Page 47 of Wrong Number, Right Unicorn

“How about we let Grams keep her secret for a while longer?” But if she was making what I thought she was, we’d need to know before Errol bought a bland and boring version.

Errol poked out his bottom lip. “Don’t want to.”

“When can you spill the deets?” I asked her.

“Deets?” She rolled her eyes. “In two days.”

I helped Errol off the couch and said we’d put off buying any baby-related items until then.

“But two days is so long. I wanna know now!” he cried as we walked from Grams’s place next door to our home.

Tell him what Grams is doing. My beast hated seeing Errol upset, but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

“How about we do something fun?”

“Like what?” He hugged a cushion against his big belly.

“We can go to the movies.”

He pointed to his huge bump and swollen ankles. “No can do.”

“I can do. Right here. I’ll make a huge-ass pile of popcorn and hot dogs with your favorite mustard and sauerkraut. How about it?”

“Maybe. Will the hot dogs have salsa?”

“Absolutely.”

“Better get to it while I choose a movie.”

I saluted and raced into the kitchen. The popcorn was easy, as I’d bought a machine. I gave Errol a huge tub of popcorn and juice—soda gave him gas—while I fashioned a hot dog the way he liked it.

“Ta-da. What do you think?” I presented it on a silver platter with a linen napkin. No movie theater provided that service.

“Yum! You’re a hot dog maker extraordinaire.”

We snuggled and munched through a lot of food. Errol fell asleep halfway through the movie, and after I got him into bed, I took out the trash. There was light coming from the shed in Grams’s garden.

I’d never known her to spend much time there, and having never been in the shed, I’d assumed it was for storage. She must’ve been working on Errol’s surprise—at least I hoped so. Easing open the garden gate linking our two places, I crept over the grass and peeked in the window.

Though I couldn’t make out what it was she was working on, it was wood, so I left her to it.

Two days later, my mate was home from a late session at the gym. While he couldn’t demonstrate most of the skills at his work, he was still working with valued clients who had been with him for years.

“Grams says she has something to show us.” He fumbled with the phone, and it would have smacked on the floor if I hadn’t caught it. Shifter reflexes for the win.

“Hurry,” he yelled as he tried and failed to put on his shoes. “Ahhh, I don’t need shoes since we’re just going next door.

I doubted the surprise was going anywhere and neither was Grams, but I got myself out the door and held my mate’s hand.

Grams was in the living room, and the coffee table had been moved to make space for the special something in the middle of the room, covered in a large sheet. She instructed us to sit.

“I made this for your first child, and if you have more, they will use it too. Long after I have left this earth, I hope their children and their children’s children will make use of it.”

Errol sniffed. “If you were hoping to make me cry, you succeeded.”

“Sorry, my love.” Grams whipped off the sheet, revealing a wooden cradle. At both ends, she’d carved a unicorn, one that was identical to my mate’s tattoo.

It looks like me.

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