twenty four
It's a quick walk to the small café near the doctor's building, Milton keeping his head buried in Cal's shoulder in embarrassment as he's carried all the way there, passing strangers on the street that made the boy's neck prickle.
Many pack members frequent the area, smiling in greeting as they pass Cal and Matthew, a few offering a friendly wave as they walk past – not that Milton notices.
The door to the café rings with a little bell, the warmth of the heater blasting the three as they make their way to a little booth by the front window.
Milton peeks from his hiding spot, taking in the neutral tones of cream, brown and the occasional pale orange accent.
Plants are spaced around the café in tactful corners, large fronds dividing tables and giving patrons a taste of privacy as they converse over coffee and delicious looking meals.
Milton's belly lets out the tiniest of growls.
Cal chuckles, taking a seat on the soft brown faux leather with Milton seated in his lap so the human can comfortably rest his hands on the table.
Matthew sits on the opposite side, and for once Milton notices that the tables are a little tall for the doctor too.
"Do you come here often?" Cal asks the doctor, taking a menu left on the table to have a look.
Matthew hums as he shakes his head, sliding a menu over to himself. "It's been a while. I do remember their burgers though, they're delicious."
Callum goes to the kids section, reading the items off to Milton who tilts his head in question.
"See here?" Cal points to an image of a pink milkshake dressed in a spiral of whipped cream, overflowing the tall glass. "That's a milkshake."
Milton's eyes widen at the sight, fingers gripping the arm around his waist tightly.
"Would you like to try one?"
The boy nods, turning to look at his carer with big eyes. Cal only laughs, waving down a waiter who walks past.
"We'll have a kid's strawberry milkshake, a basket of fries to share, a classic burger for me and whatever he wants as well."
He nods to Matthew, who straightens his glasses before answering. "Classic burger for me too, please."
The waiter smiles, disappearing as quickly as he came with his notepad in hand.
"So," Dr Perin turns his gaze to Milton. "How many new signs do you know?"
Milton blushes, lifting his hands to shyly sign 'eat', 'drink', 'bath', and lastly – with a very hesitant pause – 'toilet'.
The doctor grins. "That's excellent. I'm still learning slowly, but we'll be conversing together in no time."
Callum smiles at the interaction, giving Milton a gentle squeeze. "We're going to work on animals next, I think. Once we have some of the necessity signs perfected."
Matthew hums in agreeance, moving a little in his seat as the waiter comes back with a bowl of warm fries and a set of three little side plates.
Milton sniffs the air, the warm scent of potato, grease, salt and herbs making his mouth water.
It doesn't take long for the rest of their order to arrive, steaming burgers oozing with sauce and of course, Milton's milkshake.
The little human's mouth opens in shock at the drink that looks to be the size of himself, the spiral of cream dressed in chocolate shavings and a paper straw with red stripes. He's never seen anything like it!
Callum grins at the childlike awe on his boy's face, eagerly propping him up better in his lap so he can reach out and touch the glass, carefully dragging it closer to himself with the aid of Cal.
"That's a big milkshake." Matthew laughs, also in shock at the sheer size of the pink drink, stomach already protesting at the thought of inhaling that much dairy.
"I thought I ordered the kids version..."
The doctor snorts. "That is the kids version."
The two men fall into easy conversation, Callum eating his burger in between helping Milton with his fries and milkshake. He even dips one into the drink and offers it to the boy, who crinkles his nose before trying it and actually enjoying the salty-sweet concoction.
Dr Perin watches their interactions with a soft smile, managing to stomach most of his burger and a handful of fries before he declares himself too full to continue. The serving size at this café is most definitely fit for a werewolf.
Matthew's phone vibrates on the table, 'council' flashing across the screen. He grimaces, clicking the button on the side to silence it before flipping it over on the table.
Callum watches as he wipes the drool from Milton's face, tilting his head at the man.
The phone buzzes again, prompting the doctor to once again hang up and pull his phone from the table to hide it in his lap instead.
"Sorry." He apologies with a frown, staring absently at the fries for a moment before snapping out of it.
"No need. Are you sure you don't need to take it?"
Dr Perin runs a hand through his hair with a sigh. "No. It's... nothing. I've already given them all the information they need about Milton's case. I had to give them my number for work and now..."
"They won't stop calling?"
Matthew's frown deepens. "I just don't understand why she even wants to talk to me. I have nothing to say and I doubt she's calling to apologise for everything that happened – " He snaps his mouth shut, reaching for a chip to chew on instead.
Cal smiles in sympathy as he scoops some ice-cream of the milkshake and guides it into Milton's waiting mouth.
"Did you want to talk about it? Milton and I are all ears, if it'll help."
The human sighs, biting his lip before clearing his throat, picking at the leftover burger on his plate.
"Georgia and I were together."
