“Now I know why you volunteered to take me to my appointment. The opportunity to have Bailey feed you was too strong to resist.”
“Ha! You wish,” Iris said, taking the tray from his hands. “I’ve been volun-told by the rest of our siblings to find out directly from the good doctors how your recovery is coming along. It’s almost like we all know you’re not telling us everything. Hurry up and open the door. I’m getting old here.”
Koios pressed his thumb to the pad outside his door, then entered his six-digit code. When the door unlocked, he pushed it open and gestured for his annoying sister to enter.
“By the way, it’s time for a haircut. If you try to argue, I will shave you bald.”
Koios snapped his mouth shut before he made a single sound. Iris may love him more than anything, but she would make good on her threat. Plus, he liked the fancy hair masks she used on him. They smelled good, and, considering they came with an on-the-house scalp massage, it might ease his headache.
“What’s the plan?” Koios asked.
Iris set the tray on the table, then turned to him with the eye of an experienced stylist. When she’d started beauty school years before, Koios had honestly thought she’d get tired of it and move on to something else. Iris loved her job, though. And she was damn good at it.
“Well, first, we need to wash that tangled disaster. And then I’m thinking of redoing some braids, maybe weaving in some color. That will come after your doctor’s appointment, though.”
She had her hands in his hair, focused on his locks and not his pain. She hadn’t forgotten. No, Iris never forgot a thing, but she’d been obsessed with his hair for as long as he could remember. Without her, he probably would be bald. Having long hair took patience and strength he didn’t have.
While he always enjoyed the hair treatment, he’d have much rather forgotten the reminder of his upcoming appointment. It wouldn’t do him any good to argue. Those past one hundred days? Yeah, he’d learned how many people would gang up on him if he refused to go to the Jerricks’ clinic for regular follow-ups.
His siblings were pains in the ass, even if they meant well. And don’t get him started on Logan’s pack. They were somehow worse than his siblings. Then there were the Jerricks themselves. Luckily, he only had to deal with Dr. Vaughn and not…any of the other doctors at the clinic.
“Sounds good. Let’s eat and get this show on the road,” Koios said.
After they made quick work of their lunch, Iris brushed his hair while Koios checked on his system. The twins were on standby to take over while he was at his appointment. Although the pack hadn’t known it at the time, his brothers and sisters did cover for him on occasion. He clicked a few buttons, making sure any priority alerts would come directly to his cell phone.
“So…have you been keeping up on your physical therapy, or are we planning on lying through our teeth to the doc?” Iris asked as she smoothed out the last strands of his hair.
Koios groaned. “Iris, come on.”
“What? I’m serious. We saw your X-rays. Gentle Ben explained what they meant. This is important.”
“Gentle Ben?” There was nothinggentleabout Ben Jerrick. The man had a stubborn streak the size of Alaska. He might as well be made of granite for how unmovable he was.
Iris smirked. “Yeah. It was a television show in the sixties about a kid and his pet bear or something. A bear named Ben. Funny, right?”
“Hysterical.”
“Don’t be an ass. Okay, I’m putting your hair up and out of the way for the appointment. We’ll take care of the rest when I bring you home.”
“And we won’t have to lie. Bailey sics Gideon on me daily to make sure I’m doing my physical therapy. Have I mentioned how weird it is to let a vampire help you stretch?”
“Hmm,” Iris purred. “I’d let him stretch me any day of the week.”
“Don’t perv on the pack.”
“Why? I’m young, beautiful, and single.”
“But Gideon isn’t.”
Iris shot him the most evil and mischievous look he’d ever seen. “Oh I know very well who’s single and who isn’t. Now, let’s go. I can’t wait to get the juicy details so I can tell Baileyallabout it.”
Koios fought a whimper. He really didn’t stand a chance with both a pack and a passel of siblings on his ass.
2
BEN
The wail of a crying infant shouldn’t have brought a smile to Ben Jerrick’s face, but this one did. He paused the video he’d been watching and put down his pen and the tablet containing his notes. By the time he made it to the door, his younger brother Ollie stood at the clinic’s entrance with his one-month-old daughter, Lily, screaming in his arms. From the state of Ollie’s hair and the bags under his eyes, Lily had been at it for a while.
