Chapter 27
Nash
M aking two sets of bunkbeds in a week wasn’t an easy task. At least I had my brothers to help out. The moment I explained the situation, they didn’t hesitate to step up.
Even my mama and Avery came out to the packhouse to help Wren and Devon set up the kids’ rooms. Shepherd had four guest rooms on the main floor and we flipped them to fit the siblings.
How one pack popped out eleven kids was beyond me. Then again when you had a small army to raise them for you it wasn’t as hard to handle.
Assholes.
The rooms were freshly painted. They’d done one room a soft green, the other blue, a bunk in each to accommodate the little ones. Then the thirteen and sixteen year olds got their own rooms for now.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when they got here and I was starting to get nervous.
“What’s wrong, alpha?” Devon asked as he slid in front of me, wrapping his smaller frame around me. I relaxed into his hold, hugging him back and breathing him in.
“Just a bit nervous about this weekend. I have a feeling we’re going to see the state they’re in and want to adopt them. We have a baby on the way, I don’t know that I can handle six kids plus a baby when the time comes.”
“Whoa, whoa, there. Breathe, Nash,” he said gently, pulling back to look up at me with those gentle brown eyes of his. “Braxton already said he doesn’t want that. He loves them but he has a life here with us. We’re new and unbonded.”
“For now,” I grumbled, nipping at his neck. “Waiting for your heat is killing me.”
He smiled and rolled his eyes. He wanted to play that he was exasperated but we both knew that he loved the flirting. This omega soaked in attention.
“It will be here in one more month. Just wait until after the baby, then we’ll have dual heats. Good thing we have tons of family in Rockwood Valley,” he laughed.
I’d gotten a taste of that scenario with her heat spike and I knew it would be a soul changing experience. Then I realized what he said and smirked.
“What?” he huffed, crossing his arms like the brat he was.
“You said we have family. You’ve accepted them as yours,” I hummed, happy that he’d embraced it. “Told you my Mama would step in.”
“She’s great,” he agreed. “We never would have pulled this off without her. She even dropped off a ton of spa stuff for the girlies and a few of your old game systems for the boys. It’ll be an all hands on deck weekend. They’re going to pop by for a cookout on Saturday evening if we’re up for it.”
“That could work, depending on how they react. I bet they’ll be hungry for new experiences. It sounds like they keep those kids stuck in that house when they don’t go to school,” I said with a sigh. My heart was breaking more and more every time we talked about those poor kids.
“Groceries are here!” Wren’s voice rang out. Devon lit up at the sound of it and was off. I followed on his heels because I was just as gone for her as he was.
“She bought the whole damn store,” Shepherd snorted. “Good thing I put that extra deep freezer out in the barn last summer. It’ll come in handy.”
“Where’s Braxton?” I asked, glancing around for him.
“He went to go pick up a big van from his vet assistant. She had one big enough to fit them all and said we could borrow it on weekends we had the kiddos,” Wren explained. “And in my defense, I didn’t know what they liked.”
“Probably consistent food,” Shepherd said, his eyes violent storm clouds. It seemed we were all ready to go to war for these kids. He glanced up at me. “Rooms done?”
“Yes. We just got the last bunk bed done, we just need the bedding and any last touches,” I said, directing that part at Wren and Devon.
“Oh, we’ll go finish if you handle this,” she said, hurrying down the hall. She was just as anxious as we were about this. She’d been exhausted this week, so it was nice to see her perking up at least.
“There’s more in the car,” Shepherd said. “At least three more trips. I couldn’t tell her no on anything.”
“Softy,” I teased. His laughter said loud and clear that he knew I’d do the same exact thing.
We ran out of room halfway through and had to start clearing out old stuff for the new. It took a solid thirty minutes before we managed to finish. Wren and Devon were done at the same time, all of us gathering in the kitchen, eyes darting to the clock.
A sigh of relief ran through us all when we heard a car approaching. Devon started for the door but then faltered, looking back at us.
“Do we greet them on the porch? Is it too much?”
“We’re a pack,” Shepherd said. “They may as well see a united front. Come on.”
He put his hand on Devon’s shoulder, pulling the omega out with him, giving him strength because Devon looked like he was about as freaked out as I was.
I held out a hand for Wren. She put her palm in mine and let me pull her after us.
Braxton parked the van right up front. While his entire pack was freaking out, he looked ecstatic, the smile on his face bright.
They were all singing along to a song that I didn’t recognize. When he turned off the car and the music shut off, the noise was still there. It was nice to know they weren’t all super quiet and shy after the life they’d lived, not that anybody would have blamed them.
“Alright, everybody out! It’s time to meet my pack,” Braxton said.
He and the oldest girl got out, helping the younger ones. The oldest boy was too busy staring at us, as if assessing our worth.
I knew there were a lot of kids, but seeing all six of them standing in a line told me just how much trouble we were in. This weekend was going to be wild.
Braxton went down the line, pointing out the array of dark-haired kids. They all had similar features, so you knew they were siblings. Despite their shabby clothes, their style stood out and separated them.
