A Bundle of Mannies

by Lorelei M. Hart

  ***

  “Morning, sunshine.” Sebastian walked into the room with a tray of what smelled like toast. “I made you sort-of kind-of breakfast. I wanted to go all out, but we did promise Graham brunch, so I figured this was best.”

  “What time is it?” I rubbed my eyes as I pushed myself to sit.

  “We have an hour before we need to go get your mini-me.” He settled the tray of toast and coffee on my lap. “Leaving shower sex off the table. Look under the coffee mug.” He gave me a wink and piqued my curiosity enough I almost dropped the mug as I attempted to fetch the Post-it note sitting beneath it.

  “A rain check with a picture of a— What is it?” I squinted at the drawing. Could be a dog or no, not a dog…a pile of laundry. “Are you going to do my laundry?”

  Because that was very much not where I saw the morning going.

  “No, sexy alpha, but, you put your dirty clothes in the hamper when you take a shower…or have shower sex.” He sat beside me, snagging a triangle of toast from my plate and taking a big bite. “Clever, aren’t I?”

  “Best rain check ever.” I stuck it on my nightstand lamp. “And to think I didn’t get you anything.”

  “You gave me a reason to stay.” His tone turned instantly serious. “No one has ever done that before. Not even close.”

  “I was afraid you’d think I wanted you to stay because we needed you, and we do, but we need you not to take care of us—we need you—” My thoughts were all jumbled and frozen out of fear I’d mess up the amazingness I’d somehow found.

  “To be your family,” he finished my thought.

  I shouldn’t have worried. Sebastian got it. Of course, he did. He was Sebastian.

  “Yes, to be our family.”

  “We don’t have to move for that to happen.” His empathy and compassion shone through all he said and did, including something impacting him so. How had I gotten so lucky?

  “I need to do that for us—all of us. It’s time.” It was long past time. New starts needed clean slates, and a new house was the cleanest slate I could imagine. “Besides, if you adopt one of those dogs you were telling Graham about yesterday, we’re going to need a bigger yard.” An illegal breeder had been caught, and the shelters were overflowing. It had been Graham’s current events choice for homework, but there was no missing the longing in their voices as they discussed the fate of those dogs.

  “I don’t need a dog.” Oh, he so needed a dog.

  “No, you’re right. Our family does.” And our brunch outing turned into dog adoption time followed by a post-bedtime Internet house-hunting expedition. Safe to say we both sucked at taking it slow. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sebastian

  Everything was perfect, indeed. Except we hadn’t told Graham yet what the plans were and we were both a little nervous about it. He’d been released to go back to school, giving us some time alone at home to house hunt and…to do other things. But we couldn’t wait long because we’d found a house just a few blocks over, suiting us perfectly. It was a single-story ranch-style with open plan living areas and wide hallways. If Graham had a setback, which heaven forbid happened, and he had to use his chair, he’d still have access to the whole place.

  The previous owners of the glass-and-wood beauty with its gray siding and big windows had been owned at some point by someone who needed some adjustments for their physical abilities. Instead of back steps, a ramp led to the yard. There was a nice bench and rails in the walk-in shower near the bedroom we would deem to be Graham’s, and other amenities as well. Gorgeous hardwood throughout, recently remodeled kitchen.

  In short, gorgeous from the pretty landscaping in front to the huge grassy backyard for our new dog and Graham to enjoy. I had enough in my savings to put in my share of the down payment, since I never spent my money on anything. So, time to put their current home on the market and make an offer on the new one.

  “Are you sure?” I asked Walker as we finished cooking burgers and tots, Graham’s favorite dinner and one we hoped would start him off in a great mood. “It’s a whole lot of changes to present a little boy with all at once. Selling his home, moving to another, and his dad getting into a serious relationship with his manny—soon to be former manny.” Plus something I hadn’t told Walker yet and wouldn’t until after I saw my own doctor after work on Monday.

