Chapter Two
“Okay, baby girl, let’s go see our new place.”
Quinn took Ana out of her car seat and slung the diaper bag over his other shoulder. Ana babbled nonstop and sucked on her thumb as they headed through the house’s brand new double doors. He froze in the foyer and blinked.
“Holy shit.”
Laughter came from the left, and Elliot walked out of the huge living room, Justin on his hip. He set the boy down, and Justin toddled off to plop onto a… dog bed?
“Hey!” Elliot said, smile wide. He took Ana from Quinn and blew a raspberry at her. Then he hugged Quinn with his free arm. “Need any help?”
“In a bit,” Quinn said, still trying to figure out the whole dog bed thing. “Why is there—”
A bark sounded from the kitchen, and then a blurry ball of black and white fluff barreled into the foyer. The pup seemed to be about six months old, and it jumped up to put its paws on Elliot’s thigh to get a sniff of Ana.
“Wow.”
Elliot chuckled and scratched the dog behind its ears.
“Meet Barkley. Cole, Justin, and I were out on a walk, and this little guy nearly tripped Cole on the sidewalk. Poor thing was so scared and shaky. We took him to a vet to get checked out. No microchip, no collar. He’s healthy, though.
We got all his shots done and brought him home. ”
Smiling, Quinn set the diaper bag down and crouched. Barkley came right over and nuzzled his hand before licking a line up Quinn’s entire forearm. “He’s adorable! How on Earth did you come up with ‘Barkley,’ though?”
As if on cue, Justin piped up. “Barkey!”
Quinn blinked, eyes wide. His jaw nearly hit the floor. “He’s talking already!”
“Oh, yeah. Not many words yet, but he’s as opinionated as his other dad. Dixon said it wasn’t unusual for a wolf child to hit significant milestones a lot faster than a human, but even he admits Justin is vastly ahead of his peers.”
Quinn kissed the top of Barkley’s head and stood. “Before you know it, he’s going to be asking for the car keys.”
Elliot rolled his eyes. “Cole’s already picked out his first car.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Quinn asked with a laugh.
Elliot handed Ana back over and picked Justin up. Then they headed down the hall, Barkley following right on their heels. “Are you excited to move here?”
“Oh, yeah. Seth is at work for his last day, and he’s looking forward to becoming a consultant,” Quinn said. “And he promised no more experiments on himself.”
“He does know he’s never going to live that down, right?”
Laughing, Quinn nodded. “Yep. Besides, now that Ana’s here, we agreed having anything relating to his work at home would be a bad idea. He’s almost done outfitting his new office near Kit’s studio.”
Elliot put Justin in one of the several high chairs in the kitchen. “I didn’t think about that. Good idea.”
Quinn sat Ana in another high chair and buckled her in. “Yeah, it wasn’t a pleasant experience when he tested the wolfsbane antidote. I actually threatened to strangle him if he survived the wolfsbane. Lucky for him, the antidote worked.”
“I still think it was a ridiculously stupid idea,” Cole said from the doorway.
Elliot rolled his eyes and smiled, going up on his tiptoes to kiss their pack leader. “Maybe, but you’re still here. So I forgive him.”
Quinn just chuckled and shook his head. He started chopping up cooked chicken for the kids, and Elliot joined him to heat up some rice and veggies.
Cole kissed both babies on their cheeks before sliding his arms around Elliot.
He whispered something in Elliot’s ear that had the omega blushing nearly scarlet.
“Get out,” Elliot grumbled. “No sexy time for you.”
Cole snorted and smacked Elliot on the ass. “We’ll see…”
The leader left, and Elliot sighed. “Before you ask, yes, I am.”
Quinn blinked over at him. “What…?”
Elliot shot him a wry yet happy smile. “Pregnant again.”
Eyes widening, Quinn just stared at his friend. “Oh, wow…”
Elliot laughed and nodded before plating up the food.
Quinn grabbed Ana’s while Elliot took Justin’s.
They both sat and started feeding the kids, but Quinn couldn’t begin to wrap his brain around having another baby so soon after Justin’s birth.
Then again, the thought of it, of feeling Seth filling him, was enticing as hell.
“Dixon confirmed it a couple of days ago,” Elliot said as he made a valiant effort to spoon some rice into Justin’s mouth. The baby just blew a rice-filled raspberry at him.
“Justin isn’t that old. You sure you’re up for another one?”
“I am,” Elliot said with a smile. “This time, though, we’re hoping to not have a repeat of Justin’s delivery.” He shook his head and shuddered. “Be glad you had pain meds, dude.”
Quinn grimaced. Birthing Ana had been hard enough with the meds.
He couldn’t imagine doing it without anything.
The babies finished eating, though half the food had wound up on their high chair trays, with some on the floor.
Quinn cleaned them both with some baby wipes while Elliot swept up the mess that had missed the trays entirely.
The back door opened, and Chaz and Jax walked in. Quinn got hugs from both of them before taking Ana and Justin out of the chairs. Justin plopped on the floor and giggled when Barkley clambered onto his lap for licks and pets.
“Is he still nursing?” Quinn asked, nodding at Justin. Ana had made it clear she wasn’t done, so he leaned back in his chair and let her nurse.
“Sometimes,” Elliot said. “Mostly, it’s for comfort and us time, though. I asked Dixon if it was unusual for Justin to move onto solids so quickly, but he said that’s one of the quirks of a wolf child.”
“Ana nurses more often than not. She likes regular foods, but I don’t think she’s ready to move onto solids full time yet.”
“Don’t rush it either,” Chaz said. She grabbed two cans of Pepsi from the fridge and handed one to Jax. “She’ll let you know when she’s ready to wean.”
“I remember a few human friends who had siblings born when they were a bit older. It felt so weird watching how slowly they grew compared to us.”
“I believe it,” Chaz said. “I had many, many mothers who expressed similar thoughts years ago. It’s honestly fascinating.”
Twin cries came from down the hall, and Jax chuckled. “That’s my cue.”
“Ready to go check out your new home?” Elliot asked Quinn.
“Sure!”