The cheetah was a slim woman with flawless dark skin, and she seemed timid at first. She and Lark had visited the Metsala farm though, to see the results of the renovations, and that had been enough to get them over their shyness of being around Derek’s family.
“Hey, you don’t like crowds either?” Derek asked, gesturing at the other end of the ratty couch she was sitting on.
“Sit, sit,” she said and smiled slightly. “I love all the people in there and I’ve missed them. It’s just… a lot. The house is big, but there are so many of us now.”
“Yeah, Mikael said it was very different from when he was young.”
“Yes, his father founded this place and after Mikael took over, for a long time it was just Sean and Zoya and the kids and then Noah. Look at us all now.” She smiled and sighed.
“You and Lark, Mikael and Maxim, Noah and Dallas, Rider and Sean, Derek and I, Anna, Kit, Anton, Nico, Jude, June, May, and Jamie,” Derek said, counting with his fingers. “That’s eighteen people.”
Shani whistled. “That’s a lot.”
“What’s a lot?” Dallas asked as he came to join them.
“Eighteen people here, Derek did the math,” Shani explained.
“Oh wow.”
“Yeah.”
The door opened again, and Noah stepped outside.
“Did you know we have eighteen people now?” Dallas asked him, and Noah’s eyes widened.
“I knew it was a lot, but I hadn’t counted. Jesus… no wonder it felt crowded in there!” Noah replied and went to wrap himself around Dallas.
The chatter from inside was punctuated by quiet holiday music and the sound of the kids and teenagers exclaiming every now and then over the board game they’d been gifted as a way to keep them happy tonight.
The night was chilly, the lake had started to freeze close to the shores already. The kids were forbidden going down there without adults, just in case, and the boys had been told the same thing, because… well, teenagers.
They had hung Christmas lights on both of the Jarvela farm’s houses and some were strung on the barn, too.
There was also a single motion sensor spotlight lighting the yard between the houses. It had been turned fully on for the evening in case anyone needed anything from the pack’s house, because it would easily get annoying to have the yard light up every now and then before going dark again.
“It’s snowing,” Shani said in a breathless tone.
Derek could see the few flakes slowly floating down from the dark sky.
“Everyone!” Noah called out, making Derek and Shani jump. “It’s snowing!”
People piled out of the house, some pulling on shoes as they got to the shoe rack inside the door.
In short order, the boys and the kids were outside, catching snowflakes on their tongues. Jude had a shoeless Jamie in his arms, and when Derek glanced at Sean, he could see a wistfulness in his expression as he watched his sons.
“Dad?” Kit called to Cal who had squeezed himself next to Derek. “Is this my first time seeing snow?”
Cal thought for a bit. “I don’t think you have seen it before, actually.”
“Baby’s first snow!” Nico teased and Kit shoved him, laughing.
