Page 125 of Family: Posy 4

"Uh-oh! Lark's shoes! No strings." Gran looked at her little pumps and scratched the top of his head. "What now?"

"They slide, silly," Lark giggled and sat on the edge of the bed to show him, but he beat her to it.

Kneeling in front of her, he wrapped his hand around one calf and raised her leg a bit. Then, with a look of keen concentration, he carefully eased her shoe off her foot.

"I did it!" he yipped and gave her an adorable grin.

"Thank you!"Lark patted his head. "Wonderful! My feets is sore. Too much dancing."

I bit my lip to keep from chuckling at 'feets.'

Now that she was free to speak, her speech was improving all the time, not that it had ever been as basic as Gran's or as baby as Sid's when he regressed. Still, it was so cute when she mispronounced something or garbled up the grammar of a longer sentence.

"I'll rub them!" Both Topaz and Granite said at once, then glared at each other.

"She has two feet," I soothed them.

Back to happy faces, the pups each took a foot. Granite showed Topaz how to take off Lark's other shoe, and I snatched them up before the pups could toss them. Carrying them into the closet, I saw that Mason had their shoe boxes all lined up and ready to re-pack.

I don't know who Christian Louboutin is, but the boys sure like his shoes. Him and the Gucci.

It only took a moment to slip Lark's pumps into the little red bag, then I tucked them back in their box and put the lid on. Giving myself a pat on the back for a job well done, I walked back to the bedroom with a smile.

"What's this?" Topaz rumbled in an angry tone, and my eyes zeroed in on him.

Still kneeling in front of Lark, he scowled down at the foot in his hand.

"Oh. Um." Lark dropped her eyes to her lap and knotted her fingers together. "A scar. Sorry."

"How did you get it?" His fingers explored along her heel and he tried - and failed - to bend down enough to see it. Cole's body really was like a bear's, and he was simply too big for that to happen. "Gran, is there one on that foot, too?"

"Yeah. I feel it."

Simultaneously, they lifted her legs to inspect the bottoms of her feet, and it was a good thing Lark was sitting on the bed. The pups' sudden movement pushed her over and she flopped on her back in a cloud of pink. Her dress rode up, but we were too focused on examining these newfound scars to do more than give her silky thighs a quick glance of appreciation.

"Can't see them," Granite muttered. "Take off extra skin, my love."

"It's not skin!" I corrected him with an eye roll. "They're called pantyhose. And let me do it. You two will tear them. They're delicate."

"I can take them off myself," Lark giggled. "I know how!"

So we helped her stand again, and she captured our undivided attention as she shimmied them off, wiggling them down her hips.

"You should take off your dress, too," I suggested. "Don't want it to get wrinkled."

Nodding, Lark turned around for someone to unzip her dress, and I leapt forward before Topaz could butcher it.

"Yeah, that's youronlyreason," Topaz teased with a smirk, and I couldn't deny it.

"I might be a wolf," I murmured, "but I can still appreciate our mate's fine human body."

"Mighty fine," he agreed with sparkling eyes as we watched her dress fall to the floor.

And damn if she wasn't wearing my favorite little boy shorts with the lace that clung to her ass cheeks.

I had to stop and clear my throat before I offered to hang it up for her.

"Thank you, Garnet."

---