Thoreau - Chapter 22: Chapter 22

"They're here!" I screeched from my lookout position at the window in the bubble room.
As the old black car come up the driveway, I could see my friend Nathan Barlow sitting in the driver's side. Mom Evie sat besides him up front, and my besties were in the back.
"Okay, honey. Be there in a minute," Bubba called back. He'd just returned from leading Dr. York to the guest house and was now in the kitchen, deciding what to make me and my besties for supper. "Go greet them until I get there."
" 'Member the plan, Spring?" I grinned at him where he lay on the floor at my feet.
I do. I'll wait for your signal, little one.
I patted the top of his head, then ran to the front door, threw it open, and raced off the porch as Dad Nathan brought his car to a stop. He did something to make it rumble louder for a second, and I put my hands over my ears and hunched my shoulders up a bit.
It's okay, Reau, Wayne linked me. It's just the noise of the engine. Nothing to be afraid of. Like our dirt bikes, okay?
Okay. I lowered my hands right as Nathan shut off the car, which was a relief.
He got out, then went around to open Mom Evie's door while Arch pushed Dad Nathan's seat forward and climbed out.
"ChiChi!"
I tried to tackle him, but he was much bigger and stronger than me, and I would have just bounced off of him if he hadn't caught me.
"Hey, Curls." He patted my back as I squeezed him in a tight hug. "I missed you, too! And I can't wait to see all the surprises you've been linking us about."
"Me, too!" Wayne said as he came around the hood of the car and joined our hug. "You've sounded extra hype all day, so we're curious to know what you've got to show us."
I finished hugging Arch, then turned to Wayne and squeezed him tight, too.
"We even dragged tired old Mom along like you asked us to," Arch smirked as he looked over at Evie.
"Hey!" Dad Nathan and Mom Evie squawked together, which made me giggle.
"Mom Evie, Gelo told me the secret!" I squealed. Slipping out of Wayne's clingy arms, I ran over to her.
"Mom Evie?!" Arch and Wayne said at the same time.
"She is your mom and she is Evie. Mom Evie." I shrugged and looked back at her, but Wayne started talking before I could.
"So that means he's Dad Nathan?" He pointed to Dad Nathan.
"Yep!"
"That's nice of you to give us nicknames, Reau." Mom Evie put her hands on my shoulders and leaned in to kiss my check. "What secret did Gelo tell you, baby?"
"There's a pup in your belly!" I bounced on my toes in front of her and grinned. "I love pups! I used to have one of my own, you know!"
"You did?" Dad Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Pretty young to be a father, ain't you, little man?"
Mom Evie and Wayne giggled, probably at how ridiculous Dad Nathan was being.
"Of course I am too young to be a father, Dad Nathan. Besides, Gelo 'splained how pups are made during mating, and I am not interested in mating girls. Even if I was, I promised Binda no mating until I turn eighteen. No one can see my dicky - and I can't see anyone else's - until I either find my mate or choose one."
Dad Nathan stared at me for a few seconds, then patted me on the top of my head.
"That's exactly right, little man. Arch and Wayne promised the same thing, so you three can help each other keep that promise."
My curls bounced all over the place as I nodded with big eyes. I would never break a promise! Not ever!
"Your dicky." Arch scowled. "Did you just call your penis your dicky?"
"Yes, I did, ChiChi. Dicky is such a happy word, don't you think? Penis sounds like a doctor word. Too serious for something fun to play with!"
"Oh my Goddess, Nathan!" Mom gasped between her giggles. "Stop him! Stop him before I pee myself!"
"Reau, you shouldn't talk about your private parts in public," Arch said before Dad Nathan could stop whoever Mom Evie wanted him to stop.
"Yes, I know, ChiChi. Binda, Bubba, and Gelo were very clear about that."
"Then why were you?"
"Why were I what?" I tilted my head in confusion.
"Talking about private parts in public!" he growled.
"Is this public?" I looked around and only saw my friend Dad Nathan Barlow, his mate Mom Evie, and my two besties.
