Chapter 53

"Y ou summoned me, milord," I drawled out with all the sarcasm my waddlin', heavily pregnant buns could muster.

Doogie's head shot up from the drawing he was so focused on he hadn't heard me walk into the room he still kept at his mother's house until I was right up on him.

With a smirk, I waved about his person. "Mosoau told Celuk you wished an audience with me after I was finished with my nobody-bother-me retreat," I offered lightly.

Doogie nodded, slipped the drawing he was working on into the folder on his desk, and stood.

"Are you going to tell me what's summoned me from my uninterrupted week of hilltop hideaway bliss?" Snark was seeping into my voice. The boy had interrupted my uninterruptable Me time with my honeys. All of them, all to myself, a sort of honeymoon before the baby arrives.

I'd needed it. I've been an emotional basket case lately.

No warrior business, hunting, fishing, scouting, bad creature removal expeditions, no one banging on our door for anything. NOTHING.

Just us, a fuck ton of snow, and all the cuddle time my greedy ass desired.

Honestly, all grumping aside, the guys were probably getting a little stir crazy all cooped up together for such an extended amount of time, huge place that Celuk's pad was and all, with plenty of room for all or not.

Mini honeymoon timeout for their mate aside, rarely were they all together like that for so long all at once.

Rek was my constant. No matter what was going on, bathroom breaks notwithstanding, he refused to leave my side.

It was as maddening as it was sweet and comforting. His room was now called Joanie's room. Celuk lost the fight on that one, even if I did spend a great deal of time in either Jeh-kal's bedroom or Celuk's in a sleep cuddling pile with whomever wasn't out doing warrior beast guy things.

If Rek minded, his naturally bitchy ass had nothing to say about it. He thrived in our family grouping. Thanks to some herb infused salve Dorothy made with a bit of donated spit from Buu and Jeh-kal, Rek's chest rash had healed and his fur was growing back. Physically, he was almost back to normal.

After making a new purse out of the softest hide, gifted to me from my mates, an almost replica of my chest-skin-peeling banana yellow purse, we'd had a ceremonial burning of Melman the yellow purse, may it RIP.

If anyone had anything to say about Rek carrying around my bag for me, they weren't saying it to us. As I was fond of pointing out, whose business is it if my princess mate, per the silly nicknames the guys roast each other with, sock monkey acts as stand in bag boy? It was fun joking with Rek how fun it was to have a sexy personal assistant at my beck and call.

The beadwork Rektal could bust out- Wow. He makes my finished pieces sparkle with the beaded bling. I'm the fanciest bitch in Yetitown.

"Where go?" Doogie's hand waving in front of my face popped me out of my thoughts.

"To the moon," I snarked automatically. Wondering where Celuk and Gopher had disappeared off to when they were just supposed to be settling Boyo, the name I've picked for Baby's mate, who is our main unitato/kep-kep until his mate drops her litter, with Baby tethered alongside him while we snailed it down the hill, I shook off the lingering suspicion pricking me that something was off. "Have you decided on a name for your warrior princess yet?" I blurted as the thought occurred to me.

Doogie's frown lightened and his lips tipped up. It was humor and not happiness that lit his eyes. "Orrellie," he stated proudly.

"Princess Orrellie…" I smiled as I said it out loud. "I like it."

Doogie shook his head. "No want spoiled."

Ribbing him as I made my way past him, I let a witch cackle slip. "It's funny that you think you can contain me."

"No want spoiled, naughty," he insisted as his face pulled into an unhappy moue.

Grabbing his cheeks, I gave them a little shake this way and that as I pinched his mug until he had fishy lips. "Aw, honey, it's so cute you think you have any kind of control over the madness that's about to befall you."

"Jo haves girl, too," he pointed out.

"She'll be an angel," I bullshitted with ease, lying through my pretty little human teeth.

Doogie's snort had me grinning.

