Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
By the time I had cookies in the oven, he’d picked out a sippy cup we’d purchased for Brady and a straw cup that I was assuming was for Gareth. After telling him I’d get the rest, he took them out to the living room and I quickly followed.
The cookies wouldn’t take long, so I was hoping the pups would get their second wind by the time they were ready. But that was going to depend on whether Brady would ever actually drink his water. At the moment, he was glaring at Cashel like the Devil himself was sitting in the living room. “No.”
Raising one eyebrow as I set the other glasses down on the coffee table that’d been pushed to one side, I tried to guess what we were arguing about. “Do pups need milk instead?”
He’d seemed very sure pups drank water, but I could see him changing his mind.
Cashel shook his head as Jude pressed his lips together like it was hilarious. “No, um, puppies drink water from bowls.”
Well, that would be messy.
And I wasn’t sure they had the right mouth structure to make that work.
“Yes, bigger puppies drink from bowls but cute little ones use bottles.” Probably. “Aren’t you a cute little puppy?”
Pretending to be confused, I took the sippy cup from Cashel and held out my arms. “You were the cutest little puppy.”
Nodding slowly, Brady climbed over Gareth, knees and elbows going everywhere. “I’m very cute.”
And very confident.
“And so fast.” Brady kept nodding as he climbed into my lap, ignoring any awkwardness as he latched onto the praise. “You raced after the ball and you played with the other puppy. But puppies need cuddles and water and treats when they’re good.”
Bingo.
“I was very good.” Curling up on my lap, he rested his head on my chest and seemed to have decided that being a good pup was the way to get the most cookies. “I get lots of treats.”
“I agree.” Bringing the sippy cup up to his mouth, I made sure Jude only saw confidence and acceptance as I helped Brady with the water.
His Daddy was the definition of protective, and I didn’t want to accidentally give any impression that I was uncomfortable with Brady. The cute nut was dramatic and adorable, but I knew not everyone would’ve been relaxed around him.
But luckily for Jude, I was not everyone.
It’d have taken something a lot more interesting than being a little pretending to be a pup to shock me. Hell, he was fully clothed and being adorably manipulative, that was not something to worry about.
So as Brady relaxed and sucked on his cup like a good pup, I petted the pup’s head and smiled at the other pup who was grinning like a goofball and wiggling excitedly. “I think we should find some puppy cartoons for our cute pups.”
And that got wiggles from both of them.
Cartoons and cuddles and cookies…it wasn’t a bad way to spend an evening with family.
Chapter 25
Gareth
“That was so much better than coloring with him and getting yelled at for picking the wrong crayon.” Stretching out on the bed, I wiggled and yawned as exhaustion started to hit me. “It’s more work, though.”
Bates chuckled as he lay down beside me and ran a hand over my chest. “It’s a lot more work, but you both had fun.”
Before I could do more than nod, Cash hopped up on the bed and sat cross-legged beside me. “I was a bit worried that it would be awkward or stressful, but it wasn’t, not for very long at least.”
Good point.
“Okay, I had a lot of fun, but why did Jude enjoy himself?” I didn’t think that was a stupid question, but I was glad when they both paused and looked thoughtful. “So I wasn’t the only one who found that weird?”
My pup side hadn’t really cared that it was strange. He’d been more focused on Brady and being fast and playing, but human sub me was starting to realize how strange the night had been because it hadn’t been strange.
Just thinking about that sentence made my head hurt, so I was glad when Bates and Cash both shrugged.
“Well…” Bates was definitely the big thinker of the group, since he thought about stuff without obsessively worrying, so I was curious to hear what he’d think. “Part of it might be that Jude had a rough childhood. I won’t go into detail about what I heard, but he doesn’t really know what a supportive family looks like, normal or more fascinating.”
Brady’s family was definitely on the more fascinating end of the scale no matter what it looked like.
“So we made him nervous and confused?” I could agree with that assumption. “But why did seeing me and Brady play make him feel better? That doesn’t sound reasonable.”
For so many reasons.
“Maybe he was more comfortable after seeing that we’re not vanilla?” Cash didn’t seem confident about the idea, but it sounded right as he started explaining his thoughts. “I mean, I’d have felt a lot more uncomfortable about the whole showing them your pup side thing if I hadn’t known Brady was little. We’ve had years to get used to the idea, but had Jude ever seen us play with Brady?”