Checking her room each night to make sure nothing out of the ordinary showed up became something of a ritual for Ainslie, but other than that, Ainslie more or less forgot about her objections to Maria. Like she had told Carrie; they barely saw each other.
Life passed as expected. For a while, at least. And then things went into a bit of a spiral.
“Would you like to go with us the next time we head to the girls’ grandparents’ house?” Malik asked over breakfast. There were still two weeks until the next full moon.
Ainslie stared at him for a moment, until she registered that he did actually expect an answer. “Won’t someone need to keep an eye on Andy?” she asked.
“I was hoping that you could convince her to go, too,” he admitted sheepishly, shrugging one shoulder. “Her grandparents miss her. And if you’re there then she won’t feel like the only one uninvolved in everything that’s going on.”
“I thought she said her grandpa couldn’t transform either,” Ainslie wondered, words laced with quiet bemusement.
“He can’t,” Malik confirmed. “But he babysits Lily and Paisley. They’re still too young for anyone to be comfortable letting them run around in the woods all night, but it wouldn’t be fair to their grandmother to ask her to just stay in the yard. Especially since wolves are more prone to going a bit feral during a full moon than bears are. Either way, it means he doesn’t have time to keep Andy company unless she decides to help babysit her sisters.”
“Then… I’ll see what I can do,” Ainslie agreed. She didn’t really need to think long and hard about it. The entire family was pretty rapidly becoming dear to her, and if she could help them then she would.
And she couldn’t deny that a part of her was curious to see what a full moon was like for were-animals, as long as she could keep a safe distance. The word ‘feral,’ even when applied to a wolf as small as Paisley, didn’t sound like fun.
Of course, she didn’t bring it up that morning. There was no reason to distract Andy before school, especially when Ainslie knew she had to present her project that day. There was no sense in disrupting her entire day right out of the starting gate.
*
Paisley was searching for bugs in the garden when Andy got home. A harmless enough activity, and it meant that Ainslie had something approximating privacy to talk to Andy.
“How did your project go?” she wondered, because she knew how long Andy had been working on it. Just putting the poster board together had been an impressive feat, considering how much information had been loaded onto it.
“Pretty good,” Andy answered simply, waving it off as if she had thrown it together in a couple hours. “I’ll probably get an A. I was talking about how Yellowstone’s ecosystem has been changing since wolves got reintroduced and everyone else was doing, like… easy stuff. Talking about why extinction is bad and stuff like that. We all know why extinction is bad.” Realizing that she had started babbling, Andy closed her mouth abruptly, her teeth clicking together.
Ainslie smiled and huffed out a quiet laugh. “Good to hear,” she replied. Nudging Andy with her elbow, she added, “And maybe now you can stop hyper-focusing. Before you turn into your dad.”
Andy shuddered in melodramatic terror. “Ugh, no,” she groaned, shaking her head slowly before she shoved her hair behind her ears. “I’d never see the light of day again.”
Ainslie sighed wistfully. “I keep trying to tell him that, but it hasn’t worked so far.” As if she had been prodding at him for months or years, rather than just a few weeks.
Scoffing, Andy retorted, “You expect anything to actually get through my dad’s head? You’d have to catch him when he’s not working, and—oh, wait. That doesn’t happen.” Just to top it off, an expression like awestruck surprise painted itself across Andy’s face as she spoke.
Ainslie laughed before she could help herself. “Fair enough,” she agreed, before she carefully added, “Speaking of your dad, he wanted me to ask if you would go to your grandparents’ house next time—”
Andy was opening her mouth to reply, her expression already wrinkling with distaste. Ainslie could practically hear the denial building.
Ainslie raised her voice slightly and carried on, cutting Andy off before she even had a chance to start speaking. “But, I’ll be going too. So, it’s not like you’ll be stuck just watching everyone else for the whole night.”
Startled, Andy’s mouth snapped shut with a click. She blinked up at Ainslie for a few seconds, before her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed together with suspicion. “You mean it?” she asked slowly.
Ainslie dragged the tip of one finger in an X over her chest and stated earnestly, “Cross my heart.” She wasn’t sure what else she was supposed to do anyway, considering it wasn’t like she could speak bear or wolf and the idea of babysitting Paisley while she was, as Malik said, ‘feral’ didn’t seem particularly appealing, but she couldn’t blame Andy for being a bit cautious.
