Parker came into the kitchen where I was sitting with my mom and the baby. He had his phone in his hand and a strange look on his face.

“What is it?” I gestured for him to take a seat. I grabbed a glass from nearby and filled it with the tea sitting on the table.

“Oh, well, we can stay a few more days. I know you wanted to and I was going to call and ask Professor Frostburg for some time off. But he and Allison are on their way here already.” He picked up the glass and set it back down. “The timing of this is so… weird?”

“Are you sure weird is the word you’re looking for?” I asked.

“Maybe? I don’t know. I guess I won’t question it.” He picked up the glass and finally took a gulp.

“Now you’re learning.” Mom beamed at him.

He just shrugged and drank more tea. He was getting more accustomed to not questioning events that happened. That would work in our favor.

I heard the rumble of a truck coming up my parent’s drive and turned to Parker. “I didn’t realize you meant on they’re way here now.”

“Oh, sorry, didn’t I say?” He got up and headed out to meet them.

I looked at my mom, shook my head, and followed him out.

Allison greeted me with a hug and asked about Laurel.

“She’s in the kitchen with my mom. Come on back,” I said.

“In a minute. But you stay,” she said as I started to walk away. “You’ll want to hear this too.”

Professor Frostburg stomped up the steps to the porch and stopped, eyeing me when he reached the top. “The omega,” he grunted in my direction. I gave him a nod and backed away a step. I’d never trusted coyote shifters before, but Parker, despite his complaints about the man, seemed to have a very high opinion and respect for the professor. I decided I’d still be careful around him.

“I’m setting up a department outpost out here,” the professor said abruptly.

“I…what?” Parker looked stunned. I didn’t know what news he was waiting for, but I could tell this wasn’t it.

“Yep. Too much work schlepping back and forth from the university to here. I’m bringing out lab equipment and more grad students. This dig is getting big. Enormous. We’re talking years of research. The university agrees, but only because it’s saving them money. Cheaper this way.”

“Excuse me.” I stepped forward in the middle of the three archeologists on my parents’ porch. “What does the pack say about this? You have cleared this through them, haven’t you? I know you’ve had to have expanded past the bounds of the private property you were on. Those are pack lands.”

Allison grinned at me, and Parker turned back to the professor with an expectant look on his face. He was as eager to protect the pack now as I was. His daughter was part of the pack.

“Not a problem. Talked to Barrett. I’ll be hiring lots of pack members, especially lots of the younger folks. I’ll be renting buildings, too, to house equipment and members of the research team. Anything else?”

“Who’s running the dig?” Parker asked. His face was hopeful and shining. This was more than he could have wished for. And I was thrilled with it, too. This meant we’d be here in the valley with my family and my pack. I could still be a seer and not be isolated like I was before.

“You and Allison. Who else? We done here?” The professor started clomping back down the steps before anyone could answer.

“I’ll see you at the dig,” Allison said with a grin. She hugged us both and followed the professor down the steps.

“That’s incredible! Oh, Shi, I’m so happy.” My mom was almost ready to cry when she heard the news. She’d get to watch her granddaughter grow, at least for the next few years while the dig was ongoing. My dad beamed and tickled Laurel under the chin. Parker hadn’t stopped grinning since Allison and the professor left.

He pulled me to him and wrapped me up in his arms, laughing as my mom did a little jig in the middle of the kitchen.

“This is going to be great,” he murmured in my ear. “And I know it’s not permanent, but it’s a start.” And then he kissed me while Laurel watched from my dad’s lap and giggled.

* * *

I packed the baby into my dad’s truck along with the small cooler I’d stuffed with food. I was going to drive over to the site and bring Parker lunch. I hadn’t been down to the dig since we got back and Parker started to work there again. We were staying with my parents for now. Even though there was temporary housing at the dig site and bunks for team members in one of houses the professor rented, there was no family housing. I hoped we could find a home of our own sometime soon. My old cabin was just too small now, so I’d let Allison take it over. Laurel gurgled at me as I backed down the driveway. I wiggled my tongue at her and pointed my dad’s truck in the direction of the dig.

