“You don’thavea minute!” Nami said.
“Please, just—”
“Dewi!” Carl snapped. “Lu’ana just drove up! She’s early!”
“Shit! Why didn’t y’all tell me!”
Nami gave her a honkin’ good side-eye. “What youthinkI been doin’, girl!”
Ken walked over from where he’d been working on his laptop at the dining room table. He had his phone in his hand. “Take Bebe into one of the bedrooms,” he said. “I got this.”
“What?” Dewi asked.
He pointed at Bebe. “Someone take her into the back of the house and keep her quiet. Badger, I’ll need your help. Hug Lu’ana as soon as she comes in and Prime her to listen to me and believe everything I say.”
“What are you gonna do to her?” Nami’s shrill tone set Dewi’s nerves on edge.
He held up his phone to show her, and there was a picture on it but Dewi couldn’t tell what from that angle. “Igotthis,” he calmly said. “It’ll buy us until Monday afternoon. Just please get Bebe out of here and everyone stay chill and follow my lead, okay?”
Brianna and Malyah scooped up Bebe and her clothes and hustled back to Brianna’s room while everyone else exchanged nervous glances.
Badger waited by the door and gave it a second or two after Lu’ana rang the bell to open it.
She wore a bright smile. “Hey, Badger!”
“There ye are, lass.” He hugged her and then turned with her to face Ken while keeping a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, do yer thing, lad. She’s all yers.”
Ken showed his phone to Lu’ana. “Happy Anniversary! We have a surprise for you and Reggie—we got the two of you an all-expenses paid weekend over at a resort on St. Pete Beach! And it’s forthisweekend. So you have to go.”
Dewi and Badger exchanged a look but Dewi was gettingincrediblyturned on watching her mate thinking so fast on his feet.
“A…weekend?” Lu’ana asked, sounding a little out of it from being under Badger’s Prime influence.
“The whole weekend! And we’ll take care of Bebe for you. We’ll happily keep her until Monday evening after you get done with work. And then you guys will come over here for family dinner. But you need to go home right now and get packed for the two of you. I’ll text all the info to you. All you two have to do is drive over and check in. Food, drinks, spa, couple’s massage session—everything’s included.”
Lu’ana blinked. “But… Our anniversary isn’t for three months?”
“Uh, it’s… an early present,” Ken said. “Before the school year starts and everything. And, okay, you got me, we found a Groupon and it expires this week if it’s not used, but you’re going toloveit. You’ll have so much fun! No worries, and we’ve got Bebe for you. She’sreallylooking forward to spending the weekend with all of us.” Ken looked at Nami as he nodded in an exaggerated way to get her to nod, too. “Isn’t that right, Nami?”
Dewi turned and Nami’s expression would not have fooled Lu’ana if it wasn’t for Badger’s Prime powers. “That’s right,” Nami said as she started nodding. “Bebe’s really looking forward to this weekend. We’re gonna do pedicures and everything.”
“Well… Thank you!” Lu’ana said, her smile beaming. “That’s so sweet of y’all to do that! Let me just go say hi to her—”
“Oh, she’s asleep right now,” Ken said. “She wore herself out running around with Tamsin this morning, then had a big lunch, and she just fell right to sleep.”
“Ye know she’s sound asleep and just as adorable as ever,” Badger told Lu’ana. “Nothin’ to worry about. Ye wouldn’t want to wake her up early from her nap and throw her off her schedule and be cranky. You’d better go home and get busy packing. No need to even call us and check in, just focus on the two of you. If Reggie asks about her, you’ve already checked in while he’s in the bathroom or wasn’t around or somethin’. Improvise.”
“You know, really I don’t want to wake her up,” Lu’ana said. “I guess I’d better go home and get busy packing! I can’ wait to tell Reggie about this. I love you guys so much! And I promise we won’t bug you all weekend checking in.” After another round of hugs with everyone, she happily headed out.
Badger watched through the viewfinder on the front door. “Okay, she’s gone.” He turned. “It’s safe,” he called out to Brianna and Malyah before turning to Ken. “Damned good job, lad.”
“Well, I realized a couple of hours ago we needed a contingency plan in place,stat. We can always send them on a seven-day cruise starting Tuesday if we have to, but a Prime will need to visit their works to give them the vacation time without fucking up their jobs. Tell them they won it in a contest or something.”
Dewi managed to get up off the floor and walked over to Ken, grabbed his head, and kissed him. “You are so getting laid tonight,” she silently told him. “That was hawwwt.”
“What? Thinking fast?”
“And taking control.”
