Page 57 of Fur-Ever Home

He scrambled onto the bed and lay down facing me, taking my hand between his. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to make light of anything serious. You can talk to me."

"She's a wolf?" I asked for confirmation.

"She is. My wolf can sense her as my pack." He grinned. "It's nice, having one again."

I frowned at him. "How can I measure up? I'll never shift into another form or play with her the same way you can."

Connor's face brightened with his beautiful smile. "You're perfect just the way you are. You're her omega papa. She already loves you because you carried her, and you're the one who feeds her. She doesn't even know me yet." He laughed as he pulled off his shirt and lay on his back. "Experiment time. Lay her on me."

I was still nervous about moving someone so small and fragile, but together, we shifted Jordan from my chest to his. She stirred immediately and began fussing.

"See? She wants to be with you."

She started rooting around his nipple, still fussing.

"That's only because she's hungry."

"That's not the only reason, and you know it." We carefully lifted our helpless newborn back onto my chest, where she found my nipple and began suckling. Now, her noises were more contented grunts than her earlier worried whimpers.

"Okay, maybe she likes me," I said.

"She loves you," he amended. "She can't help it any more than I can. You're already the best omega in the entire world, and now you'll be the best papa." He said all this in the silliest falsetto baby-talk voice I'd ever heard.

My smile stretched my cheeks so much they ached. "We're both pretty awesome," I said. This time, I believed it.

24

CONNOR

We hosted a belatedThanksgiving dinner at our house two weeks later. It seemed only fair after we'd left Jake and Matt's early to have a baby. As far as excuses to leave went, that was the best one possible, but I hated to let my new family down. They were my pack now, and I wanted to give back as much as they'd given to us, if not more.

Jake and Matt were the first to arrive with Jeffrey and Jonah tagging along behind them. Each carried a box.

"Christmas isn't for another few weeks," I reminded them.

"We've all seen that bare toy chest in Jordan's room," Matt said. "We're staging an intervention!"

The box Jake carried looked familiar, but the number on it was different. "What's a Wonderdog 4000?" I asked.

"The newest model," he said, giving me a side hug so we wouldn't crush it between us. "We all appreciated Wolfy so much, we thought we should return the favor. Right, Jeffrey?"

The pouting nine-year-old stared at the stone in the entryway. "Right."

Jake leaned in and whispered, "We got two." He jerked his head toward Jeff. "He's a little sad right now, but he'll be happy come Christmas."

The gift made me almost as teary-eyed as Jeff, but for a different reason. "It'll be years before she's ready for it. It will sit on top of Jordan's bookshelf until then." I turned to Jeff. "Hey, kiddo, want to help me put it up?"

He glanced at me to confirm I was talking to him. I handed him the box and led him to Jordan's room, where I lifted him up.

Jeff set him on the shelf and pushed the box into the corner so it was flush against both walls. "He might get dusty up there. I could come over and clean the shelf for you. You could lift me up, just like this."

I doubted he would retain his enthusiasm for cleaning when he had his own Wonderdog 4000, but I kissed him on top of his head and set him back down with a big smile. "That's a great idea. You could start when you and your brother come stay with us during winter vacation!"

"Oh." Jeffrey reached into his jacket pocket. "I almost forgot. I have something for Jordan, too."

The small cardboard box contained a delicate porcelain angel placing a star atop a Christmas tree. Across the bottom of the tree, the lights spelled out, "Baby's First Christmas." At the base of the tree sat a lolling-tongued husky puppy. With a little imagination, it could have been mistaken for a wolf.

"This is perfect," I said, ruffling his perfect blond bowl-cut. "Let's put it on the tree."

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