14. Then There Were Four #2
Emre’s wolfy forehead crinkled. “Sorry, hon. We’re gonna have to move you to more solid foods for the time being, maybe some formula, until I can be sure I’m making enough milk for both of you.”
He sounded so guilty and apologetic, that Zenith’s heart clenched.
Emre glanced at the bedroom door, then back at his pups, sighing heavily. “Damn it. I can’t get to the kitchen like this.”
Zenith curled his fingers into Emre’s nape, holding him down. “I’ll get Abbie some food. And some for you too? Do you need water, soup, or food?”
Emre’s stomach gurgled. “Yes?”
This, Zenith could do. He tucked a clean towel around the suckling pup to keep him warm. “Hang in there for a while longer, sweetheart. I’ll take Abbie along and get you something.”
He was about to crack open the bottles he’d brought upstairs, when he realized that Emre was in his wolf shape. Emre couldn’t drink from a bottle right now.
Water first, then everything else.
Zenith scooped Abbie off the floor. On impulse, he dropped a kiss on Emre’s furry forehead. “You did so well. I’m going to take care of you.”
Emre thumped his tail against the towels. “Thanks.”
Zenith grinned and stood, jogging out of the bedroom. In the kitchen, he grabbed two bowls and set Abbie on the floor. “I’m heating up some chicken broth for your dad,” he told the pup.
Abbie ignored him and nosed around the baseboards.
The first bowl, Zenith filled with chicken broth from a carton. He popped it into the microwave to heat. Since Abbie was still wandering around slowly, Zenith raced to the front door and found Buttwheel lurking patiently at the bottom of the front steps.
He carried the cart up the steps and shut the door. “Hang around here if you’d like. Emre’s resting right now, but you’ll see him again soon. Just try not to leave skid marks all over my floor.”
Buttwheel squeaked its wheels and bumped his thigh gently.
The microwave dinged. Zenith hurried back into the kitchen, sighing with relief when he found Abbie pawing at a closed drawer.
He retrieved the broth from the microwave, nested it in the empty bowl, and grabbed a few more bottles of water.
Then he carried the broth, water, and Abbie back upstairs, quietly entering the bedroom in case Emre had fallen asleep.
Emre was licking blood off his snout.
Zenith froze mid-step. “Are you hurt?”
“Not hurt,” Emre said, looking awkward. “Just cleaning up?”
Zenith eyed the suspicious stains on the towel that hadn’t been there before.
“I ate my placenta,” Emre said very quickly and very quietly. “It has nutrients that my body needs anyway. It’s what we do when we’re out in the open, so no one comes sniffing.”
“That makes sense,” Zenith said, setting Abbie down. He laid out the bowls next to Emre’s snout and poured water into the empty bowl, so Emre didn’t have to move too far to drink. “I heated up some chicken broth for you. What kind of food should I make for Abbie? And for you?”
Emre wagged his tail. “A boiled egg and small pieces of meat for Abbie. Rare is fine. If there isn’t enough, I’ll pass. You need food too, right?”
Zenith sighed. “Sweetheart, you just gave birth. You need food.”
“I just ate my you-know-what,” Emre mumbled. “And you brought me broth.”
“I’ll make a double portion of whatever I’m eating, so you can have some too,” Zenith decided. “Steak, rare?”
“Yes please.” Emre made a soft, pleased sound at the back of his throat. Zenith kissed his cold nose, and carried Abbie out of the bedroom. Abbie whined and squirmed, looking back like she was trying to seek out Emre.
“Sorry, kiddo,” Zenith said, cuddling her close to his chest. “I’ll take you back to your dad after we’ve made him some food.”
This time, he didn’t set her on the floor.
Zenith had practice cooking one-handed, having broken his wrist a decade ago.
With Abbie tucked in one arm, he filled a pot with water, and heated up a large frying pan.
He dropped the steaks into the pan to sear.
Then he cracked a few eggs into the simmering water, scooping them out when they were done poaching.
He over-poached one of the eggs for Abbie just to be safe. Then he sliced up part of a steak into smaller pieces, making up a bowl for Abbie.
