42. Emily
W hen I get stressed out, I like to clean.
I’d always been a relatively tidy person. Nothing too extreme, but given everything going on in my life at the moment, I was desperate for any distraction. My temporary lodgings were now so spic and span, they’d impress Mary Poppins. At least this gave me some control in a situation where I had less and less of it by the minute.
“There,” I said as I remade my bed until it was flatter than the surface of a still pond. “That should do.”
But as I stood there, working out what to do next, I heard raised voices from downstairs. I recognized them as belonging to my host and her child, but it was unusual to hear them speak angrily. I crept towards the stairs to listen.
When I was a human, there was no way I’d pick up those sounds so easily. As a shifter, I could make out the entire conversation at the top of the stairs with little to no problem.
“But Mom, you promised! ”
“I know. I know I did, sweetie, but you know there are some things we can’t plan for, and this is one of them. I will try really, really hard to make it back in time, but I can’t guarantee it.”
“But Moooooooom !”
“Honey, I know you’re disappointed, but this baby needs our help.”
More curious than ever, I slowly went down the stairs and saw Daphne and Simon arguing.
“I know it’s your duty to the pack, but I already promised all my friends that I’d bring our cookies to the hangout tomorrow,” Simon whined. “I don’t wanna go back on my word. Daddy says that an alpha’s word is his most important tool!”
“I know, sweetie, and I’m so sorry. If I can get it done fast enough, we’ll do it after? But you know how hard it is to juggle things when I’m handling a post-natal care visit, plus helping a colicky baby.”
“I don’t even know what colicky means, Mom!”
At this point, I cleared my throat. “Are you a doctor?” I asked Daphne.
“Oh no, nothing like that,” Daphne answered. “I’ve never had any formal physician training.”
“But my mom is a plant master!” Simon argued. “She knows everything!”
“Thank you, Simon,” Daphne said with a smile, “but I assure you I don’t know everything.”
“Yes, you are! I’ve heard Dad and some other people call you an herbal expert. Everyone comes to you for help!”
Daphne looked embarrassed as she glanced my way, but I found the whole situation quite sweet. “We still have a few pack members who are uncomfortable with human doctors or leaving the campground, so I handle whatever I can. Obviously, if it’s something out of my scope, I don’t risk their health, but our natural healing ability handles most things humans worry about.”
“Well,” I said. “I’m sure you know this already, but I am a medical student who’s fairly far along. I can’t diagnose or anything, but I think I could be of service. Figure that four hands are better than two.”
“You don’t have to do that!” Daphne protested. “You’re still acclimating here, and you’re our guest!”
“I’d like to, as long as you aren’t opposed. It’ll be nice to stretch my medical legs, so to speak.”
“If… if you’re sure…”
“I am. I’m not the type to suggest something I don’t mean. Besides, I’d be more than happy to explain anything to Simon while we’re out. I’m sure he has lots of questions about these situations, like what a colicky baby is.”
“Is it contagious?” Simon’s brow furrowed. “I don’t want to get my classmates sick. Just because I have a good immune system, it doesn’t mean the humans at school do.”
“No, colic is not contagious,” I said. “Let me explain it to you on the way over.”
“You’re a godsend,” Daphne said, sighing in relief. “Alright, let me finish packing up everything, then we’ll head over to Lavender’s place.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said.
It didn’t take long for Daphne to be ready, and soon the three of us headed out into the cold towards her friend’s house. As we walked, I noticed the bitter chill didn’t reach me like it used to. I remembered standing outside of the club before, shivering my ass off in that ridiculous outfit. But now? Even though it was much colder, I felt more comfortable.
If I looked past the threat of killing everyone I loved, being a wolf came with a lot of perks.
I wasn’t surprised when several people tried to stop us on our walk, but Daphne was firm. She was on her way to an appointment and didn’t have time for idle chat. No one took offense to it, but it helped that she invited everyone to her house for dinner. I had the feeling that was pretty common, given just how large their dining room table was, but I didn’t comment.
