14. Leo
Chapter 14
I arrive back at work in time for my three P.M. appointment, a pair of guinea pigs that need their yearly exam. All goes well, they seem happy and healthy. Their owners are attentive and while I question the choice of giving a child under ten the responsibility to care for a pet, these parents seem to be taking it seriously, and have no problem stepping in or helping when necessary. Like today helping their son carry this precious cargo out to avoid jostling them.
Soon Sasha and her parents arrive to pick up Freddy, and we discuss how to care for his cast, if he needs a cone, and how to keep him hydrated while keeping his cast dry. I also discussed with Sasha the importance of always making sure the front door is closed when she leaves for school, so Freddy can’t get into traffic again. She seems like a sweet child who cares deeply for her giant overprotective lizard, and I hope they have many years left together. She listens intently to my lecture, asking appropriate questions as Maggie brings out a still drooping Freddy.
However, as soon as he sees Sasha he starts to scramble on the concrete floor, his claws unable to find purchase and Maggie has to run to keep him from choking himself on the leash. When Freddy reaches her, Sasha bends down and scoops him into her arms, wrapping his tail around her waist, and gently holding his damaged leg to keep him from injuring it further.
W hat would it be like to have children of our own? We’ve never discussed it before. I’ve never really even thought about it before. Do any of the others even want kids? Does Candice?
I imagine her sitting in our living room, curled up between Jacks and Xan, rounded with child.
And I really need to stop this train of thought as it is going to become very awkward again since I am still wearing scrubs. I wipe all thought of family and Candice from my head, finalizing paperwork, confirming there are no more questions, and then watching this fourteen year old girl waddle out of the office with a fifteen pound lizard wrapped around her like some sort of scaled sling bag.
I’ll need to stay late to clean up paperwork from being out so long for lunch, and once I’m home, I want to do more research on scent matches. I pull out my cell phone to call Jacks and let him know I’ll be late for dinner. I would say two nights in a row is inexcusable, but with the afternoon we all had, I believe he’ll understand.
The house phone rings several times before I give up. I call again, and a third time, but there is no answer. I then call his cell, but it goes straight to voicemail. That isn’t unusual, he often forgets to charge it as he rarely leaves the house. I then try the shop. Maybe he stopped back there after he let me off at the clinic. I’m still cross with him for driving earlier, but as he said, it was only for a few blocks, and he was being safe.
After three rings, Xan picks up at the garage. “Gabe’s Garage, how may I be of service to you today sir or madam.” Dear lord, Gabe would throttle him if he heard that.
“Yes, you ass, you can be of service. Tell Jacks I will be home late today. I have a lot of paperwork I missed this afternoon. I don’t want to leave it until tomorrow.”
“Why do you want me to tell Jacks, just call the house and tell him yourself?” He sounds genuinely puzzled, and my stomach sinks.
“Oh, I don’t know, why didn’t I think of calling the house, repeatedly , and attempting to get in touch with the person I needed to speak to instead of calling you first and wasting both our time.” I don’t generally lower myself to sarcasm, but in this case I think I can be forgiven. “Of course I tried calling the house, but he wasn’t there. I assumed he was at the garage with you.”
“Heh, you know what they say about assuming, old man? Makes an Ass out of you and me.” Xan chuckles. ”Wait, did you say he isn’t at the house?”
I hear the garage bell jingle over the phone line, “Xan, man, we are backed up out here, get off the phone and come get bay one cleared so I can bring in the next one.”
There is a soft click as Xan sets the phone down, but I can hear Gabe’s raised voice in the background. “What do you mean he isn’t at home? Where the fuck is my cell? Yeah, pull up the PackTrack app…Fuck me…where the hell is that?”
The phone clatters again as it’s lifted off the counter.
“Hey old man, change of plans. Wrap it up now, looks like Jacks went into the city and is at the Plaza Mall. We’ll swing by and grab you on the way over.” The phone disconnects and I stare dumbly at it for a moment before pulling up a map. Yes, just what I wanted to do, drive an hour one way to go shopping.
Oh Joy…and I’m not old.
Jacks
M y ass is vibrating, well, more specifically my phone in my back pocket is vibrating. With as many times as it has gone off in the last twenty minutes, I am gonna take a stab and say they finally figured out I didn’t go home– took long enough .
