Page 97 of Knot Happening

"How much everything's changed," I tell her honestly. "Three weeks ago, our biggest concern was whether we'd lost the most important contract of my career. Now we're running a campaign that might actually save the courthouse, and we're planning your first heat cycle, and you're talking about permanent pack bonds."

"Is that good change or overwhelming change?" Belle asks.

"Best change," I say immediately. "Belle, you've turned our house into campaign headquarters and our pack into a family. There's nothing overwhelming about that."

"Even when I reorganize your filing systems according to library science principles?" she asks with a grin.

"Especially then," I confirm. "Do you know how much more efficient our campaign operations became after you got your hands on our organizational chaos?"

"Chaos has its own system," Theo says philosophically. "It's just not always obvious to outside observers."

"That's not organization, that's anarchy," Belle corrects. "Real organization means being able to find what you need when you need it, not just knowing that it's somewhere in the general vicinity of where you last saw it."

"She's got a point," Felix says. "I actually found those original courthouse blueprints after Belle reorganized my project files."

"Because you had them filed under 'miscellaneous historical stuff' instead of by building name or date," Belle points out. "That's not a filing system, that's just a pile with creative labels."

"It worked for me," Felix protests weakly.

"It worked until we needed to find something specific for the campaign," Belle corrects. "Then it became an archaeological expedition."

"She's not wrong," I admit. "Belle, your organizational skills have basically saved this entire campaign."

"Librarian training," she says with obvious pride. "If you can't find information quickly and efficiently, you're not doing your job right."

"Speaking of your job," Theo says, "are you planning to take time off for your heat, or do we need to coordinate with the library schedule?"

"I put in for vacation days," Belle says. "Told them I had a family commitment that might run longer than expected."

"Family commitment," Felix repeats with obvious satisfaction. "I like that."

"We are family," Belle says simply. "Not conventional family, maybe, but family nonetheless."

"The best kind of family," I agree. "The kind you choose."

"Exactly," Belle says, reaching over to squeeze my hand. "The kind that shows up when you need them and helps you fight for things that matter."

"And the kind that spends Friday night making fun of terrible boxing matches while planning heat cycle logistics and campaign strategy," Theo adds with amusement.

"Romance is weird," Belle observes.

"Good weird or bad weird?" Felix asks.

"The very best weird," Belle confirms. "The kind that makes everything else make sense."

I squeeze her hand back, marveling at how perfectly she fits into our pack, our home, our lives. Tomorrow is going to change everything in the best possible way, but tonight, this moment, sitting here with the woman we love while she makes jokes about our organizational obsessions and plans to save our most important project—this is already perfect.

"So," Belle says suddenly, "since we've established that tomorrow is going to be intense and life-changing, what do you want to do with tonight?"

"What do you want to do?" I ask, because ultimately, everything we do revolves around making her happy.

"Something normal," Belle says immediately. "Something completely ordinary and domestic and wonderful."

"Movie?" Felix suggests.

"Board game?" Theo offers.

"More terrible boxing?" I add, which makes Belle laugh.

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