Today was special. They were having a mother and her twin five-year-olds over. This was the first time that Debbie would be exposed to the youngest members of the pack, besides Rose’s and Franny’s babies.
“Cindy Summerset is coming over with her twin girls after we eat lunch,” Allan said as they sat down to eat grilled cheese sandwiches he had made. That was one of his specialties and she loved them, so he loved fixing them for her.
He didn’t know why he reminded her of the pack member visits every day. Maybe to help her mentally prepare herself.
“I’ll be out chopping some much-needed firewood while you visit with them.” He’d tried to do a mix of visits, some where he was there with them, sometimes slipping out to give her more alone time with the pack members.
“They’re going to be afraid of me if I shift. The girls, I mean.”
“Not at all. You’ll be fine. And for the last two days, even though you had the urge to shift, you didn’t. So you’re making real progress.” He had seen the way Debbie had visibly tensed, as if she was holding back the urge to give in. Lori was visiting that day and quickly talked about swimming and diving at the lake anytime Debbie wanted. Though Debbie thanked her and seemed to want to do it, Allan noted that most of her concentration had been on forcing back the urge to shift. He’d seen the way she’d tightened her hands into fists and the strain on her face while he was cleaning out the fireplace.
It helped when a pack member talked away like nothing was amiss, though everyone could read the wolf cues. For Debbie to continue with the conversation and not totally freeze up said much about her gaining some control of her abilities. And that was a really good sign. Some newly turned wolves took much longer to adapt.
*
When the twins and their mother arrived, Allan made introductions and set the girls up at the table with milk and the homemade chocolate-chip cookies Debbie often made for pack visits. Rose had asked if she could sell them in her gift store along with the salsas and other things their mother made, and Debbie had loved being asked. And then Allan excused himself to chop wood.
Debbie didn’t mind. She’d rather he didn’t see her make a fool of herself if she had to shift all of a sudden when guests were here.
The girls were dressed in blue jeans and sweaters featuring flocks of fluffy sheep. The twins had backpacks, which they set on the dining table, unpacking coloring books and crayons. Debbie smiled. The twins were adorable. They glanced at her every once in a while as she and their mother talked, looking a bit curious.
“I started working out in Lori’s martial arts classes. I have so much more confidence now than when I first began,” Cindy said.
Debbie wondered if Cindy thought that if Debbie took some classes, she’d feel better about herself. She already knew martial arts so that she could apprehend criminals if she needed to, or to protect herself. She hadn’t had any confidence issues until she began turning into a wolf. Taking martial arts classes wasn’t going to cure that.
“She has all lupus garou classes and some that are just for female students,” Cindy continued.
One of the girls, Eliza, was vigorously coloring large areas of her page with blue crayon. The other, Meghan, was carefully working on something small with a purple crayon.
Debbie wondered where Cindy’s mate was, since they mated for life. She guessed she had lost him. All she knew was that Cindy had joined the pack and was raising the girls on her own.
“Do you take classes too?” Debbie asked the girls.
They both looked over at her. “Uh-huh,” they said in unison.
“Yes, ma’am,” their mother corrected them.
“Yes, ma’am,” they both quickly said.
Debbie smiled at them. They were sure sweet.
“Momma said you sometimes shift when you don’t want to,” Eliza said. Her blond curls were a little darker than her sister’s, and she was an inch taller and her cheeks fuller.
Her eyes widening, their mother looked horrified, and she opened her mouth to speak.
“Are you going to shift? Momma said not to act shocked if you did,” Meghan said matter-of-factly.
“I’m so sorry,” Cindy said, her cheeks flushed.
“No, that’s quite all right. I don’t feel like shifting right now. Sometimes it just happens when I least expect it.”
“Did you ever get stuck in your clothes when you started to change?” Eliza asked.
Often, but she wasn’t about to tell the girls about those times.
“Oh, I did once,” Meghan interjected before Debbie could respond. “We shift when Momma does so we don’t get into trouble.” Meghan’s eyes grew big and she leaned toward Debbie as if she was about to tell her a big secret. “I wasn’t listening to Momma when I was supposed to. She said we were to get undressed ’cuz we were going to shift.”
“You never listen,” Eliza said, coloring more of her picture blue.
“I do too.” Meghan stuck her tongue out at her.
“So what happened?” Debbie was getting a kick out of the twins and was so glad Cindy had brought them over.