Eli
“Easy,” I murmur as Walker carries Lia down the hallway. “We’ve got you.”
She threw up her soup. That can’t be good. I think back to all of the times I helped Gloria through her heat. How she didn’t want solid food, just protein shakes and fizzy waters.
Is that what’s happening? Is Lia finally in heat?
Knox clears a path for Walker straight to my room. He lays her down gently while I stand in the hallway with my daughter. Amber leans against me, her head pressed to my stomach, and I rub her back while I watch Walker and Knox get her situated beneath the covers of my bed.
“Did I make her sick, Daddy?”
I hear the guilt in her voice and I crouch down. I crook my finger beneath her chin, making her look at me with those lovely eyes she inherited from her mother. She looks so much like Gloria that some days it aches.
“No, princess,” I say as my thumb slides along her cheek, wiping away a tear, “you didn’t make Lia sick.”
“But she threw up.”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “Sometimes grown-up bodies do weird things when they’re tired.”
It’s the closest explanation I can give without opening up yet another conversation that I don’t think anyone is prepared to have with a nine-year-old right now.
She sniffles. “Promise? Because all I wanted to do was hang out.”
I stand and wrap her up in a big hug. “I promise, sweetheart. This is something else. You didn’t make her sick, and when we can get Lia feeling better, we’ll talk about what happened. Okay?”
Amber tucks into me and I hold her close, wishing she’d stay little forever.
“She smells different,” Walker mumbles as he tucks Lia into bed.
“Sweeter,” Knox offers.
“Stronger,” I say from out in the hallway.
Another waft of Lia’s scent has my Alpha instincts sitting up and taking notice in a way that’s both thrilling and deeply concerning.
I can tell that Walker and Knox are having a hard time controlling themselves as they back away from the bed. Knox has his fists clenched at his sides. Walker’s jaw ticks like he’s trying to grind his teeth down to nubs.
“Come on out here, you guys,” I urge through a voice that’s a little more growly than I’d like. “Let’s give Lia some space.”
Lia lets loose a whine that pierces right through me. Walker’s head snaps back toward my bed, but I put a warning note in my voice.
“Now, you two.”
“Daddy?” Amber asks.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I say as I tuck her against my side, fixing my voice so it’s softer. “Everything’s okay, you have my word.”
“Can I go get in bed with her if I didn’t make her sick?” Amber asks.
“Yes,” I say immediately. That’ll keep us away from Lia for now, having my daughter in bed with her. “I’m sure Lia could use some cuddles and some company. Go get one of your blankets.”
“And Pickles!” she exclaims before running off. “Pickles! Cuddle time! Come on, boy!”
To be honest, I’m surprised Pickles wasn’t with us every step of the way while we were carrying Lia back to my bedroom. Guess we must be earning the big guy’s trust.
I watch as my daughter and Pickles run past us, practically vaulting themselves into the bed. Lia lets out a raspy giggle as my daughter and her dog tuck themselves on either side of her.
Good. She needs a barricade right now with how mouth-watering she smells.