  “I’m very sure. It’s time this family took steps into the future instead of dwelling on the past. My late husband would want us to have a life, would want Graham to have a home he can always, no matter what, navigate. It’s time.”

  I reached for him, wanting to be in his arms, but the front door slammed closed. “I’m home, Manny Sebastian, Dad? I’m hungry.”

  He’d been at Ken’s, gone by himself, came back by himself. Second time ever. We stopped the hug and, instead, just beamed at each other with pleasure at the sounds of Graham coming home on his own. His independence grew by the day.

  “Dad? Are you in the kitchen?” He’d had the walker, we insisted he use it along the sidewalk even if he was just pushing it ahead of him. Just in case. But he didn’t have it with him when he popped into the kitchen and dropped into his chair at the table. “What’s for dinner guys? And why do you look funny?” His smile wavered.

  “Funny how, buddy?” I set a plate in front of him. “How is Ken?”

  “He’s fine, and you both look like you have a secret.” But it wasn’t enough of a secret to keep him from picking up his burger and taking a big bite.

  “Well, we have a surprise for after dinner. We want to take you somewhere, unless you’re too tired.”

  “Where are we going? I’m not tired.” He never admitted to being tired, but he looked pretty perky.

  “It’s a secret,” Walker told him. “But a good one. So eat up!”

  He gobbled the burger and tots so fast I was afraid he’d choke. Neither of us ate, nerves making it seem unappealing, but luckily, Graham was so into the surprise, he didn’t comment, maybe didn’t notice.

  As soon as he finished, we all put on our jackets and trooped outside. Although the new house was close, it wasn’t so close we wanted Graham to walk there, not yet, so we piled into the car and drove away.

  “Are we going for ice cream?” he wanted to know.

  “Nope,” I sang from behind the wheel. “Any other guesses?”

  “A movie?”

  “No.” Walker winked at me. “Not a movie. You’ll never guess.”

  Graham pouted in the back seat, arms crossed over his chest, lower lip thrust out. I looked at him in the rearview mirror at a stop sign. “You’re both just being mean,” he growled. “Like when you kissed each other last night and never noticed I got up for a drink of water.”

  My jaw dropped.

  “You think it’s being mean when people kiss, Son?” Walker asked. “Because that’s not how I raised you.”

  “No, just mean you won’t say where we’re going. Hey, why are we stopping here?” We pulled up in front of the house we had in mind, a For Sale perched in the middle of the yard. “Who lives here?”

  “Nobody, right now,” Walker said, holding the front seat forward to let him out of the car. We weren’t really using the van much now. “But if we all like it, it could be us.”

  “Really?” Graham moved up the walkway, inspecting the stones under his feet until he reached the porch. “Like we could move and everything?”

  “That would be the plan, buddy. What do you think?”

  “Can I see my room?”

  I fished a key the realtor gave me out of my pocket and unlocked the door, waving Graham in ahead of me. “Just go straight through the living room and into the hallway, first door on the right.”

  “Cool.” He made a beeline for the room and disappeared inside. “Hey this is really big, and it has shelves already for all my stuff…” His words trailed off, but we got the point. He liked the room, liked the house. But that wasn’t the hard part. A
moment later, he reappeared. “So what do we do with our house?”

  “Sell it. We can’t afford two, and this one is a better fit for our family. It’s going to grow, you know.”

  I froze. Did he know? I didn’t know for sure, hadn’t had the nerve to take a test. I figured I’d let the doctor make the call.

  “Oh that’s okay, but how is our family growing?”

  “If we buy the house, we’ll have room for the dog you and Sebastian want.”

  He examined the yard, the bathroom, the kitchen, the garage, and then, standing in the master bedroom, he asked, “What room is Sebastian’s?

  “He will be sharing this one with me, Graham,” Walker said, and I held my breath, waiting for his reaction.

  “So, you’re going to stay for a long time?” His face was so open and sincere, I just wanted to hug him, but I held out. I needed to know how he felt about how it was.

