I look across the room to where I knew Danny had fallen asleep, and I was happy to hear he was still resting. He hasn't gotten good sleep in days. Last night I found him passed out on the floor along the couch, where Lavender was sleeping with a newly shaved head. I had come down stairs because he had never come back to bed, but when I saw them any worry washed away.
It was a start. He needs to be around family more, and this was as good a start as any. He stirs in his sleep, and growls a bit, but doesn't wake.
I walk to the kitchen and start up breakfast. The past few days have been quiet, but I want to keep us together and strong; Danny being awake again isn't a reason to fall apart, but grow stronger. I start up batter for muffins, being as quiet as I can, but Lavender still stirs. She's hyper sensitive right now to sounds and smells, because she's gaining new abilities every day, at times in uneven levels. She stands up and stretches, and when she sees me, her arms still raised in the air, her face turns into a sleepy smile.
"Good morning Lavender." I say with a chuckle.
"Morning momma," she says as she yawns. She freezes and so do I, she looks embarrassed and shocked, and all I can do is chuckle and shake my head at her silly shocked face. "Sorry- I- I didn't mean-"
"It's okay Lavender." I shrug, as I keep stirring the whisk in the bowl in my arms. "Why don't you get cleaned up and then come help with breakfast. We'll give Frea and your sisters a break today?" I say. She hums a 'yeah' nervously as she goes towards the stairs. "And change for training, we're starting early." I add, as she goes up the stairs.
"Yes Luna!" She calls back, and I wince at her voice level, hoping she hasn't woken the girls, or Daniel. I sigh when I hear her door close, but no other sounds of people waking. I get through adding the mix into the muffin tins, and putting the various toppings on each, and start grabbing other things from the fridge, when I see Heather peeking in through the glass. She waves, and then let's herself in, as I wave back.
"You're up early." I tease as she trudges in and plops down on the stool across the island from me.
"Yeah, couldn't sleep." She sighed. "Can I make some coffee?" She asks, standing right back up as she walks to the machine.
"Yep, will you pull out a few mugs, and some plates while you're in the cupboard?"
"Yes Ma'am." She says with a small nod. She's quiet for a moment, but then she clears her throat nervously. "Hey, Luna?" She says quietly.
"Yeah?" I ask, looking up from the fruit I had been cutting. She doesn't look at me, for a second she turns to, but looks back at the coffee filter in her hands for a moment.
"Is Alpha Daniel really okay?" She asks quietly. I look to the couch, and even though he's on the other side of it, and I can't see him, I know he's still asleep by the rhythm of his heart and his breathing.
"You know what it's like to wake up after being gone for a while... It's just been hard on him to come back. He'll be okay though." I nod.
"Are you okay, Luna?" She asks nervously, and looks at me. She has the fear of a child on her face, and she looks like she's about to cry. I drop what I'm doing instantly.
"Oh- Heather..." I coo as I hug her to me, she's so much taller so she has to crouch significantly to put her head on my shoulder, but she hugs me back desperately. "What's wrong?"
"I- I always have weird dreams before something bad happens- Hunter- he- thinks it's..." She shakes her head and let's go of me. "He thinks it's a gift, a power I have inherited, but I think it's a curse. I had this weird dream last night, of you, and you were glowing red, and you were asleep, and that was it. Just you in the dark... And this... Red glowing..." She shook her head.
I didn't want to show my worry.
She was sounding like Danny.
I put on a smile. It was nothing. Just her nerves.
"You know, I sometimes feel like that, that I have dreams to warn me- I think it's just something all of the women of the pack share." I said. For a moment her face shines with pride, because she is new to the pack, and I can tell being included makes her feel stronger. "I wouldn't worry about it, though, it's probably just stress, we've all been stressed. I know I hide mine poorly, so you're concerns are probably causing the dreams." I assure her. She nods.
"Alright. Just- if there's anything I could do..."
"Right now, coffee and table setting is all I can think of Heather, but I'll let you know as soon as I can think of something else." I say with a smile. She nods, wipes her eyes, and hugs me again.
"Alright, Luna." She says softly as she lets me go. "Oh- Hunter's coming." She says as she looks to the door, and shortly after he peers in just as she had, waves, and enters- just the same.
"Hey guys!-"
"Shhhh!" I hush him urgently with wide eyes, cutting off his loud greeting.
"Too late." Danny grumbles sleepily as he sits up on the couch. Hunter, who threw up his hands, now made a nervous face.
