Page 51 of Dante
“Briggs is in the back room. He was chatting with me and saw us walking this way.”
I shook my head. “Is everything all right? It’s good I’m here, right?”
“Of course. It was Briggs’s idea. He actually has to go back to work in a bit. He was just home for a late lunch.”
Briggs came into view, and although I’d seen him before in the bakery—he liked pie—I’d never really met him.
“Hi,” I said as I took off my coat and toed off my boots. I kicked them out of the way and dropped my coat on top of them against the wall.
“Hello. It’s nice to meet you outside of the bakery.”
I nodded. “It is. Have you stopped by and gotten a pie recently?” I asked.
Briggs chuckled and shook his head. He moved toward Todd and pulled my friend into his arms. “I have to get back to work. Have fun with your friend this afternoon.” Briggs leaned down and gave Todd a kiss, and I tried my best to give them privacy, but we were still standing in their entryway.
“I will,” Todd said. “See you this evening.” I heard them kissing again and then footsteps. I looked up and found Briggs closer to me. He held out his hand, and I shook it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Banner. Todd has talked about you several times. I’m glad that you are so close and hope the two of you can spend time together regularly.”
I smiled up at the wolf shifter. “Thanks. I’m glad Todd found a good one,” I said. “It’s obvious that you make him happy, and Dante has had nothing but nice things to say about you.”
“That’s good to hear. Nobody wants to be on any of the hellhounds’ bad sides,” Briggs said.
Briggs grabbed his coat, waved to Todd, and then went out the door. Todd stared at the door much like I was certain how I looked at Dante.
“I hope he’s not leaving in a hurry because I’m here,” I said.
“Nope. He has a meeting with his team. They’re doing training with Garic this afternoon.”
“Umm…what’s that?” I asked. Dante hadn’t ever mentioned Garic.
“Garic is the hand-to-hand trainer. He’s a vampire, who is mated to another vampire, I guess, and he can’t be out for more than a few days because of it, so he became the council’s hand-to-hand trainer.” I followed Todd into their back room and was immediately drawn to his wall of windows.
“That has to be difficult,” I said. “Of course, I hadn’t even been claimed by Dante yet, and it was hard on me when he upand went away on assignments.” I spotted my house and shook my head. I lived closer to my friend now than I had before. Well, after he moved out and got his own place. Obviously, when we were roommates, our rooms were directly across the hallway from one another. I turned back to Todd, and my eyes widened. “Oh my fates.” Todd was holding a little bundle of pink. My mouth dropped open.
“Did you want to hold her?” he asked. “This is Wrenley. Her sister, Willow, is over in the crib in the corner.”
I held out my hands and pulled them back. “Are you sure?” I asked. I seriously wanted to hold the baby. Like forever ago.
“Yes,” Todd said.
I moved closer and carefully took Wrenley from Todd. “Oh. My. Goodness,” I said as I got my first good look at her. “She’s so precious,” I added. I pulled her close to my chest and closed my eyes. I was in pure bliss. This was…I had no words. “So adorable, Todd. How do you ever leave her?”
Todd smiled. “Let me get Willow,” he said as he turned. “Feel free to sit down and stay for a bit.”
That did not have to be suggested to me twice. I was more than ready to stay and hold this precious little one all afternoon. Todd came back with a purple bundle, and my mouth dropped open. Todd sat next to me, and I got to look at Willow.
“How do you ever tell them apart?” I asked.
“Well, their scents are actually just a bit different. But you have to get really close to them to scent it.” Todd grinned. “We keep them in different colors, and Dr. King actually gifted them bracelets that are on their ankles. They have their names on them, so when we have them both naked for a bath, we can still always tell them apart.”
I pulled Wrenley closer and laid my cheek down on her downy head. “Gah, I…” I moved my arms back down and sat there holding the little one. “I can’t wait until we have ours, butyours are so precious, and the thought of having two at once is a bit terrifying.”
“It’s not that bad,” Todd told me. “They’re pretty much in sync, and at this point, we can get a full four hours of uninterrupted sleep in most nights.”
I smiled over at my friend. I was so happy for him. “How have you been?” I asked after a moment of silence. “So much has happened in the last few months.”
“I’m great. Amazing, really. Briggs goes to therapy with me. The pregnancy brought some stuff out, but we were able to work through it with Dr. Swift.”
