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Arthur sighed. "We'll see."

Ikissed his chest,then his neck, then his cheek, and finally his lips. "No matter what happens, I'm glad to be here with you. Everything will have been worth it just because I got to seeyou."

"It's not over,"he said quietly. "It's justbeginning."

We lay togetherin each other's arms for a while, just enjoying each other's presence and touch. The moonlight slowly tiptoed its way up the bed and across the wall as the hours trickled by. I didn't know what would happen tomorrow. I was afraid that all of this would be over, as quick as it had come back together. Whenever I glanced at Arthur's face, thinking he must've dozed off by now, I saw his eyes were open. I realized he probably was thinking the same thing Iwas.

"Arthur,"Iwhispered.

"Yeah?"

"Ishould goto the other room. Jupiter won't know where she is in themorning."

"Okay."

Leavinghis arms felt like the most painful thing, like my body was crying out to return to his embrace. I slowly slid out from the covers and he followed me, taking my hand. I realized what this felt like—the last day we'd spent together back then. Every moment of that day we'd wanted to be in each other's arms, unwilling to let go of each other's hands, hoping that maybe if he held on tight enough everything would turn outokay.

"I'll be here tomorrow,"I reassured him, knowing he was having the same fears and feelings as me. Herelaxed.

"Goodnight,"he said. "I'll see you tomorrow." And he smiled, like he was delighted to hear himself speak thosewords.

"Tomorrow,"I repeated, and disappeared into the otherroom.

Jupiter was curledup under the covers, sleeping peacefully. A kiss of moonlight splashed across her forehead, and I went and drew the curtains shut and slid under the covers next to her. Despite the wild turn the day had brought, and all the fresh uncertainty that came with it, I felt calmer at that moment than I had in a very longtime.

* * *

The next morning,I woke up and gave Jupiter a bath before laying out some of my clothes on the bed to change. Jupiter bounced up and down on the huge bed, giggling as she rolled around. She was unable to complete a full shift yet, but she had figured out how to pop out her ears and tail, so she wiggled around with just a set of wolf pup ears and a fluffy greytail.

"Do we live here, Daddy?"

"No, sweetie,"I said, buttoning up my shirt. "We're just staying here for now. This is Daddy's good friend'splace."

"Oh. I like the bed."She laughed and plopped down into the billowy comforter, her little tailwagging.

Suddenly,the door to the bedroom opened. I turned around, grinning, expecting to see Arthur, but was surprised to see someone else. He was around Arthur's age, probably a little younger, and holding on to his hand was a little girl around five years old. I immediately could see the family connection—this was one of Arthur'sbrothers.

"Uhh, hello,"he said, freezing. "Who areyou?"

"Hello,"I said, "I'm Perry Houndfang." Part of me wanted to use my bachelor name, Windhelm, but it probably wouldn't have been proper. "Um, Arthur put me and my daughter up in thisroom."

"I'm Vander,"he said, shaking my hand. "This is my daughter,Alexis."

Jupiter satin the middle of the bed, watching quietly. She always became very quiet around other people. Alexis walked over and climbed up onto the bed, and Jupiter eyed hercautiously.

"Isn'tmy daddy's bed fun?" Alexis asked. "It's so big, and poofy. Look what I can do on it." She started to bounce up and down, and at the peak of her jump she shifted, to my surprise, into a bear cub. Vander's mate was a bear, apparently. She bounced back onto the bed, and Jupiter's eyes widened. She started to laugh, her tail waggingfuriously.

"Do it again!"shesquealed.

Ismiled. "Vander,"I repeated. "Oh, this is your room! I'm sosorry."

"No worries,"Vander said. "Arthur didn't know we'd be home. You're... I know you." His eyes widened. "You'rethatomega!"

Ilaughed. "That omega?"

"Sorry,I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that, we kinda just had a conversation about why Arthur wouldn't date omegas,and—"

He was cutoff when Arthur came up next to him and rested his elbow on hisshoulder.