Page 46 of Single Teddy (Mayberry Protectors #6)

FORTY

WESLEY

“ H ere. I’ll take that,” Donovan said and grabbed the box marked as sweaters off me.

“Oh, ever so kind,” I said. “Maybe you can help me with the pencil case next.”

Donovan stuck his tongue out and entered my house while I looked into the van for the next box. I reached for the one marked as kitchenware, when Teddy appeared and stepped in front of me to take the box from me.

“I’ll take that. It’s okay,” he said.

I glared at him with my hands on my hips, but he just blew me a kiss and turned his back on me to go into the house.

“Why is everyone treating me like I’m pregnant?” I asked.

Bear, who had been sitting on the porch with the cat carriers on either side, jumped up with a huge smile on his face and looked at me.

“Are you pregnant, Uncle Welsey?” he asked.

I burst out laughing, but before I could reply to him, Ruby came out and patted his little shoulder.

“Not yet, but give it a couple of months, kiddo.”

Bear did a happy dance, and I glared at my sister.

“That’s not true, Bear. Don’t listen to Ruby. Cisgender men can’t get pregnant,” I said, and Bear’s smile immediately turned into a pout.

“But don’t worry, Beary-Bear. Uncle Wesley and Uncle Teddy are really, really trying.”

“Ruby!” I shouted at my sister, and an elderly couple who were walking past the house jumped. I offered them my best smile before I looked back at my sister, and with my best threatening look, told her to shut up.

By the time I got her mouth sealed with packing tape, poor Bear looked so confused. So I had to sit down in the middle of the move and tell him that yes, Ruby was just kidding and no, neither Teddy nor I could get pregnant.

“Are you happy with yourself?” I asked Ruby when Teddy got Bear’s attention and gave him a small suitcase to carry into the house.

“Why? What did I do wrong?” she asked, having freed herself from the tape. “You guys hump like bunnies. I wouldn’t be surprised if you achieved the impossible.” She placed the used tape over my exposed arm hair and smiled brightly.

I gasped.

“You’re dead! You’re freaking dead!” I shouted and went after her, but she was already all the way outside and using Donovan for protection.

“Don’t you dare use him. If Autumn saw you, she’d lynch you alive.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow and turned to Donovan, who nodded with defeat.

“Shame. And here I thought she was a sharer. Oh well. You can still protect an innocent damsel in distress, can’t you?” she told him.

Donovan looked around us before he answered.

“And where is she?” he asked, only for Ruby to smack his arm.

She then turned to Teddy.

“You’ll protect your beautiful sister-in-law who loves you so, so much, won’t you?”

Teddy smiled and lifted her off the ground to carry her into the house like a blushing bride, and I didn’t know why, but that made me even more annoyed with her.

He should be doing that with me. I mean, we weren’t married yet, but still, I should be the only one he carried over thresholds and such shit.

He returned moments later and looked inside the van with a look of despair.

“How much crap can someone accumulate in ten months? This is whack,” he said.

I rolled my eyes and pushed him to the side.

“We’re almost done. Shut up.” I grabbed a box, and so did Donovan and Teddy, and a couple more back-and-forths later, the van was as empty as when we’d started.

I returned to the porch and looked inside the house. The mud room on the right side of the staircase was full of Teddy’s and Bear’s boxes.

I still couldn’t believe it. Not only had we made it past eight months and were on our way to our one-year anniversary, but they had finally moved in.

We’d been going back and forth for so long and trying to figure out what was best for Bear, plus the situation with Salieri, and before we knew it, eight months had passed before we’d finally gone ahead and done the thing.

And what an eight months it had been. It had been as beautiful as it had been explosive.

As magical as it had been dark, but we were finally on the other side.

And everyone could finally live their much-deserved happily ever afters.

We might have lost a few things along the way, but we’d won over evil. That much was certain.

“Uncle Wesley?” Bear put his hand in mine, and I looked down at my little man, who had grown leaps and bounds since he’d first arrived on the island.

He was a brand-new child. Confident and sociable. Funny and excitable. Just like all kids should be.

“Yes, Bear, honey?”

“Can we let the cats out now? I think they’re tired.”

We both looked over at the cat carriers, and I nodded. I took one, and Bear tried to lift the other, but thankfully, Teddy came to his rescue. We walked inside, closed the door, and opened both flaps.

I’d had to make some changes when we’d decided to go ahead with the move, and one of the first was to find out which plants were cat-safe and which weren’t.

