My Feral Lady Chapter 35

Chapter 35

A Real Family

Kara and Lena woke the next day to soft snuggles and what at first felt like would be never-ending kisses. The duo got a whole thirty-five seconds before being interrupted by the sound of a crying child. “Oh, it’s probably Amy.” Lena sighed and worried for the child; one of Cat’s youngest. “She seemed pretty shaken up yesterday.” 

“Poor kid.” Kara agreed and sat up. “I’ll get her. You rest.” 

For just a moment, Lena forgot that she hadn’t told Kara yet. She imagined that Kara was being such a gentlewoman, ensuring that her pregnant mate got to rest in bed instead of being forced to take care of the already crying children. Drowsily the omega cooed and allowed her thoughts to slip out when they probably shouldn’t have. “You are such a good mother.” Lena snuggled into her pillow and reached out for Kara. 

Kara giggled as Lena missed her by a country mile. “One day, one day I am sure I will be.” Kara reached down to take Lena’s hand for just a moment. “You get your rest. You sound like you need it.” 

Lena didn’t wake again for over another hour at least. Her head felt heavy and her stomach a little queasy despite having had nothing to eat since dinner the night prior. A rustling over and off to the corner drew the omega’s attention and finally pushed her to open her eyes. 

“Goddamnit! Where’d she put it.” 

“Emelia?” Lena’s groggy voice questioned the open closet door.

“Yeah.” The young wolf huffed and must have thrown something in her frustration given the audible thunk that came from the closet. 

“You ok?” 

“Yeah.” The child plopped herself down on the floor in frustration. 

“Oh, well that was delightfully convincing.” Lena teased and sat up in bed. 

“Sorry, Kara told me I could come in here as long as I promised not to wake you up. God how do I keep fucking up!?” 

“Woah there. What’s wrong?” 

“I’m looking for everyone’s Christmas presents. Looking for and failing to find!” She whimpered from the floor of the closet. 

“Aww.” Lena cooed. 

“Aww, all of the youngest ones are gonna cry when they don't have any presents to open tomorrow.” Emelia shot back. “Mom even told them all that she was going to go all out on this one because they had all lost Raymond. Like that was actually a loss.” Emelia rolled her eyes in bitter. 

“Wait, hold up. We can totally find it all.” 

“I already checked everywhere.” 

“Two pairs of eyes are better than one.” Lena poked her head into the closet cheerfully. 

“Yeah, I guess.” Emelia looked up defeated. 

“Hey, it will be ok. Worst case scenario, we can go do some last-minute shopping.” 

“Lena, how much money do you think I have? Toys for twelve aren’t exactly a budget option. I don't think we even have money for lunch until some money from the pack comes in.” 

“Money from the pack?” 

“Yeah. It’s tradition I guess? I know it is how my mom could afford to feed us all even after Raymond died. It isn’t a lot. Just enough to make sure the kids of the pack don't go hungry or anything. But now I have to figure out how all that shit works.” Emelia threw her head back in frustration and knocked it on the wall behind her. “Fuck that hurt.” She began to cry. 

“Hey. It’s gonna be ok. Breathe. Breathe.” Lena struggled to climb over coats and shoes which had been knocked off from their position on racks and shelves as she attempted to traverse the tight tunnel of the closet towards Emelia. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Emelia rubbed the back of her head. 

“I’ll be right th- oof!” Lena’s foot caught on an overturned heel and sent her tumbling down right in front of the other wolf. 

Emelia got a good giggle and her tears finally cleared up. 

“Glad you enjoyed.” Lena gave a disheartened sigh along with a roll of her eyes. 

“Are you ok?” Emelia finally remembered to ask after another minute of laughter. 

“Yeah, just a clutz. I’m fine.” Lena strained to get herself up but fell back down due to the unstable terrain of a messy closet. 

Emelia strived, struggled, vyed, and utterly failed to stop herself from laughing the second time over. 

“Ok, yup. I’m staying here now.” Lena patted the ground. “Nice comfy floor where gravity will stop attacking me.” 

“Sorry Lena. That is kinda my fault. I did my best to overturn everything in here with the hopes of actually finding the gifts.” Emelia tried glancing around the dark closet again. “God, I’m never gonna find them.” 

“Come on now! That’s not the Christmas spirit!” 

“Oh god. If we can't find it, the little ones will realize that Santa isn’t real.” 

“No! We can’t be having that!” Lena scurried up, knocking things down as she did. “Sorry.” Lena sighed, looking at the rack she had accidentally pulled loose. She wasn’t even actually raised with the idea of Santa Claus. She didn't need that connection to the idea, she knew what it would mean to those kids. One last hint of innocence; magic in a cruel world which had taken their parents away from them. “We won’t allow that.” Lena reached out to pat the other wolf on the shoulder supportively. 

“No, no we won't.” Emelia’s eyes lit up at the faintest glimmer of golden paper. 

