She carried Lyssa and her diaper bag into the house, not bothering to knock first.
Tamsin and Asia were sitting in the living room, with the three sleeping babies, and?—
Dewi winced. “Sorry,” she softly said. “Guess I’m not a kid and should have knocked first.”
Asia made a face at her. “What’s gotten into you? That’d be like making my kids knock before coming in. Get in here.” Asia was already reaching before Dewi even set down the diaper bag. “And gimme that little peanut!”
Dewi handed Lyssa over. “I figured you’d be tired of babies by now.”
Asia smiled. “She’s your baby, kiddo. I’ll never get tired of her.”
Dewi’s face heated. “Can we save the mushy stuff for tonight?” She set the diaper bag next to the couch. “Also, can I nurse her and leave her here with you while I nap?”
Tamsin smiled. “Nap? Or”—she made finger quotes—“‘nap-nap’ with Ken?”
Dewi snorted. “A nap-nap menage involving me, myself, and I. He’s working and I don’t want to disturb him. I know he’s trying to fill in while Gillian’s taking time off and that rat bast—eh, rat booger of a brother of mine is on yet another European jaunt.”
“Absolutely, we can,” Tamsin said.
“Not too much, is it?” Dewi asked, pointing to a sleeping Adair. “I’m guessing Gillian’s at home?”
“You just missed her by a few minutes,” Asia said as she rocked Lyssa and made funny faces at her, getting the baby to laugh. “Ken had a work issue to talk to her about. Don’t worry—we’ve got this. Take advantage of the free babysitting while you have the chance.” She arched an eyebrow at Dewi. “And since I know I can’t talk you into moving to Idaho, I’m going to greedily spend as much time as I can hogging this little munchkin. Yes, I am!” she said to the baby, earning her another smile.
Dewi mentally swiped away the twinge of guilt she felt. Yes, she loved her brothers and her sisters-in-law. And her nieces and nephews, obviously.
And, yes, sometimes she missed Idaho and the freedom and safety living in the pack compound provided.
But over the years, Florida became her home, not just her mailing address. While visiting Idaho was—yes, she’d admit it—a welcome change of pace at times, it wasn’t where she wanted to live.
Especially not in winter.
Her seed might have sprouted in Idaho, but her roots had deeply sunk into the sun-warmed Florida soil, and she felt loath to uproot herself.
Besides, now they had more packmates than ever living east of the Mississippi, especially in Florida. They needed a permanent leadership presence there.
Despite knowing if she floated the idea Ken would have them packed and ready to move before she even finished the sentence, leaving Florida wasn’t what she wanted.
Especially now that Nami’s family had adopted her and Ken and the rest of them. They were family. And no shade to Badger or the rest of her kin, but for the first time in her adult life Dewi felt like she really had a close-knit family. The last thing she wanted was to leave them behind, even though it meant living across the country from her blood kin.
Dewi hit the bathroom, drank a glass of water, and then set up on the other end of the couch to nurse Lyssa after finally coaxing Asia into returning her. Something else she never saw herself doing before meeting Ken—having a baby. She’d secretly started to worry if there was something wrong with her, even though she knew that was a preposterous mindset.
She’d watched Asia happily embrace motherhood over the years, heard countless stories from her brothers and nearly everyone else in the pack about what a good mom her own mother had been.
That had been another secret source of guilt for Dewi, that she’d known Beck eventually wanted pups of his own, and she had not only not wanted any back then, but she couldn’t see herself having any with him.
Not for any lack on his part.
Back then, to her, having children ran counter to her priority as Head Enforcer for the pack. The countless lectures she’d received from her brothers to put herself first didn’t matter because that was impossible for her. Because she knew the love she felt for Beck wasn’t a mate bond, and even if she had kids, she damned sure wouldn’t do it unless she was mated.
Which, back then, seemed an unlikely possibility.
Until Ken.
Until now.
Now she couldn’t imagine her life without Ken or Lyssa in it, and she didn’t even want to try. Because this was perfection.
Minus the psychotic corgi shifter she wanted to decapitate, and the asshole drug cartel, and the bullshit secret scientists wanting to experiment on shifters.