Sadly, most of the ones I had weren’t safe, but with Teddy’s help, I’d managed to build a sort of greenhouse in the second-floor mezzanine that wouldn’t be accessible to the cats.

I found new plants to put around the house that were okay for Blue and Sassy.

It had been a wonderful experience, and I knew much more about prayer plants and ferns now than I did before, which was a huge plus.

“Okay, ready?” Teddy asked.

Bear nodded like a bobblehead, and we let the flaps down and waited for the kitties to come out. They didn’t.

“Hm…I think they’re shy,” Teddy said.

“We really should start them off in one room to get them used to all the new smells,” I said, and as we both tried to get the flaps zipped back up, one of the cats, Sassy, bolted out of her carrier and ran up the stairs, between the balusters, and onto the mantel, knocking one of the ferns onto the floor.

“Oh my god.” Teddy turned to me, grimacing, and put his arms around me sheepishly. “I’m so sorry. Look at us, not two minutes in the house and we’re already causing chaos.”

I chuckled and shook my head.

“Oh, hush you. No chaos whatsoever.”

“But…but the fern,” he said.

“The fern is resilient and will survive. I’ve got a million planters to replace the broken one. I’m not going to cry over spilled milk.”

Teddy pressed his lips together and looked at the floor.

He was adorable. Made even more so by his newest knitted sleeveless sweater, a striped pink—his favorite color—and yellow tight top.

I wasn’t sure how long he’d keep wearing wool pieces in the summer heat, but I was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

“Did someone spill milk too?” Donovan asked, and Teddy gave him the middle finger while Bear wasn’t looking.

“Let me clean this up,” Teddy said and tried to pull away from me, but I kept him right where he was.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll get it in a minute. Just stay here and enjoy this moment with me. We finally did it.”

He smiled.

“We sure did. What do you think, buddy? Are you excited about our new home?” he asked Bear and picked him up.

“I’m happy we’re all going to live together,” he said, and I hugged both him and his uncle.

“Me too, Beary-Bear. Me too.”

How I’d gone from a single plant dad to a man in a relationship with a kid and two pets, I didn’t know, but I was going to thank my lucky stars for as long as I lived and breathed for bringing this man of mine into my life.

I’d never felt more loved and at home than with him, and I knew this new chapter in our lives was going to be the best one yet.

“Agh. Gross. I need my EpiPen. So…much…cheese.” Ruby grabbed her throat and threw herself on the floor, but we all stared at her and none of us laughed. Well, none but Bear, but I’d teach him better.

“Oh, before I forget,” Teddy said, passing Bear to me and running out the door.

He returned after a moment with a big object wrapped in paper.

“What is that?” I asked and approached him.

“A housewarming present. For the greenhouse,” he said.

“I’m the one who’s supposed to give you a housewarming present.”

He shrugged.

“I know how much you love philodendrons, and I wanted to get you something pretty for being the best boyfriend in the world.”

More gagging sounds came from Ruby’s way, but I ignored her and put Bear down so I could open Teddy’s present on the floor.

It was a red heart philodendron with spiky deep red leaves in the middle. It was so thoughtful and beautiful, and it would forever remind me of him, of our love.

“What do you think?” he asked, getting down on his knees to face me.

“I love it,” I said. “I love you.”

His smile deepened.

“Nah. Not possible. I love you more.”

Ruby gagged louder.

“Seriously, people. Call 9-1-1. I’m dying here,” she said.

Before either of us could react, Donovan turned to her with a dead stare and said, “Good. Maybe it’ll be quiet for once.”

And we all burst out laughing. Including Ruby, who offered Donovan her hand, and when he tried to help her to her feet, she pulled him down with her.

“That’s for being an ass.” Then she grabbed his phone and walked away from him. “And I’m calling your girlfriend to tell her how horrible you are to her friends.”

“No! Please. Mercy. Mercy!” He ran after her, and once we were all alone again, I turned to my boyfriend and kissed his lips.

“Right. Let’s find Sassy and get her and Blue into the upstairs bathroom.”

Teddy gave me a military salute, and Bear copied him, and then we split up to find Sassy and get both cats to feel welcome in their new home, which proved to be quite the adventure.

Then again, my whole life had been a beautiful, slightly dangerous adventure since I met Teddy and Bear, and whatever happened next would be just as wonderful if not more.

I guessed that was what happily-ever-afters were. Not the end of an adventure, but the start of a new one.

And I, for one, couldn’t wait to experience it.