Chapter Eight – Dean

“Hey, how are you?” Dean hugged Louise as she entered the kitchen, Zak following with Storm asleep in his arms. “I’m sure she has grown.” It was late, and they all looked tired. Maybe his news should wait until the morning.

“We’ve only been gone for a few days,” Louise told him, hugging him back. “She missed you, though.”

“And I missed her.” Dean crossed the kitchen to take a closer look at Storm, who sensed his presence and lifted her head to give a sleepy smile before sleep pulled her back.

“I’m going to take her up to bed,” Zak said, slipping back out of the door before he poked his head back in. “Did something happen?”

“Like what?” Dean asked, color creeping to his cheeks.

“It did.” Zak’s voice rose in pitch and Storm started, looking around.

“Hey, go take her to bed, I’ll make some coffee, and then Dean can tell us his news,” Louise ushered Zak up the stairs, before coming to stand in front of Dean. “Are you OK?”

“I am perfectly OK.” Dean cracked a grin and then broke into a chuckle. “Are you hungry?”

Louise sniffed the air. “You’ve been cooking.”

“I have to eat,” Dean insisted.

“Usually when you are eating alone you make do with something less extravagant.” Louise opened the fridge and looked at the leftovers. “So who is she?”

“I’m going to wait until Zak comes back down and then we’ll talk.” Dean put a fresh pot of coffee on. “Unless you would rather have wine?”

“I’d like some tea, actually. And I might just run up and change into my PJs.”

“OK, take your time.”

“Are you joking? I can’t wait to find out what you’ve been up to while we’ve been gone.” She left the kitchen, shaking her head. “Five days. We can’t even trust you alone for that long.”

“You sound like my mother,” Dean called after her good-naturedly.

He listened to Louise go upstairs and got busy making tea, and pouring the coffee. He also dug out some cookies, which he set on the kitchen table. By the time Louise and Zak reappeared in the kitchen, he was sitting down trying to figure out what he was going to say.

“So?” Louise asked, sliding into the chair opposite him.

“So…” He sipped his too-hot coffee, and then put the mug down on the table. “I’ve met someone.”

“Someone…” Louise glanced sideways at Zak with a knowing look.

“He means his mate,” Zak told her with a grin.

“I know.” Louise shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be a shifter to read that on Dean’s face.”

“I forget how good you are at reading people,” Zak conceded, and smirked at her before drinking his coffee.

“Maybe it’s from hanging around with animals all day. It makes you guys easy to read.” She looked at Dean expectantly. “So? Or are you going to leave us in suspense?”

“It’s Suzie’s mom.”

“Hot damn,” Louise said, placing her mug down on the table. “How about that!” Her face flushed with happiness. “That makes us as good as family to Suzie.”

Dean had treated Louise as more of a daughter than any other child he had fostered, to the point that when she turned eighteen he let her and Storm stay, even though he had received no funding from Social Services. There was no way he was going to let them go out into the world alone. As the months had gone by, he knew she started to see him as the father she wished she’d had. And he could not be happier that Louise saw herself as part of his family.

“It does.” He grinned, unable to contain his happiness. “I took a rose bush over to Karen’s garden, and there she was.”

“I’m so very happy for you.” Louise pushed her chair back and got up to come and give him a hug.

“Me too, Dean,” Zak said. “Me too.” He looked at Louise, and they exchanged a look Dean could not fathom.

“Looks as if you two kids have your own news.”

Louise slipped back into her seat. “We do. At least, it’s something we’ve talked about while we were on vacation.”

“And that is?” Dean asked.

“We’re getting married. Soon.” Zak took hold of Louise’s hand and pressed his lips to it. “Because we have some other news.”

Dean didn’t have to be a mind reader to guess what it was, Louise’s glowing face said it all. But he let them tell the news anyway.

“I’m pregnant,” Louise said, her eyes brimming with tears.

“I hope those are because you are happy.” Dean reached for a tissue and passed it to her.

