Entangled

Chapter 28

Delivering bad news was never easy. Even if you were in a good mood beforehand, you had to display a certain amount of seriousness to be appropriate to the situation. Sharing good news, Sasha is learning, is a different sort of difficult. Her face hurts from smiling. She ends up telling the same stories to the same people five times over because she can't remember who she's told. Becky and Seth's families were the first to know, of course, and Becky's parents both visited a few weeks ago, utterly enamoured with their grandson; her brother will be visiting after the next full moon. Seth's mom is over almost every day to check in on Becky and little Quinn. They ended up going with one of Sasha's suggestions for a name, since Becky had no qualms about the baby having Seth's last name. Her father seemed to like keeping Quin in the baby's name, so it was a good fit all around—and now that he's about a month old, Sasha's fairly certain no one but Dr. Zaba has ever used his full name of Quinlan.

Sasha was allowed to pick his human-friendly birth date as well, and although she made sure Becky and Seth approved of her choice, she's grateful for the honour. At virtually every step, they've included her in Quinn's life and the choices surrounding it, though Seth has tried repeatedly to stop her from buying him any more clothes. Keeping quiet backstage was hard enough before, but now that Roman, Naomi, Bayley, and Finn know, it's agonizing to have to hide the pictures on her phone. For their other human friends, they're still going to wait another month or so and then proclaim that Quinlan was premature but deemed healthy enough to go home after a few days in the hospital. Juggling the truth with the necessary lies will be a burden, but Sasha's ultimately glad they confided in their closest friends. Someone else has to appreciate her fashion sense, after all.

Quinn is wearing some of the shoes she picked out now, and Sasha crouches down so he can kick his feet through some leaves. The full moon has come again and she's not sure where the time went. "Look, Mama!" she says, calling back to Becky. "Look at those feet! I'll have to get him these in a bigger size so he can wear them when he can actually walk...."

"Or you could stop buying clothes and shoes," Seth groused, carrying their moon-bags, "because his closet is already beyond full."

Sasha gives a delicate snort. "Not my fault you gave him the smallest room. Just because he's little doesn't mean he doesn't need space. Right, sweetheart?" She swoops the baby up in an arc that makes him squeal. "Do you guys think we should invite one of The Circle to watch us run one day?" They've started calling Bayley, Finn, Naomi, and Roman 'The Circle' for simplicity's sake, at least amongst themselves. "Then they could watch Quinn when Becks is able to run again."

"One more month," Becky says wistfully, smiling as she takes her son from Sasha and he immediately grabs for her bracelets. They aren't sure if he can sense the magic in them, but he loves the sound the amulets make when Becky shakes her wrist. "I know I could try now, but Eleyna suggested taking a month to heal."

"And it's better if you want to make sure Quinn has some siblings." Sasha nuzzles the top of the baby's head, making him giggle. As Eleyna warned them, he's small by human standards, so passing him off as a premature baby won't be difficult, but in terms of personality and awareness, he's an enigma. Sometimes they're sure Quinn can understand what they're saying and other times he seems blissfully oblivious. When Sasha looks up, though, she sees that Seth is blushing slightly and that Becky is looking pointedly into the forest. "I mean, no rush or anything. We'll all have our hands full with this little guy for a while." Sasha tickles Quinn's belly before stepping back and starting to disrobe. "But in a couple years, you never know...."

"Let's make sure we do okay with him first," Becky says at last. Then she turns to Seth, holding out the baby. "Pre-shift hug?"

"Always." Seth takes Quinn gingerly and holds him to his chest, murmuring something under his breath, and Sasha smiles at how Becky melts a bit. They already knew Seth was tall, but he makes Quinn look even smaller than usual. He's incredibly gentle with the baby, though, and rather than being freaked out by unplanned fatherhood, it seems to be helping Seth settle. Sasha won't go as far to say she hears wedding bells in Becky and Seth's future, but now when they talk of doing things together, they no longer tack 'for the baby' on hastily. "Be good for your mama, okay?"

