“You know, that might be an idea. It’ll help me remember all their names too,” he joked.

“You say that in jest, but you’ll do well to call them by their correct names. I’ve had three litters, all small-only three cubs each time and well apart in age. I still can’t remember their names now that they are full grown,” one of the older nannies added.

Bradley and Kay both looked at her, astonished that someone couldn’t remember their own children’s names, but time always told everything and sure enough, even with names painted on toenails until they were old enough to see the differences in them, it was a constant battle. Even ten years down the road, with their thirteen children running wild across the lawn, it was a battle.

“Jon, get off that stack of wood before you bust your head open,” Kay shouted out at one of the boys.

“That’s Tucker,” Bradley corrected.

Kay squinted at him as she continued the preparations for this month’s barbecue for the clan.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure,” he responded.

A hand pulled on Kay’s shirt as she turned back to the grill and she turned to see Tucker standing beside her.

“Did you call me, Mom?” he asked.

Bradley looked at him and then back at the stack of wood near the pavilion.

“Jon?” he called out.

“Jon is in the house playing Barbies with Tiny,” Tucker replied.

Bradley looked at him again, horrified. It was difficult to tell if it was because neither of them knew which of their children was on the wood pile or if it was because one of his sons was playing Barbies with Penelope, their smallest daughter-commonly called Tiny by all the others.

Taking a deep breath, Bradley looked down at Tucker again.

“Tucker, will you please go tell your brother to get off the woodpile before he injures himself.”

“Sure, Dad.”

Tucker bounded across the yard toward his brother, calling out to him as he got closer.

“Seth, Dad said to get off the woodpile!”

“Seth,” Bradley and Kay both said in unison before succumbing to a fit of laughter.

“What are we going to do? Some of them look just alike from a distance,” Bradley said after recovering.

“I don’t know. I suppose we could shave all their heads and paint their names on their skulls now.”

Brad scoffed. “I’d probably still get it wrong. What a disaster.”

“Ah, there are worse problems to have, aren’t there? I mean, we know which kid is which if we’re looking at them. We’ll just refer to them as “Hey, you,” if they are too far away to get a good view of them.”

“That sounds like a plan,” he laughed, pulling her to him and kissing her.

Kay looked around at her family, scattered all over the place. This was their only litter, which was common for omegas in a clan like this. In her own clan, she was reminded, she would have been used as a cub mill, pumping out as many as possible to build their numbers.

Here, she was an equal partner to Bradley and both of them agreed that thirteen kids were enough for anyone. In fact, they were more than they deserved. The ranch, which, for years, had gone without a name, for reasons no one quite understood, was now rebranded.

In another hour, Bradley and some of the others would erect a new sign for the entrance and then settle in for a meal of celebration. It had been an amazing journey to get to this place, a world that only brought more happy days then sad ones and joys beyond measure.

Kay looked over at the small A-frame building being built to one side of the property. It would be her office for her new business, where she would employ her considerable interior design skills in helping create new spaces for the public, shifters or humans alike.

She watched from where she was tending the grill while everyone gathered nearby to watch the large metal sign be pulled up into place on the poles that would hold it. There was a loud cheer as it was locked onto the overhead railings.

“There you have it, folks!” Bradley said, Tiny having ventured out of the house and now perched upon his shoulders. “What does it say, Penelope?”

“Lucky 13 Ranch and Stables!” she yelled excitedly.

Everyone cheered again and headed for the pavilion where Kay, Bradley, and their thirteen children helped serve generous helpings of barbecue, beans, potato salad, and chips to the masses.

Once everyone was plated, they joined them, spread out from table to table among their clan. The children were learning the value of being social and moral, the two things that Bradley had already begun to instill in them as a guide to what they would need to carry the ranch into the future once he and Kay were long gone.

Tags: Sky Winters Shifter Marriage Service Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net