I pulled up at the site and looked around. It really had grown. It’d doubled in size. Now, instead of tents housing areas for research, there were small, arched, metal buildings. Quonset huts, I think they called them. I grabbed the baby and the food and headed for the one with the sign ‘Office’ hanging over the door.

I pushed the door open with my foot and was blasted by the cool breeze of the air conditioner. It had to be a relief for the team members to have somewhere to cool off in the heated afternoons.

“Hey,” Parker called from the rear of the building. He was walking between industrial shelving that was stacked to the ceiling and filled with labeled bins. “What are you doing here?” He gave me a kiss and took Laurel from me, tickling her belly.

“Brought you lunch,” I said, holding up the small cooler.

“Someone say food?” Someone yelled from the back.

“Al? That you?”

“Yep.” She appeared from around the corner of the shelving, her black hair shorter now, her jeans streaked with dirt from the dig site.

“Hi.” I gave her quick hug. “I brought enough for us all. Is there somewhere to eat?”

Allison and Parker quickly cleared reams of paper from the tables serving as the front desk of the office. They pulled up folding chairs pilfered from outside another building and we all settled in to have lunch.

They tucked into my dad’s chicken salad and made appreciative noises. I ate one-handed as I nursed Laurel.

“She’s growing so fast already,” Allison remarked. “And she seems so aware of what’s going on around her. That normal for a baby her age, or is it part of her… abilities?”

I raised an eyebrow at Parker. He’d obviously been talking to Allison about Laurel. “I’m not sure. Of course, every parent wants to think their baby is advanced for her age, but we’ll find out in time.”

“And she’s so sweet, too.” Al took a gulp of tea from the thermos. “Almost makes me want one. Almost.”

“You’re welcome to borrow that munchkin anytime,” Parker remarked. “She might look sweet but she can be a handful.”

Allison smiled at Laurel and clucked her tongue. Laurel kept on eating, ignoring Allison.

“See,” Parker grinned.

“Anyhow,” Al rolled her eyes, “Parker was telling me about your trip up to see the healer.”

“Yes?”

Allison obviously wanted to talk about pack beliefs and rituals. She wasn’t at the blessing but Parker told me she was very interested in it when he told her about it. In fact, she got a little upset at him when she found out that he hadn’t recorded any of it.

“Allison, ask me what you want. There’s nothing in the pack that’s ‘secret’ or ‘hidden.’ The only reason people outside the valley don’t know about our way of life is because they don’t want to. Most shifters left the valley looking for an easier way of life. We simply carry on because this is what we know. We’re not trying to hide anything. We’re just protective of our way of life because so much has been lost over the years.” I shifted Laurel to the other side. “I’ve been talking with Parker about setting up studies and recording our healer and elder seer.”

“That’s… Parker, why didn’t you tell me? That’s great! Do you think they would talk to me? Your healer especially. I really want to find out about those herbs that were in Parker’s tea. The one where he joined your vision?” Allison was talking fast. The hard edge she normally had to her voice had been replaced by excitement.

“You’re interested in herbal medicines? Mama Ella will talk to you, I’m sure. You know, you’re far more accepting of this than most people.”

“Well, I’m a crow.” She grinned. “We’re not exactly known for being the most practical. We’ve got our own traditions and rituals in our murders, you know. Also, most crows are superstitious as hell.” She took a big bite of her sandwich. “Parker, you picked a good one. Interesting and brings food. Keep him.”

I headed home after lunch, feeling better about my life than I had in a long time. I had a friend in Allison, I had a mate in Parker, and my child was growing up in the country for now. I didn’t know how it could be better. After I put Laurel down for a nap, I slipped outside. I settled myself under a tree, and my body and mind automatically drifted into meditation. It was so easy here, there was no fighting for it out here like in the city. It just came. I stayed that way until I sensed Laurel would be waking up soon, then I unfolded my body and headed back inside to my baby.

