“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.
“George, if you break him,” Sam started to say.
George let go of Lewis and laughed. “I won’t break him,” he said to Sam. “Nice to meet you Lewis.”
“Good to meet you at last. I’ve heard a lot of stories from Sam,” said Lewis.
“And before you two start talking, I’m Angie. The mate of this over sized mountain of flesh,” said Angie.
Lewis turned to see a smile on the face of the smaller woman. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “So very glad to meet the mate of such a cousin. I hope he is deserving of you. If not, I would gladly make amends,” said Lewis with a wry smile on his face.
“Oh my. One with manners. How did you get so lucky Sam?” Angie teased.
“I’ll blame it on Buster,” said Sam. That made everyone laugh.
Suitcases claimed, they headed for the car. George had borrowed a car from Patrick. There was no way he’d pick up two people in the truck. There were days he swore he barely fit.
“Patrick trusted you with his Subaru?” Sam asked as they arrived at the car.
“Yes, and I’ve promised to be good and not bring it back too dented or broken,” said George with a sigh.
“He nearly violated all the agreements when a truck changed lanes in front of us on the way here,” said Angie.
“I didn’t hit anything, so just relax,” said George as he put the last of the luggage into the back. “Let’s get to Luc’s before dinner is ready. Sandy promised to barbecue.”
*
They talked in general all the way from the airport. George and Angie were anxious to hear Sam and Lewis’ stories, but they didn’t want them to have to repeat things either. George swore he could smell the barbecue a mile out from Luc’s house. A few minutes later they pulled in front of the house. It took George a minute to find a place to park as the street was full on both sides. The smell of barbecued meat wafted across the yard.
“I swear that I’ve been smelling this for the last ten minutes,” said Lewis.
George smiled and nodded. “Sandy is a master with his sauces. You’ll meet him in a few minutes,” George said.
“Are all these cars family?” Lewis asked looking at over fifteen cars parked in front of the house or in the driveway.
“Yes. Just immediate family. If we had the whole pack here, we’d need the local community center and then some,” said George. “I promised Sam that we’d be a more intimate group tonight.”