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“I apologize to anyone who was scared. Due to the two incidents within pack grounds last month, we are trying out new emergency procedures and response times. It clearly requires some tweaks, and we will improve the system based on today’s performances and suggestions.” I made it up on the fly, but I liked the lesson this was teaching everyone.
“I do expect all of you to take each drill seriously. Develop your own plans for getting here as soon as possible if an emergency were to occur. Talk to your neighbors. Discuss who’s bringing the pack members around you who can’t make it to safety on their own. I trust each and every one of you to help keep our pack safe. You are dismissed. Please turn in any suggestions to Evergreen via text or email.” I grinned while looking at Evergreen, who paled when he noticed several people already coming up toward him.
I looked at my watch. It was nine-thirty, so I turned to Celeste. “Do you guys have a lot more to go over today?”
“Nothing we can’t go over tomorrow.” Celeste yawned and walked over to me as I pressed the elevator button.
“Good night, guys. Congratulations again,” she said to Maya and Danny when we got to their floor.
“Good night,” they both answered as the elevator closed.
“Good night,” she said again to Gillian and Camila when they exited.
“Night,” Gillian called out as Camila waved back. Finally, it was just the two of us, and she leaned against my shoulder. I picked her up and carried her to our room, laying her on the bed.
“You’re an amazing luna,” I told her, and she smiled that sleepy smile I loved. I went to change into boxers and grabbed some clothes for Celeste, but she was softly snoring by the time I came out. I chuckled, and I could feel Atlas pushing forward so that we could both admire our mate in bed. I climbed in and threw my arm over her belly. I felt a tiny kick, and I smiled.
“I love you too, pups,” I whispered and fell asleep.
“Keepyoureyesclosed,Tuli,” I warned her when I saw her trying to peek. I'd been working on the surprise for the last two weeks, and it was finally ready. I stood her outside the door and took a nervous breath in. We hadn't discussed what we wanted for the pups' bedroom, and I hoped I hadn't stepped on any plans she had.
I pushed open the door and led her inside.
“Okay, you can open them now,” I said nervously.
Celeste blinked a few times as her brain processed what it was seeing. The two cribs were new, as was most of the furniture in the room. None of that was what I wanted her to see, though. Once the furniture was brought up, I had floating shelves and bookcases brought in. I sorted through the contents of the trunk we brought back and chose what to display in the pups’ bedroom. The rest I left in the trunk for her to go through at a later time. I didn't think she would keep any of the clothing, but I wasn't going to take that decision from her.
Admittedly, I wasn’t sure how useful some of the toys were after all of these years, but they added a certain nostalgia to the room, giving it a warmer feel, as if we could feel the history and stories of each object written on the walls. I went with brighter colors for the pups’ bedding to match the theme of the toys.
Some of the toys I knew, growing up with them myself, like old spinning tops and yoyos. I found a few marionettes I struggled to untangle, wooden boys and girls dangling from the strings. Those were put in display cases on the top shelf of one of the bookcases. There were a few spinning drums and some wooden rattles. I found several pretty rag dolls that I asked Mrs. Wriley to sanitize gently and were proudly displayed on a shelf above the foot of our daughter’s crib. A few cars and wooden drummer toys were securely placed above the top of our son’s, along with some luchador figurines. On one of the bookshelves, I’d placed the Spanish fairy tale books I’d found along with more toys.
For some of the toys, I had to sneak Camila in to explain because I didn’t recognize them or their use. A toy called a balero, which was essentially a small barrel with a hole on one end, connected to a stick with twine, which fit into the hole. Gillian and I spent a few hours distracted once she showed us how to play it. You had to toss the barrel into the air and make it land on the stick. She said it taught children hand-eye coordination. It was fun, but I ended up having to find an excuse for disappearing for a full three hours to Celeste when I lost track of time. There were a few tiny instruments in the trunk that I couldn’t help but scatter around the room because they were so bright and pretty to look at.
With Camila's help, I’d bought a few paintings that portrayed Mexican caricatures from classic lullabies. Then, with Dad’s help, I’d also managed to get my hands on a few of my own toys from when I was growing up and scattered them around the room, and I added more nursery rhyme and fairy tale books on the shelves so I could one day read to them. The blankets at the bottom of the trunk had been carefully kept, so I had them cleaned. One was currently lying on the arm of the rocking couch I’d bought.
I wanted Celeste to be represented. That part of her culture she’d been denied when her mother passed. I watched how eagerly she soaked in the Mexican culture during our visit, and I think it made her feel closer to her mom and the only blood family she had left. I couldn't move her there, but I could bring some of it here and make sure it was passed down to our pups.
Celeste walked forward quietly, looking at all the toys, and touching a few of them quietly.
“Where did you get all of this?” she asked, her voice choked with emotion. She grabbed one of the dolls, and I felt the jerking feeling in my gut as her gift sent us backward in time.
I recognized the little house we’d retrieved the trunk from, and I definitely knew who the little girl sitting on the rug on the floor was by the curls and stunning blue eyes that smiled at Celeste’s mother, who was sitting on the couch. Bella held another doll in her hand, talking back to Celeste as if the dolls were having a conversation.
We were jerked forward and back into the pups’ room. A tear left Celeste as she looked down at the doll in her hand.
“Diego kept it. He didn’t want to throw it away, even though they thought your line had ended with your death. He said it didn’t feel right. There are a few more blankets in one of the drawers that were also in there,” I pointed to the chest of drawers next to the couch.
“They were all mine?” she asked.
“Diego said yours or your mother’s,” I answered.
“I can’t believe you did this for me,” she whispered, and I finally crossed the room and placed her on my lap as I sat down on the couch.
“I would bring you the moon if it would make you happy, Tuli.”
Celeste hummed, putting her head in the crux of my shoulder. We stayed like that for a while, feeling the warmth and happiness Celeste was sending through our bond. I thought she had fallen asleep before she mentioned, “I don’t remember having a Furby.”
“Oh, heh. That is one of mine. Dad gave me a few things he’d kept, so I thought I’d add them around the room,” I felt my cheeks heating.
