Page 59 of Marcus-stiltskin

I laugh. “Maybe it’s a general cockblock instinct… got to keep the resources available all for themselves.”

With nothing else to do, we take Jada outside for some fresh air and Ramona-mandated horse time. Ramona is there, in our faces almost immediately.

Of all the creatures on Marcus’s little farm, she’s the one who has become the most interested in Jada, to the point where we give up working together to clean up the yard and instead take turns standing nearby to keep the horse from getting too close. Ramona has quickly become Jada’s Willow–appearing out of nowhere the minute we try to bring her outside, and even neighing at us until we do.

It makes no sense, but then what does these days? Just add it to the list of “wild world of witching.”

It’s only three days, but the endless cycle of diapers, formula, and baths makes it feel twice as long. Marcus takes it all in stride. Despite his claim that they never gave him babies during his time at CPS, he handles Jada like an expert, talking to her insoothing tones as he pisses her off by daring to bathe or change her.

Watching him with Jada makes me think back to our conversation back at Soojin’s. He said he and his ex could never get on the same page about babies. What page exactly was that? And what page was he on?

I love Wendy and Jack, and any other crotch goblin Lugh and Jacqueline decide to bring into this world, but parenting on a full-time basis isn’t something I see myself doing, ever. I can’t say that I’ve ever had a relationship that ended because I didn’t want kids, but I’m sure it’s added to the list of nos in a few exes’ minds.

Half a dozen times over the three days we have Jada. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask, but it feels like something I should already know…like asking that neighbor two doors down what their name is when you’ve already been neighbors for years.

Monday night, we wash Jada, dress her in the last outfit we have that is still clean and put her to bed.

“It's insane, isn’t it…ten months ago she was nothing more than a bit of protein, and now she’s this.”

“A poop machine?” I ask, teasing.

“A whole ass person. Completely from a mixture of protein.”

He could just be making conversation. He could just be marveling at the miracle of life, while wanting to appreciate it from a distance. But his excitement makes me nervous, and I promise myself I’ll ask him just as soon as we finish up all of this legal stuff with Jada.

Chapter Twenty-Two

In Which a Werewolf Gets Ripped a New One

The arbitrator isn’t available on Tuesday or even the Tuesday after that. By the time it’s all said and done, we’ve spent three weeks caring for Jada before the arbitrator can hear the case.

She’s so very adorable and yet so very exhausting. How Jacqueline and Lugh have done this twice and are willing to do it again is beyond me.

I walk into court with the deepest, darkest circles under my eyes. Even Marcus, who never sleeps, looks exhausted.

Thankfully, the arbitrator is not a wolf like I imagined, but rather a tall Gobelin woman with a perfect bun. Her title may be arbitrator, but she wears the judge’s black gown. Everything else is different from a traditional courtroom. She sits at a desk instead of a bench at the same height as everyone else. Two tables have been placed lengthwise just in front of her desk with a large space in between, so that they face each other.

At the table on my right sits Randy and Zach Lamar and a woman close to Randy’s age. If I had to guess, this is the Luna of the pack–Zach’s mother, Zelda. She has the same dark,luxurious hair as the Lamar boys. At the opposite table sits a man in his late fifties–the CPS representative for the county, having made it back from the funeral. Marcus and I sit with Baby Jada in chairs that have been set up in a strange sort of audience section. One whole side is full of wolves. I’ve met most of these people working at the Wild Hare, but there are few I’m unfamiliar with.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to decide custody for the minor child, Jane Doe. From what I understand, Mr. Marcus Jones found the child abandoned in the baby safe box at a decommissioned firehouse that he now resides in. He brought the child to the Wild Hare, and a member of the Lamar pack claimed it as their own. A dispute ensued in which a member of the Lamar Pack, Zander Lamar, attempted to attack Marcus Jones and a witch ended up incinerating the bar in a messy attempt at defending Mr. Jones.” She looks up from her paperwork. “Have I left anything out?”

“Your honor,” Zach says. “Zander is expecting his own child very soon and the smell of the infant may have triggered his dormant protective instincts, especially when the child was being taken from him.”

She looks over the top of her glasses at him. “And you are?”

“Zach Lamar, future Alpha of the Lamar pack.”

“Future?” she eyes him for a moment. “Young man, how old are you?”

He clears his throat. “Uh, I’ll be twenty-eight next month.”

“Your frontal lobe is pretty well developed at this point. Why are you not Alpha yet?”

He looks taken aback by the question. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve been busy. My Luna and I are planning our wedding.”

“And before that?”

“I don’t know. I just always felt Randy did a better job. Why change things when what we had was working?”

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