The smell of burgers and hot dogs wafted through the deep summer heat nearly a year later. Rocco, whose fur had almost recovered from the cast he had hobbled around in for too many months, circled the grill with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. His tail thumped against the dirt in hope.
“What do you want?” Kellan asked, flopping down in a nearby chair and resting the heel of one foot on the toe of the other. “You know burgers are bad for you. Emma says so all the time.”
“What?” a low country drawl said as the meat flipped on top of the grill. “A li’l bit’a meat never killed none of my hounds I tell ya. Gave them just a little bit with their dinner. Besides, what is in all that fancy meat at the grocery store? Tofu? Naw.”
“Whatever you say, Wayne.”
The man turned around, the Prospect patch clear on his chest. His shot hair was half hidden beneath an honest to god cowboy hat. He tipped it in Kellan’s direction and gave a big grin. “I mean, what would happen if I just happened to drop a piece on the ground?”
Rocco circled around, his tail flopping back and forth, back and forth. He gave a yip of demand before a fat piece of meat rolled of the grill and landed at his feet. Rocco was just about to demolish it when a golden blur beat him to it.
Kellan laughed. “Look at that, old dog, the pup beat you two it.”
The younger dog, who had the look of a golden retriever and something far hairier rolled, onto his back, and onto the discarded burger.
“Samantha!”
The pup, hearing her name called with a very stern voice, sprang to its feet and rolled over. A large hunk of food clung to her fur. She gave a shrill and youthful bark before charging across the yard towards the open backdoor and the woman who stood there. His heart did a slow twitch in his chest that made him feel breathless.
The real Samantha was locked up in the women's state prison. Apparently she had been helping the brothers sell of plenty of young pretty girls to the highest bidder. Kellan hadn't understood why Emma had wanted to name a good dog after such a horrible person, and when he had ask she had just fixed him with a smile and shrugged. “Because she's a bitch.”
His woman had the strangest sense of humor.
Emma had tossed her hair into a messy tail at the top of her head, decked out in medical scrubs. A simple golden band sat on her finger, matching the one that sat on his. Her work outfit was pink, and made her face look flushed and happy. Though that might have also been because of the baby positioned on her hip.
The hair was as black and curly as his own, but the eyes that twinkled out of that tiny, round face were the same blue as Emma’s.
“Can you come help me?”
It wasn’t really a question, and they both knew it. He tilted his head at Wayne and raised a beer in salute. “Man the grill. My woman wants me.”
Wayne tipped his hat again and called out for Sargent, a middle-aged man whose arms were speckled with Naval images, including the Marines symbol on his visible bicep. He dragged a much younger man, nearly as skinny as Kellan’s thigh, to plop down around the grill in camaraderie.
He headed inside, taking his time to get there. He paused long enough near the back door to tell Phantom to make sure the new guys didn’t set anything of fire. There were only six Beasts now, and he didn’t much want to lose any of them. There had been enough of that.
“Hey,” Rudy said when Kellan stepped through the door, “your wife was looking for you.”
“So I heard, where’s yours?”
“Being a whale,” Hannah called from the living room. She hefted not only herself and a child, but a very pregnant belly. “My feet feel huge.”
“You should be resting.” Rudy tried to guide his wife into a chair, but she was having none of it.
“I’m pregnant, not dying. I want a salad and five hamburgers.” She placed a hand on her back. “Kellan, Emma was—”
“Looking for me, so I hear.” He stopped and gave Hannah a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t you let this big oaf push you around.”
“Never.” She winked at him and motioned him on. “Get on with you, Emma looked ready to throttle something.”
He made his way down the hall and found Emma in the bedroom. For a moment all he did was watch her. Childbirth and a comfortable life had added a bit of curve to her hips. He fought an urge to bury his teeth in them. Being a mom definitely suited her.
The baby was laid out on the bed, a diaper and diaper cream laid up next to him. He had one foot gripped in one hand, and was currently trying to bring it to his mouth.
Emma adjusted her ponytail, plopped her keys into a bag, and turned to him.
“You rang?” he asked, leaning casually against the doorway.
“Took you long enough,” she fussed. She was distracted as she turned to look in the mirror. “It’s your turn to change Leon. I need to get ready for work.”
Kellan smirked and wandered over to the baby, tugging the plump foot out of his toothless mouth. “Hey there. Hey there, little guy.”
He took his time with Leon. It had taken him weeks to master the act of putting a diaper on a squirming baby. Kids, he had decided after the first month, had no desire to wear clothes or do much of anything. When everything was back where it should be, he hefted Leon up to give him a hug. Emma was watching him. There were tears in her eyes.
“What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“You are such an idiot.”
He blinked. “I missed something. What happened.”
She slapped a hand against his arm. “You thought you were going to be a bad father. You’re an idiot.”
He laughed softly and wrapped an arm around her back, tugging her close. “I’m sorry.”
“I love you,” she whispered, pulling his head down to give him a kiss.
“I love you, too.”
THE END
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