After all, I did take Xan’s wallet, so at least I would have a license and his debit card. We don’t look alike, but cops rarely bother to check everything if they pull you over, right?
Shit, maybe I should answer the phone .
But no, I’m almost done. I went by the mall because it has that candle store that’ll make custom scents for you. It took longer than I wanted, but I finally got the right smell down for each of us. Xan’s was the hardest to get right, that perfect smokey bourbon with petrichor. Too much one way or the other and you get either fishy swamp or smores, but I love his smell…so I got an extra one done for me. And of course some chocolate mint for the house. I need to be able to smell her, at least until she moves in.
Now I am at Nest-N-Stuff, and honestly, the choices are a little overwhelming. I got a pretty good feel for what she likes when I was marking all of her stuff, but nothing here feels quite the same. Newer fabrics of course, none of them well loved and broken in with repeat washing. But the colors.
Holy shit, so many colors, it’s like a rainbow threw up in here .
Her nest has several variations of blue, gray, and purple, so I am going to get some of those…then maybe add in a dark green.
Personally, I would do orange and tangerine everything–maybe I can find some highlights in that, a splash of sunshine for my Little Lion. They have a whole area dedicated to framed prints, so once I get this pillow section figured out, I will go over there.
I wonder if they deliver.
I wonder how soon they can deliver.
I should have brought the truck.
Ugh…FINE!
I pull my phone out, and yeah, 25 missed calls and 18 text messages. But fuck it. I ring Xan back, not bothering to read the messages. I hear the rumble of the truck in the background, and Gabe yelling at me over Xan’s relieved sigh.
“Man, I was really worried there, what the fuck are you doing? And why the fuck have you not been answering your phone?”
Ignoring his question, I have my own reasons for calling. “Hey, where are you guys? I’m gonna need a little help here.” Silence meets the other end of the line. I only know they haven’t hung up because I can still hear the rumble of the truck as it moves down the road.
“Motherfuck, if you think for one fucking sec-” Gabe cuts off as Leo takes the phone, and the background noise fades. Leo is often the levelheaded voice of reason, mostly.
“Alright, let's start over. Jacks, where are you, and what do you need help with? We just passed Mile marker 105 heading south, just past that big glass factory, so we should arrive soon…unless someone kills us all in a fiery wreck, or we get arrested for speeding. I am not discounting either of those possibilities at the moment.”
Wait, how did they know?
Tracking app.
Fuck.
It’s ok, play it cool.
“Well, I am at the big nesting store in Springfield. You know the one, or you can look it up. I may be buying more pillows than I can squeeze into the Jeep, and I still need to look at blankets. Do you think we should paint the walls in the nest, like, before she moves in, or wait and let her pick it out? I want it to be a surprise, but I also don’t want her to feel like she doesn't have a choice. Her nest walls were a medium gray, but so was the rest of her house, so I don’t know if it was an aesthetic choice, or if she just never got around to doing it?”
There is silence on the other end, and for a few moments I start to worry that the mute got hit on my end. Pausing in my perusal of fabrics and stuffing, I check my phone to make sure it didn’t.
But I’m distracted again. I found their “build your own pillow” section, and it is glorious ! There is a deep purple chenille fabric that I think she would love.
I assume they hung up, and I am about to press the end call button when Xan comes back on. “Ok, love, now, say that again. Where the fuck are you?”
Gabe is cursing loudly in the background, and even our good doctor sounds put out. “Well, what did you expect would happen? No, I have a box of suture supplies in the first aid kit. Yes, I know it’s not normal, but just who do you think you’re speaking to? Oh, really, well, I can let you bleed all over the cab if you prefer. No? Good, now shut up.”
There are several pauses, and Gabe’s yelling has stopped, so I am only getting one side of the conversation at this point. Fair enough. I need a store clerk anyway to help me with stuffing pillows. I’m only half paying attention to Xan .
Letting Xan know I’m at Nests-N-Stuff in Springfield, “According to maps it looks like mile marker 105 is about 20 minutes out from me…so you should get here just in time to help me load stuff up…if I can ever find someone to help me work this damned pillow stuffer!” I say the last part less for his benefit and more for any customer service people who might be in earshot. This fucking purple pillow has now become an obsession and I am not leaving until it’s stuffed and in my cart.
