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Back inside, Chloe and Emma were whispering to each other in the corner of the room. Nathan raised an eyebrow at me, but I shook my head. He didn’t need to get involved. I headed over to the girls with Margo, who looked mortified.
“I’m so sorry.” Her voice shook. “I didn’t mean to get so rough with Emma, and then I was so embarrassed that I snapped at you, too, Chloe. That was shitty of me.”
“It’s fine,” Chloe said, surprising me. “We know you’re going through a lot.”
“Yeah,” Emma said. “It’s no big deal.”
Margo’s chin wobbled.
Chloe reached out to comfort her. “You’re such a mess sometimes.”
The three of them briefly hugged it out, which honestly, was kind of baffling to me. I expected Margo to have to grovel more.
I decided to leave them to it, joining Nathan instead to update him on what happened.
“Not bad,” he remarked after listening to my explanation. “That could have gone worse.”
“Why didn’t it?” I shook my head. “I don’t understand those girls at all.”
“You did your thing, defused the situation, but all of the girls want to be friends, so they are. It’s not rocket science.”
“Oh, whatever,Dad.”
He let out an exaggerated gasp, holding his hand over his chest. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.”
He spent the rest of the evening coming up with his best dad jokes. They were all awful, and he should have been ashamed.
“Perdita’s going to kick you out if you keep this up at home,” I warned him.
He only ruffled my hair in response.
That evening, we headed home to find Byron cooing over the baby like it was the first time he’d seen her.
“Pick her up already,” Perdita teased.
“I don’t want to spoil her,” Byron explained.
“You can’t spoil a baby,” she said. “Not with love. So knock yourself out.”
He was practically giddy as he lifted the baby and settled into a chair with a grin. “You’ll regret those words one day, Perdita.”
Nathan told him what happened with Margo. I held my breath, half-expecting him to be disappointed. “It might be too soon for something as physical as my class,” Nathan said, “but it didn’t escalate tonight.”
“That was a good test,” Byron said. “The conflict was ultimately resolved with words, so I’ll send her home to her parents in the morning. We’ll give her another try with her drama club. Alison can keep an eye on her. If that goes well, too, it’s back to school for our newest shifter.”
“I’m glad,” Perdita said. “It’s such a waste for her to hang around at home all day while the others are out at school. Speaking of school, I’m planning on going back to work in September.”
“That’ll give you a decent amount of time at home with Diane,” Byron said. “What about childcare?”
“Heddy’s offered to help in the afternoons, so I’m thinking the creche in the mornings.”
“Unless I’m around,” Nathan said. “Once Perdita goes back to work, I’m going to cut back to have more time with Diane.”
“I’ll do what I can to help make the transition easier when the time comes,” Byron said. “I popped over to ask your opinion on something, Nathan. Jorge’s mother asked Jeremy to persuade her son to go back with him. Do you think I should encourage him to leave? He hasn’t been himself for a while, and I wonder if he feels obliged to stay here with us.”
“He’s struggling,” Nathan said. “Apparently, Margo’s wolf senses loneliness in Jorge. I don’t think him leaving is the answer though. He’s missing his family, but he chose to stay here for a reason. I was going to suggest moving Victor in with him.”
“Victor?” Byron looked surprised. “He has a home.”