  “Forever, if I marry your dad. Would you like that?”

  “Heck yeah. I was afraid you were going away since I felt better. Instead, you’re staying and we get a cool new house. And it’s not far from Ken’s. This is the best day ever. When do we move?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Walker

  “Are you sure? It’s a big commitment.” A little tongue came out and licked my cheek. “They don’t stay this cute for long.” Sebastian fell over, and the fur babies all took it as a sign their new couch was there.

  A-freaking-dorable.

  It was dog day—or, as it turned out, more like puppy day. We’d walked into the shelter the morning adoptions were first allowed, the animals needing all kinds of care and assessment according to the radio. From the look of the place, we were far from the only ones the little mounds of fur stole hearts from.

  “I like this one,” Graham called from behind me, and I looked over to see him staring into a cage. “He is perfect.”

  Not being able to see from my angle, I headed over to get a look at the dog that had won my boy’s affection. “Why this one?” I asked as I bent my knees to get a better look. Unlike the furballs attacking my mate with their kisses, this dog lay curled up on a cot—a cot for a dog, who knew?

  “His name is Roger, and he is a bundle of love.” Graham tapped the paper giving the dog’s bio and, sure enough, it referred to him as a bundle of love which had his comment making sense since, from what I could see, he was a slug.

  The bio also mentioned Roger was at least five, had some special needs, and would best be suited for a home with another dog. As cute as he was all bundled there, he hit absolutely none of our checklists. None.

  “I’m not sure he is the best choice.” I settled my hand on Sebastian’s shoulder.

  “Because he has special needs?” His like me went unspoken. Crap. I had just walked into that one.

  “Because he needs another dog. We don’t have another dog.” Roger looked up at us and climbed off of the bed and over to us, his needs, at least one of them, very obvious as he hobbled our way. The poor little fellow only had three legs.

  “Found our dog?” Sebastian came up beside me, his hands void of puppies, but one circling him with no sense of self-preservation given one misstep could be enough to seriously injure the little guy.

  “Maybe,” I conceded. “It looks like he needs to be a bogo though.”

  “Everyone needs a brother.” Graham smiled wide as he must’ve seen my tell, the one always letting him know I was about to cave. If only he’d let me in on it so I could do a better job schooling myself. “It’s a thing,” he insisted, directing his attention back to Roger.

  “A thing?” I asked, not sure if he was hinting at wanting one or if that was my desire being superimposed onto his simple words. I loved Graham with all I was. He was all that was good in this world. Being his father was such a gift, and I’d die happy having our family being complete exactly as it was with the addition of a fur baby and a ring.

  A ring.

  I still hadn’t fully processed we were getting married and that he’d asked Graham’s permission in a roundabout way. Which didn’t mean I wasn’t going to do it right. I’d snuck out the very next morning during my lunch break at work and found a ring that just begged to be upon his finger. It currently was burning a hole in my sock drawer, waiting for the right time. How romantic…a sock drawer.

  “Would you be interested in visiting with Roger?” an elderly man now stood by the cage, leash in hand. “He’s the sweetest boy. If I were allowed to have another dog at my place, I’d have snatched him up already.” How anyone could work at a place like this and not have a home with more critters than should be legal was beyond me.

  “Dad?”

  “Walker?”

  They both asked with such pleas in their voices it was impossible to say no even if I had wanted to. By the time we reached the little “get to know you” room, all three of us were already in love with the little guy, and he had decided Graham was his human.

  “We can keep him?” Graham asked for the fifth time.

  “We can keep him.” I loved seeing him beam so.

  “He needs a brother,” Graham reiterated, and he would, we just hadn’t gotten there yet.

  I caught it. Sebastian’s hand went to his middle at the word brother. Did he want a child? Would it be too much for me to ask it of him as he started his new job? Talking about it couldn’t hurt, right?

  “Or a sister.” Sebastian smiled, his eyes veering back to the bulletin board highlighting all of the dogs.

