Peaky Wolfers

Once Celine had healed from her broken ankle and everything began to settle down, she felt more peaceful than she had in years. Her hormones and vampire abilities seemed to have stabilized, and now she found herself eager to embrace her new powers. They had helped her save Emelie, and they inspired a new quiet kind of confidence in her. Emelie continued to grow like a weed, and loved leaping off the furniture. One morning Celine finished making breakfast and turned to find Kade reading the newspaper, gently trying to nudge Emelie away from his ankle as she happily chomped on it, clinging to his pant leg. The little golden bracelet he’d gotten her sparkles on her wrist. Celine smiled and shook her head.

“You’re going to turn her into a fussy little princess,” she teased.

“She is a princess,” Kade replied. “And you are my beautiful queen.”

“Hmm. Fitting I suppose, since you are our knight in shining armor.” Celine set his plate in front of him and kissed his cheek. She picked Emelie up and put her in her high chair.

“Emmy, your father isn’t on the breakfast menu.”

Emelie made a little huffing noise, as if she disagreed. But she perked up when Celine gave her a plate of steak bites. It had been about two months since Celine had dispatched Archie when she came home from an evening stroll with Emelie to find the pack gathered at the house.

“What’s all this?” she asked as Tillie tugged her inside. Emelie let out a trill of excitement and Tillie picked her up to kiss her cheek. The two of them were such vehicles of chaotic energy that Emelie always loved to hang out with her Aunt Tillie. Tillie had started calling her Millie, insisting that the rhyming names would cement her place as Emelie’s favorite person besides her parents.

“You never did get a baby shower,” Tillie explained. “With everything happening and the unpredictable nature of your pregnancy, we never did properly celebrate you and the new addition.”

“Oh, you really don’t need to do that,” Celine said, blushing slightly.

“We got you cake from that bakery you like,” Tillie said. Celine felt embarrassed to be the center of attention but Emelie was bouncing around the living room, trying to entice everyone into a game of chase. Kade snatched her up and placed her on his lap.

“I know you’d get all stressed and humble if anyone overdid the gifts,” Tillie went on. “But I made a suggestion and there was unanimous agreement.”

“What did you do?” Celine asked warily.

“I know Kade got you a charm bracelet, so we wanted to give you these.” Tillie dramatically handed Celine two little gold charms; one was a moon and one was a howling wolf.

“We just wanted you to know, you are part of the pack,” Bobby said. “It’s not just because Kade is our Alpha. You were nice to us from the beginning.”

“Yeah, and you make people feel safe,” Delia added. “And you’re pretty. And you give us birthday parties. And technically you’re the boss of Kade.”

“Rude,” Kade said, gently poking her with his foot.

“If you or Emelie are ever in trouble, we’ll be there to help. Er, if you need it. You seemed to have a handle on this last confrontation,” Bobby said.

Celine looked down at the charms in her palm and felt her eyes get a little damp. She smiled before clipping them onto the bracelet and then circling the room to plant a kiss on everyone’s cheek, making poor Tommy flush crimson. They spent about an hour talking and eating cake; Kade and Celine took turns keeping Emelie from leaping on their guests. Emelie came over to look closer at Celine’s bracelet, focusing on the wolf charm. Everyone laughed delightedly when she spontaneously shifted, taking on her wolf cub form. She let out a tiny howl, as if sensing their approval. Celine thought Kade might cry.

Celine abruptly cocked her head, turning toward the front door. Emelie seemed to sense that something was happening, shifting back into human form and watching Celine as she watched the door.

“Daddy’s here,” Celine said, breaking into a smile. She hurried to the door, and a few moments later Silas burst in without even bothering to knock. Jinxie was perched on his shoulder and he squeaked excitedly.

“You’re back!” Celine cried, laughing when Silas lifted her into a hug as if she was still a little girl.

“I had to come and see my granddaughter,” he said. Emelie had come up behind Celine, peeking around her legs and seeming amazed by the tall, powerful vampire before her.

“Come on out, sweetie. Grandpa wants to meet you.” Celine gently nudged her forward. Silas leaned over to study her more closely.

“Well, now aren’t you a pretty thing?” Silas remarked. “And growing so fast. I remember when your mother was this age.” He picked her up and Emelie stared at him for a moment before he tickled her and she giggled. Jinxie fluttered over to nuzzle Celine. He had gone with Silas while Celine and Kade were on their honeymoon, and apparently enjoyed his little excursion to Europe.

“So much happened while I was gone,” he said. “You’ll have to tell me everything.”

The shifters all seemed a little wary of Silas at first, even those who had met him before. But after about an hour of watching him bounce Emelie on his knee to make her squeal with laughter, everyone seemed to relax.

“She’s quite rambunctious,” Silas noted.

“Was Celine like that as a baby?” Kade asked.

“Oh, not really. Celine was a quiet little thing. She hardly ever cried. She would just sit there and look at you with those big gray eyes and this little smile on her face, like she knew a hell of a lot more than you. When she got a little older though, she decided she loved water. Gave her poor mother a fright plenty of times, trying to jump into just about any body of water she could find.”

It was past midnight and even Emelie had used up her well of energy when everyone finally said good night. Emelie was big enough now to sleep in her crib, so Celine tucked her in, humming softly. Kade came up behind her, putting an arm around her waist. They stood like that for a few moments before slipping out and leaving her to sleep. Kade pulled her closer once they’d reached the bedroom and rested his forehead against hers. She nuzzled his nose, which made him smile.

“You still get a look on your face sometimes, like you know special secrets the rest of us haven’t figured out yet,” he said.

“That’s just because I’m psychic,” Celine smirked. Kade arched an eyebrow.

“What am I thinking right now?” he asked. Celine’s cheeks flamed and she lightly smacked his arm.

“Kade.”

He just grinned and winked at her.

Emelie continued her rapid growth for a few more months, looking like a toddler by the end of her first year. She had started talking not long after Silas came back to town; her first word was, “mommy.” The second was, “daddy,” and the third had been, “bulllshit,” which had earned Kade a death glare as he tried to pretend he suddenly had somewhere else to be.

Now that Emelie was more or less physically and mentally on par with a five year old, she was starting school on September 1st. Celine got her clothes all ready, with no help at all from Kade, who seemed five seconds from an emotional breakdown.

“It’s only kindergarten, Kade.”

“She’s growing up too fast. Why don’t we have her start school in about five more years? I can’t stand the idea of her being gone all day.”

“She’ll only be gone from eight til noon. You’ll literally be at work.”

“That’s not the point.”

Celine shook her head. “At least at school she can learn to read books instead of just picking up swear words.”

“Hey, I said I was sorry about the bullshit thing.”

“She said, “chucklefuck” just two days ago,” Celine said, and Kade carefully avoided meeting her gaze. They walked Emelie to school together the next morning, each of them holding one of her hands. For her part, Emelie didn’t seem nervous at all. Kade on the other hand was barely keeping it together. Celine had to pry Emelie’s hand free of his. She hugged them both, chirped, “love you mommy, love you daddy,” and then bounded up the school steps. Celine had to stop Kade from running in after her.

“She didn’t forget her pencils, Kade. I packed everything for her myself.”

“What if she forgot-“

“She didn’t.” Celine took his hand and tugged him gently away from the school. “Come on, we’ll be back to pick her up in a few hours.”

Kade finally relented and allowed her to steer him home. She kept her fingers laced through his as they walked. When they reached the front door, she pulled him into a kiss.

“You’ll be fine and so will she,” Celine assured him. “As long as this family has each other, we can conquer anything.”