36. Kendra
36
KENDRA
K endra stayed as busy as possible for the next week to avoid thinking about Charlie’s threat. There was plenty to do, throwing herself into work, researching Bernard’s shifting mystery, and caring for Amy. She was candid with the agency and answered their questions without reservation. One of their representatives came to inspect the van, and she met them at a legitimate campground and demonstrated her usual routine.
“Everything toxic is in the upper cabinets, double sealed. Everything sharp is locked up. I sterilize the van before and after any surgery.”
Everyone assured her that her case was solid, that Charlie’s claim was unfounded, and that she wouldn’t lose Amy or suddenly have to share her.
But it was hard to avoid worrying when she woke at night.
Alan had a king-sized bed and the blankets were too generous for anyone to steal completely, so it was considerably more comfortable than her van bunk. It also had a headboard that was entirely functional, and they had made it bang against the wall more than a few times.
Alan was snoring lightly now, just the slightest rattle to his breath, and Kendra took comfort in the fact that something about him wasn’t utterly perfect.
Doubts crept in, emboldened by the darkness and the fact that she wasn’t doing something to distract herself.
Why would Charlie want Amy now? He’d been so clear that he didn’t want a child, that he was appalled by the very idea of one and all the inconvenience and shame it would bring. Was he still married? Was his wife childless and they thought they could insert Amy conveniently into their lives? Maybe she had found out about the affair and wanted to take Amy to punish Kendra. Charlie had implied that his wife was powerful and dangerous, not to be crossed.
He was a coward, Kendra thought angrily. This was nothing but cruelty, whatever the source, and she would fight it with every fiber of her being. She turned her head and looked at Alan’s profile in the faint light. Being a snowy owl didn’t give her perfect night vision, but it gave her a little more low-light sight than most humans. She could just make out his hawkish hose and high forehead.
And he was on her side.
He was there in her corner to fight for her and for Amy. He was smart and strong and handsome and kind, and he had powerful connections. He was protective, without being jealous or possessive. Kendra could not imagine someone who could be a more perfect fit for her. He was a checklist of all the green flags.
She slept again thinking about all the ways he was wonderful, and woke to Amy’s wail.
Alan’s highly-trained reflexes got him to the door while Kendra was still trying to figure out how blankets worked, and he was already lifting Amy out of the play pen when Kendra got to the guest bedroom. “Good morning to you, both!” he said merrily.
They had breakfast together, and Kendra enjoyed coffee from his Keurig brewer. “I’ve thought about getting one of these for the rig,” she said. “But they take up so much space, and that’s the one thing at a premium.”
“Have you thought about where you’d like to live? You said you’ve been saving towards a house, are you close?”
Kendra noticed that he didn’t presume she would want to move directly in with him or let him support her. “I’m closing in on being able to put a down payment down on something modest,” she said. “Of course, I say that, then fall in love with a place like this.” She showed him the printout that Clarice had given her; she still carried it with her in her purse.
“Two bathtubs,” Alan pointed out. “A very good sign.”
“It’s out of my price range unless I save up for another year or two.”
“Unless you had someone saving alongside you.”
Kendra didn’t want to ruin their easy rapport. “I don’t know that you and I are at that point yet,” she said sensibly. “I haven’t even agreed to marry you yet.”
“You’ll come around,” Alan said drolly. When Kendra didn’t laugh, he put down his coffee cup. “You’ll come around when you’re ready ,” he said easily. “And I don’t think you need me, but if I can help you, don’t let pride keep you from asking.”
“You’ve already been a huge help,” Kendra pointed out. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be in Canada right now, hiding from the Mounties.”
“Do they still have Mounties in Canada?”
“I presume so.”
“Do they still ride moose?”
Kendra nearly snorted her coffee. “I don’t think they ever rode moose.”
“That’s a shame. Wouldn’t you love to ride a moose, Amy?”
“OOSE!” she agreed. “Okay.”
Kendra’s early appointments were routine. She was able to give an elderly pet pig some pain relief, and did checkups and vaccinations to a litter of wiggling puppies while their mother licked her anxiously.
She left the family thinking about Bernard, because she didn’t want to think about Charlie. How would they get him back to human? Could Alan’s agency magic up a solution? Was he really a murderer ?
She ate a swift lunch out of the fridge and her afternoon clients were grateful to see her. She was able to relieve a blockage in a cow’s teat, stitch up a tear on an active filly’s leg, and vaccinate a small, affectionate herd of dairy cattle.
