Page 67 of Briggs
I made a mental note to message Dr. King in a bit about that. I was sure it was absolutely normal, but I wanted to make sure. “You gave birth four hours ago. You’re not going to bounce back instantly, sweetheart. It’s normal to feel like you do.” I glanced down at Wrenley, who had slowed her sucking considerably. I knew that human newborns didn’t eat much the first few days, but we had shifter babies, two adorable little cheetahs that were just as perfect as their omega daddy. “You make beautiful babies, Todd,” I told him.
Willow was apparently finished with her bottle, and Todd set the bottle between his legs and grabbed a burp cloth before he moved our daughter to his shoulder and started gently rubbing and patting her back. I wasn’t surprised to hear a tiny burp that was quickly followed by a louder one. Not with the way she had been crying when I’d first returned to the bedroom.
“You know, they’re part you too. I’d say we make beautiful babies together.”
“Fair enough. But you did all the hard work.” The pregnancy had been difficult on Todd. He’d had to deal with a lot of extra emotions because of his past trauma. Did I regret our daughters? No. But I absolutely didn’t wish for Todd to have to go through what he did with his hormones. His had been “extra,” and although we’d been able to help, I’d seen how much my precious mate had suffered. “Do you want to talk about anything?” I asked.
Todd sighed again and looked at me. “I don’t know what happened. It wasn’t uncommon for me to wake up shifted before. That’s why John and Tracy weren’t living with me. That and I really don’t have my life together.”
I tilted my head a little, contemplating. “I’d say you’re doing okay. You have a mate, I’m pretty sure you love me, and I know I love you.” Todd smiled. “It’s okay that you shifted. It wasn’t the best timing, but you’re back in the form that is helpful when it comes to feeding our twins. You’ve been working on things. You’re learning so much when it comes to computers and programs,” I told him. We’d been working together in the evenings. It was something that was natural for me, but I had a computer programming degree. Todd struggled, but we’d discovered it was more that he simply couldn’t read everything. We were going to get him some tutoring to fill in what he’d missed. And he’d started some online courses, and I knew he was doing well with those. He’d most likely take some time off for a month or two, but he knew I would support him working on it as much as he felt comfortable with.
“I don’t know what happened,” Todd said, pulling me from my thoughts. “I felt my cheetah right before I fell asleep. He was awake and stretching, but I didn’t think I’d wake up in that form. I’m sorry I let you down. You needed my help, and I didn’t give it.”
I shook my head. Wrenley was finished with her bottle, and I did as Todd had and placed it between my legs before moving her to my shoulder. “You didn’t let me down,” I told him. “You shifted, you helped, and now you’re helping me take care of our daughters. It was an eventful night, and I’m sure this morning isn’t going to be our most disorganized.”
Todd sighed, and when he looked at me, his eyes were watery. He wiped them with his free hand before closing them. “I feel like I let you down though.”
“Then we need to figure out how to make you feel differently. I handled it, and you shifted and helped when I needed you to. Don’t worry about it. Unless you feel like this is something you need to talk to Dr. Swift about. If so, we can get him up here to have a session with you.”
Todd looked thoughtful for a moment before he shook his head. “I want to see him, but I don’t think he needs to rush up here. Waiting for our next scheduled appointment should be fine. Unless I keep shifting, then maybe? I’m not sure.”
“Then we’ll wait for your next appointment,” I said. I bent my head down and kissed Wrenley’s head. What little bit of hair she had was light colored, and I wondered if they would end up my hair color or Todd’s. They both had blue eyes, but that wasn’t surprising since Todd and I both had blue eyes.
“I love you,” Todd said.
I looked over at my mate and smiled. “I know you do.”
“I just felt like I needed to tell you. You’ve been so amazing, and I know I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am without you. I certainly wouldn’t have our beautiful little girls.” Todd kissed Willow’s head before he sighed and snuggled with her. I understood that feeling completely. We each had a tiny little mini us in our arms, and they were healthy, and Todd was doing well after the delivery. What more could we possibly ask for?
Chapter 24
Todd
Iwasn’t sure it would ever sink in that I was a daddy. But the girls were five weeks old now, and I still found myself spending probably too much time just staring at them. They were mine. I’d done that. Well, Briggs and I had done that. And that thought made me realize that we’d not donethatin quite some time. Not since before the girls had been born. What was up with that?
I picked up a sleeping Willow and carefully placed her in the baby carrier I was wearing. We were finally getting out of the house for a little while tonight, and I was more excited about it than I probably should have been. But being in the house and basically sleeping in three-hour stretches, changing diapers, feeding babies, cleaning up diaper blowouts, cleaning up spit-up, and more diapers, all in rotation, well, getting out to the Winter Solstice Festival was something to look forward to. Now to just find my missing mate and daughter.
“Briggs?”I called out through our bond. I didn’t want to wake Willow if I could help it.
“I’m in the nursery grabbing clean burp cloths.”
Ah, that made sense. I’d taken the advice that Cecil had offered, and the girls owned sleepers almost exclusively. And wehad three times the number of burp cloths than I’d thought we would need. He had been right. We needed that many, and there hadn’t been a day that at least one load of laundry hadn’t been run.
I left our bedroom and walked the short distance to the nursery. I still couldn’t get over how amazing it was. Dr. King had been so incredibly kind and had gone above what I knew he did for others. I couldn’t explain why. I had always thought Dr. King didn’t like me and was simply putting up with me until Cecil came back or the council found someone else to replace me. But any of those thoughts had been erased as my pregnancy progressed, and I noticed how Dr. King did little things here and there for me. Things he didn’t have to do.
“Are you ready?” I asked Briggs. He turned, and I saw that Wrenley was in an identical carrier that Briggs was wearing.
“I am,” Briggs said. “Is that what you’re wearing? Aren’t you going to be cold?”
I looked at myself. I was wearing a long-sleeve thermal shirt, jeans, thick socks, and hiking boots. “I’m planning on putting on a coat and hat,” I told him. “I can’t fit the carrier over the coat though, so I was planning on leaving it open. I’m going to tuck a blanket around Willow to keep her warm.” It was December, and as expected for the Winter Solstice Festival, it was snowy and cold out. There was at least a foot of snow on the ground, but most likely more. It had been so long since I’d been outside the house for more than a few minutes.
Even Briggs had been home almost every single day since the girls had been born. He was going back to work after the first of the year, as was I, and that was going to be a huge adjustment. I’d sworn that I was going to go back to work. I’d said I wanted to, but now that I was facing the reality that I’d have to leave my babies at the childcare center, I was starting to struggle with that.
“A coat is probably good. Are you ready?” Briggs asked. He picked up the backpack that we used as a diaper bag and put it on.
“Yeah. Do you think we really need the diaper bag?” I asked. He looked so weighted down with Wrenley on his front and the bag on his back. “We could maybe take a smaller pack? One that will let you wear a coat as well? Or a light jacket if you’re going to be too warm with a coat.”
“I’ll put on a coat,” Briggs said with a smile on his face. “It’s just downstairs, and I only put the bag on so I had both hands free to get down the stairs.” Briggs took my hand and led me to the top of the stairs, where he held my hand with one hand and the rail with the other. It wasn’t until we were both at the bottom that he let go of my hand. He didn’t go far though, and moments later, he was back with my coat.
