Dazed, Honey turned towards him and Kody knew he was probably wearing the same expression she did because, suddenly, Honey´s eyes rolled back and she fainted into his arms.
“That was one hell of an Easter surprise, brother,” Killian joked while bumping his arm.
“And just wait until you explain the rest to her.”
A laughing Nana soon approached him and helped him get Honey comfortable until she woke up. And afterwards, stayed with them to answer any and all doubts she had about the shifter´s nature.
“You´re lucky I love you because if I didn´t you would be in so much trouble,” she grumbled like a true bear´s mate.
Smiling broadly, he picked her up and drew circles with her until he smashed their mouth together.
“I love you more, Honey. And I promised to make it worth now and for the rest of our lives.”
Epilogue
“You´re huge!”
“I know! I feel I´m about to burst” Honey mumbled while rubbing her gigantic belly.
The women laughed while they continued decorating the rest of the Easter eggs. Apparently after last year, the Lapin´s had adopted a new tradition and hand painted several of the eggs according to the surprise within. With the bear´s help, they would hide them in different parts of the Kodiak territory, and allowed their neighbors to hunt for what they needed. Even if some of the eggs got claimed later through the year, they would always deliver what it was promised. Whether it was food, medicines, furniture, or even a roof under which to live for a while.
Humming, Honey prepared some chocolate eggs, her own family tradition, that she would later hand out to all the shifters while trying to keep the bears away from them. Greedy sweet-loving bunch — that was the entire clan.
She still couldn´t believe how fast everything changed in her life. From having no one to never leaving Alaska and mating into a bear clan. Along with the package came several jealous brothers who drove Kody up the wall and made life exciting. The babies in her belly agreed wholeheartedly by kicking her.
“Are you all right?” Nana Daphne asked her while gently laying a hand over her belly.
“Yes. They have been a little restless lately. I think it´s because of spring and the excitement of Easter”
“I don´t think so, Hon…“
Water trickled down her legs — her placenta broke. After that, Honey only recalled threatening to cut off Kody´s dick if he ever touched her again while Nana helped her deliver her two baby boys and little girl into the world.
“They´re Easter babies!”
The entire fluffle couldn´t contain their excitement about the birth and were soon handing egg liquor to everyone in attendance. While the rambunctious bear clan, in their animal form, roared in honor of the cubs.
“You have really changed my life, Kody” Now settled in a comfortable bed she held the little boys — Kieran and Kane — while they nursed from her. Honey finally relaxed.
“No. You have truly changed my life, Honey, in the best of ways.” With their little girl Katie asleep in his arms, he gently kissed her small forehead, and did the same with their boys, and finally kissed Honey with all the love he held for her. “I love you.”
Making sure not to awaken any of the babies, he laid them one by one in their crib and soon returned to Honey´s side.
“I love you too, my grumpy bear.” Smiling, she made room for him on the bed, and they drifted off to sleep while the babies allowed them too.
“Time for the Easter hunt!” Just outside the Cavanaugh cabin, laughter could be heard from children and grownups as they began looking for the eggs everyone knew would have amazing and unexpected surprises.
About the Author
Kathia Iblis is an Argentinian writer who loves to read. A romance writer by choice, she can create an entire universe out of a simple idea whispered by any of her many characters.
She lives in Buenos Aires, with her hubby, and their two mini minions, surrounded by their many pets. You can always find her daydreaming about her next great romance, whether it may be contemporary, paranormal, sci-fi or full of fantasy, she´ll be sure to write it down before a new one takes root.
When she´s not writing, you´re sure to find her with her nose buried in a book.
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If you want to know more about me, visit:
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Blog: http://kathiaiblis.blogspot.com.ar/
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Allergic Reaction
T. A. Moorman
Introduction
After meeting her boyfriend’s family and things go off without a hitch, Miranda decides it's the perfect time that he meet hers. She's excited to show off her perfect boyfriend to her adopted family. And what better time than when everyone will be together, on Easter? But, things start going downhill before they even walk through the front door.
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Antonio has found his long-awaited mate, Miranda. Only problem, she's human. And he hasn't found the perfect time to tell her that he's actually a tiger shifter. When she takes him home to meet her family, he soon learns he isn't the only one who's been keeping secrets from her. The fact that her Dad is allergic to cats certainly doesn't help Antonio keep his.
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Easter dinner may end up being a complete disaster if Miranda realizes there's only one human at the table.
1
“Is this really, absolutely necessary?” Antonio asked, again, while tugging at the collar of his shirt.
“For the umpteenth time, yes, yes it is.” I said on a laugh. “It won’t be that bad. And we’re already in the driveway anyway.”
“Not meeting your family. Though, yeah, that’s another concern. What I’m talking about is this monkey suit you put me in. People really still dress up for Easter?” he asked with a feigned horrified look on his face that made me laugh that much harder.
“You are so lucky you’re cute.” Cute didn’t even begin to cover it, but his head was big enough.
