Page 93 of Surprise Mother Pucker

Kennedy nodded from the back seat, where she had been feeding Charlotte little bites of baby snacks to keep her entertained. “I’ve always wanted to come down here with her, but we never had the time—or the car.”

“Well, we’ve got all day now!” I beamed.

Kennedy bounced excitedly in her seat. “Where shall we go first?”

We ended up going to every single exhibit at least once, most of them twice. Kennedy was enjoying it almost as much as Charlotte was. She carried her daughter around on her hip, oohing and ahhing over all the different animals.

They had spent ages at the otter exhibit. I couldn't blame them, though. The otters were so stinking adorable. There were piles of hay in the exhibit they kept picking up in their mouths and using to make little structures and dams.

Charlotte’s favorite were the tigers. One of them sat near the viewing glass as a few younger ones ran around the enclosure like hyperactive teenagers. Anytime we tried to step away from the lion and tiger exhibit, Charlotte’s eyes would fill with tears, and she would start to blubber, gesturing that she wanted to go back.

“Oh, I can’t tell her no,” Kennedy said, gently rubbing a hand over Charlotte’s head. “She loves them,” she said as the baby placed her hands on the viewing glass. Thank God there was a big structure between her and the lions and tigers because she would be crawling right up to them if she could.

“I'll stay with her here if you want to go check out the hippos,” I offered. Kennedy chewed her lip. I knew she wanted to go see the hippos. She had mentioned them several times. “Giveme our sweet girl,” I said, holding out my hands. After a moment of thought, Kennedy relented.

The baby was so enraptured by the animals, I didn’t think she even noticed that she was changing arms.

“Come on, I’ll take you to the hippos,” Storm said as he dragged her away, leaving me and Charlotte.

While she was distracted by the tigers, I took a moment to look down at the adorable baby in my arms. She was so precious and sweet. How the hell did we get so lucky? The fact that, technically, this child was named after me also brought me an immense amount of pride that I probably shouldn't have had.

Still, Storm’s fuckup was my joy.

“What’s that?” I cooed as one of the tigers jumped off a ledge and toward their pool.

A babble of noise left the baby’s chest. Kennedy said she was starting to sound out words, and would probably say her first word pretty soon. Even though every one of us was rooting for Dada, we had all been encouraging her to say Mama. She deserved the joy of her daughter’s first word.

She was the one who had done all the work.

I always imagined that babies would be smelly. All they do is poop and vomit, so it made sense in my pea brain. Charlotte didn't smell bad, though. She smelled amazing. It was vaguely like Kennedy’s scent, but it was more childlike. It was hard to explain. It was a nice smell, but it wasn't attractive in the way Kennedy’s was. Like a hint of violet and maybe baby powder.

The scent filled me with the most bizarre protective urge. It called out to my deeper instincts. I was sure it had something to do with our biology, but all I knew was that I would protect this child, come hell or high water.

“Your daughter is a sweetheart,” an elderly lady, who had come next to me to watch the tigers, said. “How old is she?”

I smiled. “Nearly eleven months.”

The older beta looked like a grandma, with long graying hair and horn-rimmed glasses. She gave off the impression of warmth and comfort that only a grandparent could do.

“Oh, that’s such a good age! I would bring my babies to the zoo constantly until they were teenagers. Some of my best memories.”

“It’s her first time. Mama is just visiting the hippos because Little Miss here didn't want to walk away from the tigers,” I said, bouncing Charlotte gently.

“Well, if your omega is anywhere near as adorable as this little girl, you shouldn't be letting her wander off alone,” she joked.

“She’s with our pack mates.”

The woman’s eyes widened, a smile spreading farther across her face as she looked at Charlotte. “Well, aren’t you the luckiest little lady?” she cooed.

I shook my head. “Nah. She’s not the lucky one. I am,” I insisted.

We may have gone a bit bonkers in the gift shop. After a busy and exhausting day, we all decided to get Charlotte a different stuffed animal.

I opted for a large tiger. Storm got her a monkey. Eli chose an adorable stuffed otter, and Micha got her a hippo.

“All these aren’t going to fit in her room.” Kennedy giggled as we piled the toys into a small cart.

“We’ll just have to get her a bigger room.” Storm smirked as he kissed the top of Charlotte’s head.

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