He chucked the empty bottle across the kitchen, and it skidded until it hit the wall.
“That too, probably,” I added, grabbing a kitchen towel off the bar-like handle that opened the stove.
Kneeling down, I wiped the chocolate milk spots while Evan wandered the kitchen. He managed to pull the other towel off the rack, and threw it at my head before running away, screeching with laughter. I laughed back, crawling after him, and his laughter only grew louder and more uncontrollable.
I chased him around for ten minutes before he finally got bored of the game, and wandered back over to the pile of toys he’d left on the floor earlier. I’d bought some plastic boxes that matched the ones in Lizzy’s room to hold the toys, just in case she insisted she move back there. I wanted Ev to be able to keep them, even if he wasn’t living with me.
It had only been a day, but I already didn’t like the thought of him leaving. The thought of her leaving… well, that was just as bad. Even if she stayed in her wolf form, I liked having her around.
I did the dishes while the little dude played. When he got bored and ran back over to me, I scooped him up. “Let’s go outside.
He babbled his agreement, and off we went.
Evan ran around for the next hour, stealing my tools and different pieces of the playground I was building for him. I got almost nothing done, constantly having to chase him when he tried to escape into the forest with them, and we both ended up laughing and grinning at each other almost constantly. There was a little snow on the ground, but being werewolves, the cold didn’t really bother us.
Ebony came out after a while, leaning over the fence on her porch and watching me chase Evan around. I waved at her, and she waved back.
Ford came out a bit later, his arm wrapping around her, and they spoke quietly as they stood there, snuggled up.
I ached for that. The casual touch, the complete comfort with the person you loved, the trust.
There wasn’t a way to describe how much I hoped Lizzy and I could get to that point.
But we had Evan, too, which changed things.
It had to, didn’t it?
I looked forward to finding out, and my fingers brushed Lizzy’s fur as she rubbed up against my side.
Tea came out a while later, and joined me over by the playground I was supposed to be building. She volunteered to keep an eye on the little punk so I could finally start building it, and I agreed. She laughed like crazy, chasing the little monster while he giggled and screeched and babbled.
Ford and Ebony got off the porch to join in, and Jesse did too when he got home. Dax and Ryder followed, as well. Del and Rocco came out too, Del walking her baby, Felix, around the yard we all shared while Rocco joined in on the fun with Evan.
June even came outside, though she ended up just walking around with Del, chatting with her.
Eventually, all of the guys were helping me build the playground and other fun outdoor toys, while the women entertained the little blond beast I’d brought out with me.
“This is cool,” I remarked, as we set the playground up. “I can’t remember the last time we were all out here, doing something like this together.”
We had pack dinners and get togethers, of course, but they weren’t as organic as the random outdoor fun we were participating in.
“We should do this more often,” Ford agreed, his eyes following Evan for a moment. “Ebony and I have never really been around little kids.”
“Tea and I haven’t either,” Jesse agreed.
“But we need a fence,” Dax pointed out, gesturing to Teagan as she sprinted into the forest behind a little white furball.
“We do,” I agreed, my eyes tracking the furball too. Lizzy’s wolf went a bit tense when Evan disappeared from her view, but relaxed when Tea came back hauling a small, wiggling wolf.
“I’ll call around and get quotes tomorrow,” Ford said, his voice smooth. “We’ll get someone here setting it up by the weekend.”
“We can all pitch in,” Jesse added.
Nods went around the group. We tried to split things as evenly as possible, most of the time. Though, I knew Ford well enough to be suspicious that when he got the quotes, he would just hand over the money and refuse to let anyone else throw any cash into the mix.
We stayed outside until it was time for dinner, then headed over to Teagan and Jesse’s place for food.
After dinner, I gave Evan a quick bath (he was a wreck thanks to the dirt outside), and then got him to chug some more milk before putting him in his bed. He went to sleep without a problem, and I crashed into my own bed.
Damn, I was exhausted.
Lizzy’s wolf snuggled up against me as soon as I was horizontal, and my fingers tangled in her fur as we both fell asleep.