"Sorry Alpha, Sir." Hunter says quickly, and waits anxiously for a reply, but to all of our shock Danny chuckles as he rubs his eyes awake.
"S'okay." He replies, and stands up to stretch, just like his sister. He yawns, and comes over to me, as Hunter begins busy work getting out utensils for breakfast, and moving out of the way as Danny comes into the kitchen and comes up to me.
Danny kisses the side of my forehead, and rubs my belly with his warm firm hand. "I'll be right back." He says quietly as he kissed the top of my head.
"Promise this time?" I chuckle, looking up at his newly cut hair.
"Promise." He says, with a smile, before heading up stairs. The other two in the kitchen seem less tense, and Heather smiles at me as she places half a cup of coffee in front of me, with extra creamer.
"Hey, Luna, can I go into town today?- Oh, hey guys." Lavender waves as she comes into the kitchen, newly showered and dressed, and smiles as she approaches. The other two have frozen in shock, but I return her smile.
"Yeah, I have to do some shopping in town, and go to an appointment, I'm sure me and Danny could let you roam a bit while we're there." I agree.
"Punk- fucking- rock, Lavender!" Hunter shouts as he throws up his hands in fists, suddenly, and eagerly, as if his brain just kicked back in.
"Th-thanks." Lavender says nervously with a smile, she rubs the nape of her neck- just like Danny- and chuckles as her cheeks turn bright red.
"It looks so good short!" Heather exclaims, running up to her to touch the short hair on Lavender.
"Thanks, it feels good." Lavender nods.
"No one would have seen this coming! Wait till-" Hunter starts, but Heather doesn't skip a beat to cover up for him as she sees Lavenders brows scrunch up nervously.
"Wait till your sisters see, they're going to go nuts! Maybe they'll even want to do theirs, too!" Heather says, causing Lavenders eyes to grow wide as she shakes her head. "What?" Heather chuckles.
"No- no- I want to look different on purpose!" Lavender says quickly as she comes over to help me with picking the berries from the stems for our fruit salad. "That would kind of ruin it." She adds, with a teenaged sarcasm.
"I think it suits just who you are." Hunter says agreeably. "I like it a lot."
"Thank you." Lavender says with another nod. "I have to get used to it, maybe get some head bands- or barrettes- or something, now that I can't do other styles." She shrugs.
"I have a whole box of ones I don't use anymore- I can give you them, if you want?" Heather says.
"That'd be awesome." Lavender says with a nod, she beams as Danny walks back down from upstairs, and he smiles back wide at her.
"Morning sis, looking sharp."
"You too Sir." She says with a nod and a grin, that Heather and Hunter match as they glance from Danny to me as we share a look. It's good having Danny back, even if he's going slow, the fact that he can joke around again feels nice. Even if there's a veil of worry behind his eyes, or dark circles below them; He's here. And he's present.
He sat at the end of the island, so I grabbed a cup of coffee from Heather as she poured cream into the other mugs, and walked it over to him. He held out his arm as I came closer, and I let him pull me to his side as I placed the mug down.
"How are my children this morning?" He asked in a low voice as he rubbed my stomach. I smiled; he's so diligent about them it's crazy, but makes me so proud.
"They're awake, and apparently training twice as hard as any of us, because they're using my lungs as punching bags." I reply sarcastically. With a smile still on his face he looked up at me, raised a brow, and shook his head.
"They're strong," he says as he looks down at my stomach, and rubs his hand across it again. A wave of pressure seems to release as he rubs the tight skin over my abdomen, and the babies seem to settle down, as if by the magic of his touch. I wouldn't be surprised if it were just that, because it is pure magic to have some relief.
"They're crowded." I groan with a sigh. He chuckles again, shakes his head, and kisses the top of my bump. "And apparently only you can get them to sleep, which will be just awesome when they're crying..." I sigh. For a moment he had a look on his face, as if remembering, or realizing something. "What?" I chuckle nervously.
"Still catching up on realizing they'll be real babies someday... It's amazing- that's all." He tilts his head up and kisses me full on the lips, slowly and thoughtfully. I sigh when he pulls away and peck his lips before he lets me go to get back to making breakfast. He doesn't say anything else, and neither do I, but as I walk around the kitchen back to my spot- as others come walking in and bustling about- I feel his eyes on me, and relish in the peace of knowing he's right there, watching over me again. I relish in the moment of normalcy with my family. It's a start- a good start.