“Ok, well, we are gonna be a bit more than 20 minutes man…Gabe was taking a drink of coffee when you called earlier and well…those plastic travel mugs aren’t as sturdy as one would think. Leo is stitching up his hand now, but I’ll take over driving afterwards. And we may need to make a stop to clean up some, I don’t want to walk into a well lit department store with a couple of guys covered in blood.”
“Ew, no. Yes, take them, get cleaned up…I don’t want anyone bleeding on my omega’s pillows. Fine, I’ll load them all when you get here, but then you have to take me out for dinner. Oh, I hear they opened a new Red Rogers in town here. I could go for a good burger.”
“Yeah, ok love, just…” a loud sigh from Xan. “Just stay safe, ok. Don’t talk to people you don’t need to, pick out what you think she might like, load up what you can in the Jeep, and Leo can drive it home after dinner, ok? Just be safe, please?” I hear the worry in his voice. I might feel bad about it, if I hadn’t finally managed to find a young beta woman to help me work the pillow stuffing machine. I would normally just fuck around until I figure it out on my own, but these need to be perfect, so better to bring in the professionals.
“I’ll be safe. You be safe too, ok? I love you, and many snuggles soon, alright?”
“Love you too, Jacks. Just stay there, and I’ll see you soon.” The phone disconnects for real this time. I owe Xan more than I can ever repay. We’ve been best friends since Kindergarten, he was always smaller and everyone just assumed he would be my beta as we got older. But, surprise-surprise, his designation came in when we were 14, before mine, actually. While he never got as tall as me, he is alpha in all the good ways.
“I’m sorry, sir. I am not exactly sure how to work this machine. I am pretty new. But let me call a manager for you.”
Professional my ass.
Ugh.
I smile as politely as I can, to the unhelpful clerk. “Thank you miss, I appreciate your time.” I am not sure what she sees in my face, but she nearly runs towards the front, and then I hear a call for a manager and security to the pillow stuffing area.
Well, fuck.
Xan
W hen we finally get to Nests-N-Stuff, Jacks is sitting outside on the folded down back of the Jeep. Bags with colorful fabrics spilling out the top are stuffed in the trunk behind him, and it looks like the back and passenger seats are full as well. Plus he has three carts full of pillows in varying shapes and sizes parked beside him.
My love has been a busy boy, apparently.
He has his arms wrapped around a dark purple pillow, and is rubbing his chin and cheek along the top seam, back and forth, over and over. He looks a little lost, and I wonder how long he’s been sitting out here waiting. We got here as fast as we could, but I still worry about him.
Leo finally managed to talk Gabe down before we got here, but neither of them are happy, and they both stay in the truck after I park beside the Jeep and get out. I put down the truck gate when I walk by, but then go straight to Jacks and wrap my arms around his neck. He’s still sitting down and it sandwiches the pillow between us as I pull his face into my chest.
“Are you ok? You look sad. What were you thinking? You had me worried sick.” I try not to sound like I am blaming him, but even I have no idea what this was. “Why didn’t you just shop online and have it delivered?” He pulls back and the look he gives me tells me what a stupid question he thinks that is.
“Ok, number one, I’m fine, just…they called security on me. Two, they had six different people in there, none of them knew how to use the pillow stuffing machine.” At this point he’s waving the purple pillow he’s been scent marking around in the air. “They all kept taking it and trying different ways to get the machine to work, now it smells like them, and I need it to smell like us.” He starts rubbing it up and down my chest and neck, and yeah, it’s super soft.
“And to answer the rest of your questions, I was thinking that if I shopped online, I had no idea what colors I would really get. You know how nuanced colors get and while my setup is good, monitors never show exact colors. This, for example,” he waves the pillow in the air again, "could have looked like anything from black to lavender, depending on the monitor…and don’t even get me started on texture. Do you have any idea how many different things are labeled as cotton…how many different types and thread counts of cotton there even are. I’m not even going to go into microfiber.” He brings his legs up, wrapping his whole body around the small pillow, and rocking back and forth.
Clearly, my mate is feeling a bit overwhelmed. “Ok, well, let me get this loaded up in the truck, and move the stuff out of the passenger side, so Gabe can ride with Leo on the way back. Did you still want a burger?” He looks up at me and his eyes are bright with unshed tears.
“I just need a few minutes, ok. I got over excited and did something stupid, and it was all going fine, until it wasn’t...and they fucking called security on me. I didn’t even do anything, I was being polite.” His voice cracks at the end, and I just want to wrap him up and take him to bed for snuggles, but first I need to deal with this shit, feed him, and then we can get home, get a hot shower, and sleep.
