Our home, our space.
Much better.
Maybe he caught a bug or something today being around so many people. It might just be stress, I haven’t been around a lot of omegas, so I’m desperately trying to draw on what I learned in school. That was a long-damned time ago.
I wish I had a decent nest set up for him, it’s just an empty shell of a room right now. I never bothered doing anything with it since it wasn’t something I thought I would ever need. Shit. Still, I think I have the stuff to make him some soup, or I can stop and get some cans of chicken soup. I hate the thought of feeding him something canned, but it might work better as a short-term solution. My hand rubs up and down his back, as a low growlrumbles through him. I can’t say I blame him, I’m not happy with the situation myself, but until Kelly gives some indication that she wants my help, I don’t want to get in her way.
Also, this is her family, and we are already causing enough strife. After what happened earlier with Joseph and Brice, I don’t want to cause her the same kind of issues. Should I offer to leave? I don’t want to leave without her, and I don’t think Teddy would handle it well if the whine coming from him right now is any indication.
Dammit!
“Kelly, Teddy and I can leave if you want. We don’t want to cause any problems between you and your family. I think we’ve all had enough of that today.” Even offering makes me want to scream, but I don’t know what else to do. I deal with betas all the time, but this is pack business, and I don’t really care what her parents want, but if she does…
Fuck!
Kelly turns her big brown eyes back to Teddy and me. “Don’t you want me to come with you?”
Before I can answer, Teddy strides across the room and gathers her up, he’s pale and sweating profusely. He looks like he’s about to collapse, but he pulls her into his arms and a rumbly purr comes out. “Of course we want you to come home with us, Pixie. But you saw what happened earlier with both my family and Sam’s. We don’t want you to have to go through anything like that. If it makes it easier on you, we’ll leave.” Kelly wraps her arms around him, sinking against his purring chest. Her father’s scowl deepens, when I step in to put my hand on Teddy’s back, keeping him stable.
“Stay, please.” It’s a quiet whisper against his chest, and I don’t think her parents heard. Her mother watches intently, she hasn’t said much, but she seems to be taking in every detail. She reaches out and touches her husband’s shoulder, pulling himfrom the room. Kelly’s eyes are closed as she holds Teddy. She doesn’t seem to have noticed they left. The younger boy who came in earlier just looks at us before nodding. “Sup?”
Teddy smiles over Kelly’s head and nods back. “Not much. Sup with you?”
The kid grins and leans against a wall. “So, you’re Kelly’s pack huh? Be warned, she uses all the hot water…and she can’t cook for anything. So hopefully one of you is better, otherwise you’re gonna starve.”
Kelly’s face turns bright red where it’s pressed against Teddy’s chest. His purr turns into a low growl, wiping the smirk off the kid's face. Kelly’s voice comes out muffled. “So help me Tuck, you better hope I leave tonight, otherwise I’m gonna noogie you so hard your hair falls out.”
Teddy snorts with laughter and the grin pops back out on the kids face. “Yeah, Sis, I hope you get to leave tonight too. They seem pretty protective, so I don’t see a problem with it. Later gator!” The kid waves at Kelly’s back and bolts around the stairs. Well, at least we won one member of her family over.
The longer I stand there, the more awkward I feel. Sometime later, I hear the kid’s voice calling from the kitchen. “Let Kelly’s pack help her get some of her stuff together, I’m hungry! I just wanna eat dinner!” Well, he’s kind of a rude little shit, but I appreciate him being on our side. Less than a minute later Kelly’s parents come back in the room, her father still shooting us angry looks. Her mom at least seems less upset.
“I’m sorry, boys…Kelly’s never had a serious relationship, so this was a bit of a shock to us. But sheisan adult, legally anyway.” She glares at Kelly’s dad for a minute, causing another low growl to slide out of Teddy. “And if you make her happy, and she wants to go with you, then we won’t stop her. However, if you hurt my little girl, just know that we have twenty-five acres out behind the house and nobody would find the bodies.” Sheglares at both of us for a minute before pulling Kelly away from Teddy and giving her a hug.
“We love you sweety, we just worry, ok.” She kisses Kelly on top of the head. “And if you need anything, we’re right here…and if anything happens, we’ll take care of it, ok. Just remember, I’m too young to be a grandma, yeah?”
Kelly snorts at that and hugs her mom back before pulling back to meet her eyes. “Thank God, Mom. I don’t plan on having kids for…ever. You know that. The guys and I already talked about it. None of us are ready to start a family yet, if at all.”
Her mom kisses her forehead before stepping back. “Ok, just be safe. We love you.”
Kelly’s dad finally steps in, pulling her into a one-armed hug. “We love you Sprout, we better hear from you at least every couple days. Call us, otherwise I’m comin’ over with Rufus.” He glares over her head at both of us again. I look down at the big brown dog that’s lying by the door. Its tail thumps against the floor when it meets my eyes, and it gives me a big doggy grin. Yeah, it looks about as fierce as Jake—though the way he acted earlier to keep Kelly safe, maybe I shouldn’t discount him.
Kelly’s mom claps her hands together. “So, are you all staying for dinner? I can make more spaghetti!” Her voice is bright and too chipper. Also, Teddy still looks too pale.
“If it’s ok with Kelly, I think we’d like to just get her a couple of changes of clothes—and whatever she needs for a few days, and then head out. We’re all still settling in and learning about each other, plus that’ll give her a reason to come back this week. If that’s ok with y’all?”
Kelly nods and her mom gives a hum of assent. Her dad looks like he wants to say something, but Tuck's voice yells from the other room again. “Ok, I’m just gonna grab a plate for myself and take it upstairs away from all the drama. Bye, Kelly!” Her dad mumbles something about a smartass, and stomps back throughthe door to what I assume is the kitchen. Her mom lets out a little puff of exasperation, and points towards the stairs.
“See, I’m outnumbered now…but you get to see how it feels soon enough.” She chuckles, hugging Kelly again and taking off into the other room. Her voice carries back but I can’t make out everything, only a few mumbles about men and impatience.
Teddy still looks wobbly, but insists we help Kelly. I walk behind him up the stairs in case he falls. She leads us to a room down the hall, and I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. The curtains are a heavy rainbow of colors with tiny star shapes sprinkled across the surface, there's a gauzy top layer that probably diffuses what little light comes in. But that’s the only part of the room that I would consider even remotely girly.
She has bookcases lined up against one wall, and they are full to the point of overflowing. Comic books and manga are perched on every available surface, but other than that the room's surprisingly clean. There’s nothing on the floor, the hamper is put away in the corner beside a rather lopsided looking wooden chest. There are a couple of shirts tossed across the bed that Kelly rushes over to hang up and put in the closet.
The bed itself is a simple affair, a twin-sized pallet bed with a navy duvet and two pillows. She drags Teddy over and pulls him down to sit on the side, making it look even smaller. Kelly places her hand on his head, checking his temperature and looking into his eyes. “Are you ok? You look kinda sick.” Teddy just closes his eyes and leans into her hand that’s pressed against his forehead.
“Flattery will get you everywhere, Pixie. Maybe just not at this exact moment.” His arms come out, wrapping around her waist and pulling her close, pressing his forehead against her stomach. His eyelids seem too heavy for him to open.
Kelly looks to me and nods at Teddy and the only other door in the room—the closet she hung clothes up in earlier. I step over to it, it’s tiny, with only one rack for hanging clothes…and hey,more books in stacks of milk crates. This is going to take at least a few trips in the truck for all her books.
