Morgan grinned. “It’s no problem. One second.”
He gently handed Lupa back to me, then shifted into his buck form. I’d seen it many times now but it never ceased to amaze me. He was a gorgeous beast with a thick brown coat, strong legs, and a noble rack of antlers that towered over everyone.
“Yay!” Lupa and Leveret cried at the same time.
Len chuckled as he lifted both the twins in his arms. Morgan carefully bowed his head so the kids could reach his tines. Len urged them to be gentle as they stroked the strange bone formations. Morgan seemed delighted to be getting so much attention.
“Nice horns,” Lupa said, patting them.
“Antlers,” Len reminded.
I chuckled. “She only just started sayinghornsproperly.I don’t thinkantlersis any easier for her to say.”
Len smiled. “Hey, words are important. The more knowledge she has, the better.”
I remembered Len’s past about being unable to read. His old warren seemed afraid of learning anything outside the status quo, so it made sense that Len was trying to break free of that cycle. He wanted his twins to have access to opportunities he never had.
After the kids had their fill, they ran off to find new trouble to get into. Len sighed. “There they go again…”
Undeterred by the kids’ antics, Morgan shifted back and asked, “Do you need someone to watch them?”
Len’s eyes widened. It was only then that I noticed the same thing Morgan did—Len looked tired. Watching the kids nonstop must have been exhausting, especially since Hugo was out hunting. I felt a bit guilty. Usually I was the one who went hunting in the mornings, but Hugo must have wanted to give me and Morgan some free time. I made a note to thank him later. He encouraged me to pursue Morgan from the beginning and was clearly supportive of our relationship.
“You’d do that?” Len asked.
“Of course,” Morgan said immediately. “I mean—if that’s all right with you.”
Len laughed. “Why wouldn’t it be? Just make sure they don’t wear you out too badly.”
“You go and take a nap, Len,” I told him. “You’re tired. Let us take care of the kids today.”
Len sighed and wiped his eyes. “Thanks. Sometimes I forget how tiring being a parent is until someone reminds me to take a break…”
“Come on, let’s go grab them,” Morgan said excitedly.
Len watched us until we caught up with the twins, who were hiding behind a tree together, and then he waved us off and went to take a much-needed nap.
I scooped up Leveret while Morgan caught Lupa. They both shrieked with laughter and struggled to escape.
“Nooo!” Leveret cried.
“Are you gonna run off if I put you down?” I asked.
He shook his head, even though we both knew it was a lie. I grinned and set him down anyway. He laughed, popped into his hare shape and rocketed down the hill. Morgan released Lupa and she did the same in her wolf form. Her paws were too big for her body and she tripped, tumbling over herself. They landed at the foot of the hill and waited for us to chase them again.
“Uncle Dax is gonna get you!” I warned them.
They giggled and ran in opposite directions. I exchanged a glance with Morgan, who was beaming with joy. We silently devised a plan. He circled around and herded them closer to me, where I was waiting with my arms open. They shifted into human form and collapsed into me, tired and breathless from playing so hard.
They quickly got tired and fell into a lazy nap, which I knew would only last ten minutes or so. Meanwhile Morgan and I sat on the grass together, watching them.
“Is Len really okay letting with letting us babysit?” he asked quietly.
“Of course,” I replied. “Why wouldn’t he be?”
Morgan fiddled with some weeds. “No one ever asked me to babysit before.”
“Never? Not even when there were a lot of kids in the herd?”