There were two parking spots together in front of Tiny Paws, so Kendra took the opportunity to park close. She was a little early, so she leaned against the wall and watched fondly over the gate. Alan was playing a very complicated game that involved wearing a frilly pink apron and a crown, and he appeared to be organizing a restaurant of some kind. “No, no, that needs more salt,” he told Tara. “That cookie needs to be in the oven longer, Jennifer. Add noodles to the menu!”
The girls scampered to make corrections. “Will you be a monster Mister Alan?” Gil begged.
“I’m being a king chef right now,” Alan said apologetically. “Can you take turns being the monster?”
“But you’re the best monster,” Gil whined.
“I’m flattered,” Alan said firmly. “But I’m taking turns playing with the cooks right now.”
Amy was firmly in the monster camp. “MONSER! MONSER!” She had not noticed Kendra’s entrance.
Addison was rocking a toddler who was sleeping in her arms. “Psst! Kendra, can you give me a quick hand?”
Kendra stepped over, forgetting about her boots, and carefully took the sleeping toddler and settled him into one of the cribs separated from the main room with heavy sound- and light-blocking curtains. She returned to find Addison struggling to rise and came to her aid. “I will be so happy to have my body back,” Addison said, rubbing her side. “Soon, little one. Soon!”
“I remember that stage,” Kendra said with sympathy. “It will be past before you know it!”
Gil was streaking around. “I’M THE MONSTER. I’M THE MONSTER!”
Just then, Amy realized Kendra was there and took off in a beeline for her. “MAMA!”
Their paths collided, just behind Addison, and they ricocheted off of each other. At any other time, it would have been little more than a minor, harmless pileup. At any other time, Addison would have had the balance to easily stay upright. It should have been nothing more than a comic arm-flailing moment followed by a directive not to run around inside.
Instead, Amy went bouncing off into the back of Addison’s knees. Not used to her new and changing center of gravity, Addison over-compensated when she tried to stay upright, and she fell backwards instead, stumbling over Amy, directly into Gil. She twisted, trying to avoid crushing them in her unexpected fall.
Gil shouted as he went down onto his belly, Amy cried, and Addison gave an involuntary yelp of pain and surprise. Kendra watched it all happen too fast to stop any of it, and could only be there to try to untangle everyone afterwards.
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Addison assured her, prematurely, as it turned out, because when she tried to stand, she gave a hiss of agony. “Maybe my ankle. It’s…oh.”
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“ARE YOU OKAY?” Gil demanded in a panic. “I’M SORRY TEACHER ADDY!”
Amy wailed.
“I think…I think…oh…” Addison doubled over.
“That’s not your ankle,” Alan observed, coming to help. “Why don’t you lay down?”
“IS SHE HURT? TEACHER ADDY, I DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT YOU!” Tears ran down Gil’s cheeks.
Kendra looked around, trying not to feel as panicked as Gil sounded, and fetched a pillow from the reading corner. “Should we call an ambulance?”
“No, no,” Addison insisted, followed by a low, pained, “Ohhhhhh…”
“I think that’s more of a yes than a no,” Alan chided her. “You’re in labor.”
“That can last days,” Addison objected. “There’s no reason to be dramatic. This will…ohhhhhh…probably be fine in just a few…ooooooooo.”
“We’ve gone from oh to oo,” Alan said firmly. “There’s nothing wrong with going to get checked out after a fall.” He took the pillow from Kendra and got it under Addison’s head. “Just in case, let’s call a ride. They can send you home if they feel like it’s safe.”
“I couldn’t quite make it through my last day,” Addison observed wryly. “So embarrassing.”
Cherry showed up then with Ryan, who had needed help in the bathroom. “What happened? Addison, are you alright?”
Kendra pulled up her phone. “Sorry, I had it turned off, it will be just a moment.”
“Not that I’m going to die in the meantime,” Addison said, “But you can use miiiiine…Ohhh....”
Kendra made the call to the dispatcher and explained the situation as Alan caught Cherry up. “Addison Carmichael. Yes, she fell, and she’s in labor.”
“Medical East,” Addison said. “I’ve got a birth plan there.”
“Medical East,” Kendra told the dispatcher. “Okay.”
Cherry called Roderick and told him to meet them there.
When Kendra had hung up, Addison added, “There’s an RN there who is a shifter. It was always our plan to have her deliver the baby. We’re not that early. Everything’s just fiiiiiiii-oooooo-fine.”
Kendra had her doubts.