"Yes, this is public!" he snarled.
"Oh. I am sorry. I did not know that." I reached up and patted his red cheek with my fingertips. "Don't worry, Arch. Now that I know you and your family are public, I will not say dicky around you or them."
"You can say dicky around me all you want, Curls," Wayne giggled.
"Wayne!" Mom Evie and Arch snapped at the same time while Dad Nathan rolled his eyes.
Figuring that issue was taken care of, I spun on my heel and grabbed one of Mom Evie's hands in both of mine.
"So can I?"
"Can you what, baby?"
"Hold your pup when it comes out."
"Sure you can, but it won't be until next spring," she said. "And to answer your earlier question, no, I didn't know you had your own pup. Would you like to tell me about him or her?"
"Oh, yes! Baby Dean was so cute! He had chubby cheeks and light blond hair like Big Sissy and dark brown eyes like Bubba and Big Brother. Binda taught me how to change his diapers and feed him and everything because Big Sissy stopped taking care of him when Big Brother got sick."
A little shiver went down my spine as I remembered Big Sissy's bad days. My throat tightened up, and I had to talk in a whisper to tell her the next part.
"She got scary after Big Brother died, and I kept Baby Dean in my room almost all the time. I was afraid she might hurt him by accident. One day, she did, and she and Baby Dean both died."
I sniffed a little as my eyes stung. I usually tried not to think of Baby Dean because it made my heart hurt and my nose fill up, but I couldn't forget him when I loved him so much. Same with Sister and Big Brother and Big Sissy.
Even though Bubba 'splained about the sickness, I still didn't understand why they all had to die at the same time. At least I knew it wasn't punishment from the Goddess for me being a broken, bad boy. Bubba made sure to tell me that over and over. He never lied to me, so I had to believe him.
"Do you want to share what happened?" Mom Evie asked gently.
I shook my head, a little scared she'd get mad at me for not wanting to.
"Okay, baby. You don't have to. You never have to share more than you're comfortable sharing."
"What's he talking about that made him sad?" Bubba raised an eyebrow as he came down the walk and shook Dad Nathan's hand.
"Baby Dean." Mom Evie met Bubba's eyes. "Reau misses him a lot, don't you, baby?"
I couldn't talk right then, so I nodded. Arch and Wayne were tapping on the link, but I couldn't answer them, either.
"I know you do, honey. I do, too." Bubba sighed. "It's okay to talk about him any time you want to."
"But Mommy Daddy said—"
"What did I tell you this morning?" He cupped my face in his big hands and used his thumbs to wipe the tears off my cheeks. "Nothing they said matters anymore. Just listen to me, okay?"
"Okay, Bubba." My voice came out all raspy and I coughed a little before I asked, "Do you miss Baby Dean?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Big Brother and Big Sissy and Sister, too?"
"Yeah, honey. I think about them nearly every day."
I nodded. Good. I wasn't the only one. Someday, I'd ask him how he thought about them without wanting to cry.
"Let's do something to cheer you up!" Bubba smiled down at me. "Ready to give everyone the big surprise?"
"Oh, yeah!" I dropped Mom Evie's hand and freed myself from Bubba's and spun around to face Dad Nathan and my besties. "Wait here, please!"
"Em, who is he talking about?" I heard Mom Evie whisper as I ran up the walk.
"I'll tell you later."
"Em, why do I smell—"
"Shh." Bubba interrupted Dad Nathan. "You'll ruin it for him."
Ignoring them, I raced up to the porch steps, threw open the front door, stuck my head around the corner, and grinned at Spring.
Ready?
Ready!
Turning back to face everyone, I clapped my hands to get their attention.
"All right! I want to introduce you all to my new wolf!"
"Your what?!" Wayne and Mom Evie gasped while Dad Nathan and Arch narrowed their eyes at me, and it made me giggle to see how my besties mimicked their parents.
"My new wolf!" I said again. "Ta-da!"
Spring padded out onto the porch and stood next to me.
"Is that—" Mom Evie gasped. "Is that Spring?"
