Page 37 of Wrong Number, Right Gray Wolf

“It’s better than chocolate,” Posy declared.

We spent the day in the skulk, and Posy slept the whole way home. Gran had given me two containers of tiny tarts which I’d freeze. They wouldn’t be quite as good as fresh, but one mouthful would send me back to the place I grew up. When Posy asked why she didn’t give all the ones she’d baked to us, Gran winked, saying that was to make sure I came back often.

“I don’t think I’ll ever eat sugar again.” Posy collapsed on the couch.

“Hmmm, we’ll see.” I sat beside her and put her legs over my lap.

“When the baby comes, I can tell them how we went on an adventure all night and all day just so papa could have something to eat.”

I loved that idea. Maybe she’d weave a few extra details in and it’d sound like a fairy tale.

“Perhaps next time you get a craving, love, it can be for pickles, like the ones in the pantry.” There was my mate’s famous smirk, and I tossed a cushion at his head.

“Oh no, Daddy, that’d be so boring.”

18

CLYDE

Stephen and I had been very conscious about making sure that throughout the pregnancy, Posy didn’t feel like the new baby was taking over her spot in the house. So when Posy had a three-day weekend coming up and asked if, instead of having a Miss Caitlin night, we could all do something together, we jumped at the opportunity.

It was also going to give me the opportunity to talk to them about something that Posy had on my mind for the past few days, which was the legal relationship between her and Stephen. He was her dad through and through, but the courts wouldn’t agree.

Stephen was seven-ish months pregnant at this point, and his belly was large, but not, like, entering the door before he did large. It was a good time to get away without having to worry about it being baby time. He was still working and hadn’t started his paternity leave yet, but he was worn out by the end of the day. His exhaustion wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been in the first trimester, but I could see him taking leave soon.

My first thought when we decided to take the trip was doing something fun, like a water park, to really help Posy feel like this vacation was about her as much as us. But apparently, every other parent on this planet had the same idea because there was not a single room left. That worked out for the better, though, because I was able to find a shifter-friendly cabin rental thanks to a friend from work’s recommendation. It was a small cabin only an hour away from home. It had enough privacy for me to shift, walking paths, a barbecue—all the things required for a nice, relaxing weekend.

Stephen was no longer shifting. He’d stopped about a month ago. His fox was like, “Nope,” and he agreed. They were very much in sync with this pregnancy, which was great for both of them.

The car was packed full when I headed out to pick up Posy from school and then Stephen from work. We were leaving the night before the three-day weekend officially started so she wouldn’t miss any school, but also, we’d get full family time. If we had gone any farther away, it wouldn’t have been possible.

I’d packed everything under the sun including our quilt, extra pillows, snacks, and medicine just in case somebody wasn’t feeling well. I had this entire pharmacy there despite rarely opening our medicine cabinet at home. I also brought some games and a cooler full of food for us to cook. We’d hit up the grocery store when we were there to get anything that was special or caught anybody’s eye, but I didn’t want us to have to go anywhere if we didn’t want to.

Posy was no better than I was. Her original suitcase didn’t have clothes in it at all. She had all of her teddy bears, her button collection, art supplies, and puzzles. My first instinct was to have her repack. Instead, I just gave her a bag for her clothes. We had the room. There was no reason not to, other than it wasn’t a traditional bag.

When Miss Caitlin heard why we weren’t having Miss Caitlin night, she baked up a storm. We had a tin of cookies, a pound cake, and homemade rolls. She had confided in me that at one point, before Posy and I had moved next to her, that she was very lonely and what a difference we’d made in her life. The same was true for us.

I’d never seen Posy run as fast as when I pulled up to get her. She was ready. She buckled in and told me to drive super speed, “but not too super speed because then you’ll get pulled over, and that’ll take longer.” That wasn’t the only reason not to go past the speed limit, but it worked.

Stephen was outside and ready for us. He, too, was excited. He’d only had to go into work for a conference call, and I’d dropped him off after lunch. He hadn’t had an overtaxing day, which was good because driving in the car for an hour was going to be rough on him.

Sure enough, he squirmed at each turn and bump, trying to stay comfortable the entire time, not once complaining.

I offered to stop for both him and Posy, but she promised me she went before school and didn’t need to and then told us everything she had planned for the weekend.

“What do you think, Papa? Does that sound like a good plan?”

“It sounds like a great plan.”

“It’s too bad my sister’s not going to be able to remember this since she’s still living in your tummy.” She could not let go of the sister references no matter how many times we reminded her that we didn’t know.

“We don’t know if you’re having a sister or a brother,” Stephen said.

“I know,” which was her answer every time. I knew she’d love whoever her sibling was, but I didn’t like her setting herself up for disappointment.

“Whoa.” Posy was instantly captivated as I turned down the dirt path toward the cabin. “We’re in fairyland. Do you think there’s gnomes too?”

“I don’t know. But if there are, maybe don’t go with them unless you ask permission first.” She had a book where a gnome takes a little girl on an adventure.