“Okay, first of all, what are your names?”
“My name is Clara, and this is Rowanne,” the first girl told her.
“Are you sisters?”
“Oh, um, no. We aren’t related,” Clara replied, looking embarrassed.
“So, you ran away from your pack?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rowanne replied, looking down toward her feet.
“Please don’t call me ma’am. I can’t be much older than you. Call me Autumn. I ran away from my pack—well, clan—too.”
“You’re not a wolf?” Clara said, looking up at her and then toward Rowanne.
“I told you she smelled funny,” Rowanne said, looking embarrassed again as she realized how awful that sounded. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I am sure I do smell funny. You smell funny to me, as does my husband and some of my children. Is your pack looking for you?”
“No. They don’t want us back. They are ashamed of us,” Clara replied.
“Why is that?” Autumn asked.
“Because we don’t like boys,” Clara said, waiting to see what sort of response that garnered for a moment.
“Her daddy caught us making out in the barn,” Rowanne blurted, garnering herself another look from Clara.
Autumn chuckled and nodded her head, understanding. Most packs and clans hadn’t quite caught up with the times when it came to same-sex couples. Girls were expected to breed with Alphas. It wasn’t so much that they were morally opposed to homosexuality as it was that they deemed it unfruitful, which was unacceptable to them.
“I get it. You are gay and refuse to conform to a heterosexual agenda, so they don’t care that you are gone. How did you find your way to this pack?”
“Foster is our great-uncle. When he heard that we had left, he sent word to find us and bring us here. We were scared to come, thinking it was a trap or something, but he’s been good to us. He’s cool with our, um, situation, but he said we have to earn our keep.”
“I see. What is it that brought you to me then?”
“He said you will need help with the babies. He said we should talk to you and your husband about letting us take care of the babies in exchange for room and board.”
“Do either of you know anything about babies?”
“I do,” Rowanne said enthusiastically. “I have fourteen brothers and sisters, and they all have babies that I’ve helped take care of since I was old enough to hold them.”
“I don’t, but I love babies and Rowanne will help me.”
“Okay. Well, I don’t mean to be indelicate here and I want you to understand that I have absolutely no problem with the two of you being a couple, but if we do this, your time with the kids is dedicated to them. No barn play.”
They both blushed and looked down at the floor.
“Hey, don’t be ashamed of loving one another, girls. Look at me. I’m a bear and fell in love with a wolf. We aren’t all that different at all.”
They both looked up now, smiles spreading across their faces.
“Then, you’ll let us help you?” Clara asked.
“Maybe. Have a seat and let me talk to Malcolm and see what he has to say. It might just be on a trial basis, to see how it works out.”
“That would be fine,” Clara said
“When would you want to start?”
“Now?” Rowanne said, a bashful look on her face.
“Alright, ladies. Just have a seat and let me talk to Malcolm.
Making her way upstairs, Autumn found Malcolm looking over the children in the nursery. He had finished the additional two beds and moved the ones that were doubled up into their new cribs. Whereas the room had previously had beds around either wall, the two additional ones would block the closets and changing tables at either end.
Now, he had them all placed in the center of the room, with just enough room to slip between each of them as needed. The room left almost zero space to move around in. When she walked in, he smiled at her and walked over to put his arm around her waist.
“Out, up, or new?” he asked.
“What?”
“The house. We have plenty of space to go outward, upward, or just build a new house.”
“Oh. What would we do with this one if we build a new house on the same property?”
“I don’t know. Give it to the girls to live in since you’re never going to let them leave home?”
“Very funny. How did you move these beds without waking them?”
“I’m just good like that,” he laughed.
“Yeah, I know.”
“I think new. What do you think?”
“Same. We’ll start working on plans for it as soon as we figure out how to take care of all these kids alone.”
“About that. There are a couple of girls sitting downstairs that have offered up their services in exchange for a bed and food.”
“God, I’d love that, but I’m not sure where we would put another bed, much less two.”