Cal's brow raises in surprise, but Matthew is quick to raise his hands in defence. "It was a very long time ago. She was my ma—partner." He's quick to correct himself in the presence of Milton, lips pursed as he pushes his glasses up his nose once again.
Cal frowns a little. "I'm assuming she had something to do with you now living in town."
Matthew nods, shoulders tightening in stress as he tries to explain. "She wasn't always..."
The wolf snorts. "A bitch?"
The doctor splutters, looking at Milton who is completely oblivious to the conversation, eyes still wide as he inhales every morsel of his sugar filled milkshake offered to him.
"She was ambitious and... stubborn. She had goals and being with a hum—being with me made it difficult."
"Why would that make it difficult? There are plenty of mixed couples nowadays."
The doctor sighs. "Maybe, but they don't often work out. We're just too different."
Cal tilts his head. "How?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend I just -"
Cal reaches a hand out, settling it on the doctors to calm the stress seeping out of the man and souring the air around them.
"Hey, I'm not offended. I genuinely want to know. Afterall... my family is mixed now too." He smiles down at the boy in his lap, who's currently forgone the milkshake in favour of mushing fries in his mouth, eyes glazed over in what the wolf can only assume is pure delight.
Matthew sighs, tone softening to a quiet whisper.
"Your world is built around hierarchy. There are rules and ways of life that just don't..." The man slumps in his chair. "I'm not an overly...strong man, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own goals and ambitions. Georgia didn't like that, to say the least."
Callum frowns.
He understands, kind of. Wolves do have a hierarchy, and their personal lives tend to be affected by that too. Dominant wolves are often attracted to the more submissive types as a way of naturally balancing the roles and creating a clear hierarchy within their own families.
But it also depends on other things. Like scent. Instincts. Who their wolf naturally sees as compatible for mating or sharing a home.
It sounds like Georgia didn't take all these things into account when mating with Matthew. Her dominance overrunning any other natural guidance a wolf used when choosing a partner.
"She wanted you to be a housewife."
The doctor raises a shoulder in half a shrug. "She didn't care in the beginning, but when she began working long hours for the pack and I opened the clinic, suddenly there was no one to cook dinner or clean the house. It was the little things."
The wolf sniffs in annoyance, and Matthew chuckles weakly at the sentiment.
"Things got... ugly, pretty fast."
Callum sighs, wiping Milton's mouth with a paper napkin once again, the little human making a noise of annoyance as his munching is interrupted, but quickly gets back to his fries – which have long since gone cold.
"I've heard the rumours. I don't think I was married to Al yet, so I only heard bits and pieces. The pack went through a big shift after that – Henry didn't want something like that to happen again."
Matthew hums, rubbing at his wrist in a manner that had the hair on the back of Cal's neck raising in alarm.
"I would have left, but I didn't have anywhere to go." The man tries to laugh it off, but Cal can only hide a wince.
"Matthew—"
The doctor cuts him off, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. "I appreciate you taking the time to talk. I don't- I'm not usually so chatty. Thank you for taking me to lunch, but I really should get back to work."
The wolf straightens as the doctor rises from his seat, dropping some bills on the table. "W-wait, I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable—"
Dr Perin stops, turning to the wolf as he straightens his glasses. "You didn't. It's just- I have a lot on my mind and it's not fair for me to dump it all on you. A client."
Callum hums. "A friend."
Matthew smiles. "You're my client first."
And with that, he leaves.
Milton blinks, noticing the doctor is gone, turning to look at Callum with confusion, mushed potato around his mouth.
"He had to back to work, sweetie. You finished with your milkshake?"
Milton turns to the drink not even half empty and nods. As much as he wants to have more, his little belly is already protesting.
Callum drags the drink closer to himself, taking the straw into his own mouth and finishes it off.
Milton blinks at how quickly his carer finishes it off, staring at him in shock as the wolf laughs and presses a kiss to his head. "You ready to head home?"
Milton nods, lifting his hands out in front of him for Callum to wipe clean with another napkin, wiping the boy's face as well. The baby treatment makes the little human blush, but he tries to take it in stride, wishing away the blush to his cheeks.
Together they pack up and pay, leaving the café and heading back to the clinic's carpark, Callum's chest tight as he replays the conversation with Matthew over and over. Was Georgia abusive? Is she dangerous? Did he need to be concerned about her now being on Milton's case?
Milton taps his shoulder when they almost walk past the car, Cal sighing as he stops and takes a step back, leaning against the side of the car for a moment to breathe.
Milton makes a noise in his throat, looking up at Cal in concern as the man closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, releasing it slowly as he rubs the boy's back.
"I'm okay. Just have a few too many thoughts going through my head. Nothing a good nap won't fix once we get home."
The boy nods like a bobblehead, hanging on to every word. He feels wired, possibly from all the food he just ate, but his eyelids were beginning to feel heavy.
A nap sounds pretty good.