Chapter Four

A few days after Tony arrived, I was in the studio getting my camera ready for my next session. When Tony came downstairs, he wore a pair of my jeans and a blue T-shirt.

“Hope you don't mind that I borrowed some clothes,” he said. “I packed a bag, but it was almost like I just kind of threw things together without thinking. I don't have much. Is there a clothing store in town?”

“Yeah,” I said. “We can run there this afternoon. I've got a session with one of the local weathermen from a few towns over. He needs headshots done.”

“Oh, yeah?” he said. “That's pretty cool.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Believe it or not, Daniel is a groundhog shifter.” I waited a moment and let that sink in.

Tony pursed his lips as he thought about it for a minute. His brow furrowed and then he tilted his head to side. “So… wait a minute. He’s a groundhog shifter and he's a weatherman?”

“Yup.”

Tony burst out laughing. “That's classic,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s Vale Valley for you. Twisted sense of humor sometimes.”

“So, wait. It's February. It's after Groundhog Day. Did he see his shadow?”

I shrugged. “You're going to have to ask him that.”

“Sort of feels like it would be a rude question. Like something you shouldn't just say out loud until you know a person.”

“Daniel's pretty chill about it. He kind of has to be. Everyone asks him about the weather and his shadow.”

“Okay,” Tony said. “Do you need me to help with anything?”

“Nope. I should be all set.” I checked the batteries on my camera and pulled down the green backdrop I'd be using to start off with. The chime on the door rang out, and I turned to find Daniel there, dressed in a suit like the ones he wore on the news each day.

“Hi Eric,” he said. “Thanks for doing this for me. Don't know why they insist on having new headshots all the damn time, but I appreciate you fitting me in at the last minute.”

Not a problem,” I said. My schedule was wide open after all. “Anything particular you want this time around?”

“Just the usual,” he said.

“All right.” I grabbed a stool and set it in the middle of the backdrop. He sat down on it and made himself comfortable.

I would be getting shots of his shoulders up, so it would appear as if he was standing, but he could remain comfortable on the stool. He smiled his classic weatherman smile, and I snapped a few pictures, tilted my camera and snapped a few more. Zoomed in, zoomed out, the whole rigmarole.

All the while, Tony stood next to me with a cup of coffee in his hands, watching.

After we were done, Daniel stood and shook my hand. He looked over oddly at Tony, and then back to me, then back to Tony again. He reached his hand out.

“I’m Daniel,” he said.

Tony shook his hand. “I'm Tony. I'm new in town.”

“Ah,” Daniel said, and he looked at me. “Human?” he mouthed.

I nodded.

Tony laughed and we both looked at him.

“Sorry,” Tony said. “It's just funny. You know. ‘Cause you’re a groundhog…”

Daniel let out a sigh. “Groundhog. Weatherman. Yep, I get it all the time.”

“Hey, it's great,” Tony said. “I mean, that's awesome. It's a really respectable job.”

I held my hand over my mouth to hide my laugh.

Tony continued. “Is it okay…. Can I…?”

Daniel nodded. “Go ahead and ask.”

“Did you see your shadow this year?”

Daniel sighed. “Yes. We'll be having six more weeks of winter.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “That's awesome,” he said. “Not the winter part. I'm not much of a cold weather fan, but that you actually saw your shadow. That you actually do that. What’s your process for that? Do you get up in the morning—" Tony must have read the expression on Daniel's face because he stopped abruptly. “Sorry. I'll shut up.”

Daniel held up a hand. “It's fine. Really. I'm used to it. I’m sorry, but I do have to get going. If you plan on sticking around Vale Valley for a while, I’m sure I’ll see you around. It was nice to meet you, Tony.”

“I’ll get these headshots for you by the end of the day,” I said. “I can email them to you and get you a disk eventually.”

“Sounds good,” Daniel said. “I appreciate it.”

“All right. We'll see you later.”

Daniel left, and I looked over at Tony. He had both his hands over his mouth. “I'm such an idiot,” he said. “He probably thinks I’m some sort of crazy person. Was that rude? Was I rude?”

“You're fine,” I said. “You're not the first human to come to Vale Valley and have questions about well, everything around here.”

“Okay. Good. Because I feel awful about it.”

“Don't,” I said. “Daniel's super chill, I swear. He doesn't mind.”

“I feel like maybe I should send him an apology, though.”

