In between, me crafting cat toys and us discussing baby names and backup plans, my parents hosted our mating feast. Vatten’s parents didn’t come down again because they were expecting another litter. He didn’t seem too bothered by their absence. I think I’d have secretly been crushed if my parents weren’t there. Then again, I was their firstborn and at the time of my birth the center of their universe along with Evie and Brent. Though, I hoped all my younger siblings felt like that at one time or another.
There was no doubt that Jacand had felt that way many times. He proved that by plopping down between me and Vatten at our mating feast. We sat on the loveseat in the living room, plates on tv trays, while others circled in and out to congratulate us and marvel at the fact no one was running for the metaphorical hills over five babies. One of my distant cousins had just said something along the lines, “I’d pack a bag and sneak off like a cat burglar,” when Jacand plopped down.
“That’s why you’re single,” my little brother said. “No one wants kids with a deadbeat.”
Our cousin blinked and stood up. Later, I heard him telling our sire that we were rude children. Our sire laughed of coursebecause Jacand was yet to develop a social filter between his brain and mouth. Sometimes he annoyed me but other times he hit the mark so perfectly that it made all of his other angsty teenage moments worth it.
“I said what I said,” Jacand shrugged, glancing at Vatten. “Never liked him anyway. Always smells like he rolled around in wild onions,” he crinkled his nose. “Just because he’d be a deadbeat doesn’t mean he has to act like everyone feels that way.”
“Some people just suck,” Evie said, leaning over the back of the sofa to hug Vatten and then me. She ruffled Jacand’s hair in a way that made him grumble, but then she slipped him a mouse that he slunk off down the hall to eat alone. I scooted over and my sister joined us on the sofa. She was a deterrent to a lot of comments distant relatives might’ve made because no one messed with a lioness. Over the years, distant cousins on my carrier’s side had made themselves known. Most of them were okay enough but they all thought everyone wanted their opinion.
It was there at our mating feast at my parents’ home, that I first held Bernard and Nashen’s baby. He was a little thing with Nashen’s crimson hair and eyes. He had big elven ears with little crimson tufts. Though, it was Bernard’s nose and chin that lived on his face. As far as baby’s went Baby Brazzen was perfect. He was also the proof that his carrier no longer hated my guts.
“My lynx says it’s different now that you’re having kittens too,” he shrugged when I teased him about it. It was a good enough answer for me.
***
After our mating feast, we drove out with my parents, Evie, and Jacand to see the progress on our house. It’d been nearly two weeks since the construction started. Two weeks wasn’t long in construction time but each day that ticked away was a day closer to Vatten shifting down into his dog form and staying that way for the next few months. His baby bump now showed properly no matter which of my shirts he wore. There was no way of hiding it anymore. He was perfect, though. If anything, pregnancy made him sexier. Morning sex had become a definite part of our lives settling in to together once his morning sickness was a thing of the past. It was the one time of day we could usually guarantee some alone time.
“Which one is my room?” Jacand asked, walking up and down the unpainted hallway.
“So ready to run away?” my carrier teased him. “Once the babies get here, you’ll want to come home. They’ll climb all over you with their little milk paws and sharp teeth.”
“I’m not afraid of babies,” Jacand said. “They’re babies.”
“You’ll be outnumbered,” our sire teased him.
“Do you really want a room here?” I finally asked and everyone stopped to look at me. By no means was I trying to steal away my parents’ child but he kept going on and on about it and at that point I wasn’t sure if it was a joke I was missing the punchline to or if something was bothering him enough to really want to live somewhere else.
“Just to be at sometimes,” he shrugged. “I’m not trying to move out yet, but what about when I’m in college or something? Plus, sometimes I like the quiet.”
“How about you can decorate the guestroom?” Vatten offered. “Then it’ll be almost like yours when you come to stay over.”
Jacand grinned and gave Vatten a one-armed hug.
“No one ever wants to live at my house,” Evie teased.
“You’d make me clean my room,” Jacand shrugged.
“No, I’d make you keep the room from getting dirty,” she teased and ruffled his hair again.
Chapter 37
Vatten
Guardians of Glitter Bomb Territory
It was another week before our house was ready to be moved into. I didn’t mind so much as long as I was with Eran. We spent our days together and he taught me how to use his sewing machine. We made up some of our own little quilted blankets for the babies to pass the time. All the while we listened to rumors that Clarence and Medwin were almost done working on their secret Burrow project.
The morning of our move, I woke up rather shorter than I expected. I stretched out, longing to rub my cold toes all over Eran’s eternally warm feet. Only I couldn’t reach them. I got his side instead. He rolled over and wrapped an arm around me. He nuzzled into my fur. Wait?! Fur! I was in dog form.
“Shall I call them off?” he mumbled in his sleep.
“Do you think they’ll freak out?”I asked.
“Why would they freak out? Are you going to bite them or pee on them to mark territory or something?” he blinked his sleepy eyes open.
“Because I’m stuck like this.”
