Luc and Meg pulled into George’s driveway twenty minutes later. As they got out of the car, the three pups poured out of the house. Sara wrapped her arms around Meg and rested her head on the baby bump. Ivan and Joe hugged Luc.
“I can hears them,” said Sara.
“You can?” asked Meg trying to walk into the house.
“Uhuh. Theys wiggly,” said Sara. Sara opened the door for Meg and then waited for Luc and the boys who were bringing in all the bags.
“Hello! Anyone home or did the children eat you?” Meg called.
“Back here,” called a voice.
Meg put down her bags and headed for the room the noises issued from. She found George, Angie and ‘Solda trying to figure out where to put things.
“Here, let me help,” said Meg. Everyone turned to Meg and there was a brief flurry of hugs and hellos. Meg took a good look at the refurbished bedroom. They had changed the closet around and widened the bathroom door.
“Put the bed there,” she said pointing. “Dresser over there and the nightstand on the left side of the bed.”
George and ‘Solda did the heavy lifting and Angie moved the nightstand.
“Now why didn’t we think of that?” said Angie as she looked at the room which all of a sudden worked.
“Because we’ve been playing musical furniture since 8am, and we’re all blind,” said George.
‘Solda giggled and snuck out of the room. She headed for the kitchen where she could hear the little ones and Luc talking.
“I agree. How are you feeling Meg?” asked Angie.
“Hungry, but alright. And I’m beginning to understand that I’m going to be hungry for a while,” Meg said. That made everyone laugh. Angie walked over and gave Meg a hug.
“Did Cal and Peter give you the news about my house?” Angie asked softly.
“Yes. I had the same kind of adjustment when I started dating Luc. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t like spending the night in my apartment until we broke the bed. Then I was all for moving out. The idea of going through the floor was uncomfortable. Especially as Luc tends to shift as he falls asleep,” said Meg.
Angie nodded. “If Ginny and Patrick don’t want to swap, I will probably sell my house. I adore George, and don’t want to sleep in the basement the rest of my life,” said Angie.
George blushed a deep red. “Um… Can we finish up so we can have lunch?” he asked as he put the rugs back on the floor.
“Yes,” said Meg and Angie at the same time.
*
Ginny woke up just as Patrick pulled into the driveway. She stretched and tried to figure out who was here by all the cars in the driveway.
“This is some home coming crowd,” said Patrick.
“Yes, and here I was hoping to sneak in,” said Ginny. “If I count it right, there are at least a dozen people here.”
Patrick nodded. “Now wait for your crutches, or I will carry you in over my shoulder,” he said firmly.
Ginny started to protest and stopped. Over the last couple of weeks, she had discovered just how ‘alpha’ Patrick was. At least with her, and while it didn’t rankle, it took getting use to. The last one to be that dominant was her grandfather. Patrick brought her crutches around and handed them to her just as the door opened and everyone poured out. Sara, Ivan and Joe headed the pack and almost knocked Ginny over in the effort to hug her.
“Wat happened Awnty Ginny?” asked Sara.
“I fell Sara. We’ll tell you all about it when we get inside. If I’m on my feet too long, Uncle Patrick there will growl at me and I don’t want that. Do you?” Ginny asked the three pups.
“No!” said Ivan and Joe at the same time. Sara started to say something and Patrick growled softly at the same time he smiled. Sara blinked and ran in the house with the bag she’d been given to carry.
Everyone greeted the two of them and helped in bringing in the bags. Ginny navigated the doorway and got inside. She was astonished by the change in the house, even though all she could see was the living room and dining room. She started to head further in, when she heard Patrick growl behind her. This time it had none of the joking that had been present when he growled at Sara. Ginny sat down.
“Ginny, what on earth did you do?” asked Meg. In the full light of the living room, Ginny’s bruises and scrapes were visible.
“I slipped, fell and face planted on the deck. Broke my nose, blacked my eyes and screwed up my ankle,” she said.
“I heard all about that from Doc Rogers,” said Jeff as he came out of the kitchen. “I had a busy night that night.”
“What? Did Doc keep you on the phone longer than he told us?” asked Ginny totally confused.
“No, but I had to tend to someone else that fell and hurt themselves, which made for a a very busy time,” said Jeff smiling.
“Who?” asked Ginny as she looked at the faces of everyone in the room. George turned beet red. “George? What happened?” asked Ginny.
“I… um… fell through the floor at Angies,” he said at last.
Ginny looked at him and then at the others. Then it dawned on her. “All of you knew?”
“Some of us knew,” said Luc. “As leader of this pack, I get told all sorts of things. Best part is that each of you told someone not to tell the other so that they wouldn’t worry,” he finished.
That made everyone laugh.
“So, instead of fixing up just one house, we had to fix two,” said Peter. He stood over to one side, with his arm around his wife Lisa.
“Worst part was waiting for George to heal so we could work in the basement,” Cal teased. George reached over and thumped him on the head.
“Yes, but we got all the work done,” said George. “Which brings us to a question.”
“And that would be?” asked Patrick.
“Are you and Ginny invested in living here? Would you want to check out Angie’s house, or do you two want a house of your own. Reason I ask is that there is no way I can live at Angie’s. Even thinking of shifting makes the floors creak for me,” said George.