"Say, where are my incredible hunks?" I mumbled absently, more to myself than Doogie as my gaze darted around Dorothy's living room. Glancing over at Doogie, who was pointedly glancing around with me, he gave me a look that said, How should I know?

"Rek actually sat this one out," I confided. "I about fell over," I joked.

He was butt deep in beading a diaper bag and looked loath to give up the forest image dancing across the front of the bag he'd been working on. Celuk hadn't been kidding when he said he'd been teaching Rek some shit. Seriously looking like the student was passing up the teacher. It all tied into Rek's competitive nature but in the least toxic way possible. Rek soaked up the praise on his work from my mates as much as he did my gushing over each piece.

"Mama say come outside, Jo pop in," Doogie rumbled out softly.

"Out front?" I pointed towards the front, then the back door I'd just come in through.

Doogie carefully took my finger and pointed it towards the front.

Nodding, I walked to the door, opened it, and stepped outside, and right into the middle of an ambush.

"Sued-prise!" Odix bellowed above everyone else gathered close.

Everyone was here. My cousin and her family. Mal and hers. Daisy and her clan. Red and hers. Carrie, Elle, Doogie's family grouping. What looked to be all of Dorothy's sons. And there were quite a few of those assholes lurking around these parts. My entire support group.

"Happy Baby!" Veegolo snapped in his naturally churlish way, his clan gathered around him.

"Mates and Rothy help, but we make!" another support group buddy I'd helped out growled out.

Jeh-kal scowled over at them at that but Buu quietly murmured something at Big Business that had him pausing, taking a deep breath, rolling his eyes at them, and letting it go.

Watching the byplay, I waved at the pair and blew them a kiss that Jeh-kal lifted his hand to catch, making Buu eye him as if he felt Jeh-kal should have left the imaginary air kiss for both of them.

Rek was the first to the steps to help me down them, grumbling about me being careful as Celuk met me at the bottom, grinning at Rek's overbearing grumpastic-ness. Celuk had learned he didn't need to pick fights with me about certain things when he could just voice his opinion on it, I'd tell him to stick it up his butt, and he could let it go while Rek quickly picked up the torch to carry on with it. Ugh, that male really was kookypants! A genius but a kookypants.

Dace stood a short distance from Buu, a thick beanie on her head and the heavy fur patched coat we'd gifted her keeping her warm, a perfectly wrapped present with an enormous pink bow on it strapped to the top of that thing in her arms. She was trying to be all smiles but was painfully aware of Mina and her family across the way, I had no doubt, and was desperately trying to stay out of the way. Her hair was growing back. There was that. Soon Dace wouldn't need the beanie all of the time.

And I knew, where there was Dace, there'd be a giant horn head accompanying her or her own personal nightmare glaring her down. It looked as if Horn Head couldn't make it to be her buddy so Hall Monitor Nightmare death glaring a few feet away from her kept his distance.

Hugging all of my mates and thanking them before making the rounds, I made sure to accidentally on purpose bump into Berkr, make a fuss about it, then prance away from him as Jeh-kal death glared him down, fangs on display, until Berkr recalled his place in the beastie hierarchy and backed down. He may be big and bad enough to torment a human, but Big Business was bigger and I'm an asshole if you mess with me and mine; and Squeaks, as I affectionately called Dace, she was Suns Caves Clan.

Buu snagged me up, whispered his appreciation into my ear, planted one on me, then set me on the other side of him so I could easily reach Dace.

"I won't stay long," she mumbled, forcing a smile that wasn't quite reaching her eyes. "I just- I wanted you to have this. I made it- I mean, I mostly made it- I had help but I-"

Taking the gift from her, I opened it as she babbled. Unearthing a thick, luxurious looking baby blanket made out of the softest woven material, I knew what it was made of the second my fingers smoothed over it. "Oh, it's beautiful! This is kep-kep fur! It must have taken you ages! Thanks heaps, Squeaks!" Grabbing Dace up, I spun us a little as I hugged her to me, the blanket smashed in between us.

