A notification caught my attention out of the corner of my eye and I turned back to the screen. Why was Alve emailing me when he was standing right there? Confused, I clicked on it, the message opening to…an itinerary?
I stared at it for a moment, scrolling through. A flight from Vegas to New York, two overnights there with city tours, then a flight from New York to Paris. “Are we going toFrance?”
“And Spain.” Leo grinned, nuzzling my cheek. “If you can clear your schedule.”
Words failed me. Disbelieving excitement all but punched me in the chest. We were going on a trip.Wewere goingon a trip! My pack had done this so we could have a vacation together.
“We figured France and Spain would be a good choice,” Nathan explained, slinking around to my other side, still cradling Lucy. “This way you don’t have to be a slut for palaces in theory only, you can be one in practice.”
I laughed, the sound probably bordering on hysterical. “I can’t believe you remember me saying that.”
“Sweetheart, our first conversation is branded into my brain for the rest of eternity.”
I was so fucking happy my eyes started burning from tears trying to escape, my overwhelmed emotions made manifest.
“Have a look through and see if there’s anything we forgot that you want to see.” Jude dipped down so Pepper was within reach for me to kiss her forehead and his cheek. “If it’s all good, we can go ahead and book.”
“I need a group hug.” Pushing back on my desk, I stood up from my desk chair, instantly cocooned by my pack, cats and niece included. “We really get to go somewhere together?And not justsomewhere, but a place I’ve been dying to go for decades?”
“We do.” Alve let his forehead rest against mine. “We thought it would be a perfect birthday gift for your first one with us.”
My brain stopped short. “You know when my birthday is?”
“It was on your intake forms when you were onboarded with the OHI. I put it in my calendar and gave myself a three-month reminder on my phone so I’d have time to figure out the best way to celebrate. Nathan suggested somewhere with palaces, and Jude said you’d always wanted to visit Versailles, so we started there. Leo’s birthday is only a couple of weeks after yours, so we’re spoiling both of you.”
Lucy fussed, rejoining the waking world.
“You hungry, cutie?” Nathan asked.
Lucy nodded, hugging her uncle tightly around the neck.
“Okay, let’s wash your face and hands, andyou”—Nathan looked pointedly at me—“are going to take a break for lunch.” He departed with Lucy into the nursery we had only just begun to set up. She was old enough she didn’t need the baby stuff, which was good because we didn’t have most of it yet, aside from what came in the subscription boxes Alve had signed me up for. The crib we had picked out had been sitting in a box when we got the call that Ava was going into labor, so that had been a quick construction to give Lucy somewhere to sleep.
Surrendering to the demand, I went downstairs with my pack. It wasn’t very common for everyone to be home at once with Leo’s alternate work schedule, but we got him most of Sunday and went to his show in the evening.
“My mom heard we had a guest,” Leo told me. “She’s bringing over some baby-friendly options for Lucy.”
As if on cue, the doorbell rang and I scampered over to answer it, greeted instantly with a smile. “Hello, mija. You’re looking so well. How are you feeling?”
“Pretty fabulous, actually. My pack is taking great care of me.” I inhaled the incredible fragrance clinging to her. She held a big opaque container with something wrapped in foil stacked on top. Leo took both from her so she could pull me into a warm hug. “You didn’t have to bring us food, but I’m very glad you did.”
She bustled along into the kitchen. Leo moved like she was communicating telepathically with him, setting a pot on the stove and getting a wooden spoon from the drawer. Mama Aleida poured the contents of the container into the pot and my mouth watered
“Sit,” she commanded. “The pozole will be warm in a moment.” She put Leo in charge of stirring and dug through our fridge, extracting staples he kept on hand for his own delicious cooking: avocado, limes, cilantro, and garlic. I parked myself at the kitchen table to watch her work. “I went light on the chilies for the little one and brought her some tinga de pollo. Where is she?”
“Right here.” Nathan came down the stairs carrying her. “Washed up and ready to eat.”
Lucy was still in her nervous phase with strangers so she stayed stuck to him, but offered a tentative smile when Mama Aleida unwrapped the foil for Lucy to peer in.
Mama Aleida had been bringing by whatever was left at their food truck at the end of the day, though I suspected she started prepping extra for the sole purpose of feeding us. I had no complaints about that. Every single bite I put into my mouth made by her hands was magnificent.
Her pozole was as delicious as everything else she’d made us. I dug into the bowl she set in front of me. It was spicy, but not painfully so, the other flavors exquisite.
“Could we hire you to cater the baby shower?” I asked when I surfaced to breathe, halfway through my bowl already.
“I will cook for it, but you will not pay me for it,” she insisted.
“You have to let us pay for the groceries at the very least, and I’m going to buy you so many presents if you won’t take our money.”