"I knew I scented you!" With a grin, Dad Nathan loped up to the porch and held out his hand. Spring put his paw in it, and Dad Nathan shook it. "Welcome back, my friend! I'm so happy to see you!"
"Hey, Spring!" Wayne said as he and Arch also came up and shook his paw. "I know someone else who's going to be so glad to see you. Arroyo is going to lose it when he finds out you're back!"
Who's 'rroyo? I scowled, not liking that Spring had a special friend besides me.
Beta Matthew Rose's wolf. Matthew and my human, Everett, were best friends, so Roy and I spent a lot of time together.
I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. Did that mean Spring would ditch me for Roy the first chance he got?
"Welcome home, sweetie." Mom Evie held out her arms and Spring walked into them.
While she was hugging my wolf, Arch slung his arm around my neck and pulled me close to him.
If Spring accepted you as his human, he meant it, Curls. Roy's his friend, yes, but you are now the most important person in his life.
My head swung up so I could look in Arch's eyes to see if he was telling the truth, and he was!
How did you know what I was thinking, ChiChi?
I got magic. Didn't you know that?
"You got magic?!" I squealed.
"Is he telling you that nonsense?" Wayne rolled his eyes as the parents fussed over Spring. "He doesn't have magic, baby. He's just really, really good at reading people's faces. He does it to me and our family all the time. You can hardly keep a secret around our place, and it doesn't help that Firth is a major gossip."
Hey! Firth pouted as he joined our conversation. I just like to keep informed of things.
Yeah, of everything, Ocean chuckled as Wayne grinned.
Communication is key in healthy relationships, Firth pointed out.
Okay, communication does not include tattling on Wade for coming in after curfew because he refused to share his Oreos with you.
Sure it does! Firth argued. If he would have communicated a positive answer instead of a negative one, he wouldn't have been grounded, now would he?
You mean if he gave in to your blackmail! Ocean snorted.
"WayWay, are they fighting?" I whispered.
"Nah, they're communicating," he smirked.
"And that kind of communicating is called bantering," Arch added. "Like teasing each other in a playful way. They do it all the time."
"Oh! Like you two do." I nodded, then I realized something. Their little brothers weren't here! "Hey! Where are William and Winnie?"
"Having a sleepover with Peri and Beta Ty," Wayne told me. "They were sad that all of their big brothers were going to friends' houses for sleepovers, so Beta Ty invited them."
"She might gripe about being asked to babysit all the time, but Peri loves them," Arch added. "They're practically her pups, too, you know. She helped raised them from the day they were born. Now that she's moved out, she misses them more than she thought she would."
"I'm not sure how keen Beta Ty was to lose the whole night with his brand-new mate," Wayne snickered, "but all Sissy has to do is sniffle and he caves!"
"Caves? He goes to a cave?" I tilted my head and tried to picture that in my mind. "What does he do there? Are caves fun? Is there one near here?"
Before either of them could answer me, Bubba's loud voice made us all look at him.
"Not good, not good, not good!"
"What is it, beta?" Dad Nathan asked with a Very Serious face.
"Something's wrong. Matthew and Tris are at the alpha house with luna and—" Bubba's eyes clouded up again. "I have to go her! Nathan, can you stay with—"
"Of course. We'll take care of him. You take care of luna."
"What's wrong with luna, Bubba?" My bottom lip wobbled at the thought. Not one tear of sorrow or hurt should ever fall from Luna Posy's pretty blue eyes.
"I don't know, honey," he called as he ran, "but I'm going to find out!"
"Wait, Em! Take my car!" Dad Nathan tried to toss him a set of keys, but Bubba waved him off and kept running toward the Luna 'mergency Route.
"Why didn't he drive? It'll take him forever to run to the alpha house, even if he let Cove out, which he didn't!" Mom Evie asked. "It takes an hour to drive there from here!"
