Page 21 of Swamp Kings 2

Harold grinned. “I like how light she is.”

“Great! Now, this is what we’d call a general hug,” Belle Eveque informed the class. “There are many types of hugs. Family hugs, comforting hugs, sorry hugs, passionate hugs. And this here demonstration hug.”

“You can set me down now,” Georgia said.

“Yes, we’re done, great job you two. I want you to practice that at home and tell me all about it at the next class.”

She turned to the rest of them. “Hugging,” she announced, amazed. “Seems so little a thing and yet can besopowerful.Communication,” she added, turning back to Harold and Georgia. “Can I ask how many years you both had the wrong idea about hugging one another?”

“Apparently since we’ve been married,” Georgia said, annoyed. “So, seventeen years.”

“Seventeen years,” Belle Eveque marveled, facing the class again. “For seventeen years they could have been enjoying one of the very biggest power-tools of marriage but couldn’t because?”

“You gotta talk.”

All eyes turned to the deep voice of Lazure, their senior alpha, while Mah-Mah nodded with a sad face next to him.

“No communication, is no fun,” she assured. “I went years missing out on a lot of amazing things all because I was too afraid to speak up.”

“We both missed out,” Lazure said.

“But not anymore.” Mah-Mah’s smile beamed as she lay her head on his shoulder, drawing a room full of sha-pee-chays.

“Now, later, when everybody goes home, check out page sixteen in the booklet. I wrote down the power of hugs. And since I memorized them, I’ll quickly tell you what they’re capable of. Especially passionate hugging.” Shelisted them off on her fingers. “They reduce stress, promote feelings of safety, boost bonding, improve mood, lower blood pressure, relieve pain, enhance immune function…” She paused for a few seconds. “Foster trust, strengthen relationships, and… improve sleep quality,” she finished with finality. “The book offers an in-depth explanation of how a hug is capable of so much and so when I ask you all to practice this lost art, realize you’re not just practicing a simple hug, you’re exercising one of the most powerful weapons in our three-legged race/war against life and all it throws at us.”

“I got a question.”

Everybody turned to the Butterfly lady again.

“Yes,” Belle Eveque urged, eagerly.

“Asking for a friend,” she began with a nervous laugh. “What if you’ve had so much bullshit happen to you in life, you just can’t hug, like… there’s a wall they may wanna escape but don’t know how and you try to bust through, but you just can’t seem to.”

Hurricane raised his hand. “I know that one.”

Belle Eveque turned to him in surprise. “Great! Can you share?”

He regarded Claire and leaned in. “You mind?”

“Don’t say no private stuff,” she whispered quickly.

He kissed her cheek. “Never, baby. All your secrets are safe with me.”

When it came time to speak, Hurricane remembered he wasn’t the best at that. “Hell, you know me, I like to plow through things and words is no exception. Maybe a demonstration would be better.” He looked around for a suitable brother.

“Bishop,” Belle Eveque offered. “He’s here for the demonstrations.”

Bishop approached, looking like the devil playing dress up, his halo crooked, his wings filthy and his face a mask ofyou’ll be dying later.

Fuckin’ hilarious.

“What do you want from me, Loverboy?” he asked.

“Okay so, I’m gonna re-enact a situation. We need a little space.”

“Up at the front,” Belle Eveque suggested, eagerly.

They made their way to the front and Hurricane turned to the class. “So, sometimes when I come home, I might find my sweet wife at the sink doing dishes. Ten steps away and I can feel an entire swamp fortress surrounding her with the meanest alligatorsguarding the moat.” He turned to Bishop and angled him with his back to him. “You’re at the sink doing dishes.”

---