Page 66 of Reclaiming Home

When Rian didn’t seem ready to let go yet, I called the guys away from Brodie and him to give them more space. They grabbed a backpack and a duffle bag each and followed me into the house. Carys had already gone into the kitchen to start on the coffees—what else.

I realized Ben and Max had stopped moving when I reached the stairs and didn’t hear them behind me. When I glanced back, they stood in the middle of the entrance hall where they could see into the kitchen and family room through the doorways.

“A bit different, eh?” I asked gently.

Max was the first one to tear his gaze off the family room. “Uh, yeah. I… this is incredible.”

“It’s not all done, of course, but the rooms we need the most should be good for now. Come on.” I started up the stairs and this time they followed me.

“It’s incredible what you guys have accomplished in such a short time.” Ben’s tone was awed. “I don’t get it.”

“With Rian’s money and with some extra hands. And you might’ve noticed the barn was gone, too.”

“Holy shit, I didn’t even realize that,” Max blurted out, then blushed at his uncharacteristic exclamation.

“We moved your room, by the way,” I gestured at their room that had been facing the front of the house. “That side has so much more damage in the roof that we decided it would be better to have you guys on this side with the rest of us.”

They glanced at each other, doing some sort of close-as-twins thing probably.

Then Ben cleared his throat. “You gave us one room?”

Instead of telling him, I decided to show it. “Brodie and I are in the main one, then Carys in the next, then there’s the bathroom, then Rian’s room, and you guys get the bigger one here at the end.”

I pushed the door open to the room that got the most light on this side, since it was in the corner and had two windows unlike the rest. Not even the main bedroom had two.

They stepped inside, then kind of stood there, a bit stunned again.

We’d picked the warm earth tones for them based on the few decorations their tiny apartment in town had had when we went to empty it a couple of weeks ago.

There were two stuffed toys that had been well-loved, so they sat on top of the big bed by some of the pillows that had been on their old, worn-out couch. We’d saved some things, but since they’d told us most stuff was hand-me-downs and curb finds, they hadn’t wanted to keep anything when their landlord had asked if we could empty the place faster than we were originally going to.

They dropped their bags by the door and looked around for several minutes, barely moving, just turning in place. Both had tears in their eyes.

Then suddenly Max took in a breath that was half a sob, came to me and hugged me tightly.

Chuckling, I hugged him back and waited until Ben joined us. There was going to be a lot of hugging for a while, I was certain. Wolves were tactile creatures, and I had a feeling these two hadn’t had much kindness in their life lately, or maybe ever.

“It’s perfect,” Max choked out. “A-And the b-bed….”

I heard the question in his tone. “That’s your business. I thought you might want a cozy one though, so it’s all kinds of upgraded.”

The bed was not only large and had a memory foam mattress, but there were pillows and soft blankets for nesting purposes.

Max went to sit on the edge of the bed and then bounced a bit, before smiling like a little kid.

“You can’t jump on memory foam,” I told him in a teasingly scolding tone.

He let out an actual giggle, then slapped his hand over his mouth, his eyes widening.

“Thank you so much,” Ben murmured into my ear almost too quietly for me to hear.

I could tell he was moved by his brother’s demeanor.

“Hey, you guys are pack, and we love you. You deserve the best.”

Max tilted his head and looked at me with mischief in his expression. “Are you our mommy now?”

I turned to Ben and deadpanned, “Control your other half please.”

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