"I'm not as familiar with Dark Woods and Moonset as I am Great Rocks and even Earthshine, but I know that trailhead wasn't there when we helped Em and Gelo move in." Dad Nathan's face scrunched up in a frown as he stared at where Bubba had disappeared into the trees. "Reau, do you know if Emerson made that trail he just took?"
"Yes, I know."
"Wait. Yes, you know or yes, he did?"
"Yes, I know and yes, he did," I told him.
"Do you know why or where it goes?"
"Yes."
When I blinked up at him, he tilted his head and looked as confused as I felt.
"Hahaha, Dad!" Wayne giggled and put a hand in my shoulder. "You have to learn to speak Reau-ish."
"Reau-ish?"
"Yeah. You know, there's English, Scottish, Irish, and Reau-ish."
"I know those and I even know a little Entish, but Reau-ish is all new to me," Dad Nathan admitted. "I learn quick, though!"
"Well, then, watch and learn, old man." Arch grinned and put his hand on my other shoulder. "Curls, why did your bubba make a trail there?"
"To get to luna faster in case of a 'mergency," I said.
"Where does it go?"
"Straight to the alpha house."
"How did he make it?"
Oh. He wanted to know the details. Good! Bubba had 'splained the whole thing to me, so I knew a lot of details that I could share!
"Construction on the LER—"
"The what?" all four of them squawked.
"The Luna 'mergency Route," I sighed and shook my head. "Please keep up. Anyway, construction on the LER began the day Bubba and Gelo moved into this house," I began.
"Oh, my Goddess," Mom Evie snickered. "He sounds like a documentary on that history channel you like to watch, Nathan!"
"Don't distract him while he's focused, Mom," Wayne hissed, then louder, "Please go on, Reau."
"Bubba and Gelo sat down with a map of the pack's combined territories and planned the Luna Emergency Route. The next day, they started clearing a trail that runs in an almost straight line from here to the alpha house."
"That's incredible, and such a beta thing to do," Dad Nathan murmured. "I knew Emerson always loved this house, but now I'm thinking he had another reason to want this property. As near as I can figure without looking at a map, the alpha house really is in a straight line from here. Reau, do you know if the trail, er, the LER cuts only through wooded areas?"
"Yes," I said because I did know.
"I thought you learned quickly, Dad," Arch smirked. "Try speaking Reau-ish again."
Dad frowned at him for a second, then his face relaxed and he nodded once.
"Reau, where else does the trail go other than through the forest?"
"The LER crosses over a road near a bridge. There's a river under the bridge with loud water that's all foamy and white. It also goes through a clearing where there's something Bubba said is called," I slowed down so I said it correctly like Bubba taught me, "an overhead powerline tower."
"I think I'd like to take a run along this trail." Dad Nathan grinned.
"Me, too!" Arch and Wayne said at the same time.
"How long does it take to run the, uh, LER?" Mom Evie asked.
"Depends."
I shrugged, bored with the conversation now that I'd shared all my knowledge of how it was built. Crouching down next to Spring, I played with his ears, and he let out a little sigh of contentment.
"Feels good, doesn't it, wolfie?" I giggled. "Luna said Quartz loves to have his ears rubbed."
It does feel good, Spring agreed with a happy hum, making me smile. You can do this anytime, little one.
"Depends on what, Reau?" Dad Nathan asked.
"What depends on what?" I grumbled. I was trying to be patient with these people, but they were making it difficult!
"Reau, who's the fast running it and how fast is he?" Wayne sat down besides me and scratched right above Spring's tail, and my wolf groaned at getting the Good Spot itched. "I bet Beta Em is a beast running it!"
"He is, but Zio Leo is the fastest!" I told him, interested in the conversation again. "His best time right now is thirteen minutes! Ruby's faster, of course. He can do it in nine!"
"What about beta and Cove?"
"Bubba's best time was eighteen minutes, and Cove's was fifteen minutes." I laughed as I pictured his grumpy face. "Bubba didn't like that Zio Leo beat him, so now there's a whiteboard next to the fridge and they track their times. Gelo runs it, too, but he said it wasn't fair to compare him to Bubba and Leo since they have wolves. So yesterday, Zia Poppy said she'll run it after she gets back from wherever she went today, and the two of them can have their own scoreboard."
