Hadley smiled between us. It felt good to feel normal for a while. Like nothing bad was happening around me. This was a normal day, and we were just hanging out with a friend. At work.
The three of us gathered on the couches as we talked about whatever came up. It wasn’t until three hours into the shift that someone in the back buzzed for an AM.
“I got it,” Miller said, getting to his feet. “Man the door.”
I nodded, watching as he disappeared down the hall with a tablet in hand. Hadley leaned into my side, burrowing into me and smiling contentedly. I loved her little sigh. Before she came, I swear I’d dreamed of that sound.
“Thanks for coming with me,” I said.
She didn’t look up, but her smile widened. “This is nice.” She bit her lip before sitting up and looking at me. “I’ve been thinking lately that the career I’m in is no longer where I want to be. While I love my spreadsheets, I’m just… bored. I don’t feel like I’m doing any good.”
“Don’t you help kids get financial aid so they can go to college?” I asked.
Hadley laughed. “Yes. But even so, I want to be a part of something bigger. Tem saves the environment with his sexy picture donations.” I laughed. “You complete families. I play with numbers all day.”
“Saar plays in the flowers all day,” I said.
She grinned. “Yes, but I think he likes his job though I admit, it’s almost funny to imagine a big man like him arranging flowers.”
“It’s really adorable,” I said, smiling. “He knows all the flowers, their meaning, what their color symbolizes, and all sorts of fun things. Watching him work is almost as much of a high as watching Koh work.”
“What about Arat? He’s a big boss man. Do you ever see him work?” she asked.
“Oh my gods, watching Arat work is like watching kinky porn. His voice is all low and smooth and hypnotic as he commands the world like puppets. He’s a wet dream.”
She laughed, covering her face as her cheeks reddened. I smiled further, loving that look on her. “The way you talk about him… but isn’t he not one of the guys you’rewithwith?”
I shrugged. “I’m with them all in some way. But if you’re talking sex, yes. Except,” I titled my head. “Maybe? At our orgy, he said he wanted to maybe see where we go or something.” I knew the something, but I didn’t want to get into details. “Then we were attacked and holed up in the house and—” I shrugged, trailing off. Biting my lip.
I hadn’t thought to think about it. It just hadn’t come up since we were attacked and shut down into crisis mode. Maybe he’d said so in the heat of the moment? And then with Koh and Tem and Tara and Raiden down, priorities shifted?
“You should ask him,” she said.
“Mm,” I answered, shrugging. “Maybe. He’s still my husband regardless, so I don’t suppose it really matters.” The look she gave me made me laugh. “What?”
“Tell me how this family was built,” she said, settling into my side and looking up at me. “From the beginning. Tell me everything.”
“Yes, do tell,” Miller said as he came back into the room. “I love sappy story time.”
“Everything okay out back?” I asked.
He nodded, joining us on the couch again. “Yep. He was hungry. I brought him a sub, and now he’s munching away as he answers invasive questions.”
Nodding, I turned back to Hadley. “Well, Raiden and Saar started our family. They have some weird sandwich fetish and like to share a lover. Strange, since they don’t share anyone but me and… you?”
Hadley grinned. “Not yet.”
“Mm. Well, they wanted to share a family, anyway. Taranis came first and I hear it was a stressful nine month stretch until I joined that consisted mainly of jerking off together. You know Tara doesn’t bottom—unless you missed that.”
She laughed. “I think I’ve heard it mentioned.”
“Even I know he doesn’t bottom,” Miller added.
“Yeah so, handies. Their stories are pretty funny but that they immediately accepted Taranis really emphasizes that family and love are boundless and doesn’t follow a specific blueprint.. We know how we fall and are happy to be there. However the cards lay. Just because there’s no sex shared doesn’t mean our love for each other is any less. The world could take a lot of lessons from polyamorous families.”
“And poly friend packs,” Miller said, grinning like a canine. “It’s not bad or unnatural to tell your friends how you feel about them. Show them what they mean to you.” He shrugged. “Wolves are pretty needy when it comes to touch, so we snuggle up with our friends when our pack isn’t around. And even when they are. Because touch, to us, means you’re important to us. And we like to feel that connection, to make sure you know it too. But the world thinks it’s weird that people tell their friends they love them. Hug their friends too much or hold hands with them.” He rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, it’s a rough world out there,” Hadley said, her voice turning soft and introspective. “A lot of close-minded people.”
