by Dakota Wolf
"Look at that one!" Ralph gasped. "He's so cute. Which one is he again?"
I smiled. Alphas. "That's Mitch. Look at all those cute spots!"
I watched lovingly as Ralph very carefully took the cub from the nurse's hand. It was like he was handling glass. I stifled a giggle as I watched him hold the cub for the very first time.
He was so gentle with it that it warmed my heart. I was so grateful that fate had brought us together. I may have struggled for many years in the depths of despair and poverty, but if this was what it led to, it was all worth it.
We held and spoke softly to each of the cubs and kittens in turn. They were each so beautiful. I could already see their unique, individual personalities. I just wanted to gather them all up in my arms and hug them to my chest.
A tear slid down my face and Ralph kissed it away.
"We did it, honey!" He said, choking up. "Well, you did most of it." He amended, chuckling to himself.
"Yes, we did!" I hugged him. "But don't think you didn't help. Those last months were...less than optimal."
A couple of days later and they let us take them home.
The moment we packed everyone in the car, we turned to each other and giggled.
"They're actually letting us take them home!" Ralph said. Neither of us could believe it.
"I keep feeling as if there was some kind of mistake." I turned to Ralph. "These come with an instruction manual, right?"
We both giggled and Ralph cautiously drove us all home. The cubs were fairly easy to care for. The kittens, on the other hand, were more than we bargained for. After the first day, they were crawling around, getting into literally everything. You had to constantly watch them. They had some kind of radar that told them the moment you shut your eyes for just a second. They knew.
The first nights were incredibly exhausting. We took turns cat-napping. One of us would watch the fur-babies. The other would try to get some shut-eye. The operative word was 'try.'
As the days progressed, so, too did our sleep deprivation. In the end, though, it was all worth it. The babies were more than adorable. They were absolutely stunning. Neither of us could get over the fact that we created these innocent beings. They were now our responsibility.
Seeing as we'd only had about a dozen hours of sleep in the first week between us, that was a frightening thought.
The boys played endlessly. We grew exhausted just watching them. Ralph was constantly on the floor rolling around and getting dirty with the cubs and kittens. They'd crawl all over him and swarm him and everyone would giggle and laugh.
Ralph bought us a video cam and I took copious video and pics. He even showed me how to upload them to all the social media sites. Everyone agreed, that our babies were the cutest they'd ever seen!
It didn't take too long before they started settling down into a routine. They weren't exactly sleeping through the night, but it was enough that we could get a few hours of shuteye.
The boys grew at a phenomenal rate. It was almost scary how fast they went from being innocent little bundles of joy to romping around the house like madmen.
One night about two weeks after we brought them home, they were busy playing hide and seek. We decided that we could chance a bit of a cuddle. Jacob, one of the omegas, was a bit of a loner and didn't much like playing with his brothers - who could admittedly get a bit rough at times.
We brought him into the bedroom and cuddled with him as we digested the wondrous joys of parenthood.
"Do you regret any of it?" I snuggled up to Ralph.
He shook his head adamantly. "None. All the sleep deprivation, all the long nights cleaning up their crap, their teething problems, the constant busy-ness of the house, all of that was worth it. If I'd known how hard parenting a handful of cubs would be, I'd have still done it. Maybe stocked up on sleep a bit first - and invested in our own coffee shop - but other than that, I wouldn't have changed a thing."
We both cuddled and caressed Jacob as we snuggled closer. Life could not possibly be any better.
The other boys, noticing our absence, burst into the room all excited and wanting snuggles and cuddles. Jacob groaned. Uncharacteristically, they all snuggled up and settled down. Maybe for the first time since we brought them home, they were all quiet and still.
Ralph and I looked at each other in awe and shared a kiss. This was a deeply satisfying and wonderful life.
Ralph was honored at work for his role in bringing down the mob boss who'd been terrorizing the county for decades. As the mayor was giving him his medal, Ralph called up Edgar and gave it to him instead.
He told me later that it was the hardest, but most noble, thing he could've ever done.
We held a steak dinner in his honor. All the kids wanted to sit on Uncle Edgar's lap and hear stories of his past. Edgar beamed with pride and talked way into the wee hours of the morning. No one even noticed that we'd slipped off and caught some sleep.
We should bring him over more often.
Edgar, who had sworn off children, saying they were too difficult to deal with, slowly warmed up to the idea. We even caught him talking about his own future children and reminded him that he hadn't found his omega yet. To which he sheepishly grinned.
He played with the cubs and kittens and even took them out into the forest, giving us some much needed alone time.
"You ready for the next litter?" Ralph picked me up and carried me to the bedroom the moment Edgar and the cubs had left for a sight-seeing adventure.
I giggled and kissed him on the nose. "With you...I'm always ready..." For the first time since they cubs were born, I felt myself grow slick and my heat rose into the air, no doubt tickling the lion's sensitive nose.
"Batch two coming right up..." Ralph smiled.
The End!
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