Chapter 117-1

I could see how happy Amie was to have her parents close again. We had spent almost three days together in the car. The frequent stops were the only thing souring her mood a little. To be honest, at this point I was largely insisting on them to tease her. Her dad and I had taken turns to drive, letting Amie and her mom sit in the backseat talking. It wasn’t hard to see how much her parents loved Amie or that they were just as thrilled as she was to be close to her again. Her mom had hardly let go of Amie’s hand since getting into the car. This all meant I was getting less time with Amie than I was used to, or would like, but I was happy to sacrifice it when seeing how happy it made her.

“Last stop before we are home,” I announced and pulled the car over into a gas station. This time I had a legitimate reason to stop; it would be good to put some fuel in the car.

“I will go and buy some snacks,” Amie told me.

“Sure, take Sam with you,” I told her and kissed her.

“I think I can manage.”

“I’m sure you can, but it will make both him and me happy,” I told her.

“Fine,” she said. “Sam, time to buy snacks,” she called. Her mom joined Amie and Sam. Her dad walked up to me as I filled the tank.

“Thank you,” he said.

“For what?” I asked, feeling confused. He smiled at me.

“For how you take care of my daughter. You are about to become a father; you will understand soon. All you really want is for your pups to be happy and safe. You are doing a good job on both of those. I can see how happy you make her, and I understand it didn’t start when the two of you became mates. Thank you for looking after her when I couldn’t.” It took me a moment to take in what he said.

“It has always been a pleasure to make sure Amie has what she needs,” I told him. He gave me an amused look.

“Are you sure about that? If she is anything like her mom, she has a stubborn streak the size of the Grand Canyon and makes you want to tear out your hair from time to time,” he chuckled. I stared at him and then chuckled as well.

“Well, there are those days,” I admitted.

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t care or that she doesn’t trust you. It just means she thinks it will be faster and easier if she does it herself. Most of the time they are right, unfortunately. But remember to push back from time to time. Challenge her stubbornness when it’s needed,” he advised me. I smiled and nodded.

“I will remember that. Thank you.” Amie, Sam, and Melissa came walking back. Amie and Melissa both had their arms full of snacks. I looked at them. “You know it’s only about thirty minutes before we are home?” I asked.

“Um, I might have gone overboard, but I feel peckish and I wanted to make sure there was enough for the three of you as well,” Amie said. I laughed and kissed her. We got back in the car and I mindlinked the other cars to make sure everyone was ready before heading back onto the road.

“We are almost there,” I let everyone know half an hour later.

“I can’t wait to show you everything,” Amie told her parents. She sounded giddy, and I could feel how excited she was. We passed the checkpoint and I felt the ease that always came when heading back into pack land.

“It’s beautiful here,” Melissa commented.

"It is," Amie said. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a soft smile on her lips as she looked out of the window. When we pulled up in front of the pack house, Matilda, Meadow, and Shelly stood waiting with Martins and Rose. We got out and Amie introduced her parents to them. It was clear my aunt and Amie’s mother hit it off from the start.

“We have a meal waiting for you and then you can rest for a bit,” my aunt told us.

“Oh, I think I may have stuffed myself full of snacks,” Amie said. “I’m sorry.” My aunt smiled and patted her on the arm.

“I would prefer that you eat food, but if you were hungry, it’s better that you eat then starve. We will put some aside for you.”

“She is right,” Amie’s mom agreed. I happily put my arm around Amie as we walked into the dining hall. The more people who spoiled her, the better. We ate in the almost empty dining hall. Jake and Sam were happy being home with their mates and pups, and after a while, Cadence and Mari joined us as well. After we had eaten, Amie and I took her parents and showed them our house.

“Oh, this is amazing," Amie’s mother said as we stood on the back porch, looking out over the garden, the meadows, and the creek.

“Did you build the town from scratch?” her father asked.

“Yes. When we arrived here, about nine years ago, there were only forests and mountains,” I told him.

“Impressive. Nine years isn’t that long to get a village running.”

“We were motivated and it was important for us to feel at home. I think it helped that the first of us who came here had been part of the same pack for a long time. We were used to working together. We had picked up a new member or two on our way here, but it was mostly wolves from the old pack,” I said. Ron nodded and hummed.

“We have made up the guest room for you. I hope you will like it,” Amie said.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” her mom said. We decided to rest for a couple of hours. Then we would take a walk around the village. As Amie and I got into our bed, after making sure her parents had settled in, I enjoyed being back home with Amie snuggled up against me.

“We need to think about a new sleeping arrangement soon,” she said as she found her spot.

“Why?” I asked, feeling a little upset at the thought.

“How long do you think I can sleep on my belly?” she asked. It made sense when I thought about it. Her pregnant belly would soon be an issue for her sleeping like she always did.

“We will just flip you around and you can sleep on your back,” I suggested and kissed her nose when she scrunched it up.

“I don’t like sleeping on my back,” she objected.

“I’m not going to carve out a hole in our bed for your belly,” I simply said. “Now go to sleep and we will solve it when we wake up.”

“But…”

“No buts. Remember when you stopped me from installing a baby gate in the middle of the night? This is me stopping you. Go to sleep, Red.”

“It’s not the same. The baby gate is months away. This is maybe weeks,” she told me. I chuckled.

“At least we know it won’t happen during the next two hours. Go to sleep.”

“Fine.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”