“Nah. I was six when we got him, and I wanted to name him after my favorite video game. My mom said I could as a present since I was really upset about my dad being sent overseas, but I wasn’t so good at spelling, so it ended up as Mycroft instead of the video game title I wanted.”
I wasn’t sure if it was okay to laugh at a juvenile spelling mistake, but I really wanted to. “And your parents just kept it that way?”
“Yeah, apparently they thought I was talking about this character from their favorite detective books, and Mom got all cryin’ about it. I never had the heart to tell her it was about a block game.”
“Well, your secret is safe with me.”
He told me a bit more about the adventures of getting his dog, and I was able to glean a bit more of the adult conflict between his mother and sister. Ultimately, I was glad that I had been able to help him, and I never imagined it would end up witha massive rug of a dog drooling in contentment while my cat turned him into her personal bed.
When it was time for him to leave, I could tell that Mycroft was loath to go, because he was whining in a way he hadn’t since they’d arrived.
“I’m sorry,” the kid said. Was it weird that I knew his dog’s name but not his? “He gets like this sometimes. He really wants a cat at home, but he can’t change the cat litter, so Mom says until he learns it’s a no-go.”
“Funny, I know a lot of dogs would have no problem cleaning up anything left behind in a litter box.”
“Gross!”
“I know, right?” We shared a laugh, and although I wasn’t big on children, it felt like there was something a bit special about this kid. He was the first “case” I’d taken on that wasn’t a reading within the house, so he really held a dear place in my heart. Plus, his dog was cool. “Listen, why don’t you talk to your mom, and if she’s cool with it, we can set up a playdate for our pets to hang. And if you wanted, while you’re here, I could pay you to help me organize things. I’m sure you can tell, but order isn’t exactly my strong suit.”
While Paul had helped immensely with the pill calendar, organizing my online schedule, and getting me enough storage for my craft room, clutter was still something I struggled with on the regular. Especially now that I was keeping reports and files of all my cases, particularly the ones I was officially consulting on with the PD.
“Really? You wouldn’t mind having us around?”
“I wouldn’t mind one bit, and clearly, Hudson enjoys her new heated footstool.”
“Then yeah! It’s a deal!
We shook on it, and he hurried off, practically dragging a forlorn Mycroft with him.
I really should have asked him his name.
~Baby shark doodoodododo~
I returned to my task at hand, and by that, I meant I wandered to the kitchen to check if I had indeed taken my meds for the day, then grabbed an energy drink and gave Hudson treats for being such a magnanimous host. All incredibly vital steps in my process, of course.
Naturally, it wasn’t that surprising when Paul returned from his meeting just as I was heading back up the stairs to my office. Funny, a year ago that room had mostly been just storage. But again, thanks to Paul, it was now a clean and tidy space for me to (try to) be organized with my now-official career.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” he said as soon as he saw me, bits of pink, lavender, and gold sizzling in the air around him. Even after all our time together, I never got tired of seeing such a positive reaction to my existence.
“Rough meeting?”
He nodded as he took me into his arms. “There has been some pushback on some of the measures I want to put in place for exiling people from the pack. It’s too easy for an alpha or someone in power to discriminate against anyone. Other younger alpha males that they’re concerned will be competition for breeding, infertile females, LGBTQ, latent shifters, disabled shifters, you name it.”
“Why would there be any pushback against that?” I asked before my brain caught up with me.
“Because many people don’t like change, and some view their inability to hurt others as somehow them being attacked.”
Unfortunately, that made a bit too much sense to me. I truly believed in my heart that most people were good and just wanted to live and let live, but man, the cruel ones certainly seemed to have a way of leaving their mark on people.
“Well, I’m proud of the strides you’ve made so far. Especially considering that Chris has only been alpha for about nine months.” And now Paul was his alpha-heir. There had been quite the hubbub when Luther had stepped down, abdicating his role entirely so he could recover and marry the love who had almost been stolen away from him, but now people had accepted it.
“Thank you, Cherry. I appreciate that more than you know.” With that, he kissed me, and as always, the hectic and often overstimulating world of color I saw narrowed down to just the two of us and the love we shared. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I murmured, meaning it with all my heart. And maybe I started to get a little handsy, maybe I didn’t, but Paul chuckled and caught my wrists before they could get anywheretoofun.
“No hanky-panky until you submit that report to the detectives in New York.”
I groaned, and I knew it wasn’t the most mature response, but Paul was used to my antics. “I’ll do it later! Really!”