When Parker came home that evening, he had Professor Frostburg and Allison with him.

“I didn’t realize you were bringing home company,” I said. “Let me get more plates for the table. There’s plenty of food.”

“I didn’t know I was bringing them home, either. Professor insisted. He’s got something to tell us.”

“You’ll stay for dinner, yes?” My mom hurried out of the kitchen when she heard us, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

“Absolutely,” Allison said.

“Got something we need to discuss,” Professor Frostburg grumbled.

“That’s a yes,” Allison said.

I led everyone back to the kitchen and set up two more places for dinner. Allison slid in next to Laurel and started tickling her feet. My mom and I started placing dishes of roasted beef and potatoes on the table, along with pans of rolls and a bowl of salad. Allison grinned and immediately started dishing up her plate.

“How are you so skinny, eating like that?” My mom dropped another roll onto Allison’s already-packed plate.

“Lucky,” Allison said, and shoved a potato into her mouth, groaning with satisfaction.

“Might as well get to it,” Professor Frostburg burst out.

“Oh, okay.” My mother dropped into her seat and sat up, hands folded neatly in her lap, waiting on the professor to speak. I hid a smile.

The professor gave her an odd look, like he just remembered he was in someone else’s house, before he turned back to Allison and Parker.

Before he could say anything, there was a loud knock at the door.

“Oh, him,” the professor muttered and got up. He walked down the hall and answered my parents’ door. We all looked at each other, stunned. But no more stunned than when he returned with Barrett Goode.

“Abby, Adam,” Barrett said. “Sorry I’m late, Professor.”

“I was just about to make the announcement,” the professor said. “Can I get on with it now?” He looked at the raised eyebrows and wide eyes around the table. “I guess that means yes.”

I shrugged and looked at Parker. He just waved his hand, indicating the professor should keep on.

“Okay, we’re opening a visitor’s center.” The professor gave us all a look and picked up a roll, biting into it.

We looked at each other, confused.

“I guess I’ll take it from here,” Barrett said. He shook his head as he watched the professor eat for a few seconds. “We’ve mutually agreed, the pack and the university, to open a small visitor’s center near the site of the dig. The area has been getting quite a bit of interest now. People are calling and asking about the history and culture of the area, and we’ve decided it will be beneficial to both the pack and you researchers to open a center.”

“I… don’t know what to say,” Parker finally said. “This is… Professor, this is more than we ever hoped for. This is our first step on the way to having the dig declared as a national historical site.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means if it’s declared, the land and area around it are untouchable. No development. Ever. Not on it or around it. We can study it at our leisure. We can take time and do it right.” Allison’s voice was awed as she answered me.

“That’s amazing,” I said. I waited. There was more coming.

“You guys will run it,” the professor said, and crammed a potato in his mouth. He waved his fork between Allison and Parker.

“We get to run it?” Parker sounded like he didn’t believe the professor.

“How’d you get to be a professor anyhow? You’re shit at explaining things,” Barrett bit out. “Yeah, it was decided between pack leadership, the university, and at the recommendation of Professor Shit-For-Brains over here. Allison, I understand you’ll be graduating soon? And Parker, you just need to finish your dissertation?”

They both answered yes, almost too excited to get the words out.

“That settles it, then. Allison will head it up, with Parker as co-leader. Congrats to you both.” The professor stood and pushed his chair back. He was almost to the door before he turned, his eyes seeking out my parents. “Oh, thanks for dinner.” He stomped away.

Everyone in the kitchen burst into excited chatter. Barrett thanked my parents for their time and stood, leaving us alone. Allison stayed, and not just because the professor seemed to forget that she’d arrived with him, but because she wanted to celebrate with the family. My mother pulled out a pie she baked earlier in the day and cut large slices for each of us. The baby gurgled and laughed and there was a lightness to the air.

It happened. A way for us to stay in the country with our baby, and for Parker to still work on something that meant a lot him. It was more than anyone could ask for. But it was still not complete.

I knew what I needed to do.

But for now, I ate pie with my happy family.