“Painter and Emma choose to live here, and she commutes into town for work. She keeps Ben’s triplets so his mate, Shelby can work. She only works over at the school. I’m sure she’d be happy to keep Macie anytime we need her. Like any family we all help each other out around here.”
I could see that I was sharing too much too fast and she was starting to get overwhelmed.
“We don’t need to worry about any of that tonight. Let’s just go to sleep and tomorrow will be a fresh day.”
“Okay,” she said, but she went to the fridge and opened it to find a couple of beers, a now expired gallon of milk, and some rotten fruit.
I cringed when she sighed.
“I haven’t been here in a while, remember? There’s coffee and some quick grab non-perishables in the cabinet. One of the perks of living here is they do a full breakfast spread every morning. We can go down there tomorrow and then stop by the store and pick up anything you want while we take the tour and look at the house.”
She relaxed a little and nodded. “Sounds good.”
I grabbed some gym shorts and went to change in the bathroom. There wasn’t exactly any privacy between the living room area and the bedroom section, and I didn’t own pajamas. With Macie sleeping right there, it seemed prudent to at least wear something.
Olivia took her turn after me and soon she was in my arms in my bed and life felt pretty close to perfect.
The next morning Macie was up early. I groaned. I wasn’t used to waking early on return from a mission. It was one of the rare occasions when Silas gave us all a day off. I knew I shouldn’t avoid workouts even if it wasn’t mandatory. I’d been slacking in the weeks we were away and there was going to be hell to pay for it eventually.
Olivia was still sleeping soundly, and I knew she needed it.
“Shh. Let your mom sleep,” I whispered.
“I’m hungry.”
“Get dressed, short stuff. We’ll go down and grab some breakfast.” I checked the time and knew they’d be shutting down soon, but we had time if I didn’t take a shower first.
While Macie was in the bathroom getting ready, I quickly changed. As soon as she came out, we quietly left.
I gave her a quick tour of the place and showed her where everyone’s rooms were while we passed them on the way to the elevator.
Down in the lobby, we were greeted by a friendly face.
“Heard you guys got back last night,” Sondra said. “And who do we have here?”
“This is my daughter, Macie. Macie this is Sondra. If you or your mom need anything at all, Sondra’s always willing to help, right Sondra?”
She was gawking at me in shock. I suspected I was going to be getting that a lot over the next few days. I wasn’t exactly considered mating material, let alone father material.
“Daughter? How long were you guys gone again?”
I chuckled, surprised Macie didn’t have some smartass response to that. She was uncharacteristically quiet.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she finally said a little too politely.
I gave her a questioning look.
“Baine says there’s food down here?”
“Right this way sweetie.”
Sondra led us over to the smorgasbord of breakfast foods. Macie’s eyes lit up with delight. She didn’t hesitate to help herself to a heaping plate of food.
“Cute kid.”
“Thanks.”
“She’s really yours?”
“She is.”
“Your biological child?”
“Yup.”
Sondra laughed. “Wow. Sorry. Just struggling to picture you as a father.”
I groaned. “I’m doing the best I can.”
“You didn’t know, did you?”
I shook my head. “Nope, but I have a lifetime now to make up for the last eight years I’ve missed.”
“I’m sure you are doing just fine. Is her mother here too?”
“Yeah. She was so exhausted I didn’t want to disturb her. I’ll bring her down and introduce you later.”
“How did this even happen?”
I laughed. “This mission took me home.”
“There’s a home? I always pegged you as a nomad.”
“Wasn’t always. I left my Clan a long time ago and never looked back.”
“But this one took you back there?”
“Yup. Good thing too.” I smiled at my daughter as I watched her scarf down two sausage biscuits.
“If you need any help, or a babysitter, I’m almost always here.”
“Thanks, Sondra. I appreciate that. Hopefully, we won’t be here long. We’re going to look at a rental Kyle’s offered me in town.”
“Really? A bear living in wolf territory? Never thought I’d see the day.”
“We’ll see how it goes.” I was a little nervous about that too.
I excused myself, grabbed a plate, and joined Macie. She stayed quiet throughout the meal giving me an unsettled feeling.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just taking it all in. It’s all so new.”
“Are you excited to see San Marco?”
She nodded, but I could feel her nerves.
“Hey, look at me. I know this is probably a little scary now that you’re here, but your mom and I are right here with you.”
“It smells different here, Baine. I guess I didn’t expect it all to feel so different.”
“I know, kiddo. You get used to it after a while. At this point, it smells like home to me.”
“Will it ever for me?”
“I hope so, but remember, this is only a trial. Your mom agreed to three months. You can hang for three months, right?”
She nodded.
“Do you think the wolves will like me?”
“Is that what you’re worried about? They are going to love you. No matter what, short stuff, just be yourself.”
She bit her lip and nodded as she focused on the remainder of the food on her plate.
When we finished, we scraped our plates into the trash and put them in the dirty dish bin.
“Bye, Sondra,” Macie said with a wave as we walked by the reception desk.
“See you later, Macie. And welcome to Westin.”
My daughter finally relaxed a little and even smiled. While we were waiting for the elevator she looked around. “The Lodge is nice.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”
“How come we’re not just going to stay here?”
“What? This isn’t a place for you and your mother to live permanently. You deserve a house with a yard to run and play in.”
“That does sound nice.”
“How about we go wake your mother and get out of here then.”
She nodded and I could see a spark of excitement in her eyes again.
Olivia was up and pacing the room when we returned. I handed her a breakfast sandwich I’d made before they closed the kitchen. I noticed she was already showered and ready to start the day.
“Mom, you’re up. Can we go check out this place now?”
“Let her at least eat something first.”
As she sat down, I walked over and rubbed her shoulders. I loved how my touch instantly relaxed her.
“I didn’t mean to freak you out. Macie was hungry and you were sleeping so well.”