When the eggs and steaks were all done, Zenith collected his toast, arranging all the plates on a tray.
“Thanks for stocking up the fridge, Hux,” he said.
“You can pay me back by reading a pickup line or two!” Huxton said from somewhere faraway.
“Oh yeah, you mentioned pickup lines,” Emre said upstairs.
Zenith winced. “You really don’t want any from the pink book.”
“No, you should read Emre all the lines from the pink book,” Huxton crowed. Then he cleared his throat. “‘When sunlight spills over the horizon like my bodily fluids spill over your rosebud—’”
“Gods, no, please,” Zenith said, wishing he could see Emre’s face.
“Uh,” Emre said.
“‘—my love blooms like an asshole being stretched from the inside by alien horrors from the deep—’”
“Huxton, please,” Zenith groaned. “Please stop. No one courts with those lines.”
“Wow,” Emre said. “That might be worse than me eating my you-know-what.”
Zenith closed his eyes and hoped this wasn’t enough to drive Emre away. Maybe his food might salvage the situation.
He pushed his way into the bedroom, tray balanced carefully in one hand, Abbie cradled safely in the other.
Emre perked up. “That smells so good.”
Zenith tried not to burst with pride. He set down the tray and removed Emre’s empty broth bowl, showing the omega what he had cooked. Then he picked up the little bowl of steak pieces and extra-cooked egg. “Is this okay for Abbie?”
Emre nodded, wagging his tail. “That looks great. Thanks. Set it in front of her and she’ll inhale it.”
Both of them watched as Abbie stuffed her face into the bowl and gobbled up her food. She was so full of life.
In comparison, her little brother was tucked up against Emre’s belly, sleeping now, little puffs of breath that were just as adorable.
“And then there were two,” Zenith said quietly.
Emre grinned. “They’re both so amazing.”
“They are.”
They spent a moment gazing at the pups; Zenith nudged Emre’s plate to remind him to eat.
“You made so much food,” Emre groaned.
“Sounds like a good thing to me. Eat.”
Despite Emre’s insistence that he had already eaten, he dug into the steak and eggs, getting his snout covered in jammy yolk and steak juices. He was adorable, in a different way from his pups. Zenith’s heart swelled again.
“If you need,” Zenith began slowly, the words wrenching themselves out of his throat. “If you need any help at all with the new pup or Abbie, if you need some time to yourself, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”
Emre licked his lips, the fur on his face turning dark again. “Really?”
Zenith nodded. “I want to help. You don’t have to do this alone.”
“Thanks.” Emre leaned closer, then glanced at the pup cuddled against him and sighed. He pawed at Zenith. “Come over here. I can’t move when there’s a pup who wants me to stay still.”
Zenith grinned, shuffling over so he sat pressed against the curve of Emre’s neck, Emre’s warmth soaking into his skin.
For a while, they ate, Emre gulping down chunks of steak, Zenith slicing the poached eggs on his toast so the yolk flowed everywhere. Zenith watched as Abbie wrestled with a stuffed chimpanzee, growling it into submission. Then he watched the tiny bundle of fur next to Emre.
A whole new baby. What did his human shape look like? Was he going to grow up headstrong like his sister?
“What are you going to name him?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Emre said dryly. “It’s too soon.”
Zenith nodded. “You said the pup will have to rely on you for body heat for the next four weeks?”
“Yes?”
“What if you need a shower? Or if you need to use the bathroom? What if you need to... take care of yourself?”
He barely stopped those images from invading his mind.
Emre eyed him. “I don’t know. In Abbie’s case, I stuck with her as much as I could, but she’s always been... warmer than I expected. Huh. Guess I know why now.”
The fact that Abbie was a dragonet delighted Zenith to no end.
“So... You’ll need something to help keep the pup warm,” Zenith decided. “When you need a break.”
Emre squinted. “What are you planning?”
“Nothing,” Zenith said innocently, collecting the empty dishes and refilling Emre’s water bowl. “Just thought I’d better read up on omega afterbirth care.”
“Uh-huh.”
Emre was so suspicious. He was wonderful. And hot.
Zenith grinned, slipping out of his bedroom.