Other than that, the walk to Lavender’s was uneventful, and I was grateful for that. My life lately was jam-packed full of action, threats, and whole species I never imagined existed. I was more than due for a chill day.
However, an unhappy baby’s shrill cry interrupted that day, the noise practically assaulting my ears the moment we were in the door. Oof, that was a definite downside to the enhanced senses.
“Thank God you’re here,” a stressed, worn-out woman said, practically rushing towards us. “I’ve tried everything—holding, rocking, warm baths, the car, the vacuum. Sometimes one of them will work for a few minutes, but then it’ll just…” Her eyes went wide when she noticed I was there. “Wait, I think I’ve heard about you! You’re the new addition to our pack, right? Sorry I couldn’t come to your party. I haven’t exactly been going through an easy time.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, taking in the messy, tangled bun on top of her head, the dark circles under her eyes, the dirty robe she was wearing, and her partner’s gym shorts. While I wasn’t a mother myself, I knew one in need while I saw it. “I’m here now. Why don’t you take a seat, and I’ll do some laundry while you and Daphne catch up?”
“What? Oh, you shouldn’t do that! You’re a guest!”
“I don’t know,” I dithered. “Last I heard, I was pack, and looking out for each other is something that pack does.”
I didn’t expect Daphne to look so proud at my comment. I’d just meant it to be playful, to put Lavender at ease, but I’d struck a chord with our alpha’s wife.
“She learns fast, doesn’t she?” Daphne said.
“Ha, I’d say so,” Lavender replied. “Well, I’ve got a hamper in the laundry room, one upstairs in the baby room, and one in the master bedroom. The house is an absolute wreck.”
“As it should be. Anyone who has an immaculate house while dealing with a colicky baby is either deaf or doesn’t love them.”
The joke seemed to put Lavender at ease.
“Hey, Simon, would you mind helping?” I asked. “I can answer any other questions you have about health, or even cookies. My mom had a pretty incredible peanut butter cookie recipe. Do you like cooking in general, or is it baking that has your heart?”
“I’ll have you know my son is quite the chef,” Daphne said, somehow becoming visibly prouder. I liked the strong sense of family that radiated from many of the people I’d met since arriving at Maplewood.
“Eh, I know some stuff,” Simon said, looking at the ground.
“Well, if you wanna know more, we can talk shop while we gather up the laundry,” I said. “Sound good?”
“I can do that.”
The two of us got busy doing just that while Daphne sat across from her friend, opening her bag and gabbing. I did my best not to listen too closely, as I figured Daphne would call me if she needed to, but I still picked up a few things.
Poor Lavender was struggling with her milk supply and had a wicked case of mastitis. I knew it was incredibly painful and uncomfortable—plus a crying baby on top of that. Even super-accelerated healing ability couldn’t make childbirth a walk in the park.
“Emily?”
“Yes, Simon?” I said as I began folding the clean laundry. Technically, I wasn’t asked, yet I figured it was something nice I could do with little effort that’d mean a lot to Lavender and her family. I had no idea where her husband was, but if I had to guess, he worked in the city. I hated how America had such bad paternity leave, but that wasn’t changing anytime soon.
“Someone said you had human parents?”
Ah, the gossip mill was going even in Camp Maplewood. “I do.”
“Do you miss them?”
Kids had a knack for asking delicate questions with all the grace and finesse of a hobbled bull in a china shop.
“I do,” I answered.
Simon was quiet for a moment. “That sucks.”
“It’s not easy.” The kid was insightful, so I found myself wondering why his mind was going down that route. “Why do you ask?”
“I dunno. Was curious, I guess.”
“It’s a good thing to be curious.”
“Is it?”
“I think so.”
“I guess it was because everyone’s been talking about you living here, like, forever , but I thought you already had a family.”
“Ah, I see. It sounds like you’ve got similar things on your mind as me.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “I don’t have a choice about being a part of your world, but I’m also not willing to give up the human world, either. Once I’m safe enough, I plan on going back to my family.”
I wanted to explain things to them before then, and if it weren’t for college, they’d be worried sick about where I was. Luckily, my penchant for hard nights of study had built me a reputation for not being easy to contact during exam time.