“What’s up?” Lena’s look grew puzzled at Emelia’s excitement.

“Found it!” Emelia cheered and stumbled half over Lena and nearly fell right on top of her as she went for the wrapping paper just for a near-empty tube to plop down and comically conk her lightly on the forehead. “No!” She plopped down to her side in the mess she had created in defeat. “I’m done for! I’ll never find it.”

“No! No! This is a win Em!” 

“How exactly is that?” 

“Now we know what color the gifts must be wrapped in!” 

“Oh yay! I know ever so vaguely more what the thing I am looking for looks like, but all my guesses for where it might be are entirely exhausted.” Emelia rolled over to her side only to have some something or other poking painfully into her back. 

“Well! Where does your mom usually store it all?” 

“I don't know.” 

“Are you telling me that out of all the kids she never had any of them sniff out her secret hiding place?” Lena eyed doubtfully.

“Of course we did. Adam and I drove her crazy when we were like four and five. But by the time he turned six, she wisened up and got a lot better about hiding it. Almost all of us tried once or twice but we never found it. Guess she just got a little too good.” 

“Let me guess then, you only tried all the places that worked when you were younger?” Lena postulated. 

“I checked… one other place.” Emelia winced out of embarrassment at her lack of originality. 

“Well, you’ll never find it that way! If it’s failed before I doubt she would try it again. Just take a break and we can put our heads together. I’m sure we’ll catch the trail of something.” 

“Catch the trail of something… sniff out her secret hiding place…” Emelia lit up with an idea. 

“Yes, those are both things I said.” 

“Mom always gave us candy with our Christmas presents. Whatever was our favorite. And I mean, we are wolves after all!” Emelia smiled. 

“Oh wow! So just try to sniff out the candies!” It clicked for Lena. 

“Yup!” 

“Ok, so what type of candies are we looking for exactly?” 

“Well, my fave is black licorice. Mom would always get it for me as a Christmas present cause no one else in the house likes it. It is always quite the treat. I figure that might be the easiest to sniff out, unique scent and not something anyone else would have brought into the house so no false trails.” 

“It’s a plan. We can do this!” Lena cheered. “None of those kids are going to miss out on this Christmas!” 

“Yay! Just make sure you don't let anyone else know what you are looking for. I don't want the little ones to find out. If they see the presents here before tomorrow morning they will all know that Santa didn’t bring them.” 

“Gotcha! Covert ops! Hush-hush.” Lena threw on a detective's face and mimicked holding up a gun all secret agent style. 

“Yeah, something like that.” Emelia laughed. 

“Hey! Laughing is good! I’m glad you still can. I know you have been through a lot. So… I’m glad.” 

“Thanks Lena. Now help me search!” Emelia ordered.

“On it!” Lena set off, immediately putting her superhuman sniffer to use in search of black licorice. On her search, She caught sight of Kara placing a bandaid on one of the kids who seemed to fallen off of his bike or scraped his knee or some other activity. Her heart swelled as she watched the alpha place a kiss on the boo-boo and pat the bandaid on before warning the child not to play so rough next time. Later on a second pass, she spotted Kara setting up a board game for some other of Cat’s kids, then beginning some crafts project for another handful of them. It quickly became impossible for her not to imagine her life as continuing here. To imagine anything but becoming the new mother to these orphans was heartbreaking and then some. They had nothing left. Or at least it felt that way. Sure they had the house, and one could figure that they all had each other. But really how much is that? After losing both of their parents? And a stepparent for at least two of them. It just isn't right! They had lost so much! It’s not fair! 

Lena worked herself up into a tizzy before she found the scent of black licorice. But she had, in fact, found it. Following the scent past the sight of Kara holding one of the kids as they cried into her shoulder about the loss of their mother. Lena felt it growing stronger. “Come on, come on!” She growled under her breath like tracking prey. She nearly climbed a wall as she tried to follow the tracks. It was after her third attempt at climbing the wall that she realized that it must be in the attic. With the new idea, Lena rushed back downstairs to Emelia so she could suggest the alternative location. 

“Attic you say?” 

“Yup!” 

“Not possible. Mom hated it up there.” Emelia shook her head. 

“So?” 

“So! There are spiders up there. Mom was deathly afraid.” Emelia shuttered. It seemed like she might be too.

“Well, I smelled licorice up there. So my bet is that it’s all up there.” Lena reasserted.

“Must be a lost cause then.” Emelia shrugged with eyes lingering on Lena like she wanted the omega to volunteer. 

“So it’s up to me to save Christmas?” Lena cocked a smile. 

“Yes please.” Emelia nodded emphatically. 

“Well, If you put it that way, where’s the latter up to the attic?” 

“Oh, that is upstairs at the end of the hall.” 

“Sounds good. Feel like being support and letting me hand the gifts down to you from up there?” 

“Yeah. That I think I can manage. As long as you don’t pass down any spiders.” Emelia smiled before the two headed upstairs. 

