Chapter Twenty-Two

With the motel up and running, we were busy in a whole new way we hadn't quite anticipated. Before, we worked hard, but it was on our own timing. The motel guests were real people who had needs that they expected their hosts to fulfill. Like fresh towels and someone to check them in, for example.

We were busy getting ready for the arrival of the baby, too, and that meant appointments and shopping and getting a nursery ready for this new little person who we were all awaiting with such joy and anticipation.

But nobody was more excited than big sister Thia.

"I have to listen to the baby," she said, multiple times a day. Then would press her ear to Fyn's belly and get the pregnancy news. "They're fine but they want more ice cream," meaning, Fyn should eat some. "And they want me to have some, too."

I wasn't actually sure if she heard the baby, but shifter children often had abilities that adults didn't, but I still wasn't giving her ice cream as often as she thought the baby felt she should have it. She and her sibling were going to be ganging up on us, it seemed.

But it was still adorable.

We'd hired some housekeeping help and a part-time front desk clerk, making it possible for us to get away for a bit of time here and there, and we were all excited to have a date planned for after our midwife appointment.

"Okay, Thia, you all ready to go over to Sadie's?" Stefano and Pilan's daughter was her new best friend. "Got your backpack?" We were sending along some new crayons and a couple of fairy coloring books. Snacks were pointless when she was going to Stefano's house where not only would they be delicious but healthful.

"I have it, Daddy." She ran down the drive to hop in the car and into her seat. "Sadie has a new fairy doll to show me." Our little leader had her friend sharing her favorite things. "I get to stay for dinner?"

"Yes, we'll pick you up after we have dinner out."

"It's a date." She gave a wise nod. "Sadie says her daddies go on dates, too."

We were going on what was essentially our first date, which we all found funny, and after dropping off our daughter, we visited the midwife for a regular checkup.

It was always interesting to get the input of the midwife, although she couldn't tell us what kind of animal our baby might be. With three such different fathers, the babe could be a panther, a bunny, or a wolf, and we'd spent many nights talking about what this one might be. Thia, of course, would be a bunny since both her dads were, but this baby?

"The baby is growing well," the midwife said, feeling all around Fyn's belly. "Pretty large, I'd say."

"Then probably a panther or wolf." I couldn't be disappointed. Whatever they were, we'd be happy to welcome them into our family.

"Not necessarily. I've seen plenty of smaller animal shifter babes as big or bigger than larger types. You're going to have to wait and see when your child is old enough to shift, most likely."

"I guess that's something to look forward to," Ripley put in. "But of course the most important thing is that the baby is healthy."

"Looks good to me. Do you have any questions I can answer for you?"

We did have a few, mostly about diet and exercise and whether his getting up to pee six or eight times a night was normal. The midwife assured us that everything was great, that frequent trips to the restroom were very much in the norm, and suggested that while drinking lots of water was important, maybe stop a little earlier in the evening in the hopes of a trip or two less.

After scheduling our next appointment, we were free to go on our big date to the Grizzly. The dining room was nice, rustic, and this evening, there were mostly couples and only a couple of children. That still made me wonder if I shouldn't have brought Thia, but my mates caught onto my train of thought and held my hands, reminding me that this was a romantic night of just my mates and me. We ordered mocktails because if Fyn wasn't drinking, neither were the rest of us and lingered over rib eyes and garlic mashed potatoes before ending the meal with slabs of the best chocolate cake I'd ever had.

Not a bad first date for three dads-to-be.