Enlightening Bloom(49)

“French toast?” I ask, running my hand over the top of her head. She nods, vigorously, and takes off back inside, running so fast on her boot covered feet that her braided hair flies out behind her. The silly girl is probably already up in our suite pulling out all the ingredients.

I sneak one more kiss from Bloom, and then pulling away I tell her. “Get dressed so you can meet us in the kitchen.”



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Bonnie



"Bonnie-bean, I mean it! Tell me what's in that duffle bag!" Tucker growls, his frustration with my secret clear. Not that I really mind. He doesn't scare me one tiny bit. The man may look like a giant, but I know he's nothing but a cuddly little wolf.

"Stop calling me cuddly and little!"

"Stop reading my thoughts!"

"I'm your mate. I don't have to!"

The door to the suite opens. I ignore whoever it is as I go into a stare down with my stubborn mate. "What's wrong?" I hear Bloom's little girl ask in her sing-song voice.

My boys push past us to get into the room as one of them responds. "Nothing new."

The other pipes up. "They're just doing that weird arguing thing."

I look away from my staring competition to protest. "We're not arguing."

The twins look at each other, and then back at me before they say in unison. "Yes, you are."

"We're talking. Like adults." I try to explain, as I pull the duffle bag a little further up my arm.

"You're arguing." Grayson responds, instantly. He's my little know-it-all. He knows why the grass is green (Because it contains a pigment known as chlorophyll. At least, that's what he told me.), and all kinds of other little facts that a normal six year old wouldn't know. It's just one of the things that makes my boy special. But right now with his know-it-all eyes staring me down, like his daddy, I'm not really appreciating that gift. I have to remind myself that I'm the adult here so I won't stick my tongue out at him.

"They're sooo arguing." Grady pipes in. He is Grayson's twin, and older by five minutes. Something he never lets his brother forget. My boys are identical in their looks with their daddy's hair and eyes, and my smile. But they couldn't be more different. Grayson's all about what he can learn from the world around him. Grady's all about what he can do with the world around him. He's always running, climbing, digging. Just yesterday, I caught him out back with a spoon trying to tunnel to China. He wasn't happy when his brother informed him it was impossible. I can't be certain, but my guess is he hasn't given up on the idea. Okay, so he may have inherited some stubbornness from me as well.

"Don't argue with your, Mom." Tucker warns them. They roll their eyes as they turn to Rose. In a hushed voice, that he knows we can still hear, Grayson tells her. "They were arguing."

Grady adds, in his own not so hushed voice. "But it's not the bad kind of arguing."

Grayson takes over again, this time with his nose scrunched in disgust. "Yeah, it's not bad. Just nasty." He leans closer to her, apparently wanting to keep what comes next a secret. "It always ends in them kissing."

"Eww!" Rose squeals. She looks over at Tucker and myself as she shakes her head. Her own face scrunched in disgust like my boys. The look only lasts for a second though, because she catches sight of the duffle. She points at the bag and asks. "What's in the bag, Aunt Bonnie?"

"Guns!"

"Bonnie!" Tucker rumbles.

"Do I get to shoot?" She asks, ignoring her mean Uncle Tucker's outburst.

"No." Pike answers, coming up behind his daughter.

I ignore his answer as I smile down at my niece and tell her. "Of course." Then I continue to ignore him as he throws up his hands, grumbling about nobody listening to the Alpha, because I'm too busy taking in the glorious smile plastered on his little girl's face. She is so her mother's daughter.



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Bloom



I walk into the kitchen, fresh from the shower, my hair braided down my back like normal, and my boots on my feet. Pike already has breakfast done and our table is filled with the people I love. I take the seat between Pike and our little girl. I lean over to kiss him, and then turn to kiss the top of our little girl’s head as I ask. “What are your plans today, my little Rose?”

She looks up from her breakfast, and with syrup covered lips smiles. “Aunt Bonnie’s teaching us how to shoot her guns!”

My eyes fly to my best friend, who laughs at the worried look I give her as she goes about pouring more juice for her twin boys. “I don’t know why you’re giving me that look. It’s not my fault Rose is a tomboy like her mother. I know I sure as heck tried my best to get her in dresses and bows from the time you popped her out, but having your DNA she was destined for jeans and boots.”