Spying Berkr still glaring, I lifted my free hand and pointed from my eyeballs to him, letting him know I was watching his ass.

Berkr quickly looked away. It was more than hate with that wad of fur. Buu and Rek had called it. Pepé was jumping rope with that fine line— borderline obsessed.

Rosa said the whole thing had Joanie and Rek in the early years vibes. She probably wasn't wrong. Poor Dace thought he hated her. The woman had no clue.

Speaking of my cousin, I released Dace and lifted a hand to wave as to my location as Mal and Rosa began loudly calling out for me and their caravan of trailing minis cried out for their Auntie Jojo.

"Right here, babes!" My mates all looked to me at once for that one. I grinned saucily and tossed them a wink.

Odix made a loud rumbling noise and moved in closer. Besides Buu, who was already right next to me, my Griz of a Yeti was the first to reach me, sidling up behind me. "S'pports want make baby showers, but we make happen," Odix huffed and puffed.

"Make goot. Better," Buu consoled him.

Odix's annoyed grumblings quieted as I hugged him, thanked him most thoroughly, and then patted his chest until he was just a big ol' pile of purrs.

"My goodness- Let me through!" Rosa bellowed from behind my mates as they gathered around me in a loose circle.

Mal laughed and then agreed, Doro joining in on the fun.

"She's mine, too!" Rosa joked, coming in hot for a hug.

"Me, too!" Kehko agreed, followed by her brothers quickly parroting the sentiment.

Before I knew it I had Kehko hugging and talking to my belly and two minions at my sides, attached at the hip.

"She's mine." Kehko looked straight at Rek as she said it. The little stinker was a shit starter after my own heart.

Celuk laughed, clapped Rek on the back and said something to him in Lo denaii that had Kehko grinning victoriously and Rek grumbling something that to me said, Fine, whatever.

Gopher and Odix grinned at the byplay.

"Boog knowed Jo first," Booger teased.

"Rek knowed first, ‘fore Boogers," Rek grumblingly countered.

Kehko made a face at them but held tight to me.

"Technically…" Rosa started to chime in with a laugh.

"Don't you give my godbaby niece a freakin' complex," I warned the lot.

"Mommy wins!" Kehko announced, then moved to stand with Rosa and make room for Mal and her lot to move in.

"Happy showering of your baby!" Mal joked, repeating Khri's attempt at saying baby shower.

"Khri says it right," Khri argued with Boog, pointing at their mate as they each held one of their girls in their arms. Binc was starting to pass up Kitty, making her seem older than her smaller sibling. They were both growing so damn fast I could barely stand it. Soon they'd be wreaking havoc like Gopher's sisters.

"Make the ways! Makes the ways!" Gopher's BapaFuz called out. "Make turns!" BapaLuz agreed, with BapaJo and BapaGo grumbling their approval.

"Take turns," Papa corrected.

Mamma laughed while the Bapas countered as one, "Same things!"

"Presents!" someone shouted over the din.

"Cake," shouted another.

"How about we all stop shouting!" Daisy chirped from somewhere in the crowd, ever the chaos coordinator. Listening to her shouting instructions for a line and timely manner, I couldn't help but grin.

These fools, this whole fucking village, I was part of this huge ass thing, this crazy, kooky, wild family of beings coming together, working together to keep everyone fed, protected, alive, this was what I was bringing my baby girl into, all this love.

It was the best gift of all.

Swiping at my eyes as the weepies got the best of me, I hid it by bellowing over the din, "Did someone say presents and cake?!"

Daisy sputtered incredulously, my mates grinned in amusement, Mal and Rosa laughed and then joined me in the chaotic revelry with Dorothy shaking her head at us.

My kid was spoiled beyond reason and they weren't even here yet. They had more honorary uncles and aunties than they'd know what to do with.

The cake was phenomenal. I had Boog and Dorothy to thank for it, a joint effort with cookies pressed into the frosting.

Best fucking baby shower ever.