I chuckled. “Seriously, it’s not a big deal.”

“Are there any other things about this town that you should tell me about before I make a fool of myself in front of more residents?”

“Oh, God,” I said. “There's so many. That would take the entire day to explain.”

“Someone ought to put together a Vale Valley history book. Then the people who come here in search of love and a home have a reference guide.”

The wheels turned in my mind. A reference guide. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. We could have a living history.” I kissed his cheek. “Tony. You are brilliant.”

“I am?”

“Yeah. That would be one hell of a way for me to contribute to the town, don’t you think?”

He nodded. “You’d do a great job. You’ve always enjoyed history.” Tony checked his watch. “I’m going to run out a get some clothes and pick up the picture frames from the Post Office. Do you need anything?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m just going to do some editing. You sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

“No, I’m fine. I might be picking up a surprise for you.” He grinned.

***

“So, where is Tony right now?” my alpha dad asked as the two of us set the table. My dads, my brother, and I usually had dinner together once a week, either at my apartment or my dads’ house. My brother, Joe, went to Vale Valley University and lived in the dorms, so having dinner there was out.

“He went out for a little bit. There was a gift shop he wanted to go to. He said he wanted to pick something up and the picture frames we ordered for the Valentine’s event arrived.”

“So, you just let a human run around Vale Valley unattended?”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, knowing that it would just infuriate my alpha dad. “Yes,” I said. “He's perfectly fine out there. He can be trusted.”

“If you say so,” my alpha dad said.

I set the last plate down with a clang and looked at him. “Can you just be nice during dinner tonight? Tony is a friend. He and I have been practically attached at the hip since he got here. I'm sure he just wanted a little bit of space. We haven't been apart in the past four days.”

My brother, who’d been standing around not helping with dinner, raised his eyebrow. “Haven't been apart, hmmm? And what exactly are the sleeping arrangements here? I know he's not checked in at the Inn or the Dozing Dragon.”

Damn, I walked right into that one. “Tony has been staying with me and our sleeping arrangements are none of your business.” I stuck my tongue out at him for good measure.

Thankfully, he let it drop, but I knew I had let on more about my relationship with Tony than I should have. “And what's this about a date tomorrow?” my alpha dad asked.

“It's nothing,” I said. “We're going to dinner and then he booked us something at the spa. He just wants to experience all that Vale Valley has to offer. Tony is a professional tourist. Every place he goes he tries to experience as much as he can. He's visited seven countries just this year. You should hear some of the stories he has.”

“Not one for settling down?” Dad asked.

“I don't know,” I said. “It's none of my business.”

“You’re friends, aren't you? You can ask that sort of thing.”

“Maybe I have,” I said. “But it's not relevant to you.”

My dad grinned. “Touché. So, I've seen the flyers around town for your mini Valentine sessions. Have you gotten much interest?”

“Yeah,” I said. “We actually have the entire day booked. I had to add earlier sessions and later ones. It's going to be a very long, busy day. But it'll be well worth it.”

“That's great,” Dad said.

“I’ve been spreading the word around campus, some of those weirdos go all crazy for Valentine’s day crap,” Joe chimed in.

“We’ve had a few students sign up,” I said. “How are things going with your roommate, by the way?”

Joe rolled his eyes. For his first three years he’d lived alone on campus. Now this year, his last year, the University President had asked him to room with another student. A dog shifter, not a wolf, a dog. A black lab, I think. “That guy… I can’t even think about him, much less talk about him. He gets on my nerves.”

My omega dad came out of the kitchen and set the pan of lasagna on the table. “I think you just need to give him a chance and get to know him better.” Joe ignored him, so Dad turned to me. “Is there anything you need help with for your event?” he asked.

“Well,” I said. “We're not going to have a lot of time for lunch. So, I was sort of hoping that you could bring us something to eat?”

“Sure,” my omega dad said. “I'd be happy to.”

“Thanks. That will be a huge help.”

“I spoke with Rosemary the other day,” my alpha dad said. “She's really excited for this as well. It'll be exciting to see the images you come up with.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I'm really excited about it. It was all Tony's idea and I'm glad that the town's people are interested.”

“Well, Vale Valley is about love,” my omega dad said, and he slipped his hand arm around my alpha dad’s back and hugged him close.

Alpha Dad kissed his temple. “That it is.” He looked back at me. “I'm really proud of you. You're really doing well with this business and it's great.”

