"You're a danger to all women," she said trying to get her breathing under control. Her daughter was in the next room for goodness sakes!
"No. Just you," he corrected. He closed his eyes and let his head drop back on his shoulders. When he opened them again, his eyes were back to green.
She shook her head. He would be the death of her.
"Too bad you don't like blonds, huh?" he asked, wistfully.
Her mouth dropped. Whistling he threaded his fingers behind his head. "I wonder if Penny is done with her letters yet I could go for some Doctor Who." He walked out of the dining room leaving her a confused and aroused mess.
"Damn blond wolf shoes!" she rambled incoherently.
She heard him chuckle from the hallway. Smiling, she followed him so they could all watch the Doctor together.
*****
"Ryuu, I'm so sorry. I forgot to mention how picky she is." Colton watched as Rheia apologized for the third time.
"Don't worry about it. I just wish I knew what she liked so I could prepare it for her," Ryuu assured her.
Rheia picked up a fork with a piece of baked chicken on it. "Come on, baby. Just one bite."
Penny shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.
Colton stood. "Hold on angel, be right back." He walked out of the dining room and into the kitchen. It didn't take him long to assemble all the ingredients for his special sandwich. He made two, knowing how much running around Penny had done that afternoon, then one for himself. He put everything away, carried the plate out to the table and set it in front of Penny. She looked up at him questioningly before leaning in and sniffing the sandwich. Her eyes widened in surprise before she picked up the sandwich and took a huge bite.
Rheia turned to him disbelief on her face. "What on earth is that?"
"My specialty; beef jerky, pickle, peanut butter, mayonnaise and cheese sandwich," Colton announced feeling proud.
Everyone stared at him, the silence uncomfortable.
"Ahh, an oldie but a goldie. I love that sandwich," Aiden said, taking a bite of his chicken.
"Everything a growing pup needs. It was my favorite when I was a kid," Colton said, picking up his fork.
Everything looked from him to Aiden and back again.
Darian shook his head. "When you were a kid? You just happened to have all the ingredients on hand and knew where they were?" he teased.
"Okay, okay you got me. I had one yesterday," Colton admitted.
Aiden looked up a hurt look on his face. "Without me?"
"You like it?" Meryn asked, swallowing hard.
"Don't knock it, till you try it, short stuff." Colton waved his fork at her.
Aiden shrugged. "One day when were were cubs, I was playing over at his house and his mom went to visit his grandmother. We got hungry, so Colton said he'd make us sandwiches. Since we liked all the ingredients separately, we figured we'd like them all mixed together. We were right."
Penny picked up her second sandwich and dug in.
Rheia shook her head and turned to her own food. "I don't care how crazy it is, if she likes it and is willing to eat it, she can have it."
"I will have to learn about 'kid' food," Ryuu admitted, watching Penny carefully.
Meryn sat back smiling. "My favorite was always mac and cheese with cut up hot dogs in it, covered with barbecue sauce."
Beth licked her lips. "Mine was tuna fish, made with mayonnaise and spring vegetable sour cream mix, served with Andy's Hot Fries."
Meryn's eyes widened. "That sounds amazing."
Beth nodded, "I know, right."
A tiny sigh of contentment had everyone looking at Penny. She sat back in her chair patting her belly like an old man. Everyone burst out laughing.
"Glad you liked it, angel," Colton said, before ruffling her hair.
Yawning, she surprised the hell out of him when she climbed into his lap, popped her thumb in her mouth and snuggled up next to his chest. Colton stared down.
"What do I do?" he mouthed to Rheia.
Laughing, she pointed to his full plate. "Good luck and welcome to parenthood."
Colton carefully maneuvered his fork, taking small bites so that nothing would drop on his daughter's head.
Aiden chuckled at his discomfort. Colton flicked him off.
His friend took a huge bite of chicken and licked his lips, teasing him. Colton nearly woke Penny when Meryn elbowed her mate, causing Aiden to choke slightly on the huge bite he had taken. Meryn winked at him.
Aiden cleared his throat. "The contractors said they'll be with done with the addition by tomorrow. Meryn, what did Jaxon and Noah say about moving out?"
"They want to stay here, close to Command Central. Jaxon brought up a good point, too. He said that as I get further along with my pregnancy, it might be a good idea to have them close by. I may need their help walking and getting up, that sort of thing."
Aiden frowned. "You're kidding right?"
Meryn rubbed her belly. "Look at me, then look at you. I'll be lucky if I'm not on bed rest the last months of my pregnancy. I'm already having problems with anemia."
Colton frowned, feeling concerned for his friends. As much as Aiden was a brother to him, Meryn had become the bratty kid sister he never had; he didn't want to see anything happen to her.
Aiden stared at his mate. "I thought humans have babies all the time?"
Rheia spoke up. "We do, Aiden. I have a feeling that after today, I will be Meryn's attending physician and I can tell you that if your baby is as big as I think it will be, I will be classifying Meryn as a high risk pregnancy."