Page 70 of Homecoming

“Does she? What if she knows she's stuck like that? Sometimes the way she looks at me… I think she knows that she should be more. How do I deal with that? How do I deal with her not being whole?”

“You do the best for her you can. Kat, we’ll give her everything—all the love we can, just as we do with the boys, and she’ll be fine. She’s special and we love her exactly the way she is.”

“Uh-huh, yeah, I guess. Oh, what’s wrong with me? I have to get it together. I mean my mind, my thinking. If I’m ever going to be ready for this team, then I need to stop this, otherwise I’m never going to get through the psych evaluation, never mind the fitness test. Even Riley is worried about me. He already asked his mom to speak to me—she’s a psychiatrist and offered for me to go talk to her—on a one to one.”

“And so why don’t you?”

“Because I’m…”

“Because you’re scared? But have you considered that maybe it would be easier to tell a stranger how you feel? Or is that it? That you fear what you feel and you’re not ready to face that fear?”

“I know I’m ready for the team and that I need to do this—for me but the pups are growing so fastandlike today, I finally decided I was going to stop feeding Evelyn. It already feels like such a huge thing and I don’t know how I feel about that.”

“Just relax and breath slowly,” he smiles, holding her chin as he looks into her eyes. “We’ll make a great day of it and get through it together. Kat, I’m here for you each and every step of the way. I tell you what, why don’t we camp out tonight? There’s going to be a meteor shower and we should be able to see some of it from here.”

“But the cabin’s not finished yet. Where would we sleep?”

“It’s going to be warm and we can bring some blankets and pillows from the house. I might even get the hot tub finished in time. I just have to find a long enough hose to reach from the standpipe in the field over there. It’s closer than the oneatthe house. We can even have a cook out! It will be great fun for the boys, they’ll love it.”

“You’re so good with them. They absolutely adore you and you’re about the only one who can get Lukas to do as he’s told.” Kat smiles, looking up as Noah leans forward and kisses her; his large strong hand brushing softly against her shoulders.

“I’ll put that coffee on. Take Evelyn over there in the sun and I’ll come join you.”

Noah lays back and he can feel the warmth of the sun on his bare chest as his hand strokes the soft fur of the large wolf asleep beside him. The small silver-colored pup bounces around and he smiles, watching her try to play-fight with her larger brothers as the two black pups run in circles around her.

There’s lots of yipping and barking and suddenly, hearing a frenzy of growls and howls, Noah sits up. He watches as Lukas drops onto his haunches, growling ferociously at thesmaller,silver she-pup. He snarls with anger and as he bares his teeth, Evelyn sits downandwith her head tilted to one side, she stares back at him.

Noah notices the small boy now sitting behind the larger of wolf’s and he’s crying. “Luka… Luka, are you okay?” Noah stands up and scooping the boy into his arms, hechecks his blood covered finger. “Did she just bite you?Aww… There, there… it’s okay. I’m sure she didn’t mean to. It was just a play fight. She’s testing her pup teeth. She does need to learn not to bite so hard, though.C’mon, dry your eyes, you’re going to be fine.”

Hearing the commotion, Kat stretches and as she wakes from the deep wolf sleeping slumber, she rubs her eye and looks up. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. They were just playing, and Evelyn must have accidentally bitten him. He’s fine, it’s only a small bite. I have a band-aid here in my backpack. Kat, he’s fine.”

“Hey, baby, Luka, please don’t cry. I’m sure your sister didn’t mean it and like Uncle Noah said, she was just playing.” Kat looks as Lukas continues to snarl at his sister. “Lukas, stop that! And Evelyn, come here! I said come here, now!” Kat sneers as the small pup gives her a defiant glare. “That was very naughty. You don’t bite your brother; do you hear me? It’s naughty.” Kat warns sternly as she scoops her up from the ground. “You know, I hope she’s not going to be a Lukas II version.”

“She’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Noah laughs. “They’re just pups playing. It’s how they learn boundaries. I watched that documentary on the TV that Bud had on about dog pups and it’s how they learn how much is too much when biting.C’monKat, you’re a wolf, you should know all this.”

“No, I don’t know because I didn’t have any siblings so I wouldn’t know what it’s like. But if she’s going to start biting, then maybe it is best if I stop feeding her,” she smiles. “I noticed how sharp her teeth were already—they’re like tiny needles.”

“Come on, there’s more coffee on the fire. Let’s take a moment then I want to finish the pipework in the hot tub.”

“Noah…” Kat wraps her arms around his neck, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Kat.”

“You know, I saw all the attention you were getting at the party yesterday. Those girls at the commune really like you. You must enjoy how they make you feel.”

“I hadn’t really thought about it. And they weren’t giving me attention. They were asking about orders for jewelry after they saw Amy’s engagement ring. Oh, that reminds me, I have to make a start on their wedding rings soon. I don’t think it’s going to be too long before they tie the knot. I’ll call Rhys when I get back to the house and give him my resignation because I forgot to tell him yesterday.”

“Shit…Rhys!Ohgoddammit, I forgot Darius asked me to call and tell him to cancel the architect. Noah, I need to go back, just in case he shows up. I can’t believe I forgot. Where the hell is my head at?”

“Okay, well, I’m going to finish up here. The pups can stay with me if you want? They’ll be fine and you can have some time to yourself.”

“Or instead of working, you could come with me and we could take a bath together instead? Helena can watch the pups and you can wash my back,” she smiles.

“Oh… oh, okay,” he smiles as he leans forward and kisses her. “Yeah, I like that idea. Why not? It rare for us to get any time to ourselves lately so we could make the most of the guys being away.”

Kat picks up her phoneandstudies the message. “It’s Marco,” she sighs.

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