Page 163 of Choose the Bears

“I think I do.”

He settled around me, pulling me back on the bed so my back rested against his chest and suddenly it wasn’t such a terrible process. There was always a closeness that came as I fed my children, and right then he created a similar vibe. I sighed and then closed my eyes, surrendering to the process.

Chapter 87

Holly

Operation Mum was now in play.

I’d been here a week and things had transformed dramatically. Nat looked ten times less gaunt, thank fuck, but it was more than that. I could see my bestie’s personality come back online now, day by day. Pumping was starting to work and being able to condition Nat to believe that someone else could see to the babies was helping her relax more.

We just had one more thing to do.

“Ready, ladies?” I asked the mothers-in-law as we looked up at Nat’s house.

“You’re sure about this?” Jane asked. “Natalie has been through a lot and?—”

“I’ve known her my whole life.” I smiled then, remembering it. “When all the other kids didn’t want to play with me due to who my family was, she did. Nat and me…” I met her curious gaze. “It’s not the same as the mate bond, but we’re best mates and that’s almost as good.”

With that I marched up to the front door.

“What’s going on?”Natalie was being escorted rather firmly down the stairs by Thorn. I winked at the best twin, thanking him for his help. “Why do I have to get dressed for another day on the couch.”

“No couch,” I said. “Well, later some couch, but right now, we’ve got a surprise.”

“Um, no…” She turned on her heel, ready to march back upstairs, but was met by a wall of bear shifters. They all stood there, a barrier between her and her bedroom. “I don’t need any more surprised. I don’t.”

“How do you know if you don’t try?”

Her eyes narrowed and Nat made very clear she knew where this was coming from. Thorn threw me a thumbs up from behind her head. They’d been using that line on her all week to get her to try things a different way to varying degrees of success. Not everything worked, but we were making progress.

“You know you don’t get to use that line on me forever,” she said, grabbing her denim jacket off the peg and pulling it on.

“So I don’t get to guilt you into trying frog’s legs for dinner?”

“Nope.”

“One thousand year old eggs.”

“Pretty sure that would just kill me,” she growled.

“OK, so hair salon and shopping it is then.”

I said that last bit super fast, grabbing her arm and dragging her out the door before she could protest.

“Oh this will be fun.”

Jane was positively rubbing her hands in glee because we were about to induct Nat into the world of mum-ness.

“A hair cut?”Nat’s hand went to her hair as we walked in the door, blinking when she realised it was still damp from the shower. “I don’t need?—”

“I don’t need double chocolate cheesecake on a stick with Nutella drizzled all over it.” My hands clapped down over my stomach, trying to stifle the grumble there. “But damn, it was so good the last time I was in town.” I glanced at her. “You don’t have to cut your hair. Just get a trim, let someone else take care of you for once.”

“Hello ladies.” The hairdresser approached with a broad smile. “How’re we all doing? Natalie, come through.”

I trailed along, watching my bestie go pale as she was sat down in front of the mirror. Her eyes widened as she was forced to stare, really stare at her own face. There were still hollows in her cheeks and the dark rings around her eyes had faded somewhat, but not completely. The spell was broken as the hairdresser moved closer.

“So the booking is an open ended one. If you want to do a cut and a colour, we could do that, or just a trim…?”

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