That earns Seth a bop on the nose, and Becky tries not to laugh too hard when she takes Quinn back. "When you two shift...," she begins slowly, rocking from foot to foot as Sasha spreads out the camping blanket and sets her clothing down on one corner.

"We'll come over when you call," Seth confirms, making a funny face for his son before taking off his clothes. Full-moon nights are one of many things they'll have to discuss when Quinn is older. Even if he's not a werewolf, he'll have to get used to the nudity that's common to a pack, so they aren't worried about that. There are too many ways he could be hurt if he goes along on a full-moon night when they're all shifting, though. For now, the easy answer is to leave him with Seth's mother, who offers to babysit almost other day. That's not a permanent solution, however, especially since Becky will eventually be back on the road.

"I mean, there's no rush," Becky blurts quickly. "There's plenty of time to see if he smells like a wolf, and even that's not a good indicator. He'll smell a lot like us—well, me, mostly—and that will skew things too...."

Sasha comes over to ruffle Becky's hair and give her a kiss. "He is what he is, whatever that turns out to be. We'll all love him no matter what."

"I know." Becky sits down on the blanket and settles Quinn on her lap so he's facing the clearing. "Let's watch Dada and Auntie Sasha." They have no idea how much of the transformation he'll be able to understand, and the entire thing may terrify him, but Becky hasn't been away from him for more than a few hours, so bringing him along on the run was almost a given. Holly offered to watch him, of course, but all three of them are curious about how Quinn will react to their wolves.

"Seth, you should go first," Sasha insists. As much as she loves being involved in Quinn's life, there are some firsts that should just belong to his parents, and she feels this is one of them. Selfishly, she wants to be able to watch it as well, and this is one of those bittersweet moments because she wishes that Becky were able to record it, but it's simply too dangerous to have footage of their transformations.

Seth doesn't argue, but she can tell he's nervous as he crouches down. They've all had moments where Quinn has wailed in their arms, whether it's because he's hungry or his diaper needs to be changed or he's just in a mood, and they all hate seeing him upset. Knowing the transformation may scare the baby makes Seth take his time, but in a way it just makes his wolf more beautiful by the end of the process. After shaking out his fur, he trots over slowly, giving the baby plenty of time to notice the large animal approaching. Once he's within touching range, Seth bows his head and presses his nose to Quinn's chest, taking a deep sniff.

"Pretty wolf," Becky coos, guiding Quinn's hand to the top of Seth's head. "Isn't Dada a pretty wolf?"

Under Becky's guidance, Quinn pets Seth's head softly, then giggles when the wolf's tongue darts out and licks his face. "Well, at least he's not scared," Sasha points out as she starts to transform.

"Seth." Now that Sasha's shifting, Becky's voice sounds watery and sprawling. "Does he...?"

Seth dips his head in a nod, but Sasha wants to see—or smell, rather—for herself, so she hurries through her transformation and joins her little pack on the blanket. Now that he's already played with one wolf, Quinn giggles when he sees her approach. Hi! From her wolf mouth, it's a happy yip, and Quinn replies with a little burble. She presses her nose to his cheek and he giggles again, squirming happily in his mother's lap. Sasha wants to do a happy shimmy too, but settles for wagging her tail—more of a dog's expression than a wolf's. A baby's scent is no indicator, as Eleyna would be quick to note, but Sasha detected definite notes of wolf in his skin.

When Sasha nods too, Becky relaxes visibly. "Say bye-bye to Dada and Auntie Sasha," she says softly, helping Quinn to wave in their direction. "They're going to go run now."

You will too, soon, Sasha thinks, nuzzling Becky's side before turning towards Seth. And hopefully Quinn too. Having a child along on one of their runs will definitely alter the complexion of the night—or at least their post-run revels—but their little pack has already gone through so many changes and she's learned to love them all. This one will be no different.