“Umm,” I muttered, looking around the room. “Maybe. I-I mean, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities, but I don’t feel pregnant.”
“You will, just you wait,” Grandma Tilly said.
“I hate to break it to you,” Briar’s mom cut in as she crossed the room to reach us with a big smile on her face, “but Grandma Tilly has never been wrong. Looks like we’ll be planning yet another party for you three in a few months.”
I looked over at Maverick, because he hadn’t moved and he hadn’t said anything yet. Briar picked up on it too and reached for him, but Maverick stood frozen and completely unreactive when Briar waltzed fingertips up his arm. For a moment I feared he was about to pass out too. Others must have thought the same, including Grandma Tilly, who shuffled over to him and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. Maverick turned then, and I saw tears soaking his cheeks right before he swept her into a hug.
“We’re having cubs,” Maverick sobbed against her shoulder. “That’s the coolest damned thing in the world.”
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief at hearing that, especially me. His silence had momentarily left me worried that it was too soon and he wasn’t happy about the news we’d beengiven. Hearing him sound so overjoyed had me hurrying to join in the hug, tugging Briar along beside me until we reached him and Grandma Tilly, who opened her arms to us so we could hold him too.
Little did I know that move would open the door to a snow leopard embrace the likes of which I’d never known existed. Pressing inward, everyone got in on the hugging, surrounding us, arms joined, my dads included. What a way to find out that our lives were about to shift yet again, this time to include tiny lives. Thank fuck we’d gone for the four-bedroom house, because we had plenty of space for however many blessings and our extremely potent alpha sent our way.
I felt like I spent the rest of the party floating on a cloud, accepting well wishes and food—so much food. Holy shit, I couldn’t go two steps without someone pressing a hunk of meat into my hands, or stuffed mushrooms, candied carrots and yams, not to mention the sweets, though they were very careful about how many of those they offered me. Instead, they plied me with fruits and barbecued beef that melted on my tongue. Sticky, slightly sweet, and richly smoky, not to mention medium rare, it was the best mouthful of food I’d ever tasted.
Moaning around it, I was only dimly aware of how pornographic that sounded when Maverick snickered. He hadn’t let go of my hand since we’d been freed from the group hug, and Briar hadn’t let us out of his sight. He was watching us from the next grill station over, which had some kind of standing contraption with layers that let out deliciously scented smoke whenever someone lifted one. I couldn’t see what Briar had on the plate he was rapidly filling, but I couldn’t wait to try it…after I got more of that scrumptious beef.
“Dad,” Maverick sighed as he popped a piece in his mouth, then passed me a plateful, “What are the chances of you sending some of this over to the house at least once a week?”
“I’d say they were a hundred percent, considering you boys are carrying my grandcubs. Anything else you fall in love with today, you just let me and Damien know, and we’ll happily hook you up.”
Damien was Briar’s father and the man responsible for the stuffed shrimp, lobster bites, and mushroom-and-bacon-wrapped cheesy asparagus puffs I’d decimated earlier. Never in my wildest dreams would I have pictured myself, the kind who lived off of frozen dinners, to be standing there salivating over fresh fruit and vegetable-laden dishes the way I had today, yet oh, my Goddess, I hummed happily every time I popped a bit of yummy deliciousness into my mouth. It reminded me of the way Maverick had purred when I’d been feeding him bits of lobster roll by the waterfall on our first snowy hike in the woods.
“Guess what just came out of the steamer,” Briar asked as he held a shrimp up by the tail and wafted it in front of Maverick’s face.
“Oh, my gods,” Maverick growled and parted his lips.
There was that purr, especially when Briar placed a heaping plate in his hands, with a cup of seasoned butter at the center.
“What is that spice?” I asked when I caught a whiff of it.
“Old Bay,” Briar remarked, chuckling. “Some folks here swear it’s a snow leopard aphrodisiac.
“Haven’t you and your libido done enough?” Maverick’s dad chuckled. “You boys might want to hide the Old Bay from this one.”
Laughing, we carried our plates back inside where it was much warmer. People seemed to be eating in shifts at the long tables that had been set up in several rooms. I caught sight of my pops, deep in conversation with more MMA fans, while my dad was at the table we sat down at, seated across from Maverick’s mother, chuckling.
“I’m afraid I was a bit remiss when it came to educating my son about the existence of shifters, despite encountering them regularly on the job and in the department. They are just fellow firefighters to me and people in need when we roll up on a scene.” I overheard my dad say as we sat down. “I figured with him going to public school and living in the community we did, someone would have shifted on the playground or something. I never realized that the majority of the shifter community sent their kids to different schools or homeschooled them.”
“Unfortunately,” Maverick’s mom explained. “Many still like to keep a divide between their children and human children. Some species can be a bit evasive and shy that way, just like snow leopards. With you living down in Gibsonton, that’s mole and shrew territory, and they very much like to keep to themselves.”
“Ahh, that might explain why there was some standoffishness between some of the townies and the shifters on our truck. Our guys are owls, and their eyesight and ability to spot movement through the smoke really come in handy.”
“And would also explain their reluctance, since prey shifters tend to be naturally wary of predators, regardless of if they have a human form or not,” Maverick’s mother explained. “You truly have nothing to apologize for. In fact, I wish more of the humans who know about us would just think of us as you do, as people first, because at our core, that’s what we are, even in our animal forms. We think and reason the same as we would in skin and are fully capable of understanding the conversations going on around us, as I’m sure Leo has already discovered. As the little ones come, you’ll learn how to help care for them no matter what form they’re in, and if you ever have any questions, you’ve got plenty of resources right here who will be happy to help in any way we can.”
As I watched, she passed him a folded page that looked to be covered in writing. “One of these days I’m going to remember to get these laminated.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“A family contact list,” she explained. “That way you can get ahold of anyone you need to.”
“Thank you,” he replied, tucking it into his wallet.
“You’re welcome,” she replied. “I know it’s been said plenty today, but welcome to the family. We are beyond overjoyed that the boys have found their mate. Talk about a meet-cute story. What a lovely addition to the family album that will be once Maverick has the chance to add it.
I could hear the hint-hint in her voice and caught Mav’s cheeks flush out of the corner of my eye, suggesting it wasn’t the first time she’d brought up the subject to him.
“I’ll get it done,” he replied after he blotted butter from his lips with the napkin.
