Chapter 18 #2
“Hi,” I said as I took off my coat and toed off my boots. I kicked them out of the way and dropped my coat on top of them against the wall.
“Hello. It’s nice to meet you outside of the bakery.”
I nodded. “It is. Have you stopped by and gotten a pie recently?” I asked.
Briggs chuckled and shook his head. He moved toward Todd and pulled my friend into his arms. “I have to get back to work. Have fun with your friend this afternoon.” Briggs leaned down and gave Todd a kiss, and I tried my best to give them privacy, but we were still standing in their entryway.
“I will,” Todd said. “See you this evening.” I heard them kissing again and then footsteps. I looked up and found Briggs closer to me. He held out his hand, and I shook it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Banner. Todd has talked about you several times. I’m glad that you are so close and hope the two of you can spend time together regularly.”
I smiled up at the wolf shifter. “Thanks. I’m glad Todd found a good one,” I said. “It’s obvious that you make him happy, and Dante has had nothing but nice things to say about you.”
“That’s good to hear. Nobody wants to be on any of the hellhounds’ bad sides,” Briggs said.
Briggs grabbed his coat, waved to Todd, and then went out the door. Todd stared at the door much like I was certain how I looked at Dante.
“I hope he’s not leaving in a hurry because I’m here,” I said.
“Nope. He has a meeting with his team. They’re doing training with Garic this afternoon.”
“Umm…what’s that?” I asked. Dante hadn’t ever mentioned Garic.
“Garic is the hand-to-hand trainer. He’s a vampire, who is mated to another vampire, I guess, and he can’t be out for more than a few days because of it, so he became the council’s hand-to-hand trainer.” I followed Todd into their back room and was immediately drawn to his wall of windows.
“That has to be difficult,” I said. “Of course, I hadn’t even been claimed by Dante yet, and it was hard on me when he up and went away on assignments.
” I spotted my house and shook my head. I lived closer to my friend now than I had before.
Well, after he moved out and got his own place.
Obviously, when we were roommates, our rooms were directly across the hallway from one another.
I turned back to Todd, and my eyes widened.
“Oh my fates.” Todd was holding a little bundle of pink. My mouth dropped open.
“Did you want to hold her?” he asked. “This is Wrenley. Her sister, Willow, is over in the crib in the corner.”
I held out my hands and pulled them back. “Are you sure?” I asked. I seriously wanted to hold the baby. Like forever ago.
“Yes,” Todd said.
I moved closer and carefully took Wrenley from Todd. “Oh. My. Goodness,” I said as I got my first good look at her. “She’s so precious,” I added. I pulled her close to my chest and closed my eyes. I was in pure bliss. This was…I had no words. “So adorable, Todd. How do you ever leave her?”
Todd smiled. “Let me get Willow,” he said as he turned. “Feel free to sit down and stay for a bit.”
That did not have to be suggested to me twice. I was more than ready to stay and hold this precious little one all afternoon. Todd came back with a purple bundle, and my mouth dropped open. Todd sat next to me, and I got to look at Willow.
“How do you ever tell them apart?” I asked.
“Well, their scents are actually just a bit different. But you have to get really close to them to scent it.” Todd grinned.
“We keep them in different colors, and Dr. King actually gifted them bracelets that are on their ankles. They have their names on them, so when we have them both naked for a bath, we can still always tell them apart.”
I pulled Wrenley closer and laid my cheek down on her downy head. “Gah, I…” I moved my arms back down and sat there holding the little one. “I can’t wait until we have ours, but yours are so precious, and the thought of having two at once is a bit terrifying.”
“It’s not that bad,” Todd told me. “They’re pretty much in sync, and at this point, we can get a full four hours of uninterrupted sleep in most nights.”
I smiled over at my friend. I was so happy for him. “How have you been?” I asked after a moment of silence. “So much has happened in the last few months.”
“I’m great. Amazing, really. Briggs goes to therapy with me. The pregnancy brought some stuff out, but we were able to work through it with Dr. Swift.”
“That’s so good to hear.” Just looking at my friend, I could tell he was happier. He looked like there was so much less stress in his life. “I can’t believe how much has changed. For both of us,” I added.
Todd looked at me with wide eyes. “Right?” He shook his head. “We saw you,” he said.
“What? When?”
“At the winter solstice festival. You were with Dante. Briggs told me who you were with. You were over by the cocoa booth.”
I would never forget that night. “That’s the night…the first time I spent the night with him. We claimed each other that night.”
Todd’s eyes widened. “What? I thought you two were already claimed by then?”
I shook my head. “We spent a lot of time dating. Dante has some guilt because he was in the jungle with us and couldn’t rescue us.
” Todd’s expression saddened. “But seriously, let’s not talk about that.
No sad stuff. We’re both mated now. You have twins.
And Maggie.” I looked around the room but didn’t see a bed for her.
“I assume she’s napping? You said she probably would be. ”
Todd nodded. He pulled Willow closer and kissed her head.
“We actually turned the downstairs office into a playroom for her and later these two. There is a toddler bed in there, so we put her down for naps in there.” Todd pointed to the end table.
“There is a monitor there, so I can hear her if she wakes up and starts playing without me realizing.”
“Oh, wow. I don’t think we even thought about doing that with Dante’s office. He has it; he was told it was an office, but he never uses it. He has a desk, a chair, and a laptop that he never opens in there.”
“Yep, sounds like Briggs. We just figured it made more sense to turn it into a downstairs space for the kids.”
I nodded. “How are things going with Maggie? She’s four?”
Todd nodded. “She loves Briggs. Seriously loves him. She likes me.”
I chuckled. “She’ll come around.”
“I know.” Todd looked down at Willow. “She’s behind on everything, but she goes to the daycare three days a week.
Today happens to be one of her days here with me.
They’re doing wonders for her. Her speech has already improved in the month she’s been with us.
And she’s showing interest in potty training, which is definitely a bonus. ”
I don’t know why, but I wanted to cry. What had that poor baby been through. “And how are you doing? How are you holding up? It’s one thing to have twins, but another to suddenly have a four-year-old as well. How is John doing?”
Todd’s smile was back. “He loves them all. Maggie loves him too. It almost seems like she knows I’m busy with the babies, and so she goes to one of them.”
I reached out a hand and gave my friend’s leg a gentle squeeze. “But how is Todd doing? Are you okay?”
Todd nodded. “Yeah, I am. I’m doing good. I needed Briggs but didn’t know it. But he’s been so wonderful. Seriously.”
I smiled. “Good. I’m so happy to hear that.”
We were quiet for a moment before Todd spoke up. “What about you? Do you have baby names picked out? Nursery finished? I need the deets. It’s been forever since we’ve hung out and talked.”
I sighed. It had. “I have nothing,” I told my friend.
“We’re still deciding on names but have it narrowed down to three.
And forget the nursery. We have the basics.
Meaning our little guy will have somewhere to sleep, and he’ll have diapers, but that’s it.
I have a few sleepers, but nope. Nothing else. ”
Todd looked at me like he couldn’t believe me. I understood completely because yeah…I was due in three weeks, and we couldn’t decide on anything, it seemed. My poor little hellhound baby was going to be in a blank room wearing nothing but a diaper.