“What’s wrong?”Gillian asked.“You’re scaring me.”
He finally shook his head and returned the baby after kissing his forehead.“He’s definitely a Prime.”He nodded toward Dewi.“Reminds me of her at this age.How old is he?”
“Almost six months.”
He gravely nodded.“Aye.That was about the age…”
No one needed clarification.
That was the age it showed up in Dewi, following the attack.
“Does that mean he’s a Prime?”Gillian asked him.
“If he’s not a Prime I’d be shocked,” he said, crossing his meaty arms over his chest.“Mebbe not as strong as Peyton, Duncan, or me.Definitely not as strong as Callum.”He tipped his head toward Dewi again.“Probably about as strong as she is.”
“Oof,” Gillian said.
“Hey!”Dewi protested.
“I didn’t mean that in a bad way,” Gillian said.“I just remember you sending your aunt out into the snow.”
“I didn’t mean to!”she said.“I didn’t even do it on purpose!”
“We know, fuzzball,” Badger said to her.“But that’s the thing, innit?Knowin’ ye got a Prime on yer hands is somethin’ else.And the other thing, Peyton didn’t really start showing much in the way of powers until he was older.He was around four or five.Most Primes don’t really start coming into it until then.”
Ken and Peyton returned with the last load of stuff, and while Gillian had initially hoped for some private time with Peyton, this development eclipsed that completely.
“Oh, Trevor texted me that the paperwork is already on its way to us,” Peyton said.“He was only waiting for a name.”
“His birth certificate?”Gillian asked.
“Everything.”He leaned in and kissed the top of her head.“He’s ours.They have attorneys or barristers or whatever they’re called, as well as magistrates and judges, on the pack payroll.Those who aren’t actual packmates, that is.It’s all been filed.”
“Nice to have friends in high places,” Dewi snarked.
The three men started assembling furniture.Five minutes in, the baby monitor Dewi wore clipped to her waistband sounded off as Lyssa awakened from her nap in the living room.
“I’ll go get the princess,” Ken said.
“Thanks, sweetie.”Dewi yawned.“Actually, she’s not the only one who needs a nap.”
Badger motioned to her.“Gimme that little one and you go catch some winks.”
“Thanks, Badger.”She handed Adair off to Badger and then kissed Moose on his head before leaving the pool house.
Badger took Dewi’s place on the couch.“Mebbe ye should think about movin’ here,” Badger said without any of his usual mirth.“I’d get to see everyone growin’ up in person that way.Help ye with babysitting.”
“I promise to take long family vacations here,” Peyton said.“Especially once the houses are ready.Maybe we can be snowbirds.”
“I wouldlovethat,” Gillian said.“Trent and Asia won’t move until the kids are all grown and out of school, though.”
“That reminds me,” Peyton said, turning where he sat on the floor to look at Gillian.“How, exactly, did we end up with two more properties and a herd of cattle you ordered that we absolutely cannot eat?”
She stuck her tongue out at him.“That’ll teach you to leave me alone with the pack checkbook.”
He rolled his eyes but smiled as he resumed assembling things.
Later that night, the babies’portable cribs sat next to each other with the two of them sound asleep.Peyton and Gillian stood there, staring down at their children.