  “Have you decided?” The elderly man, whose name we now knew to be Hank, came back to check on us.

  “We have. It’s time for our family to grow.” I snapped my mouth shut. “I mean, we would love to be Roger’s forever home, but we currently are petless and it says he needs a sibling.”

  “He does. But honestly, it says dog but…” He leaned in close, glancing around before speaking. “You should take home Phoebe.”

  “Phoebe?” Graham queried. “I didn’t see any Phoebes, and I looked at all the dogs. Bringing home a pet is a big responsibility you know.” I may have said that last part fifteen times in the past week. My little mini-me, even if he was so very much his father.

  “Because Phoebe isn’t a dog.” The man hooked Roger back up to the leash. “Follow me.” And follow him we did—straight to the cat room where Roger made a beeline to the cage of a big old tabby cat who walked right up to him and licked his nose.

  There was no decision to be made. We exited an hour later, after filling out a thousand papers, with Roger and Phoebe, a cat and a dog starter kit, and the happiest little boy I ever did see.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sebastian

  The test was positive. Of course, it was. We were packing up the house, in preparation for moving, since not only had our offer been accepted but a new family had made a great offer on this one and both escrows were hurtling along at the speed of light, and we only had a few weeks to do it all. Luckily, Walker hadn’t had to use up all his personal time because Graham healed so quickly, because it was all hands on deck around here. Graham was “helping,” too, although anything he packed, we pretty much had to redo while he was at school the next day. But it was important to him to be part of the whole thing. He talked nonstop about his new room and the big yard.

  The dog and cat were also “helping,” and we’d agreed more than once it would have been optimum to not adopt before the move. But Roger and Phoebe were such a perfect fit for our family, the extra inconvenience was worth it.

  On the negative side, I’d begun to have morning sickness, and hadn’t yet told anyone except the doctor, who technically had told me, about the baby. I wanted to tell Walker, but it never seemed to be the right moment. Unlike Walker, I didn’t have any vacation because I’d just begun my new job and, for the next six weeks, was working nights. Adjusting to that schedule, packing, and throwing up took most of my time and all my brain until, one morning, when I got home from work to find Walker waiting for me o
n the sofa surrounded by boxes and holding my phone.

  “Oh good, you found it.” I reached for the device, but he held it out of reach. “What’s up?”

  “Sit down, Sebastian. We have to talk.” I tried to think what it might mean, what problem would bring out such a serious expression. “Now.”

  Oh my goodness.

  “Sure, Walker. What’s up?”

  He held up the phone, a text on the screen. “What’s this mean?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t see it.” I had a pretty good idea though because very little on my phone was going to upset anyone. Plopping down next to him, I managed to extricate it and read the screen. My stomach flopped.

  My doctor had written, You left your insurance card in the office when you came in for your pregnancy test. Just stop by and pick it up from the receptionist at your convenience. And congratulations to you and your alpha!

  “My insurance card. I’ll have to go get that.”

  He was staring at me so hard, I was afraid I’d burst into flame. “Uh-huh. Maybe I’ll go with you.”

  “Oh not necessary.” I didn’t know why I was arguing when I wanted to just say I’m pregnant, isn’t that awesome? But what if he didn’t think it was. I wanted to run for the bathroom and toss my cookies, but this conversation wasn’t going away.

  “I think it is.” His serious expression held, but his eyes were wide and holding hurt. It killed me. “Don’t you want your alpha to come with you? I thought you’d like me to be part of things, but maybe I was wrong?”

  “Oh no!” Crap. What did I do? “I absolutely want you to be with me. I’m never happier than when we are together, Walker.”

  “Then why the secrecy?”

  We were sitting side by side on the sofa, not touching up until now. “I didn’t mean to be secretive, but we had just crossed the line and there was so much going on and…and”—I had to accept the truth and speak it—“I was afraid you wouldn’t be happy about it.”