Page 27 of Kidnapping Their Third

“We love you too, honey,” Tina responded without hesitation.

“You’re my favorite male child,” Mark said.

“I’m your only male child,” Pike responded. “I’ll tell you guys all about Cora’s family after I meet them, but we’re probably going to need a little time to get you all together.”

“That’s fine,” both of them said in unison. They did that a lot.

“I was thinking I’d bring something anyone could eat, like a bowl of cut-up fruit,” he concluded.

“Fruit is good,” Tina said with a sound of approval. “Don’t put grubs in it though, even if they make it taste amazing. Humans don’t eat grubs.”

“Some humans do,” Mark argued.

“Not many,” Tina said. “But I guess he could put them on the side so people could add them if they wanted to.”

“I think I’ll leave all the grubs at home,” Pike said.

“Has having Cora join the flock made Kimble any better?” Tina asked.

“They haven’t shared souls yet,” Pike explained. “Cora didn’t know anything about our world until just before she met Kimble. Like I said, a lot’s happened in the last few days.”

“Oh, the poor thing,” Mark said. “That had to be a shock. But if the magic picked her for you and Kimble, then she’ll come around soon.”

“You didn’t really answer the question. Is Kimble any better yet?” Tina asked.

“A little better,” Pike said, but didn’t mention it was probably due to the blood Cora was buying him rather than her presence in his life.

“That’s good,” Tina said.

“If we have to wait to meet Cora, could you at least send us a picture?” Mark requested.

“Yes!” Tina agreed with a little cheer. “I want to see what she looks like.”

That was when Pike realized he didn’t have any pictures of Cora on his phone. Not even a single selfie of the two of them. “You guys will have to wait until she gets home.”

He could feel their disapproval over the phone. His mother’s phone was full of pictures of him, his sister and her husband, including pictures she’d taken of his baby pictures hanging in silver frames on the walls of her house. His father would have just as many pictures on his phone if he could work it half as well as Tina.

“Not even one of her face?” Tina asked.

“No, Mom. Not even one of her face,” Pike admitted. “But I’ll fix that tonight.”

“Now tell us everything you know about Cora,” Mark insisted. “No detail is too small.”

Smiling with happiness, Pike started talking and the hours flew by.

***

Cora

Parking her work van in her single car garage attached to the house was always a pain, but Cora refused to leave it parked in the driveway. If the van was stolen, she’d lose a lot of specialty tools and equipment. She didn’t have a shop, just a small one room office she rented in an industrial building manned by Charlotte, her only full-time employee at the moment. The parking lot behind the building was secured by a tall fence and bright lights, but Cora still didn’t trust her precious work van there. During his time off, Van Guts spent his nights safely tucked away in her small garage.

She was so eager to get inside to see the guys that parking was even more troublesome than normal. It took two tries and almost sideswiping the side of the garage door frame before she was successful. Once Van Guts was inside, she could get out and lock him up for the night.

She should be exhausted. She’d spent most of the night tossing and turning. Knowing the guys were sharing a bed on the other side of her bedroom wall made it hard to relax into sleep. She’d fought the urge to go to them the entire time and only fell asleep sometime around three in the morning.

It was unlikely she was going to be able to resist the impulse to go to them tonight. Even now, as she grabbed her purse and phone from the passenger seat, her chest felt tight from the need to at least set eyes on the two men.

These strong feelings should be freaking her out, but all she felt was impatience.

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