I turn back towards the truck–I must have missed the sound of the doors, because Gabe and Leo are leaning against the side of the bed. Gabe’s expression is thunderous and even our pacifist has a hard look in his eyes.
“Guys, come on. Let's just get this loaded up, we’ll grab some food and head home, ok?”
Gabe marches over and I panic for a moment, until he reaches down and rubs his hand over Jacks’ mohawk, before pulling him in for a quick hug. When he pulls back he looks into Jacks’ sad eyes, “Help him get loaded up, a’ight. We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Then he pats him on the shoulder a few times before he and Leo stride towards the doors of Nest-N-Stuff.
Jacks slides off the back of the Jeep, his legs wobbly, and I help him load all his bags of pillows and blankets into the truck, as well as move a few things around in the Jeep so that Gabe can sit in the front seat when he returns. We are just pulling the bed cover closed on the truck when they get back. Leo still looks angry, and Gabe looks like he’s ready to break someone in half, but he comes back over and gives Jacks a hug before leading him to the front door of the truck and getting him settled and buckled in.
“Fucking bigoted profiling assholes” Wow, it’s rare to hear Doc cuss. He leans against the back of the Jeep, pinching the bridge of his nose, before running both hands down his face .
“Hey, Old man, we were gonna grab some burgers over at Red Rogers before we head back towards the house. Y’all comin with?” I know I am tired and my accent is coming out more. Most of the time I make a concerted effort not to talk like Gabe. People see someone who works in a garage and they automatically think uneducated or roughneck. We grew up in the south, and unless I try not to, my speech pattern reflects that.
But I’m too tired right now to put forth the effort, so I sound like I am from the ass end of nowhere Alabama. And yeah, that’s not too far from the truth, but I still hate sounding like it.
Food, apparently is the magic word here, “Oh, Let me pull up my map, a burger sounds heavenly right now.” We’re still looking up directions when Gabe gets back from settling Jacks in the truck–he’s listening to the radio, his head leaning against the window of the cab.
The restaurant is only a couple of miles down the road, back towards Oak Flats. “We’ll meet you there, yes? Should only be a few minutes drive.” Leo lowers his phone and turns to Gabe. “Hamburgers, yes?” We defer to him as pack leader but he rarely disagrees with us about anything.
“And thirty-two is not old, you ass.” Leo pokes me in the chest, startling a burst of laughter from me.
“Yeah, yeah, just keep telling yourself that, Old Man.” This is a conversation we’ve had many times. Gabe is smiling again, barely, but I’ll take it.
“If you want to play it that way, fine, Shortstack , I’ll be happy to pick you up and paddle your ass like the young upstart you are.”
Our relationship isn’t like that, it’s true that I see him naked all the time, we live together. And sometimes we sleep in the same bed because you just need a warm puppy pile to sleep. But they’re closer to me than my own brothers ever were. Jacks is the only one I have a sexual relationship with, and with luck, soon Candice. Hopefully that won’t make things weird, since she’ll be with all of us.
Fuck, is it weird that the thought of her with my packmates, even the ones I’m not with is making me really hard?
But first, I need to take care of our caretaker. Get him fed, home, and into bed.
We load up into separate vehicles–Jacks has fallen asleep, drool running down the window. I wave at Leo in the Jeep as I pull back onto the road and start towards home. When we get to Red Roger, Jacks grumbles and sinks further into the seat, he doesn’t want to wake up. We order his to go, and the rest of us bolt our burgers and fries in the parking lot–all of us ready to just get home and get in bed.
Leo gets a coffee shake–apparently that's a thing–to go so he can have caffeine and sugar to help him stay awake on the drive. It is late, and after the last thirty-six hours we’re all exhausted. When I get back into the truck, I put Jack’s food in the back of the cab and pull him away from the window to keep from banging his head on the glass if I hit any bumps .
He flops the rest of the way over against me, pushing against his seatbelt until his head is laying on my thigh. He twists a few times, getting comfortable, then he starts to snore loudly and I can already feel the drool seeping through my pants. I turn the radio over to an alternative rock station–something with a beat that will keep me focused. Numb by Linkin Park is just starting, and I sing along under my breath as I pull out of the parking lot and head towards home.