"Sweet!" Arch dropped down on Spring's other side and stroked his back. "What about your time?"
"Let's not talk about that." Frustrated tears filled my eyes. Even though I did my best, the fastest I'd ever finished was twelve whole minutes behind Gelo's slowest time.
"Spring, you'll have to give it a go now that you're here," Wayne said.
"Yeah, see how a beta wolf compares to a beta wolf," Arch added. "Cove versus Spring. I'll put ten bucks on you, buddy."
Ten whole dollars? Thanks. Spring glared at Arch with his pretty amber eyes, which made me smile despite how tense I felt.
Ever since Bubba left, something dreadful was spreading through the pack bond, trickling down from Luna Posy, and made my stomach clench with a sick feeling. It had been growing and growing and now it was so big, it felt like Bubba's Darth Vader kettle bell weight was sitting on my chest - and that thing was very, very heavy!
Arch and Wayne linked me that they felt that way, too. I didn't like that they were also uncomfortable, but I was glad it wasn't only me.
"It's okay, baby," Wayne said. "Whatever's wrong, the adults will fix it."
"I don't like luna to be hurt or sad."
"I know," Arch murmured. "None of us do, but Wayne's right. She has five alphas to help sort it all out."
"I don't think all the boys are here right now, though, are they?" Mom Evie frowned and looked at Dad Nathan.
"Only Ash and Wyatt," he confirmed. "The others are on missions off of pack territory."
"Grr! If I find out one of those chaos twins did something idiotic and hurt that poor girl, they'll never hear the end of it!"
"They wouldn't hurt her, would they?" I whispered to my besties.
"Never. Mom's just being Mom. She's frustrated that she doesn't know what's going on," Wayne told me, looping one hand around my waist as his other one held Arch's.
"They might have hurt her feelings or something like that, but not on purpose, and they'd never physically hurt her," Arch pointed out.
Then we stopped talking and watched Mom Evie's and Dad Nathan's eyes fog over as they tried to find out what was happening. Wishing we could do more, we simply clung to Spring and each other and prayed that our dear luna would be all right again very soon.
Wayne
I knew the feeling that luna was broadcasting through the pack bond. I knew it all too well.
Panic. Pure, blinding panic.
Something had hurt her badly, and I only hoped it wasn't one of my brothers. My sister-in-law would be devastated if she was betrayed by one of her own mates, whom anyone could see she loved with all her heart and soul.
Not only that, I was super worried about how big of a setback this would be for her. There was no way it wouldn't affect her progress, and she'd been doing so well, too.
It was amazing how many idiots think she should be completely recovered by now, I muttered to Ocean to distract myself from my own rising heart rate and labored breathing. How do you recover from anything in a handful of weeks, let alone years of isolation, starvation, and abuse? I still have trauma-induced anxiety and panic attacks six years after Dad's death!
At least we got those idiots good, Ocean grinned fiercely. And we'll keep pranking them as long as they need the wake up call!
I snorted.
Arch and I loved our tiny sister-in-law to death, and we vowed we'd take revenge on her behalf if we ever heard someone in the pack saying anything mean about her. At the luna ceremony, the betas took care of Bridger Donahue and Elijah Ford before we could, but two girls weren't so lucky.
Last week, we were grabbing some chicken nuggets when we overheard the pair bitching about how the 'poor little luna' needed to just 'grow up and get over it already' because 'pretending to be a victim' was just 'pathetic.' They probably said more, but steam was coming out of Arch's ears by then and I had to drag him out of McD's before he legit killed them.
No, really, he was ready to kill them.
I was furious, too, but my anger didn't come out in violence like his did. Nah, I let it out in a totally different way.
Since both of those bitches lived at the packhouse, we broke into each of their rooms with ease, and it was child's play after that.
