“There’s no rush,” Bruno agreed. Did he sound grateful? They rose to clean themselves up and settle in the bed more seriously, and Clarice was relieved by how easy and comfortable it felt to slip under the covers next to him and twine her legs with his.
“I’m not glad about everything that’s happened today,” Clarice admitted, “but this part is nice.”
“This part is super nice,” Bruno agreed, giving her ear a little kiss. “I’m sorry I’ve dragged you into this mess.”
“You didn’t!” Clarice protested, elbowing him. “If anyone did, it was Veronica. And anyway, I’m not sorry. My life was really boring. All I had to talk about was my ungrateful cat. Do you know any cat shifters? Is it polite toask what kind of shifter someone is? How close do you have to be to tell? I have so many questions!”
Bruno answered them all with patience and humor, and they talked late into the night, long after the other sounds in the house died down. Then they made quiet love again, and fell into exhausted sleep at last.
41
BRUNO
Bruno woke to the sound of pounding on the door. “I HAVE TO GO POTTY!”
Clarice startled in his arms and they broke apart in guilty confusion. “What time is it?” she asked.
“It’s POTTY TIME!” Gil answered from the door.
“Did he just say…”
“POTTY TIME! Let’s ROCK AND ROLL!”
“Parents will do literallyanythingto make toilet training palatable,” Bruno said, not exactly as an apology. “At one point, I had a disco ball in the bathroom. I even had a disco ball keychain, in case we had to use a public bathroom.” He raised his voice to answer Gil. “The bathroom’s right down the hall, buddy!”
“TARA’S IN THERE!” Gil shouted back. “I HAVE TO GO!”
“Can you use the bathroom in the master bedroom? Knock and ask teacher Addy.”
“SOMEONE CLOGGED IT!”
Bruno rose to pull on his pants and Clarice rolled off of the opposite side of the bed to get dressed. They met atthe door for a swift kiss and Bruno opened the door to find Gil holding himself dramatically and dancing around.
The rest of the house was rousing, and Gil wasn’t first in line for the bathroom.
“We didn’t really plan a safe house for ten kids—eleven if you count little Zach—and their families,” Juliette said. She was waiting behind Lucy, who was bouncing as theatrically as Gil. “Roderick is unclogging the other toilet. Who knows what got flushed.”
Juliette waved Gil in front of her as the door opened and Vivian came out with Shane and Tara, who was protesting that her hands were still wet. “Sorry,” the nurse said. “I hurried her the best I could.”
Lucy darted in behind them and slammed the door. “Sowwy!” she cried.
“Just hurry, sweetie,” Juliette said. “I don’t know how long Gil can hold it.”
“We’ll be out of your hair soon,” Logan said, coming out of the romp room with Franzi and a pink My Little Pony backpack. “I don’t want Tabby alone at the farm, and she won’t leave the horses. We’re hiring a guy from Grizzly Guardians to come out for a few days until this is all over. It’s a shifter-friendly security company with branches all over the state. Jennifer’s parents have agreed to stay with us.”
Tara sobbed about being left behind and Franzi tried unsuccessfully to comfort her.
“We’re leaving too,” Chloe said, holding a penguin upside down in her arms. “We’ll be fine out at the Belle Lake Lodge until this is all settled. No one is going to mess with Clay and his four brothers.”
Franzi joined the line behind Juliette and frowned at Gil. “You’ll jiggle it out if you keep doing that,” she warned.
“NO I WON’T!” Gil protested, clutching his pants as he wriggled and bounced. “THIS KEEPS IT IN.”
“I’m going to go see if I can help in the kitchen,” Clarice said. She paused for an awkward moment while Bruno wondered if he ought to kiss her, then vanished down the hallway. Bruno spent a few moments in line listening to Lucy wash her hands, then decided he could hold it a little longer (and didn’t really have a choice), so he followed Clarice.
“There’s coffee,” Ian said. “Cream and sugar. We’re out of clean mugs, but there are some paper cups. Careful, it’s hot.” He was holding his own paper cup without showing any discomfort, though his coffee was steaming.
Clarice was already busy cooking with Addison, who was wearing Zach in a sling. “I think most of them will eat scrambled eggs,” Addison said. “And we can make toast on cookie sheets in the oven.”