Antonio was one of those guys that were truly drool worthy; and in that tanned three-piece suit he was cream in my panties worthy. His hair was about three different shades of blonde which he had pulled back in a haphazard bun at the nape of his neck. Antonio’s golden tan seemed to be permanent, lasting even the frigid months in Michigan, and he did not go to a tanning salon. His sleek muscles made him look like a pro wrestler, and they weren’t just for show – good thing too ’cause I wasn’t exactly a ‘skinny Minnie’. I loved having a man that could not only lift me up mentally, but also physically.
The stares and whispers we always received weren’t only due to the fact that I was black and he white. No, we were truly the odd couple. I was only five feet even while Antonio stood at six feet five. We may have weighed almost the same, but where his was solid muscle, mine was much softer; good thing my weight was distributed to all the right places. Most of my wardrobe consisted of black, white, and grey – his, every color of the spectrum. On the outside, we were polar opposites, yet we fit together as though we were made for each other.
It’s hard to describe my feelings for Antonio. Love isn’t even a strong enough word for it. As sappy as it sounds, he truly was my other half. If we went too long without seeing each other it was as if a piece of my own self was missing. Almost like we had a sick obsession with each other, but that’s not quite it either. Life and everything in it just seemed better whenever we were together than it did when we were apart.
“Things went great when you took me to meet your enormous family. They’ll go just fine when you meet mine.” I did my best to sound reassuring. By the expression on his face I must have come up short.
“Yeah, but they’d been expecting your arrival a lot longer than yours has mine.” he said so low that I barely even heard him. Before I could ask hi
m what he meant by that, he continued, “Plus, you didn’t have to dress up in some monkey suit. This confining jumpsuit is like being stuck in a cage.”
“It’s not that bad. Just keep thinking about me stripping it off you later on tonight.” That earned me the smile I had been aiming for. “Now come on and get yo sexy ass outta the car so you can learn what macaroni is really supposed to taste like.” Before he could say anything else, I grabbed the key from the ignition and hurried out of the car. I yelped when Antonio made it to my side and placed his hand on my waist before I had even shut the door. “It’s been almost a year now and I’m still not used to how fast you are.”
He bent down and whispered in my ear, “Good, that means you’re not bored of me yet.” Antonio straightened so that I could bump my door closed, “I really wish you would just let me buy you a new car.”
“Blasphemy. Carrie isn’t going anywhere.” my ’96 cherry red Mustang was my very first car, I was never parting with it. “Besides, I’d much rather you take that money and just buy me a ring that’d make my sister go blind instead.”
“How about I just buy you both?”
“How about you stop trying to buy my love since you already have it?”
“Please tell me you two won’t be all sappy and mushy the entire time you’re here.” My sister said in greeting as she got out of her own car. I hadn’t even heard her pull up in the driveway behind me. “I mean, come on Miranda, I don’t want to lose my appetite before we even walk in.”
“Well I don’t know, Mildred,” I made sure to drag out her name, she hated that, “depends on if you and your boy toy plan on playing smoochie face every chance you get.”
“Miranda Jade, I’ma tell you one more time Marcus is not my boy toy…he’s actually older than I am.”
“I bet. If he’s older than you, then Antonio here is a werewolf.” While we laughed at that I glanced over at Antonio, poor thing looked like he was trying to figure out how to react. He settled on a slight laugh. I had no idea what that was all about.
Mildred must have noticed too because she said while walking towards me, “Ok, enough of that talk. You finally brought home a good one, let’s not run him away. That’s Mom and Dad’s job.”
I stepped away from Antonio and gave her a huge hug, “Seriously, why didn’t you bring Marcus with you?”
“He’ll be here later. Had some business to attend to.” Stepping out of our embrace she asked, “Now, are you gonna properly introduce me to this Scandinavian god you have here?”
“Antonio this is my older sister, Mildred.” After I heard a satisfying huff in response to that, I continued, “Millie, this is the love of my life, Antonio.” Well at least that was one introduction out of the way, too bad there were several more to go.
It was the first and hopefully only time I’d ever brought a guy home to meet my parents. Not that I was embarrassed by them or anything like that. It’s just, well, I was one of those girls that didn’t want to disappoint my mom and dad. Maybe it stemmed from the fact that I was adopted. Some part of me still afraid that they may change their minds about letting me in. Which was silly considering that I was a grown ass thirty-year-old woman. If they hadn’t grown tired of me thus far, doubt they ever would.
Maybe the fact that it went so well introducing Antonio and Mildred to each other meant that it would be smooth sailing with the rest. I kept thinking that harmonious thought all the way up until Dad opened the door with a big ass grin on his face, then abruptly started sneezing.
2
“Dad, he had a shower before we came here, you don’t need to give him another one.” Dad looked as though he were getting ready to apologize once the sneezing subsided. But, as soon as he opened his mouth again, the sneeze-fest started all over. Just this time around I got hit just as hard as Antonio did. “Dad!”
