“Yes, maybe, no and no,” Luc said trying to answer all of her questions.
“Well, I try not to stick my nose in my children’s lives. At the same time, I had to come see the grandbabies. These are Meggie’s first babies and I just had to come see them. That of course got me thinking about all the books I read and those stories in the papers and I was ready to think it was all just the crazy thinking of an old woman. Then you see someone like Andrew,” Anna said.
“What about Andrew?” asked Luc. He was beginning to get an ice cream headache and had this terrible urge to shift, split all his clothes and scare the hell out of his mother in law just to shut her up. Instead, he smiled and waited.
“Well, he doesn’t move like anyone I’ve ever seen before. His aura… It is so different. I wasn’t sure if it was just because he was some sort of holy man or priest or what. So I started looking at all of you. Patrick moves the same way. So does that Ysabel. Then I began wondering if Meggie and I were the only humans in the room, because if you’re some sort of thing, then the babies would be too,” said Anna.
“Okay, so what exactly do you want to know?” asked Luc.
“Are you human?” Anna asked.
“I consider myself human,” said Luc knowing he was skirting the issue.
“Let me try this again. Are you a werewolf or a vampire?” Anna asked.
“I’m not a vampire,” said Luc. Part of him was enjoying teasing Anna after the overdrawn and verbose ramblings.
“Luc! Quit teasing!” hissed Meg.
“Alright. Anna. I will answer your questions. Sit down and be quiet,” said Luc.
Meg adjusted herself to nurse the babies both of which had managed to stay asleep during her mother’s ramblings.
Anna sat.
“Yes, there really are werewolves and vampires. I’m a werewolf. You were right in that you and Meg were the only regular humans in the room. It’s genetic and doesn’t always breed true. However, it is likely that the babies will be shifters. Now, besides Andrew, what tripped your curiosity?” Luc asked.
“There wasn’t a drop of chocolate in the room. No candy, not cakes, no cookies, nothing. It’s just un-American not to have chocolate at a celebration. Then those three darling children came in and gave ‘Unky Wolfy’ peanut butter cookies. That’s when I really started to wonder,” Anna said.
Meg was trying very hard not to laugh while she nursed.
“Any questions?” asked Luc.
“No, not at the moment. I also realized that it wouldn’t matter if you were or not, because even if I went screaming from the room, no one would believe me,” said Anna.
“That’s true. It’s what saves them especially when Sara or Ivan make a comment at school. No one believes them,” said Meg.
“Anna, you are very calm. Surprisingly calm. Any particular reason?” asked Luc.
“Well, I was panicked. Then I thought about the fact that my Meggie is a very good judge of character. If she loved you enough to live with you and have your babies, you couldn’t be all that scary or nasty. So, I relaxed. It was just the curiosity of sitting there and wanting to ask questions that was driving me crazy,” said Anna.
Luc smiled, walked over to Anna and gave her a big hug. She hugged him back.
*
“Well, that went better than I expected,” said Meg.
“Oh yeah. I kept waiting for her to scream, but she was right. If you loved me, then she really had no reason to worry,” said Luc.
“And she will probably wig out the first time she sees you all shifted,” said Meg.
“Maybe. We’ll see how she reacts tomorrow morning, because we are sleeping with me curled up around you and the babies tonight. I’ve been holding off shifting for way too long,” said Luc as he started to shift.
“Too long?” Meg teased as she moved to the center of the bed with the babies.
“Yesh!” Luc said through a jaw half shifted.
Meg smiled and watched Luc shift to wolf.
Wolf jumped up on the bed and wrapped himself around Soft One and the pups. He snuffed each pup and locked their scent into his head. Now he could never lose them as long as he could scent them. He licked Soft One on the face and watched her giggle. Soft One curled up around the pups and then he curled up around her.
“Safe. Pups here, Soft One here, Safe in my den,” he thought. Wolf sighed and went to sleep.
*
Sam was nervous. She’d been gone for over a month and was bringing Lewis home with her. Angie and George were meeting them at the airport and from there they were all going to Luc’s to see the babies. The plane rolled to a halt and the stewardesses were helping everyone to deplane.
“Come on Sam. It will be just fine,” said Lewis.
“I hope so,” said Sam. “It’s just…”
“I know luv. I get to meet cousins that I never knew existed,” he said. He handed her her carry-on and then grabbed his own. They headed out of the plane.
Twenty minutes later, they’d passed through customs and were headed to the Baggage Claim area. Lewis saw a mountain of a man standing off to one side. He stopped and nudged Sam.
“Is that George?” he asked pointing to the man.
“Yes and that’s Angie next to him,” she said.
Lewis looked over at the petite woman. “And their mated?” he asked.
“Yes. Apparently they are a good fit if you know what I mean,” Sam said with a smile. She and Angie had chatted one afternoon and the giggling hadn’t stopped for hours.
Lewis just shook his head as they walked towards the couple. He still wasn’t use to Sam’s openness. It made him smile and blush at the same time.
“SAM!” the couple shouted when they spotted her. Within seconds, Sam was engulfed in two sets of arms.
Lewis stood there waiting for Sam to reappear. She did for about five seconds and then it was his turn.
“Hello Lewis,” said George as he extended a hand.
“Nice to meet you,” said Lewis and took the hand. George’s hand engulfed his and then George pulled him into a bear hug. Lewis gave as good as he could, but he was no match for George.