Page 61 of Her Second-Hand Mate

She nodded, seeming relieved at not being the only one who felt that way.

“What’s your favorite memory of your mom?” I asked.

“Her hugs. I was small, and she was big, and it felt like she’d wrap her entire body around me and hug me so tightly that I felt like I was in a cocoon of love, safety, and happiness. Like nothing could harm me. I haven’t felt that way since she died,” she explained as tears streamed down her face.

“Can I try and give you a big hug?” I asked, and she nodded.

I looked at her from different angles as I figured out the best way to do this without jostling her body too much. I lifted my legs on the bed and leaned against the headboard. Then I gently lifted her onto my lap, pulled her knees up so she was scrunched into a neat small ball of a female, and enveloped her in a hug. Her face was in my neck, so I imagined she was held tight in warm, loving darkness, which I hoped at least partly replicated what she remembered.

Five minutes later, she lifted her head and moved off my lap.

“Thank you, Dominic. That was a great hug.”

“Any time. It was my pleasure. And thank you for sharing that memory with me.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled a genuine smile.

“I actually came in to talk to you about something,” I remembered.

“Oh?”

“I wanted to get you a present after you gave birth, and I spent a lot of time thinking about what it could be. In the end, I decided to buy a plot of land where we’d build a new house for us, for our family,” I managed to explain despite the sudden self-consciousness I felt.

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything. She was surprised.

“I’d like your input on everything, and once you’ve healed we’ll set up meetings with the architect and the interior designer so you can describe your vision to them if that’s alright with you?”

I desperately wanted her to say something.

“That is a wonderful present, thank you,” she said shyly. “I can’t wait.”

I smiled, relieved.

“Great. That’s settled then.” Nice going, idiot. “I’ll bring you some lunch soon, okay?”

“Sure, thanks.”

I was making progress.

???

Over the next week, we fell into a comfortable routine with Gabriel. Penelope informed me that he wouldn’t always be this calm, that it was only when they were newborns that they slept this much and were, frankly, this unresponsive. I couldn’t wait for him to become more aware of his surroundings. Although he didn’t in any way indicate that he heard or understood her, Penelope kept chatting at him, and it was my new favorite thing in the world.

“Who is this tiny pup that has peed so much? Gabriel, that is who! You must have drunk a looot of Mommy’s milk, haven’t you? Yes, Mommy has the best and most delicious milk in the whole world. Yes, she does, she does,” she cooed as she nuzzled his belly after changing his diaper.

His umbilical cord stump had fallen off recently, so his belly was fair game now. The stump falling off almost gave me a heart attack in the process because it happened during a diaper change I was conducting.

Newborn pups were as vulnerable as newborn humans. My panic and fear were so strong that Penelope jumped out of bed and rushed to our aid with a silver dagger she apparently kept hidden under the bed. My mate was truly unpredictable sometimes.

I just listened to their conversation from the hallway with the biggest smile on my face. Her example had led me to also talk to Gabriel like he could understand every word out of my mouth, and more often than not, I found myself talking to him about all kinds of things – the contents of his diaper, the world, his Mom, being a wolf, and how much fun I used to have with my Dad.

Maybe I missed my appointments with Vera now that I had taken two weeks off from everything that wasn’t a pack emergency, but talking at Gabriel helped me a lot. Not to mention, Penelope was always listening to it, although she liked to pretend she wasn’t.

???

“Oh, Pen, he’s beautiful,” a very emotional Isaac said as Penelope gently put Gabriel into his arms. We were all sitting downstairs on the amazing sofa Penelope had bought. Our wolves had calmed down enough that we could start receiving visitors, and my mother and Isaac were the first ones to meet Gabriel.

My mom mostly cried for the whole hour as she continuously expressed her love for Gabriel and Penelope and kept promising to spoil him beyond belief and to babysit whenever we wanted. Judging by the seven gift bags she brought with her, she was well on her way. Penelope had an amused look on her face, but I could tell that she loved my mom a lot and was grateful that Gabriel would have at least one grandmother.

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