11. Niles
11
NILES
There was a crash and then another, which I quickly learned was what it sounded like when toys were flung across the room. Blocks and crayons were scattered on the floor from when we played earlier.
I winced as Connor dumped a bucket on the ground and ran through the pile, shrieking with triumph. “Daddy Niles, look what I made! It’s a Lego ‘splosion.”
“It certainly is.” I sighed heavily as I went over to clean up the mess before I was stepping on them with bare feet. I’d learned pretty quickly that those little blocks did more damage than a mess of plastic soldiers, little race cars, and bouncy balls put together. “Let’s get those picked up, bud.”
Lily darted out after him so fast that all I saw from the corner of my eye was a blur of blonde hair and mischief. I was getting good at knowing when to chase them down and when to let them run it out. I usually got it right, and it was the best way to avoid a tantrum of epic proportions. Those little lungs packed some power. What I couldn’t avoid was the sense of panic rising in my chest. How the hell did Rigg manage with these two whirlwinds on his own? Didn’t matter since he wasn’t alone anymore.
Neither was I. I dropped to my knees and scooped a big handful of bricks into the bucket.
“No!” Lily was back and holding my hands in place. “Don’t break the volcano, Daddy Niles. It’s perfect.”
I rubbed my forehead and laughed. “Is it? Are you sure that’s what you were going for?”
Connor zipped around my legs and then between them with a little green Corvette in his hand. “You’re on the race track, Daddy. Move, please.”
“Fine.” I dropped to the couch and lay down, watching them from a safe distance. Safe for me to keep my soles from bleeding. “You win. Just…don’t get hurt.”
They mostly ignored me, talking amongst themselves. Their memories were starting to come back, and bits and pieces were shared when we least expected it.
“What else do you remember?” Rigg and I had made a game out of extracting the memories in a casual, fact-sharing way without focusing on the fact that they’d lived through unimaginable horrors. The lab Rigg suspected they came from was still active, and as much as it pained me to hear their little soundbytes of information, we needed to know as much as possible if we were going to take them down.
Lily tapped her chin like a little philosopher. “There were lots of tubes. The bad guys didn’t let us play with them, but when they weren’t looking, we sneaked them to make bubbles.”
“And no running,” Connor chimed in, nodding so hard he nearly lost his balance. “Boring rules!”
“Really boring,” I agreed. “I like our rules better.”
“No rules when Daddy Rigg is gone.” Connor cheered, and before I knew it, he was dumping the crayons over the table and onto the floor.
“Whoa, whoa.” I got up and grabbed the crayons before they got stepped on. No one liked to color with broken pieces. “We do have rules. They’re just…easier to follow when Daddy Rigg is gone.” I grinned at the fact that Rigg was gonna come back to a mess. But he loved the energy and chaos of having a messy house. I did too. A messy house was a fun and lived-in house.
Lily jumped in to help, but she stepped on as many as she picked up. “Oops. Broke it.”
I grabbed some paper and spread it across the coffee table. “How about you two make a picture for Daddy Rigg while I clean up?”
“We had these.” Lily scribbled a green triangle with her nose scrunched in concentration.
“Crayons?” I watched her make another shape.
She nodded. “And tests. And you know what?”
I put the crayons in the box between the two kids and sat back on my heels. “What?”
“We didn’t have nice daddies. We didn’t have any daddies.”
“That must have been awful.” It broke my heart to know they were ever mistreated or neglected, but they had us now. They had love and attention and all the toys they could play with. That was a lot more than I could say about my own childhood.
Maybe that was why I understood them so well and loved them so much. We were all just looking for a forever family. Luckily, we’d found it in each other.
“Now you have a rule, Daddy.” Connor beamed at me like he’d just found a magic loophole.
I groaned dramatically and grabbed at my chest. “No boring rules for me!”
“Yes!” He pointed a chubby finger at me. “You have to chase us!”
I sucked in my breath like I was too shocked to move. “Nope. I’m too tired.”
“Chase us!” Lily shouted.
“I’m too tired, but maybe my wolf can chase you.” I gave them a playful growl, the best wolf impression I could muster in my human form.
They squealed and scattered, running circles around the room until I caught them both and swept them off their feet. We ended up in a pile on the bed, and I was exhausted. “Is it bedtime yet?”
Lily climbed up next to me and patted my cheek. “Are you tired, Daddy?”
“A little bit.” I was panting from the exertion. I suddenly felt exhausted and a little dizzy, but they didn’t need to know that. “I just need a minute to catch my breath.”
Connor handed me a sketchbook, serious for the first time ever. “Then you need to color now. It helps.”
I took the book and smiled. “What should I make?”
“A wolf!” Connor’s voice was clear and bright and certain.
I picked up a crayon and pretended to draw carefully. “I’m not a very good drawer, so don’t laugh…”
Connor shook his head and pointed to my outline. “Four legs, Daddy. Not three.”