There was no response for a long moment, and Andy continued to look wary and stubborn, staring up at Ainslie. Eventually, though, Ainslie’s quiet expectation won out, and Andy heaved a long, blustering sigh. She folded her arms over her chest and hunched her shoulders towards her ears, and her chin dipped towards her chest as she groused, “Fine, alright. I’ll go next time.”
“Great!” Ainslie enthused. “You can show me all the weird stuff around your grandparents’ house.”
That, at least, had Andy perking up slightly, and Ainslie found herself quietly concerned about just what sort of weird stuff was there. She supposed she would find out in a couple weeks, though.
*
There were thirteen days until the next full moon, and Malik accidentally slept past his alarm by half an hour. Afterwards, as he darted around like a headless chicken to get ready to leave on time, Ainslie cleared her throat loudly to get his attention.
Malik ground to a halt, looking at her with expectant confusion.
Rolling her eyes in fond exasperation, Ainslie straightened his lopsided shirt collar and stepped back again, reminding him, “You’re in charge. It’s not like you can get in trouble for being late. You’re not obligated to ground yourself,” as she stepped away.
He offered her a crooked smile in return, and even if he returned to rushing around afterwards, he did at least seem a little less frantic about it. Ainslie would consider it progress.
*
There were twelve days left until the next full moon, and the house was strangely quiet. The weather was beginning to turn as September inched into October, and though it was nothing Ainslie would consider cold, it was just chilly enough that Paisley didn’t want to spend all of her time outside and instead spent a fair amount of time decorating the house with her toys and stuffed animals.
Malik didn’t seem surprised when he got home and found the living room littered with stuffed animals in reasonably plausible places for where their living analogues might choose to rest. On the rug, on the furniture, in front of the fireplace, and so on.
“Are they all a happy family again?” he wondered dryly, picking up the stuffed dog “asleep” on the mat by the door so he could take his shoes off and put them where the dog had been.
“They’re all very happy,” Ainslie informed him, by way of confirmation. “I’m pretty sure there’s one in your bed. And my bed, if Christopher hasn’t removed it already. And probably a beanie cat on your desk in the den.”
Malik shook his head in fond, good-natured exasperation. “Of course. I’m sure they’re all very comfortable.”
“She seems to think so,” Ainslie agreed pleasantly as Paisley loped by to snatch the plush dog out of her dad’s hands. She zipped off once again to find a different place to let it nap.
“And it keeps her out of trouble,” Ainslie added, her words laced with wry amusement. “Scout’s honor, I’ll pick them all up by this evening.”
“Assuming you can find them all,” Malik added.
“How does she have so many?” Ainslie wondered, looking around in only mostly feigned amazement.
Malik cleared his throat and glanced away sheepishly, before he simply supplied, “I am a weak man.” He looked remarkably guiltless about it.
Slowly, Ainslie’s eyebrows rose. “Duly noted,” she drawled. “I’ll do my best not to abuse that in the future, but I make no promises about keeping the girls from abusing it.”
“Trust me, they already do,” he assured her. “I don’t think there’s anything you could do to stop them.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ainslie laughed, before Paisley called her name and the conversation came to an end.
*
There were eleven days until the next full moon. It was a quiet evening. Dinner had been simple. Paisley and Lily were asleep for the night already, and Andy was in bed, most likely with a guitar or a ukulele in her lap.
Ainslie sat on the couch in the family room, idly scrolling through a list of pay-per-view movies, though none of them really caught her attention.
“You could check the Blu-ray shelves,” Malik pointed out, suddenly leaning into the room, and Ainslie squealed and nearly leapt out of her skin. She had to grab the edge of the couch with the hand that wasn’t holding the television remote to keep herself from falling off of the couch.
Malik cleared his throat, ineffectually trying to cover a laugh. His eyes crinkled at the corners slightly as he grinned. “Sorry,” he offered, though he didn’t sound sorry in the slightest. Clearing his throat again, he pointed to a shelf behind the television, lined with movie cases. “But like I said, you can look through those. It’s not like they’re under lock and key or something.”
Ainslie blew out a breath and shrugged. “I was hoping I could find something that might actually hold my attention. I’m really bad at watching movies without company. And when I have company I pretty much talk the entire time. Just bad commentary from opening credits to closing credits.”
Malik stepped farther into the room and made his way over to the movie shelf. He perused it quietly for a moment before selecting one, and then he popped the disc into the player. He made his way over to the couch and held a hand out expectantly, and Ainslie handed over the remote.
