10. Kendra
10
KENDRA
K endra had to chuckle, watching Alan play out the same struggle with Amy that she was so familiar with. He’s more graceful than me , she thought, and dangerously fun to watch. He was also rather liberally sprinkled in glitter, and Kendra was not sure that he realized it.
“Careful!” Alan said in alarm and clear embarrassment, trying to keep Amy from hurting one of her wings as she fought her way out of her clothing, while also not dropping her. Down flew everywhere. “You’re losing all your feathers, sweetie!”
“She’s molting,” Kendra explained, trying to decide if she should take off her boots to come over the gate and help him, or risk Cherry’s wrath with dirty soles. “That’s normal.” She stayed on her side of the gate with effort.
“I only lose a feather or two at a time,” Alan said, juggling Amy, Amy’s clothing, and Amy’s uncoordinated wings. “She’s going to be bald by this time tomorrow if she keeps this up!”
“She’s making room for her new flight feathers. It’s an itchy time for her. Was she crabby today?”
There was just enough of a pause before Alan answered that Kendra suspected he was finding a diplomatic answer. “She was a doll.”
“If by doll, you mean Chucky, but cuter.”
Alan snorted in laughter, just as Amy snapped onto the end of his swinging braid with her beak.
Kendra couldn’t resist then, stepping over the gate to save Alan as he winced when Amy yanked as hard as she could. His arms around her remained gentle; he didn’t squeeze or pull at her.
“Let go, Amy!” Kendra scolded, as if Amy was a dog. “Drop it!”
Amy gave a little growl in her throat and released Alan’s hair after a brief, defiant stare. Then she turned back into a naked little girl, fluffy down falling all around. She went willingly to Kendra and wrapped tiny arms around her neck with unexpected strength.
Alan made a show of wiping his brow in relief and Kendra tried not to stare, focusing instead on Amy’s death grip. “I still have to breathe, sweetie!” Instinct was saying pay attention , but it was hard to know if it was danger or just desperate attraction , and Kendra already knew that she wasn’t good at telling the difference.
“Addison said you had a medical emergency,” Alan said, handing Kendra Amy’s clothing.
Kendra knelt to get Amy dressed and in a diaper again, around the girl’s tired protests. “An injured bull,” she said briefly. “Stepped in a coil of barbed wire.” She wanted to tell him more, and would have, if he had been Addison, but how well did she really know this man?
Well enough to trust her child to him, apparently? But not enough to trust another shifter’s secrets to him. They weren’t hers to trust.
Amy rubbed her eyes. Her struggles were clumsy and sluggish. “I’ll be so happy when you start shifting with your clothes, little owl,” Kendra told her, snapping up the front of her dress. If Amy fell asleep at the laundromat, which seemed increasingly likely, she probably wouldn’t sleep through the night.
“We had minor success with some of the other kids, today,” Alan said, handing her a sock that Amy had flung away. “Just so you know there’s some hope on the horizon.”
“There’s always hope,” Kendra said, and she wished it hadn’t come out as sour as it did when Alan gave her a concerned look. “Sorry,” she said with a fake bright smile. “It was just a long day.”
“You don’t have to pretend everything’s great,” Alan told her softly. “Sometimes, it isn’t, and that’s okay.”
Kendra wasn’t sure why his words hit her so hard. Probably because she was already tired and emotional. She let the false smile fade. “Thanks,” she said, as evenly as she could manage. “I appreciate that.”
He didn’t pry any further, and Kendra was glad, because she was sure she would let it all catch up with her and send her into his arms with tears. She wasn’t ready for that.
Was she?