed to raise Pete together?"

"So, are you getting married here, or are you going back East?"

"Where will you live?"

"Is your partner an Alpha? Or just a Beta?"

Josh waited patiently for the questions to stop. He was about to take a sip of his cup when he realized it was empty. With a sigh, he put the cup down on the table. His mother and Emma stopped asking questions and waited for his answer.

Josh leaned forward with his arms resting on his thighs and spoke.

"I think we’ll live in California. I haven’t told the company yet, but I don’t plan on quitting. I’ll return here whenever I take time off... since I travel around the country doing security work anyway."

Since most of the other members live in the East, it’s likely their work will be based there. Josh thought, and then added.

"I can’t do anything right now because of some circumstances... I’ll introduce them after the right time comes. We met a few years ago, and recently we decided to get married."

"You’ve been together that long? I didn’t know!"

"Mom, that doesn’t make sense. Josh’s longest relationship lasted two months!"

"Three months."

"Anyway! Wait, you’ve known them for a few years?"

Emma blinked in surprise. It seemed like she had figured something out. Josh corrected her and took a shallow breath before continuing.

"Pete’s papa."

"..."

Josh realized that being bombarded with questions was far better than being met with silence. His mother and Emma were speechless, staring at him in disbelief.

"...What?"

"What did you say?"

After a sigh of disbelief, Emma asked, trying to form a sentence. Their eyes were locked on Josh’s ear as they waited for more answers.

"Yeah, it was him who made the mark."

They were still silent, their eyes just wide open. Josh tried to act casual as he continued.

"Pete’s papa. It happened a few years ago by accident... we’ve met again recently. I only recently found out about Pete, and though it was a shock at first, I’ve come to accept it."

"Papa, not a woman?"

Emma asked, barely able to believe it. Josh nodded.

"He’s a man."

If he mentioned 'Extreme Alpha,' they would immediately know. Emma was pretty sharp. But for now, he didn’t want to reveal that. When Chase came over to greet them, he’d explain everything. His mother and Emma wouldn’t talk about this to anyone, but it was probably better to keep it secret for now.

Chase’s condition wasn’t great either.

There were a lot of things that needed to be hidden, and once one thing came out, everything would unravel. For now, Josh needed to watch the situation carefully. Instead, he added a simple explanation.

"Right now, he’s in a situation, so visiting has to be postponed. We’ll set a new date and discuss everything when we meet."

"Well..."

His mother still seemed stunned, nodding slowly. Josh let out a sigh, relieved that the hard part was over. He noticed the empty coffee cup and stood up to get more.

As he poured coffee into his cup, Emma, following him, held out her empty one. After filling it, Josh returned the cup to her, and she looked up at him with a serious expression.

"When you marry someone, it’s for life."

"I know."

Josh answered simply as he brought the cup to his lips. The warm coffee touched his lips and slid down his throat. Emma, holding her cup, didn’t take a sip. She just continued to stare at Josh.

"If you get tired of it, you can’t cheat."

"I know."

When Josh spoke again, Emma looked at him with a skeptical face, taking a sip of her coffee. With a look of distrust, Josh added.

"I didn’t have confidence at first, so I didn’t say anything. I didn’t talk about Pete either. At first, it was just a physical relationship, after all."

"..."

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"I’m sure now, that’s why I took Pete."

Emma stared at Josh’s face before lowering her gaze. After taking another sip of coffee, she finally spoke.

"It doesn’t match. Marriage, huh."

Emma muttered as she turned away.

"From the way they fell for each other, they must be unbelievably pretty. I’m really curious."

She wanted to tell him to bring them over immediately, but since Josh had already warned her, she couldn’t force him. Emma stopped asking more questions and left the kitchen, leaving Josh alone. He stared into his black coffee, speaking to himself.

"She’s insanely beautiful, yeah, really."

The faint scent of coffee brushed his nose. But that was all. No matter how hard he tried to smell it, the familiar sweet scent was nowhere to be found.

...How’s she doing? I hope the treatment’s going well.

Josh absentmindedly thought, then froze. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, he scratched his head, quickly finished his coffee, set the empty cup down, and left the kitchen.