Her eyebrows rose as Malik took a seat on the couch and set the television up for the movie to play.
“Am I being graced with your presence for an extended amount of time?” she asked, her eyes wide and her tone aghast as she brought a hand to her chest. “I can hardly believe it.”
Malik rolled his eyes and flicked the remote at her as the opening sequence for a ridiculous action movie began to play. Not Ainslie’s preferred genre, but it would certainly give her plenty of material to make fun of.
To her delight, Malik was just as obnoxious as she was when it came to picking apart every plot hole, every melodramatic proclamation, every instance of awkwardly placed romance, and every time expensive graphics and explosions were used to hide the fact that nothing else of any interest was happening on the screen.
By the time the movie ended, it didn’t feel like two hours had passed. It felt like maybe twenty minutes. But the credits rolling said otherwise.
Slowly, Ainslie handed him the remote and got to her feet.
“See you in the morning,” she offered quietly before heading towards the stairs.
Behind her, she heard a quiet, “Good night.”
*
There were ten days until the next full moon. Andy was in the process of trying to explain division to Lily again. Ainslie had offered but Andy had insisted that trying to explain it to someone else was a good study technique and chased her off. So, Ainslie sat at the kitchen table as Paisley helped Malik make dinner.
Or at least Paisley was very, very convinced she was helping. Mostly she was stealing bits and pieces of things as Malik chopped, but she wasn’t actively in the way, so Ainslie supposed that was close enough to helping.
“Do you cook?” Malik asked eventually, glancing over his shoulder at her only briefly before he turned his attention back to the cutting board.
“I’m not awful,” Ainslie replied, lifting a hand to make a wobbling, dismissive gesture. “Had to feed myself and my roommate, since she refused to cook every night—I wonder what she’s been eating since I moved out?” Ainslie trailed off into silence before she remembered that he had asked her a question. Shaking her head, she got back on topic. “I’m a better baker than I am a cook.”
“You’ll need to show me eventually,” Malik replied. “I’m not much of a baker, and I think it’s safe to say we would all appreciate it.”
“I’ll take that under advisement,” Ainslie assured him dryly. “I’m sure Paisley will be happy to help out.”
*
There were nine days until the next full moon. Ainslie couldn’t help but to think that if she had been in Lily’s or Paisley’s place, she would already be getting excited, but neither of them even seemed to care.
Then again, if they had been transforming since they were infants, she supposed it was perfectly ordinary to them. Knowing that logically didn’t get rid of any of Ainslie’s curiosity, though.
She leaned in the doorway of the den and wondered, “So, what’s it like? Transforming, I mean.” It was a bit satisfying to see Malik nearly have a heart attack for a change.
He whipped about to face her, wide-eyed and startled, though he composed himself quickly. “Ah—” He cleared his throat. “I’ve… never really tried to put it into words,” he managed after a moment, his brows furrowing in vague consternation.
It took a few moments before he managed, “It can be freeing, sometimes. If I’m doing it when I choose to. On a full moon, it can be a bit… claustrophobic, I suppose. On any other day, I decide whether I have two legs or four, but I don’t have a choice on a full moon; I’m just stuck in a shape that I didn’t actively pick for a reason I can’t control.”
Ainslie nodded slowly. “You said something about wolves being feral,” she added slowly, her tone curious.
“They can be,” Malik replied. “Paisley might grow out of it. Her mother never quite did, but her grandmother is as calm as ever even on a full moon.”
Ainslie nodded again in understanding, even if it still didn’t completely make sense. “See you at dinner,” she offered, tone slightly distracted as she pushed herself away from the doorframe.
*
There were eight days until the next full moon. Just over a week. Ainslie couldn’t help but to feel excited, but she did her best to keep her excitement to herself.
That afternoon, at least, she had a distraction as Paisley helped her make a tray of cookie bars. Granted, Paisley’s definition of helping mostly involved pouring the chocolate chips into the mixing bowl and then stealing bits of the dough. Ainslie couldn’t say she was surprised.
When it came time to make the frosting, there were three extra spoons invading the bowl to steal it. Andy at least had the sense to come up with an excuse as to why she was in the kitchen. Lily didn’t bother with such an excuse.
As payback, Ainslie stood firm in her refusal to let any of them have any of the cookie bars until after dinner, no matter how hard Paisley pouted up at her and no matter how hard Andy tried to pretend she didn’t want one.
