Old Habits

Tish: catching up

Tish

No one else showed up at the property, neither from our pack nor from Helen's clan. Stefa jumped at every noise and Mike was prowling outside like a two-legged Doberman, but the night passed quietly. Conor and I slept in our room for the night, though we noticed that someone had done some heavy-handed cleaning. Even under the bed had been swept and mopped. All his shirts hung in the pack of the closet as if pretending that Conor wasn't here. It was odd, I thought. I couldn't think for any reason Mel and Ralph would have gotten a heads up on the vampires coming here.

"Maybe Peter told them," I suggested. We should have probably gotten up, but it had been a long week and it was nice to sleep in my own bed.

"Maybe," Conor allowed. "Sounds like Stefa is making some coffee, do you want some?"

"Yes, but I don't want to get up," I told him, snuggling close.

"Do you want me to..."

"No, don't move." I closed my eyes again. "I just want to enjoy this for a moment. I'm sure that whatever is going on with the pack will be a mess and it's not like we don't have our own mess upstairs.

"True," he agreed. "But we should get up."

"No," I grumbled.

Conor picked me up along with our comforter, carrying me up the stairs until finally setting me down on the couch. I didn't move, but curled into the quilt, content to not be the responsible one for a moment. Conor poured me a mug of coffee, added some cream and brought me that alone with a scone.

"Who made... oh that was a dumb question. Thanks, Stefa!" I called.

"Sure," Stefa replied from the kitchen.

Mike and Jackson came back into the house. Jackson still hadn't changed out of Katie's sundress and I couldn't figure out if he genuinely liked the dress or just wasn't willing to concede. Mike seemed to have an endless supply of dark hoodies; he had many colors so far on this trip, but I hadn't seen him with a bag or anything.

"Lacy still isn't returning my calls," Jackson complained. "Honestly, I know that cell service cannot be this bad here. We made calls just fine in Canada for crying aloud."

"Have some coffee," I pointed vaguely towards the kitchen with one hand. Conor sat on the coffee table across from me, taking a scone off the plate.

"Once everyone has eaten, let's get across the highway and find the others," Jackson said as he poured himself a mug of coffee. "I wish we had more information about your pack, Conor. I wish I knew more than that 'Lacy is safe', you know?"

"You and me both," Conor replied.

Mike packed up the rest of the scones while Conor and I changed clothes. I stretched my arms over my head, but paused when I felt the baby kick. I took Conor's hand and placed it against my stomach. He grinned.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No, it's just weird," I replied. "It's a little early, but I'm already looking forward to getting my body back. And meeting our kid."

"I'm sure they'll be great," he smiled. "Constantly in trouble, but great."

"I mean, maybe they'll take after me and never get into any trouble," I offered.

Conor rolled his eyes. "That doesn't sound like you at all."

He took my hand and we headed up the stairs to the main floor. The three vampires were waiting on us.

"Shall we?" Mike said.

The way to the cabins was fairly straightforward now that the pack had cleared a path for the truck. We ran along the road, and I wondered if it wouldn't have made more sense to shift. The vampires were faster than us, and on two legs this trip was several hours.