“I am. I mean, I was never sure when we first met, but lately, well, we both knew we wanted Storm to have a brother or sister. And it kind of happened quicker than we thought.” Louise looked apologetic, although she had no reason to feel that way. Zak looked like the proudest man in the world.

“Wow, this house is going to be full to bursting,” Dean remarked, which induced another exchange of glances. “You’re moving out.” He wanted to save them the need to find the words to tell him.

“We’ve talked about it. There’s a house overlooking the creek. It would make a good family home. And it’s a five-minute walk away. I know how much Storm loves you. So we want to be close.” Now he knew why Louise had looked so apologetic.

“We didn’t want to leave you rattling around here alone. But we didn’t think it was fair to take over your house. You’ve always fostered kids… We don’t want to be the reason you stop.” Zak shrugged. “We’d stay if you wanted us to.”

“I’m not going to ask you to leave, this is your home. But you have your own lives. I always figured you two would want your own place someday.” He wanted them to know how much he loved them all. And he also needed them to know he didn’t expect them to hang around because of him. “You two are on the cusp of a new life. Literally.”

“And so are you.” Zak laughed. “You old dog, I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Thanks.” Dean tried to sound as if Zak had hurt his feelings, but he was too happy. Much too happy. The taste of Elizabeth was still on his lips, the scent of her still in the air. OK, so maybe it was his imagination, but it was as real to him as if she were sitting here in his kitchen.

“When can we meet her?” Zak asked, leaning forward excitedly.

“Well, she’s coming over tomorrow afternoon. We’re going for a picnic on the mountain.”

“Romantic,” Louise said. “Do you think she’ll mind if we ambush her before you go? We really should make sure she is suitable for you.”

“Hey, I’m the adult here,” Dean laughed. “I’d love you to meet her. I’ll warn you, she is shy, though.”

“We promise to be on our best behavior.” Zak drained his coffee cup and stretched. “We should get to bed.”

“We should, it’s been a long drive.” Louise got up and took the mugs to the sink.

“Hey, I’ll do that, you two kids get up to bed.” Dean got up and took over washing the cups up.

“Are you sure?” Zak asked.

“Yeah, I’m too wired to sleep anyway. I may go for a run.” He looked out of the kitchen window; the mountain could vaguely be seen as a shadow against the moonlit sky. “I don’t want to sleep yet. I’m scared I’ll wake up and it was all a dream.”

Louise hugged him. “Good night, Dean. And we’re so pleased.” She stood back from him. “Which reminds me.” She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “Would you give me away? When we get married.”

Dean hugged her close. “I would be honored, Louise. And listen, if you two want to go on your honeymoon and leave Storm with me, I would be more than happy to look after her. You guys haven’t had any time to yourselves since you met.”

“We talked about it and decided that we’re going to go to Australia for a couple of weeks after we get married. I want to show Louise all the places I traveled to when I lived there. Storm is coming with us.”

“He says it like it’s so romantic, but he also wants to go and catch up with all his Aussie friends,” Louise teased.

“Come on, you said you’d love to see Australia.”

“I did. And since I have this little bump growing, we plan to get married soon. Like in the next couple of weeks. But we won’t announce a date until after Suzie’s wedding.” Louise hopped up and down on the spot. “Although I’m going to have trouble keeping it to myself.”

“I don’t blame you one bit. If I had my way, I’d walk Elizabeth down the aisle tomorrow. But, one step at a time.”

“One step at a time,” Louise said and took hold of Zak’s hand.

“Night,” Dean called after them.

“Night.” They left him alone with his thoughts. The house sure was going to be empty without them, but at least they were going to be living close by. And soon he hoped Elizabeth would move in with him.

As for marriage, he wasn’t sure how that would play out. Dean knew how nervous Elizabeth was in crowds. Maybe she would prefer to go and get married on a beach somewhere.

Although Dean had always dreamed of a wedding surrounded by friends and family, including the kids he’d raised over the years. If Elizabeth didn’t want that, he’d be OK with it.

Anything to make his mate happy. Anything at all.