“Charlotte,” I said after a moment. “Lottie for short.”
“Charlotte? As inCharlotte’s Web?”Jo asked.
I grinned. “Made that connection fast, did ya?”
“Charlotte was the spider, though,” Cas said. “The pig was named Wilbur.”
Salem looked at him in surprise.
“What?” he asked. “I read.”
She shot him a look.
“Fine, I saw the movie when I was a kid,” he admitted, looping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his embrace. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear that had her hugging him tight and smiling.
“I like it,” Brooks said. “Can we leave Lottie with her littermates while we?—”
I adamantly shook my head and clutched Lottie tighter.
“We’re leaving now, aren’t we?” Brooks asked.
I nodded.
“Thank you,” Brooks said to Gary, shaking his hand.
“You think we can make it to the truck without introducing the newest member of our family to everyone in town?” I asked as Brooks and I left the tent.
“Not likely. You look cute with a piglet in your arms,” he said, taking a step toward me. “And you’ll look even cuter with a baby in them.”
“Stop staring at me like that,” I warned.
“Like what?” he demanded.
“Like you want to get me naked.”
He leaned down and whispered, “Idowant to get you naked. And the piglet is just a good excuse to leave so I can get exactly what I want.”
“Slow down.” I chuckled. “We have to get Lottie some things before we can go home.”
“Did we just become those people?”
“What people?”
“Pig parent people.”
I laughed. “Yes. But if Hadley can walk her goat through town, we can definitely walk our pig through town and get away with it.”
Lottie looked up from my arms and set her sight on Brooks.
“Oh no,” I murmured.
“What?”
“I think she just fell in love with you. I became the fallback human.”
Brooks lifted Lottie out of my arms. She immediately snuggled against him.
“It’s going to be the same with the baby, isn’t it?” I asked in exasperation.
