Page 99 of Omega's Flight
Out of the corner of his eye, Cas saw Raleigh frown at the noise, so he discreetly waved him down. No need to disrupt the smack-down. "Yeah, and?"
"And he asked the nurse why. And she said, 'So you won't think you died.'" She began to giggle and Cas had to cover his mouth to hide his own smile. It was a terrible joke, and he thought she'd forgotten a part of it, but Pip evidently thought it was the best one ever.
Well, time to put stop to that. "I have a good one too," he said, in a voice of dire warning.
"Yeah?" she replied saucily.
"Pip!" Raleigh hissed.
"No, that's fine," Cas said grandly. "Pip's just like a chocolate bar. Half sweet, and half nuts!"
She put her hands on her hips and glared ferociously at him, so he stuck his tongue out at her until Raleigh reached out to grab it. "Hey," Cas complained, and tried to catch Raleigh's fingers as they darted for his face.
Ann giggled. "Papa says it's not polite to stick out your tongue and if you do it again, he'll take your tongue and put it away until you know how to use it properly." All three of the pups giggled at that.
Cas raised an eyebrow at Raleigh. I bet I can prove I know how to use it properly, given the opportunity.
Raleigh blushed. "Eat your food," he said with mock severity. "And behave."
"What do I get if I'm good?" Cas asked, propping his elbow on the table and leaning his head on it.
Ann poked him. "No elbows on the table!"
Cas sat up with a good-natured snarl of frustration.
"Well, she's right," Raleigh pointed out. "Eat your food, and I'll dance with you tonight."
"Will you dance with me too, Papa?" Ann asked.
"Of course, sweetheart."
"I want to dance with Cas," Pip announced.
Cas leaned over to whisper in Raleigh's ear, "What did I ever do to you to deserve this?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Cas worried that he'd gone too far, until Raleigh flicked a look at him from underneath his eyelashes and smiled slyly. Cheeky omega. He loved it. Cas winked at Raleigh, then turned back to Pip. "Everyone tells me I step on their feet when I dance."
"That's okay," she said to him in a kindly voice. "Not everyone can be coordinated. I'll just put my feet on top of yours and that way you can't step on them."
"She's got you there," Raleigh told him. He put a forkful of his haddock into his mouth and smiled as he chewed, but Cas was pleased to note the dancing eyes above the prim smile.
"Can I have some more ketchup?" Henry asked, oblivious to the joking going on around him.
"Not too much," Raleigh said, and helped the pup pat a little puddle of red goo onto his plate.
Cas grinned and took a bite of his burger. He chewed, but something felt strange. A sense of foreboding came over him. "Pip, what did you do to my burger?" he asked, in voice like a thunderstorm on the horizon.
She giggled. And then Ann did.
Raleigh reached across the table and began plucking at the side of his burger. "I hope you like paper, because she put her napkin in there."
Cas gave Pip a despairing look before putting his burger down and pulling the top off. There, between his tomato and the lettuce leaves, slouched a reddish-stained crumbled layer of rough paper. She had, indeed, put her napkin on top of his burger.
He hoped it was clean.
Raleigh busied himself picking out the pieces of napkin. And over his head, Cas watched as his nemesis giggled and dipped her fries in some ugly mix of mayonnaise, mustard, and pepper that she'd created on her plate. "I'll get you, my pretty," he cackled at her and then stole three of her fries in revenge.
C H A P T E R 7 1
I had a fun evening, playing with the pups. And with Cas. But I had to admit, I always enjoyed the 'adult' portion of full moon night, when I'd dropped the pups off to wherever they were being looked after, and I could have a cup of Mercy Hills' cider and listen to the music and the chatter. Tonight being a mating dance, everyone's pups stayed around, but they were having so much fun dancing with family members that they weren't any trouble at all.