Every time they called me Daddy, I felt like I was coming apart at the seams with joy. The kids had fully accepted me as a father figure, and that meant the world to me. The whole fated mate thing had blindsided me in the best possible way. These kids filled my heart with so much love, I thought I might explode. “You’re right, bud. Thank you.”
“‘Member the tests, Con?” Lily was insistent, like we hadn’t been through this five minutes ago.
“Lots of tests.” Connor agreed with his sister as he stacked crayons like they were logs.
I was about to ask another question when Connor jumped off the couch and yelled, “Pizza!” It was like I’d fed him three cups of sugar for lunch. He dashed into the kitchen and nearly slammed into a chair on the way.
“You sure are fast.” I heaved myself up and stretched my back. Why was I so tired?
“Fastest ever!” He ran back and did a lap around me before returning to the oven and staring inside the window. “It’s done.”
The timer went off a second later, and I just shook my head in awe at how he was able to do that. He knew exactly how much time had passed without any visible clocks or alarms.
“Stand back while I pull it out.” I waited for them to be seated at the table before taking the pizza out of the oven. It was a large meat lovers, but there would be no leftovers. Those tiny bodies could sure put away a lot of food. It was never-ending with them. They started eating at breakfast and kept going until the last snack of the night before bed. I couldn’t imagine how much they would consume once they started shifting.
I needed to get our vegetable garden going sooner rather than later.
* * *
“Wolf time,” Lily said with absolute authority. “Connor wins wolf time.”
It wasn’t the first time they’d ganged up on me, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. I peeled them off my legs and gave in to their little plot. “If you say so.”
They said so, together and in unison. It was impossible to tell who was loudest, but they were both the cutest.
“Okay, team. But first, clean up.”
“Now?” Connor whined like I’d just told him it was time for a nap. “But it’s wolf time.”
“This will just take a few minutes, and then we’ll run.”
I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get used to how obedient they could be when they wanted to. It was terrifying in a way, like some remnant from the lab. They knew too much and remembered too much, but I guess they had enough childhood in them yet. There was some comfort in knowing we were giving them the life they deserved.
“Done!” Connor hopped up and dragged his sister by the hand.
“Super done,” Lily confirmed.
“Now you have to be a wolf.” Connor looked at me with his finger out, scolding me for being so slow.
“Chill. I’m getting there.” I chuckled and then shifted right in front of them.
They jumped on me immediately, holding on and riding me with giggles that filled my heart. We ran and played for hours until they finally tired themselves out.
We got back inside the cabin, and I felt guilty for letting them stay up so late. We were all exhausted, and I made the executive decision to forgo our standard bedtime routine.
They were in pajamas and crawling into the bed with me. “You two gonna keep Daddy company tonight?” I pulled back the blankets so they could climb in. “Just this once.”
They immediately snuggled up against me, and I quickly relaxed with Connor’s head on my neck and Lily sprawled out across my back. I waited for the steady rhythm of their breathing to even out and then I let myself drift off too.
* * *
The cabin was warm and smelled like cinnamon when I opened my eyes. Light poured through the windows, and for one heart-stopping second, I panicked because the kids were gone.
Grandpa Joel must have come back and been horrified by the condition I’d left his grandbabies in. They were unbathed and apparently neglected...and possibly had twigs sticking out of their hair from our time outside.
Gramps poked his head inside the room and waved a spatula at me. The smile on his face knocked my anxiety meter down a few notches. “Good morning, lazybones. I see you’ve turned my family into a proper pack of wolves.”
Lily jumped up and tugged at my shirt. “Daddy, Daddy! Gran’pa made bites.”
I groaned and sat up, trying to wake up. “That sounds—” A wave of nausea rolled through me, and I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I couldn’t remember the last time I barfed, but I did remember why I avoided it so much. It felt awful in the moment, but as soon as my stomach was empty, I felt so much better.
The kids were already eating, but Gramps was waiting outside the door with a wet rag and a glass of water when I finally emerged.
“Thank you.” I inhaled the water and washed the toothpaste taste out of my mouth. “I must have eaten something bad.”
He just shook his head and grinned. “Try again, omega.”
“What?” I thought back to what I ate the night before and nothing stood out. Within a few seconds, I realized what he was getting at. “No way. I’m definitely not.” It wasn’t possible. I mean, it was technically possible, but… “What is Rigg gonna say?”
Gramps pulled me into a hug and chuckled. “He’s gonna be so damn happy. Almost as happy as I am right now.”
I sniffled into his shoulder and nodded. “Me too. I think…I’m really happy too.”
Happy but shocked. A person could be both things, right?
When I finally made it to the kitchen, there was practically a banquet set out. Breakfast egg bites, muffins, fruit and yogurt, everything their little hearts desired and a couple things mine did too. Feeling better, I piled my plate with fruit and eggs and wolfed it all down within minutes.
“You’re gonna spoil us.” I waved my fork at all the food as I looked at Gramps. “And make me look bad.”
Lily’s face was sticky with syrup. “You look good, Daddy!”
I winked at her. “Thank you, sweetie.”
The moment was almost perfect. The only thing missing was my mate.