Luc closed his eyes. First thing he felt was a slightly warm plastic bag. It smelled good. He opened his eyes and found a bag of peanut butter cookies in his hands.
“Thank you! Did you two help Ginny make the cookies?” he asked.
“Solda and Bitty helped too,” said Sara with a smile. Joe nodded. He never did talk much around Sara.
“Ah, then they must be good. Shall we try one?” he asked. The two children nodded. Luc gave everyone a cookie.
“Shut youw eyes again,” said Sara.
Luc dutifully closed his eyes. Sara pulled a tissue wrapped object out and put it in his hands. Luc opened them and saw the package. He unwrapped it to find a plush sheep.
“Um… Thank you?” he said rather puzzled.
“Squeeze it!” Sara and Joe shouted.
Luc squeezed the sheep. From inside the sheep came ‘baaah, Beeeeeh, baaah, Beeeeh’. Everyone in the room laughed.
“You get cookies and Woffy gets a sheep,” said Sara. “We gots it from da pet stowe,” she explained.
“They think of everything don’t they,” said Meg trying to stop the giggles which kept bubbling to the surface.
“Oh yeah. Neither of them would come without a present for both sides of Luc’s nature. I think we spent half an hour in Pet-Co while they figured the best present. The sheep won, and I have to admit that it is a riot,” said Ginny.
“Unky Woffy Luc, tell us da stowe of da beaw,” said Sara. Joe nodded.
“Okay, snuggle in with me and I’ll tell you all about it,” said Luc. Both children snuggled next to Luc. Joe had the sheep tucked under his arm, careful not to squeeze it.
Ginny and Meg waved bye and headed out on the front porch. They closed the door and sat down on the chairs on the porch.
“How are you holding up?” asked Ginny.
“I am ready for a bit of a vacation,” said Meg. “I have just a touch of cabin fever. First the hospital and now the house.”
“I thought you might feel a bit stir crazy. It happens to the best of us and you haven’t had much time to relax since the attack have you,” Ginny asked.
“No, and I realized that full tilt when Luc was growling at the computer today,” said Meg.
“He was growling at the laptop?” asked Ginny.
“Yes, complete with sub-vocals,” said Meg. “What on earth possessed you to give him a laptop with Windows on it?”
“Well, I knew I had to put some rocks in his feed, or else he’d be at the office by the end of the week. So, I gave him the only laptop that hadn’t been updated,” said Ginny.
“It worked. Is everything okay at work?” asked Meg.
“Sort of. Duke is trying to be top dog. So is Kevin,” said Ginny.
“Oh god,” said Meg.
“Yep, the only thing worse than testosterone poisoning is testosterone poisoning in an alpha male,” she said.
Meg shuddered. Duke wasn’t the most stable individual she’d ever met. He and Penny were still fighting. Plus, he flipped back and forth over her living with Luc. When he’d seen the necklace on her the first day he’d brought files over, he’d about blown a gasket. Yelled and screamed at Ginny about how Luc was wrecking two lives once he’d gotten outside. Meg had been very glad that Luc had been way too out of it to hear a thing. The next day he was fine.
“Is this going to be an issue when Luc goes back to work?” asked Meg.
“I hope not. There is a reason Duke normally doesn’t work at the office. He’s about as stable as a shaken can of pop. Kevin on the other hand is feeling responsible and doesn’t want Luc coming back to a mess,” said Ginny.
“Ginny, what does Duke do normally?” she asked.
“He usually does outside work, like trenching cable and that kind of thing. Stuff that keeps him away from people,” said Ginny.
“Ah. Okay. Is he the kind of shifter that is more wolf than person?” asked Meg who was trying to understand the various dynamics.
“Not really, if he was just a human, he’d be bi-polar. However, Jeff has never been able to find a combo of medicines that work on both sides of his nature. It’s why his relationship with Penny is so fractured amongst other things,” said Ginny thinking about the latest argument which had been about furniture of all the stupid things.
“That explains a lot. I never know where I stand with him,” said Meg.
“Just remember to channel that inner bitch,” said Ginny. “Keeps all those wolves in line.”
Both women laughed. Ginny looked at her watch. It had been about fifteen minutes since they’d come out onto the porch.
“How do you feel about running around town for a while?” Ginny asked.
“I guess. Shall we go get the kids?” said Meg as she stood up.
“I’m hoping that they’ve fallen asleep,” said Ginny as a sly grin played across her face.
“What?” asked Meg.
“They woke up at 5am, and I kept them up all morning with making cookies and shopping. I fed them just before we came over. So, between being full and tired, I figured that the minute they stopped moving that they’d fall asleep,” explained Ginny. Meg raised and eyebrow over Ginny’s plans and then tiptoed over to the bedroom door. Looking in she found all three of them asleep. Luc had tucked them in under the top quilt. Sara was curled up under his left arm and Joe was asleep across his stomach. Luc looked like he had tried to stay awake, but fell asleep with his head lolled back against the pillows. The sheep was tucked up against his head. Meg suspected that had been Sara’s doing.
Ginny tugged on Meg’s arm and nodded her head towards the front door. Meg nodded and turned towards the front of the house. She grabbed her handbag and locked the door as they left.
They took Meg’s little Dodge Neon. It was a fairly quiet car and they headed downtown. First stop was the shopping mall. Meg had a destination in mind, and it was the first time she’d had a chance to even think about going shopping.
“Where are we headed?” asked Ginny.
“The Silver Lode,” said Meg.
“Good choice. The owner isn’t a shifter, but his one assistant is and makes most of the necklaces for the families in the area,” commented Ginny.