We replaced their deodorant with butter and their lip balm with glue. We set battery-powered alarm clocks for a variety of times throughout the night and hid them everywhere. Fake spiders in their bedsheets, fake snakes in the toilets, grease on every doorknob, and shower faucets - all typical stuff in our arsenal, yet so very effective.
To add a little flair, we wrote, 'Are you over it yet?' in glow in the dark paint all over on their bedroom walls and ceilings.
According to the den mother, the bitches' shrieks had lasted for hours.
Job well done, Osh, I smirked and mentally high-fived my wolf.
At least it was only two packmates, he pointed out. In a pack of five thousand, that's not bad.
I nodded in agreement. Thankfully, Five Fangs was full of great people with only a few bad apples.
And Arch and I were experts at making them regret being bad apples.
So what are we going to do to whoever hurt our luna this badly? Ocean asked with fire in his eyes.
I don't know, dude, but it is going to be epic.
And my devious little brain began working out the details of Mission: Ultimate Revenge.
Archer
Raising my eyes, I saw Mom and Dad hugging as they stood next to where my besties and I sat glommed onto Spring. Dad sensed me looking at him and raised an eyebrow in a clear question.
Not exactly how I envisioned our first sleepover, I smirked. Do you know what happened yet?
The betas are with her. Can't get through to any of the boys but Jay, and he's too busy attacking Poppy's prison to link much. He shook his head. Leo Halder says something happened with Cole. No idea what, but Mase wolfed out over it on the way home. Leo's driving Mase's truck and Garnet is shredding the seats and howling his head off. They're almost home, though.
Sounds like a real fun trip for Leo and Poppy.
I hid my worry under sarcasm. If Mase was upset enough to wolf out and let Garnet eat his favorite truck, something was really, really wrong. Mase was one of the most controlled wolves in the pack. If he lost it, someone deserved it, and I had a smidgeon of worry because it sounded like Cole was that someone.
And Mase wrecked everything when he was enraged.
Cole okay? I asked.
Don't know yet. Going to run through the links again and see if anyone will answer. If you can, try to get Reau functioning again. Maybe give him something to do as a distraction. Wayne, too, before he goes down the rabbit hole and has an anxiety attack.
I'm monitoring them both, I assured him, but yeah. It's not doing any of us any good, especially Mom, to sit here worrying ourselves to death.
Luna's not broadcasting so wildly anymore, either, so that should make it easier, he agreed. And yeah, this much stress isn't good for her or the pup.
"Hey, Reau, how about you show us the secrets in the house you were talking about?" I rubbed one hand up and down his back. My other hand was busy holding Wayne's. "Then we can get our stuff from the car and set up for our sleepover. What do you think?"
"You will still stay for the sleepover?"
Reau raised his head and blinked those beautiful blue-green eyes up at me. The fact that they were wet and his cheeks had tear streaks on them pierced my heart like a dagger. Our innocent, sweet baby should never have a reason to cry.
"Of course we will, bestie. Right, Wayne?" Squeezing his hand, I waited until those bright blue eyes focused on me and I could tell he was actually seeing me. "We want to see the secrets, don't we, dude?"
"Yeah, man." Wayne's voice was faint, and all my attention suddenly zeroed in on him as I looked for the signs of an impending panic attack.
I didn't see any, though. His heart beat wasn't frantic and his eyes weren't bugging out and his breaths weren't short and sharp... Still, something was up with my boy.
Dude, breathe, I linked him. Slow and deep.
I can think of something else slow and deep that I'd like to try someday, he smirked.
Shut up, idiot. Rolling my eyes, I relaxed. There was nothing wrong with him.
He might have been lost in his head, but it was about something normal, I told Firth, then paused as I rethought that statement. Most of what Wayne Black considered normal others wouldn't.
Probably thinking of getting revenge on whoever hurt luna, Firth snorted.
Well, that's something pretty normal for us, I agreed.
And this time, Reau can help! Firth wagged his tail wildly.
Pfft! You think Spring will let him? He's a serious wolf.
Won't hurt to ask, Arch. Worst he can say is no.
True, I admitted.