Braxton started with the oldest girl and boy. “This is Trinity and Carter,” he said. Then he pointed at a girl who could only be a couple of years younger. “This is Evelyn.”
She gave us a shy smile, pushing up her glasses on her face. She had a stack of books in her hand and definitely seemed like the quiet one of the bunch.
The next was Lily, who was decked out in all pink. She had a bright smile and her ponytail was swinging around as she took us all in. It seemed like this little one thought this was going to be an adventure.
I hoped she still thought that at the end of the weekend.
Then he moved on to the two youngest, Ben and Henry. Neither one of them looked shy, and from the holes in the knees of their jeans and the dirt already covering their pants, I had a feeling these two were going to be giving Shepherd a run for his money on the farm all weekend. Their energy levels were off the charts, even standing semi-subdued in front of us.
“This is my pack, kids. We’ve got Nash, Shepherd, Wren, and Devon.”
“You have two omegas?” one of the kids asked. It wasn’t judgmental, just curious.
“We do,” Braxton said. “A boy and a girl omega.”
“Cool,” was all we got back. I guess we’d passed their test.
It was pure chaos for the next hour as the kids chose their beds, put their stuff in their rooms, and got a tour of the place. It was too dark outside at this point to show them the farm, so that would be left for the morning.
“So, I might have gone overboard at the store, so we have pretty much every snack you can imagine. However, no snacks until after dinner,” Wren said.
There were a few grumbles, but they were half-hearted at best. These weren’t kids who were used to having a choice in anything, or at least, not often.
“What about pizza night?” Braxton said. “It’ll give us a chance to put on a movie, and get settled.”
“I want pepperoni!” Henry said.
“No, sausage!” Ben argued.
“I’m grabbing paper,” I said, jotting down all the various toppings I heard yelled out around us. As the list started to grow, I cast a look at Shepherd. “We might have to get a couple more pigs. We’re going to have all kinds of leftovers when they’re around.”
“I think you’re underestimating growing children,” he said with a chuckle. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Shepherd and I put our heads together, ordering eight pizzas since we had six kids and five of us, including two alphas.
Picking the movie was even more difficult. There was an argument about everything, and no one could agree. Everything here was new and exciting, and I think they knew they weren’t going to get in trouble for voicing their opinions, so they were taking advantage of that.
“Okay, guys,” Devon said, standing up and snatching a big bag of Cheetos off the counter. “Anyone that wants to watch something funny, come with me.”
He looked pointedly at the rest of us, and we didn’t need him to spell it out.
I took a bag of Doritos, holding it over my head. “I’m thinking superheroes!”
Wren grabbed a bag of candy instead, looking at the girls. “Anybody up for a good princess movie? I can think of one in particular that I love, with a little snowman.”
“I need to go set up all the game systems Mama Whitaker brought by. Carter, you want to help me? You know more about it than I do,” Braxton said.
Just like that, the room quieted down as they separated into groups. Devon’s room had been set up pretty much like a theater room since he didn’t use it for anything else, so he led his group there while I stayed in the living room. Wren took the younger girls up to her room as well. We’d have to do a little finagling if this was going to keep going, but for now, it worked.
“I’ve got the pizza,” Shepherd said, but I noticed he sat at the door, watching the movie right along with us after he ordered.
Movies were paused another forty-five minutes later to pass out dinner. By then, everybody had settled in. We’d only had two arguments and one scuffed knee because Henry was a daredevil and thought sliding down the banister would be a good idea.
But overall, I was confident that this was something we could handle. It was once a month, and having the kids here breathed new life into the packhouse. I’d grown up with a bunch of siblings, maybe not quite this many, but it felt like home.
As everybody was grabbing their plates, I called out, wanting to get the kids’ opinions. “So, I come from a pretty big family, too, and my mom, the one who brought over the game systems and the stuff for the girls to have spa night this weekend, wants to do a big cookout. How do you guys feel about meeting more kids? Having some family time? It’ll be out here, too, so we don’t even have to leave. But if you don’t want to do it, we don’t have to.”
I expected over half of them to protest, but for once, they all agreed on something, nodding their heads excitedly, except for the older ones, who simply shrugged.
I didn’t miss the look of hope in everybody’s eyes. These kids were more than ready to have real family around them.
When the kids got bored, Wren brought out a bunch of her coloring books and markers since she had plenty to go around.
It was cute the way Trinity stuck to her side, asking questions and getting to know her like she finally had a big sister.
Braxton joined Shepherd and me at the island. He didn’t look as happy now as he did before.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Carter had a conversation with me,” he admitted, his voice low. “He said it’s been even worse at home since I threatened them. I guess they didn’t take me seriously, except for letting me bring them here. He said it’s been non-stop yelling and tense. They’re sent to bed without dinner almost every night. What do I do?”
“If we need to, we can take them in,” Shepherd said, his voice even lower because this was a conversation these kids did not need to overhear.
“I would absolutely consider that if there were no other options,” Braxton said just as quietly. “But we also need time to be a pack before we do anything life-altering.”
He tossed a look back at the others before turning his attention to us. There was definitely something going on, I could see the gears turning in his head.
“Actually, I might have an idea.”