Letting Go [complete - expanding chapters during rewrite]

Chapter Twenty Two

When I opened my eyes the next morning I found myself looking directly into the eyes of my husband, my lover.  I felt instantly self conscious of my breath and rolled my lips into my mouth.  Mason laughed, and after smelling his morning breath I laughed too. He gave me a kiss.  We've been intimate almost since the beginning, but before it was like a chore to bring children into the world.  Our usual morning consists of him showering with me standing outside of the shower with my hand on his back, and then me shower after.  Today we showered together, and last night was not a chore.
At this point Mason was using a walker to get around the house by himself.  Outside of the house I was with him most off the time and he walked with my help.  Things were going really great, and today Mason was going to shift for the first time since his accident.
I was too excited to eat breakfast, and Mason was too.  He didn't want an audience so we went out together into the woods, and stopped at my favorite clearing.  I changed first after hanging my clothes in a tree.  I walked up to him as a tiger and laid down a few feet away, ready to change back fast if he needed me to.
He took a deep breath, exhaling out his nose.  He took in another breath, and in an expenditure of magic changed into a lion.  He was huge as a lion, and very muscular after all the working out he'd done.  He shook out his mane, and got to his feet.  He seemed really stable, of course four feet are steadier than two. 
I walked up to him and rubbed my cheek against him to mark him with my scent.  He chuffed out a breath, and with a bit of a mischievous smile lowered his shoulders to the ground signaling that he wanted to play.  I ran out of the clearing down a well marked path, not wanting to trip him up.  By the time he caught up with me he was a panther.  I was so proud of him.  We'd worked on his walking for so long, and he'd had to go so long without shifting.  This had to feel really good to him.
I ran again to where I knew of a stream, and jumped straight into the water.  We tigers love water. He came trotting up as a wolf.  I stopped my playing and gazed at him on the shore.  He glowed with happiness.  We spent hours playing and running in the woods with him practicing changing in and out of his three animals.  We ate a few rabbits for lunch after he caught them for me.  It was a courting gesture, and it melted my heart.
The plan was to eat dinner with the pack, so finally after a full day, we went to the pack house and put on clothes in the changing room where spare clothes were always kept.  After watching each other get dressed, I gave Mason a serious look, and he nodded to me.  He went first with me following him to the dinning room.  I let go of his back, and he walked all on his own to the head table.  I went up beside him, and he looped an arm around my waist, then presented himself as ready for duty to his father.