“Thank you,” I said. “That means a lot.”

“I’m here too,” Joe said. “I do cool stuff.”

Both my dads grinned at him, and I knew Joe was just teasing. He and I were always treated fairly by our dads. We were going very different direction in life though. I’d always wanted to be a photographer, and Joe had changed majors six times in four years of college, finally settling on being a teacher, adhering to the old adage that ‘those who can’t do, teach.’

The sound of footsteps bounding up the stairwell stopped our conversation. Tony entered the room, holding a large cardboard box with a smaller one on top of it that contained a paper bag that was folded closed and stapled many times.

“Did you get what you were looking for?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yes.” He placed both boxes on the floor, then took the bag out and tossed it on top of the fridge. “No peeking.”

The empty box sat atop of the large one. I looked at it longingly. I had the urge to shift and sit in it, but I knew it was silly. Damn playful cat.

Tony came over and kissed me on the cheek. He looked between my two dads, and then stuck out his hand to my alpha father. My alpha father shook it. “It's good to see you again, sir. I’m Tony.”

“Yes, I remember you. You can call me George. It's nice of you to come visit Eric here in Vale Valley. I understand you just set out one day on a whim and somehow made it here?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Just thought it'd be a good time to come see him.”

“And when is it that you're taking off again? Eric tells me that you have a trip planned?”

“Yeah.” Tony lifted a hand and brought it to the back of his head. “I have a trip planned to Egypt, but I don't have a set date that I have to be there. My tickets are open ended.”

Tony met my omega dad's gaze and walked over to him. They hugged quickly, my omega dad giving him a pat on the back.

“It's good to see you, Mr. Maine,” Tony said. “Man, the two of you don't look like you've aged a bit. Is that a shifter thing?”

My omega dad chuckled. “You can call me Kevin. Good genes I suppose. We're just about ready to eat so I hope you're hungry.”

“Starving,” Tony said. He pulled out the chair for me and I sat down. He sat next to me. My alpha dad’s gaze never left Tony as he sat down. I knew this was going to be a dinner full of lots of questions I just prayed it'd be over quickly and painlessly.

Thankfully, my brother kept the conversation rolling. He and Tony spent a lot of time talking about Tony’s travels, reminding me why I could never keep up with him or keep him here in Vale Valley. How could he ever be satisfied here? His face lit up each time he talked about another country, another adventure he’d experienced.

Later that night, I laid awake in bed thinking about Tony. My cat paced inside of me. I needed to shift and clear my thoughts. Maybe play a little bit.

I got out of bed, careful not to disturb Tony next to me. I stood next to the bed and watched him for a minute, imaging what it would be like if he was there permanently. One instant I was a man looking down at the bed, the next I was a tiger cat looking up. I crouched low and crept out of the room, on the prowl. I found a discarded sock next to the couch and I batted it around on the hard-wood floor for a moment, then I focused on what I’d really come out here for.

The empty box.

Tony had left it on the large box full of picture frames. It was mine for the claiming. I leapt on to the big box, then rubbed by face on the flap of the box. Once I’d marked it fully with my scent, I prepared for launch. I jumped and landed perfectly inside the wonderful empty cardboard box. I settled, turning once, then twice and finally I laid down and closed my eyes.

Comfort. This was my box. Mine.

A light switched on, and I froze, eyes wide.

“Eric?” Tony padded out of the room, looking around the apartment. “Where are you?”

I sunk into the box, then lifted my head slowly. He couldn’t see me in here, could he? I don’t know what my plan was, after all, it was a small apartment and I couldn’t hide from him forever.

Tony took a few steps, his back to me. Then he turned and walked forward until he stood directly in front of the large box.

I meowed as our eyes met, and his face split into a big grin.
“I wondered if you were going to play with the box. Couldn’t resist it, huh?”

I meowed again, and looked away from him, feigning disinterest.
He bent slightly and reached forward. “Can I?” He stopped. “Is it okay if I pick you up?”

I stood and stretched, then looked up at him and nodded.

He laughed. “Holy shit, this is still crazy to believe, but here you are.” He picked me up gently, cradling me with one arm and tucking me against his chest. With his other hand he scratched behind my ear and I purred.

“I thought you might like that. Let’s go back to bed, dude.”

I didn’t shift back. I just let him carry me to bed. He laid down and I settled next to him, curled against his side. He petted me, I purred.