Lena thankfully, encountered zero spiders along her quest into the attic. Her nose guided her the rest of the way. Her flashlight glimmered off the golden, green, and red assorted presents at the back of the attic hidden away so that even if an antsy child had meandered their way up there, it would still have been hard to spot. Lena laughed to herself. The kids must have been driving Cat up a wall for her to venture so far into the attic just to hide them away. She slowly pulled out the presents and inched them along the wooden beams, careful not to put either too much of the presents' weight or any of hers off of the beams. “Ok. I got it all. Are you good for me to pass it down?” 

“Yup, go ahead and start passing when you are ready.” Emelia sat at the top of the latter and readied herself to take whatever Lena passed down. 

A flashlight beamed from over the young woman’s shoulder. “A red sack? Really?” 

“Tis the season, and Santa clause will be in town tonight.” Emelia defended. 

“Seriously? Isn’t it just a little on the nose?” 

“Hey hater! don't knock it. Plus the kids will love the idea of Santa just leaving his whole bag for them.” Emelia smiled up to Lena and offered to take some of the wrapped boxes and such. 

“Ok, that would be really cute.” Lena admitted. 

“Right!” Emelia cheered. 

“Yeah…” Lena smiled back and began to pass everything down.

With everything located, pulled down, and packed up and separated out into what was and wasn’t from Santa, the two were left with a sudden decision. “Should we leave the tags that say from Mom on them?” 

“Huh?” Lena looked up to Emelia from organizing what was left of the presents not sequestered in the big red Santa sack by which kid they were intended for. It was not just the content of the words that drew her concern and attention, but the way it was said. Like the small act would be tantamount to cutting the deceased mother from the children’s lives entirely. 

“Do you think we should leave them or remove or change them or whatever.” Each word was palpably painful. 

“Emelia? Why would you do that?” 

“Because.” Emelia trailed off, having a hard time with words. “Because I don't want the little ones to get confused. I mean like Adam and Carter it would be fine. But ones like Amy? If she gets a present from mom all of two days after she was told that her mother had died? I can't, I can't have to tell them that again. To have to explain that their mother is gone all over again? Dear god. Can Amy even take hearing something like that? I can’t imagine being that young and having my emotions knocked around like that?” Emelia ranted on the verge of tears. And then she was ranting through the tears. 

“Oh, Em…” Lena worried. “I… I don’t know. It is up to you, but they will probably understand that the presents from Cat were bought before. Maybe just tell them ahead of time?” 

“Yeah.” Emelia tried to pull herself back together. “That sounds like a good idea. I’m sure that would work.” 

“You are doing an amazing job. You know that?” 

“Sure fucking feels like it.” Emelia sniffled and wiped away the mess her face had become. 

“You are. I never had a sister, but if I did, I would have hoped she was like you.” 

“Thanks, I guess.” 

“Here.” Lena stood and offered a hand up. Emelia took the hand and hopped up to wobbly feet only to get wrapped up in a tight hug. “Take it easy on yourself. You are doing fantastic.” 

The evening seemed to roll around like the concept of time itself was going out of style. Lena rejoined with Kara in the kitchen after a long day. They both seemed to have the spontaneous urge to get started on a family dinner for them and the kids at nearly the same time.

“Hey babe.” 

“How are you love?” Lena pulled Kara into a hug and rested her head on the alpha’s shoulder even after the hug released. 

“Oh, I’m ok. Only got the puke of one kid on me today.” 

“Sorry babe.”

“Nah, it was pretty great. They are having a tough time, but they are going to be ok.” 

“Are they just going to be ok? Or are they going to be ok because they have you?” 

Kara grumbled. “Dog with a bone you are.” 

“I’m a wolf, get it right.” 

“Yes, yes.” Kara snickered and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know Lena. I really don’t know. I want to be here for them. I do. But one day doesn't prove that I can take care of them.” 

“You know what, I don't think you can. I’m not sure I can either. But we can together.” 

“Uugh! Right through the heart huh babe?” Kara made a show of thumping her fist against her chest to mimic pulling a blade out. 

Lena giggled at the gesture. Frustrating it may have been in a way, but it was also adorable. “I just know you so well.” Lena nuzzled into Kara’s neck. “Because you are my strong and capable alpha.”

“We’ll see. No explicit promises yet. But we don’t have to go home just yet either. Or even after the funeral. We’ll see.” Kara allowed. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too.”

“What do you wanna have for dinner?” 

“I was wondering if you might wanna go over to your sister’s? It’s Christmas eve. They don’t have a tree here. From what I hear, trees are a big thing for the Christmas tradition.” 

“Alex’s huh?” 

“Yeah, we could have all the kids bring their sleeping bags and like camp out in the bar or something? It could be a nice way to escape this being their first big holiday without their mother.” 

“I like that idea. Sounds nice. A real family Christmas.” 

“Yeah. A real family.”

End of Chapter 35