"Okay, come on!" Reau leaped to his feet with excitement making his beautiful eyes glow.
Spring stood up with him, the wolf's concerned eyes never leaving our baby's face, and that proved what I'd said earlier was true. Reau was now the most important person in Spring's life.
When Reau said Everett Breckenridge's wolf as now his, a moment of doubt had flashed through me. Wayne and I knew Spring. He was a very serious wolf who was often at odds with Ev, a guy we considered funny and a little wild - just like us - and we kind of pooh-poohed Spring as being a boring, old fart.
Now, though, I understood where Spring was coming from. Ev had been a player for both teams, mostly girls, but occasionally guys, and most wolves didn't like that. They were closer to the Goddess than us human halves, and they wanted their mate and only their mate. Going through partners as often and fast as he did, Ev caused some resentment to build between him and Spring, a resentment neither of them ever dealt with and so it festered until they'd go weeks without talking to each other.
I wasn't sure how Spring felt about me or Wayne. I wasn't sure he'd put up with the sort of trouble we usually found and had every intention of dragging Reau into along with us. I wasn't sure how he'd feel about Wayne and I liking each other and Reau in a mate way. For the love of the moon, I wasn't even sure the stern bastard knew how to laugh!
But he was a survivor of an enormous pain, of a wound that would have killed a lesser being, as was Reau. If anyone could relate to our baby, it was Spring and vice versa. Reau needed him as much as he needed Reau.
So while I wasn't sure of a lot of things about Spring, I was positive we could agree on one goal: Keeping Reau safe and happy and healthy.
Even if that's the only thing we can agree on for now, it'll be enough common ground to build on.
"Come on, besties! I want you to try and figure out the secret in the study!" Hopping up and down, Reau grabbed my hand, then Wayne's. "I figured out the trick all by myself, but Zio Leo helped me with the measuring."
"Are you going to give us a clue?" I asked as he dragged through the front door.
"Maybe," he teased and swung our hands back and forth. "And maybe not. Spring, should I give them a clue?"
Nah, Spring smirked, surprising me with his lightheartedness. Wayne and Archer are smart boys. Give them a chance to solve the puzzle themselves.
"Okay, you heard my wolfie! I will tell you what the secret is, and you will try to find it!" Reau started to skip a little, although I didn't know if that was because he was excited or if it was to make up for how much shorter his stride was than mine and Wayne's.
"Be prepared for failure, dude." I grinned at Wayne over our baby's head. "I'm going to find the secret first because I'm smarter than you."
Maybe I was wrong to start an insult battle here and now, but I kind of needed it myself. Too much tension still lingered in the pack bond, and nobody was linking anything about what was happening. The waiting and lack of information made everything ten times worse. I only hoped I wasn't pushing Wayne if he were struggling.
"The only kind of smart you are is street smart. Sesame Street smart," he shot back, and I knew he was fine.
"Aw, your brain must feel good as new, seeing as you've never used it." Firth hooted at that one, which made the side of my mouth curl up.
"No need for insults, Arch. Your face is one all by itself."
"I'm not insulting you, man. Why bother? I won't do as well as nature did."
"Dude, you're the reason the gene pool needs a lifeguard."
"If ugly were a crime, you'd get a life sentence."
"I can't help that awesome ends with 'me' and ugly starts with 'u,' bro."
"What are my besties doing, Spring?" I heard Reau whisper before I could fire a shot back at Wayne. "I don't understand half of what they're saying."
Uh-oh. Were we upsetting him?
They are bantering, little one. Remember what that is?
"Yes! And I've heard Zia Poppy bantering with Zio Leo. He tries to do it back, Goddess bless him, but she always wins!"
Then Reau burst out into peals of happy giggles, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Looking over at Wayne again, I breathed another one. He was grinning at our baby, his blue eyes soft and his shoulders down and relaxed.
Good.
Both of my boys were exactly what I wanted them to be - healthy, happy, and safe - and I would do whatever I had to do to make sure they stayed that way.
Even if it meant losing an insult battle.