NINE
ELLIOT
I madelunch and put groceries away while Dax started putting the crib together. Evan was running all over the place and acting just as adorably vicious toward Dax as he was to me, which made me grin.
The little guy wouldn’t sit at the table to eat, but after breakfast, I didn’t really expect him to. He eventually downed two of my “famous” peanut butter and chocolate chip sandwiches, much to mine and Dax’s shock, and then chugged almost two whole bottles of chocolate milk.
Dax was watching him with the milk, and despite my warnings, was too slow to take the milk when Evan decided he was full. Nearly half a bottle got dumped on my brown carpet, which resulted in Dax groaning and me grinning while we scrubbed the floor.
I was going to have to invest in a carpet cleaner, though.
“So how many texts have your parents sent asking for more details?” I asked him, flashing another grin as we finished scrubbing.
“Too many,” he grumbled. “You know them. They think I’m their extra set of ears.”
Yeah, they had always expected him to share everything he heard or knew, despite his repeated response that it wasn’t his information to share and refusal to give them anything.
We had gotten a large number of weird looks and questions at the store, too, most of which I had brushed off with a joke and a scratch behind Lizzy’s ears.
“What do they want to know?” I checked.
“Lizzy’s story, mainly.”
The wolf plopped her head on my thigh, her eyes following Evan. He was looking really tired, slowly driving both a monster truck and a ball (as if it also had wheels) across the floor, while lying on his belly.
“Which parts don’t they know?”
He shrugged. “Why she rejected her old mate. Whether or not she’s going to reject you. How involved her ex is. Why she left his pack. All they really know is what their contacts have heard her say at work, since she’s not a part of any pack here.”
I nodded, not sharing the other details I knew about her past. Sabrina had said that Lizzy was an open book, but what she told my pack—hopefully ours—would be completely up to her.
I trusted Dax entirely, and knew whatever I said to him wouldn’t get back to his parents. But a werewolf’s mate was his first priority, and she needed to be mine. So, whether or not he knew was going to be her choice.
A quiet snore came from the little dude on the floor, and I glanced over to see him passed out, surrounded by toys.
“Is he supposed to take naps?” Dax checked.
“Not sure,” I said, pulling out my phone to ask Sabrina.
She answered immediately.
Sabrina: He naps almost every day. Sometimes at the gym, sometimes in the car, sometimes at home. If you’re home and you have a crib, put him in there with the fan on if you want to maximize nap time. Whether he naps for thirty minutes or four hours, he’ll still go to bed around the same time. The little guy loves his sleep.
My eyebrows lifted. “This kid can sleep four hours, according to Sabrina.”
“Sabrina?” Dax lifted an eyebrow.
I knew my mate wouldn’t mind me sharing information about her roommate. As I texted back a quick thank you, I explained. “Lizzy’s best friend. She’s human, Lizzy has lived with her since she got pregnant I think. She knows Evan’s schedule, for the most part, but she didn’t know about the chocolate milk so I don’t think Lizzy tells her everything.”
My phone went into my pocket, and I got up. After throwing our rags in the dirty laundry basket, I washed my hands and then carefully scooped up the little guy. I felt bad peeling the monster truck out of that chubby little hand, but it had to be done.
“Huh.” Dax leaned back against the couch, his forehead knitted a bit.
Lizzy’s wolf followed me up the stairs and into my spare room, where Dax had set the crib up. I never used the room, so it had been empty before the crib went in there.
The fan went on, and the little dude went into the crib. The dinosaur blanket he’d picked out was kind of creepy for a toddler, but I hadn’t had the heart to tell him no, so it went over his little body and up to his chin.
He rolled onto his belly as I slipped out of the room, and my eyes lingered on his small figure.