Page 24

KEANE

“Felix, it’s time to go.”

I already had the car packed, and all I was waiting for was Felix to decide which shoes he was going to put on today.

Since turning three, he’d gained independence in different ways than I’d expected—mainly with his shoes. Our sweet boy was all about footwear. He didn’t care what clothes we gave him to wear. He didn’t care what coat, what haircut—none of that. But he had shoes for every occasion, and he was very matter-of-fact about there being only one right choice. I thought it would fade as he got older, but he was nearly four and just as shoe-focused, if not more so.

Today, we threw a monkey wrench into that routine. We hadn’t told him where we were going—just that it was a surprise. We couldn’t wait to tell him that our second little one was on the way.

Felix came running out with two different sneakers on. That was a first.

“So… you decided?” I asked, looking at his feet.

“No. So I did both.” For a child his age, he had some pretty solid problem-solving skills.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Is Papa coming with us?” He looked around for Boaz.

“Yeah, he’s already out by the car.”

Felix ran ahead of me, straight to his papa, who helped him get buckled into his seat, and we were off to give him the good news—and to show him the surprise we’d picked out for him, which was our first stop.

I’d forgotten how much he wasn’t a fan of long car rides. He asked over and over again: where were we going, were we there yet, were we staying overnight... and then back to the beginning again.

Boaz was much more patient than I was with that. He answered every question like they were information-seeking—because, at three, they actually were.

Eventually, we got there. It was the same farm where Boaz had ordered my bookshelves when I was pregnant and had since picked out a smaller one for Felix’s room.

“We’re going to a farm. Is that so you can shift?” Felix asked as Boaz parked the car.

I shook my head.

Boaz took the reins. “No. And remember how Daddy told you there are shifters and there are humans? And humans don’t really know about shifters?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, that’s where we are right now. So we’re not going to talk about Papa’s wolf or Daddy’s cat or anything related to that, okay?” Boaz repeated a conversation we’d had often in his young life.

“Okay, Papa.”

He was really good about knowing what to say and when, but it was still nerve-racking going places with lots of humans at this age. It wasn’t too big of a deal if he did slip up. Humans had a tendency to brush it off as imagination. But I preferred to err on the side of caution.

We got him out of the car and went into the shop, where the woodworker, Doug, was already there, smiling brightly. I loved watching the way he lit up when he was showing off his work.

“I’m Doug. Are you here to see your present?”

“I’m Felix,” he said, grabbing my hand, slightly unsure. “Are you Papa’s friend?”

The man squished his nose like he was thinking hard. “I don’t know if we’re friends, but I make special presents for your Papa to give to the people he loves. And I made one for you.”

“You made something for me?”

“I sure did. Your daddy and papa came over and helped pick it out. Then I made it. Do you want to see?”

Felix dropped my hand so fast and ran to the man, who led him out back to where his finished “big boy bed” was. It had carvings of cats and wolves on it—not overly fancy, but definitely beautiful.

“It’s perfect! Except… where’s the bed of the bed?” Felix walked around the frame.

“Do you mean the mattress?” Boaz ruffled his hair.

Felix nodded.

“That we have to get from a different store. This is just what we call the frame. What do you think?”

He ran to Doug and hugged him, telling him how much he loved it.

“Now you get to pick what color it—” Doug was cut off by Felix’s excitement.

“Blue!” Felix shouted.

“Well then.” Doug smiled. “Let’s go look at the different kinds of blue.”

Felix was already there, flipping through swatches like a designer on a deadline. He picked his favorite, and Doug promised that the bed would be ready next week.

Felix skipped back to the car, thrilled to pieces. He was getting his big boy bed—completely unaware that the reason why was because he was going to have a new sibling, and his current bed would be converted back into a crib.

Our next stop wasn’t far. It was on friendly pack lands, the pack Alpha someone Boaz knew through his position. The land was available for any shifters traveling through who needed to let their fur out—or scales, or feathers. They weren’t picky.

“What are we doing here, Daddy?” Felix asked.

“We’re going to have a picnic.” I’d packed sandwiches and drinks, along with some cut-up fruits and vegetables. It wasn’t too fancy, but it didn’t need to be. At his age, having food he would eat was good enough.

“A picnic with Papa’s wolf?”

“If you want.” Boaz picked him up and tickled his side, the field filling with giggles.

We went into the field, laid down the blanket, and ate our food. Then it was time to tell him the good news.

I pulled out a book Boaz and I had made for the occasion. It was just pieces of paper stapled together, but that didn’t matter. Felix loved books, especially the ones we created as a family. Every occasion needed one in his mind, and we were happy to oblige.

He’d been making his own for a while now, all pictures, and he would read them to us over and over again. It was the most adorable thing ever. Eventually, we planned to turn them into something more polished. But for now, stapled paper it was.

“Is the book my surprise?” He looked thrilled to pieces.

“No, sweet one. But the book has your surprise in it.” Boaz started reading the story of a Papa and a Daddy who loved each other so much, they had a little baby named Felix. It told how they loved eating together and playing games, and how that would never change.

But something would.

That was when Boaz turned the page to a picture of me holding a new baby. They were bundled up, since we had no idea yet who we were having yet, but it was obviously a baby.

“And that means that this summer, Felix, you will have a brand-new baby brother or sister.”

“I get to be the big one?” He watched me wide-eyed in anticipation.

“Yes, you do,” Boaz said. “What do you think?”

“I’m gonna be a big brother?”

“That’s right.”

“Cool beans!”

That was a new phrase, one he’d learned from his cousin Luna. No idea where they got it from, given it was an older saying, but everything was cool beans lately.

“Can we take a nap now? We sleep out here with Papa’s wolf and your cat?”

We were very lucky having a three-year-old who loved his naps. Boaz said he was embracing his inner cat, not that we knew who his beast might be. Not yet.

“Of course we can.”

Sleeping outside was one of his favorite things, so it didn’t surprise me that he asked. We got undressed, took our warm animal forms, and the three of us curled up on the blanket in the late-day sun.

Life didn’t get much better than this.