Caleb gave a bark of laughter. “That old bastard was Renee’s father, James Langford and he hated me. I mean hoped-I-would-die kind of hated me.” Caleb picked up a blanket and folded it.
“What! Why?” Kate asked.
“Well, he had it in his mind that she would mate within the leap and stay home and raise lots of grand-babies for him to dote on, being the good little wife,” Caleb said.
“Let me guess, she hated staying still.”
Caleb nodded. “The only reason we were able to meet in Nepal is because her mother, before she died, made her father promise to send Renee to school. She was in graduate school when we met. She lived every day to its fullest, knowing that someday she would have to return to the leap and give birth, staying until her children were grown. She was wild and crazy, always wanting to try something different. She could have had another ten years to herself before being asked to reproduce for the leap, but her father made sure she was one of the first asked. So she asked me to be the father, knowing it would drive him crazy.” He smiled.
“The look on the old man’s face when we showed up and she announced that I would be the father of her children was priceless. But he couldn’t dictate who she reproduced with, so we made arrangements with a local fertility clinic and then the boys came along.” He placed another blanket in the box and picked up a washcloth. He gripped it tightly in his hands.
“I knew he hated me but never really paid attention. Most of the leap accepted me and I made quite a few friends there, but I could never seem to get on his good side. One day I was in the kitchen with the boys when I offered Landon some orange juice. I was the only one in the house that drank it, so it was like my own personal stash. The old man was just coming into the kitchen and knocked the glass away from my hand, spilling a little on Landon. I remember just staring at him in shock when an odd smell started to come from the spilled orange juice. He just stood there, clutching his chest and breathing hard. He had poisoned the juice and I had almost given it to my son. It would have made me violently ill. It wouldn’t have been deadly given my age, weight, and height. But Landon was so young and tiny.” Caleb stopped and threw the washcloth into the box, taking deep breaths as his old anger returned.
“It took Renee and four other leopards to get my hands from around his throat. When Renee learned what had happened, she threatened to pack up the boys and leave. The old man just broke down right there in the kitchen. I think it shocked her and a lot of the leap members. He was one of the Elders in charge of the leopards and to see him come so completely undone…” Caleb shook his head and took a deep breath.
“After that we settled into an easy truce. He loved the boys with every cell in his body. He would stay up with them and feed them. He spared no expense when they set up their nursery. I think seeing what his hate could have done really turned things around for him. When I got home the day of the attack I found his body in the hallway in front of the boys’ room. I still don’t know if he knew the room was empty when he died since I had snuck the boys out for the photos.”
Caleb looked over at Kate to see tears spilling over her cheeks. She opened her arms and he eagerly wrapped his arms around her, needing to feel the warmth of another person after reliving the worst day of his life.
“It’s awful what he was going to do to you, but you could see how much he loved them. It’s in the way you painted his eyes.” Kate turned in his arms so that they both faced the mural.
“It’s why I don’t want the boys to forget him. He loved them both so much.” Caleb rested his chin on the top of her head. He loved the fact that she was tall for a woman. He didn’t have to reach down to kiss her. He didn’t know how Aleks Arkadion did it. His mate was tiny.
“Who are they?” she said and giggled. He looked to where she was pointing and smiled.
“That is Rafe and Rashin. Personality wise they were like your Rian and Damian. Fun-loving and goofy, but loyal. They were Renee’s littermates. They used to tease Renee about all the things they were going to teach the boys to do. They were my best friends besides Renee. I never found their bodies, only a lot of blood and fur in their rooms. I knew they put up one hell of a fight.” Caleb continued to hold Kate, letting go of the feelings of grief he had been holding in. He didn’t realize how much he had needed to talk about his leopard family until now.
“You should do a picture book. Draw all the people and leopards and tell stories about when the boys were babies so they can see the kind home they were born into and the family that loved them.”