“Derrick. What in the world is wrong with you? You trying to drown the kids before they even step through the door or somethin’?” my mom said as she walked up behind my dad to come to our rescue with a box of tissues. She pulled him out of the way as he started sneezing again and shoved a tissue into his face. “Now move out the way and let my babies in here.” Once she got Dad out of the way she said to me with a huge smile on her face, “You didn’t say you were bringing home a stallion.”
“Mom.” I said as I blushed and returned the hug she pulled me in for. When she let me go I gestured towards the ‘stallion’, “This is Antonio.”
Antonio extended his hand to my mom. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Hatch- umph,” he was cut off since instead of shaking his hand, Mom pulled him in for a hug instead. A very long hug. She seemed to be whispering something in his ear.
“Ma, can you let the poor man go so I can get inside the door?” said Millie, effectively saving Antonio as Mom let him go to grab ahold of Millie.
“The two of you could come over for more than just the holidays.” Mom said as we finally made it all the way inside and headed to the living room.
“We could, but then you’d just get sick of us. This way you get to miss us and be that much happier when we get here.” I actually managed to say all that with a straight face until Mom said, “Smart ass,” then I couldn’t help but laugh.
“So, tell me, Antonio, what do you do for a living?” was the first question Mom asked as soon as we sat down.
“Right now I’m actually taking a break from traditional work since I have more than a few lucrative investments that have paid off quite nicely.” He wasn’t bragging or anything, just stating facts. That’s just who he was, someone asked him a question he would give a direct answer.
“And just what do you plan on doing with all your spare time?”
“He’s actually running a few charities and opening a few new animal shelters in the state. One right here in Detroit, too.” I answered, trying to save Antonio from his interrogation.
“How nice. Focusing on cats I presume?” I could have sworn I heard her growl but figured I must’ve been mistaken.
“Why would you presume that?”
“Actually, all of the shelters are for both cats and dogs. I have a soft spot for all animals, Mrs. Hatcher.” Was Antonio’s reply.
I thought my question had just been ignored until Mom answered, “I just figured Antonio here must be around a lot of cats, on a regular basis. Perhaps even has up close and very personal relationships with a few of them. Would explain your Dad’s allergies reacting so badly.” what she said next was directed towards Antonio with a smile so tight it was almost a sneer, “Miranda’s Dad is extremely allergic to cats, they seem to rub him the wrong way.”
Looking as though she wanted to say more, Dad stopped her by calling from the upstairs bathroom, “Naomi! Can you come on up here and help me find those pills?” Much to my relief, and I’m sure Antonio’s, she got up without another word.
“What was all that about?” I asked Millie as soon as Mom was out of earshot.
“Oh, you know Mom. She was just prying.”
“Prying? The woman was going on about cats.”
“Well, she does get a little crazy at times, no big deal.” Millie said vaguely along with a nervous laugh. “Speaking of, lemme go see if she fixed us a basket again this year.” She hopped up and ran off. I couldn’t help but wonder if her huge grin was from the idea of a ton of chocolate, or just relief of finding an excuse to cut and run.
“Honey, I am so sorry. I expected her to show you some embarrassing pictures and bombard you with questions, not whatever that was. I almost expected her to ask if you’d been neutered or had all of your shots.” I gave a frustrated sigh and leaned back and plopped my head against Antonio’s shoulder. “And I sure didn’t expect my dad to attack you before we even made it through the door.”
Antonio just laughed at that, which admittedly made me think things weren’t as bad as I thought they were. It reminded me that he almost always saw the upside to pretty much every situation. He lifted the arm I was laying against to wrap it
around my shoulders and pull me closer, “Hey, it could have been worse. So your Dad smothered me with sneezes. If he had smothered me in kisses that would have been just plain weird.” His body vibrated with the laugher he did his best to hold in.
“That is so not an image I want in my head right now, or ever. Ew.”
“Awe schnookums, how about I plant a different image in your head then?” Antonio wagged his eyebrows when I looked up at him, then we both broke out laughing. Unfortunately said laughter died almost as soon as it began, when he curtailed his own and said, “But, there is something we really need to talk about.”
“Those words never bode well in a relationship. So on that note…” I jumped up before he could utter another word, grabbed the remote from the coffee table and tossed it to Antonio. “I’m going to check and make sure my sister isn’t stealing any of my candy. How about you find something we all can watch while we wait for dinner to get ready.”
Antonio tried calling my name to get me to come back, but I had already decided to tune him out. If he really had something he wanted to talk about and it was serious, he could’ve said something on the drive to the house. Since he didn’t, I was more than sure it could wait a little longer. Too bad I was oh so wrong on that.
“Could you put that phone down for long enough to tell me if you found any baskets?” I asked Millie, who sat on her phone on the opposite side of the dining table and was no doubt either scrolling through Facebook or playing some form of Candy Crush.
“Hooker, I found both baskets. But you were in there with White Chocolate for so long I didn’t think you needed any more candy.” She finally looked up from her phone, then laughed at me when she saw my mouth hanging open. Millie finally took pity on me and bent down to hand the powder blue straw basket she had hidden beside her on the floor.
A Paranormal Easter: 14 Paranormal & Fantasy Romance Novellas Page 9