Sam #2
Ollie lifted his head and peered over at the clothes. Rachel caught onto his game and held up the tiny T-shirt. “Isn’t it cool? It’s a T-Rex,” she said. “Do you like dinosaurs, Ollie?”
He nodded.
“Why don’t we try it on and see if it fits?” Sam said.
Rachel opened her mouth, and then closed it again.
“What is it?” Sam asked.
“I thought… I thought the kids might be more comfortable if we had them try things on together. We have a room upstairs that is used as a common area for guests. I think Alpha Vaughn will have them sleep in those rooms when they’re ready.”
“That makes sense,” Sam said. “Great idea.”
Sam smiled at her before turning back to the others, who were all staring at him. He’d have to get used to this if he planned on spending as much time with them as Vaughn seemed to want him to.
“What do you guys think? Should we go upstairs and try stuff on? We’ll all get cleaned up and ready for the day’s adventures!”
Vaughn smiled and laid his hand on Natasha’s shoulder. She was practically drooling over the clothes. Sam had only seen that look once before, on his college roommate after she’d gone on an epic shopping spree at some big, once a century clearance sale or something. It had been scary.
Really scary.
She’d snarled at him when he dared to doubt her purchase of a neon green tube top that she’d found for three dollars and ninety-nine cents.
Apparently, she just couldn’t pass it up.
The hungry look in her eye when she snatched the neon monstrosity from his hand?
Yep, that’s exactly how Natasha was eyeing the clothes now.
“Lead the way, Alpha!” Sam grinned before leaning over to put Ollie down. He reached out his hand the moment he’d found his footing so the little boy could grab hold.
Travis and Rachel scooped up the piles of clothes, and they all trudged up the stairs.
The house just kept on going. There were four large bedrooms on the upper floor, each with its own bath.
They resembled hotel suites, though, and Sam wondered if Vaughn had ever actually intended to house the kids in these rooms.
Not that he really had any say. The kids seemed to be as shocked as he was by all the space.
They looked around the little sitting area upstairs into the central area between the rooms, and then wandered in each of the bedrooms before heading back to his side.
Vaughn sat down in one of the club chairs while Travis and Rachel put the stacks of clothes on the small coffee table in front of him.
“Ben, you want to go first?” Vaughn asked.
He shrugged, clearly wary of the situation. Vaughn looked at Sam, unsure of what to do next.
“Okay, guys,” Sam said. “Here’s what I’m thinking. What if we all go over there and look at everything together and see if we can figure out who likes what and what size fits and all that stuff? Teamwork, right?”
Natasha slipped her hand into his, eager to take a closer look, but unwilling to go on her own.
Sam walked over to the table and sat down on the floor beside it.
He was close to the pile with the dinosaur T-shirt on top and could make out a general idea of which stack should go to each kid.
Other than Ben, who was so much bigger than the others, and Ollie, who was several sizes smaller, the others were all basically the same size.
Travis sat down in the second chair, and Rachel perched beside him on the arm. The kids all surrounded Sam, staring down at the clothes like they still weren’t sure what to do. It showed yet again how little care had been paid to them for as long as they’d been held by that woman.
Sam pulled in a breath and smiled. “Okay, Ben, you take this stack here. Go on in that room,” Sam pointed to one of the bedrooms, “and try stuff on. If it fits, show me. If it doesn’t, just take it off and set it aside.
Also, if you don’t like something for whatever reason, put it in the no pile, deal? ”
Ben nodded.
“Okay, Natasha, you’re next. Take this stack.
Now, I’m guessing you and Emily are going to be about the same size so if something doesn’t work for you, let Emily try, okay?
Emily, same for you. If you don’t like something or it doesn’t fit, give it to Natasha.
If you aren’t sure if something fits, come show me and I’ll help. Sound like a plan?”
Both girls nodded.
“Now, Henry and Jack, same rules for you. Any questions?”
They all shook their heads and picked up the stacks Sam had assigned them. They all went into one room, which would have raised Sam’s eyebrows on another day but then he remembered that they’d been stuck together in that house for who knew how long and all they’d had was each other.
“And now for you, little man. Want some help?”
Ollie shrugged, but his eyes had locked onto the T-Rex shirt again.
Sam pulled off the giant T-shirt of Vaughn’s that Ollie had slept in and helped him into the dinosaur shirt.
A pair of shorts went next, and once he had them on, Ollie stared down at the clothes in wonder.
The rest of the clothes were similar and looked like they mixed and matched.
“Okay, Ollie. You like this one?”
Ollie nodded. “I can really have it?”
“Yes, Ollie,” Vaughn answered. “Alphas take care of their cubs. It’s our job. So anything you like there you can have. And we’ll take you out soon so you can pick some things for yourself that you like.”
“Wow,” Ollie said. He petted the shirt again as he climbed up onto Vaughn’s lap. “Look at him.”
Vaughn poked the dinosaur then jerked his hand back. “Did it get me?”
Ollie cackled. “It’s not real, Alpha.”
Sam could hear rustling from the other room, and then the others emerged in new outfits. Rachel had done an amazing job guessing sizes. Natasha had paired a bright pink pair of shorts with an orange T-shirt. It completely clashed with her red hair and was the cutest thing Sam had ever seen.
“Awesome! I love it. Everybody comfy? Any problems?”
Jack made a weird face, and Ben put his hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “He doesn’t like tags,” Ben said quietly. “They itch him.”
“Not a problem,” Sam said. “I take my tags out, too. Or I get ones with no tags. Blech. Who likes tags anyway?”
Jack smiled a little then tugged the back of the shirt away from his neck.
“Jack, try on a different one, and then bring that one out to me. I’ll see if I can get the tag out, okay? Everybody else good?”
They all nodded and Natasha practically bounced in her excitement. Emily blushed shyly and leaned against Henry.
“Okay, let’s try another one.”
Sam handed another outfit for Ollie to Vaughn, who helped him do a quick change. The little guy had absolutely zero interest in anything other than the dinosaur, at least until he saw the next shirt with a slice of pizza on it. His eyes lit up. “I like pizza. It’s my favorite.”
They had another few minutes of try-ons, with everyone able to get at least a couple outfits that worked.
Natasha and Jack were both smiling ear to ear, both of them very happy with having new clothes.
The others didn’t seem as interested, but Sam had never really cared about clothes when he was younger either.
“Now everybody be sure to say thank you to Rachel,” Sam said.
They all chorused thank yous.
“We’ll need to get shoes, too,” Rachel said. “But I had no clue where to start on that so…”
“Shoes can wait until tomorrow,” Vaughn said. “For now, Sam needs to go home and get some clean clothes. Travis, would you mind giving him a lift?”
“Of course, Alpha.”
“And we’re all going to head down to the clinic. By the time we’re done, Sam’ll be back, and then we’ll have some lunch. Sound like a plan?”
They nodded, but they were obviously a bit worried, especially Ollie, who’d turned to look at Sam with a wobbly lip and teary eyes.
“I’ll hurry, okay?”
Ollie nodded and leaned into Vaughn. “Come back, Sam.”
“I will, buddy. I promise.”