Ainslie managed to keep the dessert a secret until the instant Paisley finished eating dinner that evening and demanded, “Can I have a cookie yet?”
Malik cocked his head to one side. “You made cookies today?”
“Cookie bars,” Ainslie corrected, and she pulled the tray down from where it had been hidden on top of the fridge. She didn’t miss the way Malik’s expression brightened, and the way he enthused over them was nice validation, even if she insisted that he was over stating things a bit.
It was always nice to feel appreciated.
*
There were seven days until the next full moon. Just a week. Ainslie didn’t mention her tally of the days to the others, but she suspected Malik had some idea she was keeping track. He had to know it would be an entirely new experience for her.
She couldn’t help but to wonder if anyone else had ever tagged along before.
Malik was working from home and Paisley was taking a nap. Andy and Lily were still at school. Which meant Ainslie had a moment to poke her head into the den. “Question,” she stated as a way to announce herself.
Malik barely looked up from his desk. “I’m listening.” Even so, he sounded distracted as he said it.
“If part of Andy’s problem is feeling ignored, have you ever brought anyone else along like it’s a field trip?” Ainslie asked, stepping the rest of the way into the room. “I mean, I’m assuming Maria knows, considering how much time she spends around you and your family. Couldn’t you bring her along occasionally?”
“She does know,” Malik confirmed, finally looking up and turning his chair to face her. “But she’s not really interested in that side of our lives,” he replied, one shoulder lifting in a shrug. “I’m not going to force the matter.” He paused, and huffed out a quiet laugh. “Besides, she’s really not any good with kids,” he added, his tone lowering slightly to an almost conspiratorial whisper, as if there was any chance of Maria overhearing him when she wasn’t even on the property. “So it doesn’t really seem fair to drag her along.”
Slowly, Ainslie nodded and backed towards the door to the hallway once again. It made sense, at least, even if it still didn’t quite seem fair. But Ainslie supposed that was why she was going next time; to even the playing field and make things fair again. In a sense, at any rate.
“I’ll let you get back to work.”
*
There were six days until the next full moon. Less than a week. Thinking of it in those terms, Ainslie became rather aware of the fact that she knew… basically nothing about anything that was going to happen during the full moon. Well, she knew that Malik, Paisley, and Lily were going to change shape. So, she knew the bare basics, and not much else.
It occurred to her that that was probably not the best way to go into a new situation.
“Is there anything I should know?” she asked Malik that night as they cleaned up the kitchen after dinner.
“Hm?” He paused, leaning halfway towards the dishwasher with a plate in his hands before he jerked back into motion to finish putting the plate in.
“On the full moon,” Ainslie clarified, scrubbing off the knives that couldn’t go in the dishwasher. “Is there anything I should know?”
Malik was quiet for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “A lot of what you need to know is probably common sense. Try not to startle Paisley, I suppose. She might try to take your fingers off. And don’t act like you’re going to be eaten by a monster if you see Rose in the yard. She shows up every so often during the night to make sure the kids are alright.” He reached over to squeeze her shoulder. “You don’t need to make it complicated, I promise.”
It was strangely comforting to hear.
*
There were five days until the next full moon. Autumn wasn’t quite in full swing yet, but the entirety of Grey Chapel still managed to smell like pumpkin spice and Ainslie couldn’t have been happier.
She didn’t have any particular affinity for the flavor in anything other than pumpkin pie, but she had no complaints about the smell. And even so, it was tradition to get a pumpkin spice latte at least once each season. It just felt like something she was supposed to do, to remind herself that it was that time of year.
She wondered if she could find any clove or cinnamon or ginger candles. She had never tried using them before, but she imagined they would make the kitchen back in the house smell lovely (or, alternatively, delicious, which was just as nice).
She returned from a jaunt into town one evening, having taken the girls to the park to appreciate the leaves changing, and they got home at the perfect time. Malik got home only a few minutes after them.
In the midst of getting her traditional latte and hot chocolate for the girls after they were done at the park, Ainslie had determined that Malik had never had a pumpkin spice latte. And frankly, that was probably illegal in at least a few states.
The extra latte was still warm when Ainslie handed it to him, and it was worth it just to hear him wonder, in all confusion, “Why does this coffee smell like Thanksgiving?”
He did appreciate it more than Ainslie typically did, at least, so she considered the endeavor worth the effort.