Chapter 254


    Lanie


    “What do you mean, talking?” | turned in confusion toward the ypen where the pups had all been happily ying when | left. It


    was empty.


    | turned to the couch. Isaac and ina sat at one end, each them ying with a cloth book that had maniptives sewn to the


    pages. Ste sat on the other end.


    “Hi, Mommy.” Ste waved a small hand at me, and her face lit up with a grin. She had board book in her other hand.


    “Hi, baby,” | said. “Mommy''s going to talk with...”


    | stopped. We hadn''t really talked about how the pups were going to address Xander, Zane, and Mason. I’d been calling myself


    Mama and Mommy to all the babies, but with three fathers, we''d have to figure out how to differentiate


    Your


    daddies,” | said quickly. “Can you stay here and be good for Grandma?”


    “Yes, Mommy,” Ste said cheerfully. Incredibly, she looked down at the board book and began sounding out words.


    | thought | might fall over right then and there. The sense of doom and dread that had overtaken me while


    talking to Quinn hadn''t returned, but it had been reced by a new sense of unease and concern.


    “Kitchen,” | said and we all went in there.


    “Coffee?” Zane asked.


    “I''m about to float away from all the coffee | had at the shop. No. | could use a cold ss of water, though,”


    As he filled one for me, | looked into the living room again at the sight of our children on the couch. The twins were babbling


    happily, and Ste was still reading.


    | turned back to my mates. “What by the Goddess is going on?”


    The first doubling must''ve kicked into its final surge right after | left this morning. It was a surprise to see them all the size of


    toddlers, but not a shock. They’d been growing so fast over the past couple of weeks, | knew it could only be a matter of time


    before their first growth spurt finished.


    But talking...


    “We aren’t sure,” Mason said “Gabri said she’s never heard of this before.”


    Zane gave me the ss, and | gulped it down. | put the ss on the table. | crossed my arms over my belly, hugging myself to


    hold back the shivers Zane put his arm around my shoulders, and | leaned into him forfort


    since they couldn’t all fit in there at the same time anymore. She needed a hand with the diapers and getting them some lunch,


    so | told Zane to grab a shower while Mason and | helped her out.” Xander shook his head with a small chuckle. “| knew pups


    grew fast, but it''s different when they’re your own. | never really paid attention to it before, you know? And having three so close


    in age, it was quite the sight.”


    “Growing fast is normal,” | told him quietly, pitching my voice low to make sure none of the pups could overhear. As they grew


    bigger, their wolf senses would start to kick in before their wolves introduced themselves. “But talking is definitely not. They don’t


    learn to talk until they’re through the second doubling. which isn’t supposed to happen for another six months or so.”


    “So, we have a precocious daughter,” Xander said.


    | could hear the babble of babyish voices from the living room. Isaac and ina had been using a few sounds here and there,


    and they had a sort of twinnguage we’d heard from them both. But Ste was talking to Gabri in full sentences.


    “When | came out of the shower, they were all at the table eating their lunch,” Zane said. “And then out of nowhere, Ste asked


    me if she could have a ss of juice.”


    “Papa, can | please have some juice! Clear as a bell,” Mason said. “I couldn''t believe it. Also, not sure why Zane gets to be Papa,


    and Xander gets to be Daddy, while I’m Abba,”


    “It''s from the baby learning video we used to y for her all the time,” | reminded him, and his expression lit with recognition.


    “I''m Daddy because I’m her father” Xander cut in.


    “You are all her fathers,” | corrected him firmly. “And none of you are more or less important to her, so sto with the dick swinging.


    We have more important things to be thinking about than what our daughter has decided to call you. The twins aren''t talking, are


    they?”


    “Not like Ste is,” Mason said.


    Zane shook his head and kissed my temple before letting me go so he could refill my ss. “She’s also


    clearly more...aware...than they are.”


    Achill that had nothing to do with the cold water ran through me. “What does that mean?”


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