AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You want me to go to the store?” Gena offered, coming in with a laundry basket balanced against her hip. “Just let me fold these before they wrinkle. I’ll pick up whatever you need. I don’t mind.”
I considered it. Gena had been a big help since moving in, and we certainly needed it. I’d heard the saying about it taking a village to raise a child, but I’d never imagined I’d be raising the village as well.
Now that Tony and Marianne were back in town, we were wrangling laundry for seven, including Rylan, who needed an absurd number of onesies and burp rags for such a tiny person. Apart from that, we were often cooking for even larger numbers. It wasn’t uncommon for the pack elders to drop in over dinner, and we hosted our security detail for an hour or so every time they changed shifts. Twice a day, Dylan ferried leftovers and clean clothes to the hospital, only to return with dirty, empty Tupperware containers, more laundry for the pile, and as many groceries as he could carry, which only lasted for a few days at best.
My era of whipping up cookies and brownies by the tens of dozens was over now. There simply wasn’t enough time. If we weren’t cooking, we were cleaning up after cooking. If we were lucky, we had an hour to scrub the toilets or run the vacuum cleaner before it was time to start cooking again.
Kingston and Dylan were, unfortunately, as useless as Xander when it came to domestic work. Marianne Miller had been determined that no son of hers would ever have to cook or clean, and while Dylan and King were both learning, the curve was steep. Sometimes, I swore they did things wrong on purpose just to get out of doing it, but their constant offers to help out were so earnest that it couldn’t be the case. They always managed to bungle things in small but significant ways that would have never occurred to me, like adding too much cleaner to the mop water, or too little detergent to the washer. After one too many incidents, we’d relegated them to dish duty, where they could do the least damage.
I could see now why Clinton and Aubrey had kept staff in Portersmith. After all the complaining I’d done about being waited on hand and foot at Morrow Manor, the universe seemed determined to make me eat my own words. If not for the help from Gena—and Nana Jordan, who came over to lend a hand whenever she was free—the lodge would have fallen apart.
I sighed. “I don’t want to keep sending you out for stuff.”
“It’s no trouble. Really,” Gena assured me, then checked her watch. “Besides, it’s almost time for Rylan to eat again.”
“Crap.” As if on cue, my nipples started to sting. My breastfeeding journey had taken a turn for the uncomfortable since Xander left for Vegas. Rylan had no teeth yet, so I wasn’t sure how he managed it, but every time he fed, it felt like he was putting my nipples through a shredder.
I groaned and sat down at the kitchen island, putting a hand over my face. Just thinking of everything I needed to do in the next few hours made me feel like I needed to catch my breath.
“Hey.” Gena put the laundry basket down and came over to me. Sympathy shone in her dark eyes as she smoothed my hair away from my face. “Why don’t you get out of here for a while? Grab something fast to eat, drive around for a bit, pick up some groceries on the way home. We can watch Rylan.”
“You’d be okay with that?” I wasn’t even sure thatIwas. Getting out of the lodge for a while did sound nice, though, but I didn’t feel safe taking Rylan with me, and I didn’t love the idea of leaving without him, either.
“You’ve been pulling a lot of weight lately,” Gena said. “And you haven’t left here in days. Plus, you look pretty stressed. A little alone time is good for everyone. You know that.”
True, but still, I hesitated.
“If someone outside the house recognizes me—”
“You’ll wear a disguise,” Gena said. “No one outside of the pack knows you’re back in town.”
“We can send a security detail with you, too,” Kingston suggested. “Just to make sure you’re safe.”
“Right, but the security detail will be switching shifts in an hour or so. We’ll need to have lunch ready, and then Dylan will be back to pick up something for Tony to eat, and then we’ll have more laundry to do…”
My head felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton. When it came to attending to the needs of the pack, this was my first true taste of being the alpha’s mate, and I was tanking it. We weren’t even playing on hard mode yet. When Xander brought Ryder home, there would be two hungry babies to feed, and twice as many diapers to change.
Maybe Marianne’s curse wasn’t what had pushed her off the deep end. Maybe it was trying to raise a family and play her role in leading the pack. For the first time in months, I actually found myself empathizing with her. At that moment, it seemed all too easy: she’d tried so hard to hold things together that it had torn her apart in the end.
“Are you listening to yourself?” Gena asked. “You’re taking on too much. Even if you don’t see yourself getting stressed,Ido. Don’t worry about feeding everyone. I’ll call in an order for some pizza. You and the security guys can pick it up on your way home.”
“Plus, we could use some Rylan time,” Kingston added. He rolled over to me and reached out. “C’mere, little fella. Uncle Kingston’s gonna teach you how to swear.”
“No, he is not!” Gena screeched, slapping him on the shoulder.
I laughed as I unwound the baby sling.
“After I feed Rylan,” I relented. “And not for long. I’ll be back before the security shifts switch.”
Gena was right. I hadn’t left the lodge since Xander and I had returned from Texas.
Even if I was just running errands, a little time for myself might be exactly what I needed.
* * *
I moved down the final aisle of the Hannaford to the tune of a squeaky wheel. My cart was heavy with so many groceries, practically overflowing, but I felt lighter than I had in days.
It had been months since I’d shopped here on my own. The last time I’d done it, Quincy Houghton had ambushed me at the cart return and threatened to claw my throat out. If Xander hadn’t arrived in time to scare him off, he probably would have done it.