“You’ll never come back here?” Simon asked.
“No, I never said that. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to find a compromise between my two sides.”
That satisfied the kid’s curiosity for a while, and I was happy about how the whole conversation went. Even if he didn’t end up spreading the word to his friends, at least he was thinking hard about it.
As we exited from the laundry room for our third trip taking hampers downstairs, we came out to Daphne gently burping the baby while Lavender soaked her feet in a bubbling foot bath. She already looked a little restored compared to when we’d walked in the door.
The baby, however, faced me for the first time, and I saw her eyes grow puffier. It wasn’t something I’d have seen as a human, but as it turned out, I had the upgraded edition.
Then her little pink mouth opened and she let out a shriek , but there was something different to the cry, a raspiness I hadn’t picked up on earlier. Granted, she’d been crying for an awfully long time, only stopping about a half hour earlier.
Something was going off in my head, though, and I rapidly paged through my catalogue of lessons, research papers, and completed labs. I was so focused on grasping the information I’d lodged in some obscure part of my brain that I didn’t realize I was speaking until the words came out of my mouth.
“The baby’s allergic.”
“Pardon?” Lavender’s eyes fluttered, and I realized I’d just announced a diagnosis I wasn’t qualified to give. Whoops.
“Sorry, it’s just, uh, your baby. You’ve been using formula, right?”
Lavender’s eyes flashed. “If you’re about to formula-shame?—”
“No, no, nothing like that!” I said quickly. “Fed is best. I asked because I overheard you were having trouble with your milk supply, so I assumed you were supplementing with formula.”
“I am,” Lavender said slowly. “I’m guessing you think my baby is allergic to formula?”
“Yes. Your baby just started settling at the farthest point from her feeding. I’m assuming you fed her while Simon and I were in the laundry room, and now her eyes are swelling, her throat is hoarse, and she’s crying hard again.”
“Shifters don’t have allergies,” Daphne said, puzzled. “Even before they grow into their wolf.”
“Well,” I said, “I’m not exactly an expert in wolf biology, but if I were to apply human rules, she could be a chimera, have a chromosomal mutation, or there’s some other autoimmune issue.”
“You think my baby might be allergic to formula, Daph?” Lavender asked. I felt bad for how scared she sounded.
“I… it could be possible,” Daphne allowed. “I’ve heard of a couple wolves up north who have asthma they didn’t grow out of until a couple of years after their first shift.”
“Whoa,” Lavender gasped.
“But if this is an allergy, we should take you and your baby to the doctor, not rely on me and a medical student. How fast can you go in?”
“I dunno, let me call now. I feel like since this is an eating thing, they’ll be pretty fast.”
I didn’t know any doctors’ offices to be expedient about anything , but I didn’t voice that. Instead, I asked Simon if he wanted to help take the trash out. He agreed, nonplussed by everything, and by the time we were back, Daphne was packing up while Lavender was getting her upset baby into a carrier.
“I hate to do this to you,” Daphne said breathlessly to me, “but there was a cancellation, and they have an appointment in an hour and a half. I’m gonna take her into town since her husband won’t be back from work until well into the evening. Would you mind taking Simon home?”
Although Simon didn’t say anything, I could practically smell the disappointment wafting from him.
“Sure,” I said. “Do you have the cookie recipe you were going to use written down somewhere? I’m handy enough in the kitchen that we could whip something up.”
“Wait, really ?” Simon blurted out. “Uh, that would be cool.”
“Yes!” Daphne said. “Simon knows where my recipe book is. Thank you so much for doing this! I realize it’s unconventional, but…”
“Desperate times,” I said with a smile. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“Of course,” she said before her grin grew wolfish. “You don’t seem dumb enough to hurt my family.”
Then I remembered the people around me turned into giant creatures that could bite me in half.
“I’d like to think not.”
“Right. I’ll call the house phone with updates as regularly as I can.”
With that, they hurried out, leaving me and Simon standing there. I looked at him, puzzled. “You have a house phone?”
