Riggs, Alistair, and Mathan were looking faintly terrified that Alanna was going to start teething soon, and I couldn’t help but laugh at their expressions as they stared at each other in horror.
“She’s going to be okay, guys. She’s just going to be hurting for a bit.”
Mathan nodded, looking pained. “I remember. But it can also mean a fever, and a lot of sleepless nights.”
“Should we get something special for her?” Riggs asked worriedly, starting to rifle through a baby chest that looked to be filled with things for Alanna.
And that was when it hit me.
I looked around at the crib, the baby chest, the little swing, the toys scattered everywhere, the changing table… and I had to swallow the lump in my throat and blink back the sudden moisture in my eyes.
I had been alone before Everly, and by extension the Moonhaven Cove Bear Clan. Alone. Terrified. Determined. And so tired.
I’d been moving from one place to the next, trying to stay one step ahead of a madman.
I had known from the moment I arrived that I had found somewhere special. In the weeks I’d spent here before leaving to find help, I learned they would care for and protect her. But as I looked around at the sappy expression one bear shifter was wearing, the worried expressions of the others, and all the things that clearly said a baby lived here, my heart softened even more.
They’d done more than take care of her.
They’d taken her into their hearts.
Riggs abruptly paused his frantic searching for who knew what and turned to me.
And I could tell that he knew.
If I was getting glimpses of what he was feeling at times, then surely he was as well.
And he knew.
I tried not to hide. I tried to let him see the expression on my face that must have been equal parts touched and afraid.
He didn’t say anything for long moments. He just looked at me. Then he gave the barest smile and turned back to the chest of drawers, searching less frantically now. After a moment, he pulled out a bottle and held it up like it was the Stanley Cup.
“Baby pain reliever!”
While Matteo lightly snored and Mathan, Alistair, and Riggs debated the finer points of different baby pain relievers, I looked at Alanna.
She had a grin on her face as she listened to the bear shifters, her eyes tracking them as they moved around the room. A little dimple popped in her right cheek, and I smoothed it with my thumb. My sister had had one there as well.
We found a good place, Alanna.
We found a good place.
Chapter 9
Riggs
Ipaced the front living room with Alanna, trying to give my mate a chance to rest. An unexpected spring storm howled outside, making the windows rattle as thunder crashed in the distance.
I’d cranked the heater up a few degrees for Alanna, even though my Clan was going to hate me for it. I also had a thick baby blanket wrapped around her, but I was pretty sure she didn’t care about my efforts to keep her warm because she was too busy being miserable.
“I know, sweet thing. I know.”
She kept crying, hiccuping from the force of her emotions. It wasn’t the cry of an angry baby—I was learning the differences in baby cries—it was the cry of a baby who was hurting and confused by her pain.
She was strapped to my chest with some kind of contraption that defied the laws of gravity, leaving my hands completely free. I used the nearby kitchen sink to wash them thoroughly, then rubbed more of the stuff on her gums that Dice had given us. After that, I gave her another dose of pain reliever, marking the time on a whiteboard affixed to the fridge.
Before Alanna, I’d never had much interaction with babies and toddlers, except through the Clan during gatherings. I was an only child, born late in life to older parents. I had been their miracle baby.
