Chapter Nineteen

Thia's birthday was going to be the occasion of the year. There was still a lot to do, but our princess had begged to have a party in the "fairy garden." That led to a wild week of preparations, of finishing planting beds and stringing thousands of fairy lights all around the edges and overhead. The cake came from a wonderful bakery in town that we'd learned made donuts only once a week, and our little family had lined up with just about everyone else in town to get our share a few times. It was pink and sparkly and topped with a fairy princess.

A kids' party wasn't much fun without other kids, but since we'd met Giorgio and Stefano, they'd introduced us to some of the other parents and their children, and Thia was so excited to share her fairy garden with them all. No amount of explanation that there was still a lot to do could take the edge off her excitement, and as we were finishing the setup, I could almost see the fairies, too.

As Ripley worked to renovate the gardens, Thia was his constant shadow, and as a result, we had as many weeds as flowers because we couldn't pull out the flowers the fairies loved. Fortunately, the fairies were drawn to the native plants in many cases, and with what we added and what remained, a curious harmony resulted.

Tables and chairs were set around the patio at the center of the garden, and our guests would be dining on a menu designed by the guest of honor. Fyn and I were the cooks, and we had stayed up most of the previous night creating "fairy sandwiches" for Thia and her friends. They had really interesting fillings like cream cheese and strawberry preserves. Whipped cream and blueberries. Almond butter and bananas.

She also had a fruit tray with a dip and a chocolate fountain.

As to the adults, we'd cheated and had it catered by the Grizzly. Still sandwiches but ones more likely to be popular with panther and wolf shifters as well as the large number of bears. Assorted meats and cheeses on fresh-baked rolls, four kinds of salads, and several other items. I lost track as Stefano made suggestion after suggestion and we agreed to it all. With all the hard work we'd been doing, our friend's cooking was very welcome. By the time we finished for the day, we didn't have the energy to do much fancy cooking. And while we had gotten takeout from the Grizzly, we'd never managed to go there for a nice date night.

We no longer had the excuse we didn't know anyone who would watch our girl, but we were just working too hard with the hopes of getting the place open soon.

"I think we're ready," Fyn said, resting his hand on his sexy baby bump. "I hope she'll love it."

"How could she not?" I slipped an arm around his waist. "It's all sparkles, and the garden is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Ripley keeps saying there's so much more to do, but it's already one of the prettiest gardens I've ever seen."

"I think so, too."

Just then, cars began to arrive and the guests spilled out of them. Indeed, there were a lot of forest rangers in the mix, most of them bears, and all sorts of other shifters as well. This town had embraced us, and I sometimes felt as if I couldn't even remember a time before I lived here. Of course, I had some very good years to look back on, and the picture of my late mate in Thia's room was a reminder of one more daddy who'd loved her. I told her stories about him when she asked, usually goofy tales of the trouble we got into when we were young. More often than not, one or both of my mates came in and listened. They truly were interested in hearing, and I loved hearing about their pasts as well.

That's how family is. A happy family.

And Thia was so excited about the coming baby. She confided to me once that she thought when her omega daddy died, she'd never have any brothers or sisters and that made her even sadder. She was so little to have had such heavy thoughts.

But you'd never know it now as she twirled with her friends who all came in fairy-themed outfits, boys and girls each in their own representation of the theme. That store must have sold out of tulle, although some of the kids had kind of a superhero version. They were all adorable.

"Where do you want this?" Stefano and his brother and their mates were carrying huge trays and bowls, and we sent them to the buffet table set up for the purpose.

Thia fluttered up just then. "Daddies, where are the wands?" We'd bought one for each child as party favors, and I ran into the house to get the box, which hopefully was the only thing we'd forgotten. Then we had a busy time where she was passing them out to her friends prior to beginning the games.

Four hours later, we were waving the last car away and looking at the mess that remained to be cleaned up. "No way," Fyn groaned. "Can we just put away the food to avoid attracting the wrong kind of bears and then go to sleep?"

With Thia over my shoulder, already out, I laughed softly. "Ripley and I have got this, mate. You take our baby to bed, and I'll tuck Thia in and then come out and deal."

"I should protest," he said, "but how about I just take Thia?" He held out his arms and I passed her over. "She was a real princess, wasn't she? I saw her cheating at a game so a friend would win a prize instead of her."

"She's going to be the best big sister."