Ding!
“Oh, that’s the timer!” I said, pulling myself off the couch. Simon and I hadn’t left Lavender’s right away, waiting for the washer to finish its load so we could put it in the dryer. From there, we did some dishes before I could tell Simon’s meter was running low, so we headed back to Daphne’s.
He knew exactly where the recipe book was, and we went about making a batch of chocolate chip cookies and some sugar ones. They were simple, but I liked that. I wasn’t exactly an accomplished baker like my mom, but I knew the basics.
“I’ll get it!” Simon chorused, practically launching himself off the couch. He’d opened up to me during our kitchen escapades, and he felt like a little cousin I was babysitting.
“Make sure you use the oven mitts,” I told him.
“ Duh .”
I chuckled to myself and watched as he excitedly pulled the cookies from the oven and set them on the cooling rack we’d set up earlier. I noticed by the way he was eyeing them that he wanted to eat a few, but I just patted his back.
“Patience is a virtue. Now let’s get the other batch out of the fridge and put that in.”
“Okay!”
Technically, we could’ve cooked both batches at once, but they had different baking times and slightly different temperatures required in the recipe. I decided it was better to play it safe. Simon got the baking pan out while I adjusted the oven temperature and made sure everything else was copacetic.
It was during the second batch that Daphne called. She thanked me profusely again for helping, and for suggesting the formula allergy, because it looked like the culprit. They didn’t know officially yet, but the doctor gave Lavender a prescription for some special, hypo-allergenic formula with a different type of protein. I didn’t know enough about pediatrics to know the protein by name, but I felt so proud of myself for making a difference in a baby and young mother’s life.
“We should be home in an hour,” Daphne said. “Do you need me to pick anything up on the way?”
It was such a casual question, as if I was already a part of the family, yet it didn’t feel that way to me. No, it was the first step in the door of something incredible.
“No, we’re good here,” I answered. “See you soon.”
“See you!”
I looked at Simon once the call was over. “She’ll be here in an hour.”
“We should make traditional hot cocoa soon, then. It’ll go well with the cookies,” he said.
If I had to hazard a guess, the young man wasn’t quite ready to get out of the kitchen yet. Hmm, I wondered if we had the next Gordon Ramsay on our hands.
“How do you make traditional hot cocoa?” I asked.
His eyes went wide, and it was pretty darn adorable, though I knew better than to say as much to an eleven-year-old boy. “You don’t know? ”
“The only hot chocolate I ever made was Swiss Miss from a packet.”
“Come on! I’ll show you, then!”
I played it slightly more stupid than I needed to, having him explain several steps to me that were fairly obvious, but the way the kid beamed was worth it. I could tell he was delighted at the thought of teaching me something, and it didn’t hurt my pride a lick to indulge him.
So, when Daphne finally returned home, Lavender and her baby safely returned to their place, the three of us sat on the porch, enjoying fresh cookies and deliciously creamy hot cocoa. We chatted about plenty of things, and even though it was only my second day with these people, it felt like I’d known them all my life.
Was that because we were all wolves? Was this why I always struggled to fit in as a human growing up—because I wasn’t human at all? I didn’t let my mind fret over these questions like it always did. I just let it rest and enjoyed the company until, of course, my mouth moved on its own again.
“I wish my parents were here for this,” I said. “They’d love your hot cocoa.”
That gave Daphne more pause than I expected, and for a moment, I worried I’d insulted her.
“Your parents… you mean the human ones, right?”
“Only ones I’ve got, yeah,” I said before remembering that to Daphne, my actual parents were people she’d known and cared about.
After I started my schooling back up, I was going to try to get into a surgical fellowship to extract the foot I’d inserted deep in my mouth.
“Right,” she said. “Well…” Another long, long pause, and I could tell that Simon was dutifully watching his mom for her reaction. “It would be nice to meet them. Family is family, even if they’re human.”
There it was. One of the elephants in the room I’d been too scared to identify. It seemed even though the pack had never had someone like me swing into the mix, they were willing to adapt.
What more could a girl ask for?