The Complete Wild Series (Emily Hunter Series)

by Lane Hart

  With a slap on his leg, Ben's dad started chuckling. "You're right! And even though he didn't look anything like Bugs he was sure enough a grey rabbit," he said as he rocked in laughter.

  "Oh yeah, I remember that!" Ben suddenly said. Then he looked pointedly back and forth at his parents. "Is that why you wouldn't let me watch cartoons until I was a teenager?" he asked indignantly.

  "Well sure, we had to stay away from nature shows too," his mom answered without the least bit of remorse. "And don't you think you won't do the same thing when your little one gets here!"

  Ben and I looked at each other and he signed in defeat. "I know,” he conceded. “I guess we better get him a lot of animal free toys too," he said to me.

  "And get rid of the zoo theme in the nursery. This is going to be tricky isn't it?" I asked them and they all nodded.

  "So, I guess I should go ahead and turn in my notice at work, huh?" I asked.

  Ben frowned. He knew I loved my job, but it was likely that I wouldn't be able to work until our son went to middle school.

  "Yeah, I'm sorry sweetie," he said as he hugged me to him again.

  "It'll be fine," I told him with a smile. It wasn't like I worked because we needed the money. Ben’s income had always more than paid all our bills. I worked because I liked my job, my boss and my coworkers. It was exciting being a criminal law paralegal, and I was going to miss it.

  "Besides, you probably couldn't make me go back to work after the baby gets here anyway," I said to reassure him I was fine with coming out of work.

  We asked Ben's parents to come over the following weekend to meet with my parents and tell them their "secret". There was no way we could keep it from them once their grandson arrived, and his parents happily agreed. David and Susan felt bad that Ben hadn't told me his secret sooner, and had no problem trusting my parents to keep this information to themselves.

  Chapter

  Two

  The next day I went into work and typed up my notice, stating that I would be around until I had the baby, or was told to come out of work by my doctor. This would give my boss about four more months to find my replacement and have me train them. I knew Jack wouldn't have any trouble finding a good legal assistant. The only challenge would be showing them how he liked to run his practice, and what he expected to be done without him having to ask.

  Jack took the news better than I had predicted. I assumed he’d already considered that I wouldn’t want to come back, only he had no idea the real reason I would have to stay home.

  The rest of the week at work was uneventful, and soon the weekend came. It was time for Ben and his dad to “come out” to my parents.

  On Saturday afternoon my parents came over to our house for what they thought was just a regular lunch get-together with my in-laws. I was so excited for them to finally learn about the unique side of Ben's family, which would also affect their grandson. Mostly I just couldn't wait to see their reactions.

  My mother prided herself on not letting anything get by her, so catching her off guard was going be so much fun. My dad on the other hand, well there was a reason we were having this meeting at our house instead of theirs. We made sure that anything that could be used as a weapon was put away, under lock and key.

  My father was not the type to openly accept anything strange or unusual. Robert Jennings wasn't a big animal lover either. He liked Ben because he was successful, and he was able to support me and now our family, but not because of his particular career choice.

  Everyone arrived around noon, said their greetings and then we all sat down to eat the chili Ben had made. While we were eating I couldn't hide my grin of anticipation of what was to come. My mother attributed it to my “pregnancy glow”.

  After we cleaned up the kitchen we all got comfortable in the living room - the same place where I had learned for the first time that my husband could become an animal. It was also the same place where I had immediately passed out from my mind not being able to comprehend what my eyes had seen take place. We would definitely keep my parents sitting down for this revealing.

  "So, mom and dad, there's something we need to tell you," I started. My mom's eyes got wide in surprise at the sudden shift in the conversation.

  "Well, what is it sweetie? What are you waiting for?" she asked with a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest. The woman really had no patience for surprises.

  "Oh, I think I'll turn this over to Ben and his dad," I said with a smile as I turned to look at them.

  Ben seemed nervous. He was shy and still intimidated by my parents, especially my father. I also knew he was somewhat ashamed of what he was. I hadn’t seen him shift since the night he told me his secret. Was the fact that he could shift into an animal weird? Hell yes, but that didn’t mean I loved him any less.

  Ben and David got up and stood in front of us like they were going to perform a song or dance. I covered my mouth but couldn't help the giggle that escaped. My mom gave me an evil glare because she wanted in on the joke. Oh, she was about to get in on it alright.

  Unlike Ben, his dad was raring and ready to go, bouncing back and forth on his feet. You could tell he didn't get out much, or have any excitement in his life. This was also probably the only time he’d shown someone, other than immediate family, what he could do.

  "Well, Julie and Robert, there is something you don't know about our family, and even Emily didn't know until recently," David started telling my parents. "This is something that we all feel you need to know before your grandson gets here, and we trust you to keep this confidential."

  I wanted them to get on with it because the suspense was about to kill my mom. I then had a horrible thought in which I really hoped my parents had been to their doctor’s for physicals recently, and that their hearts were in good condition.

  "So, this may come as a shock to you, but the men in my family pass down a genetic condition that allows us to shape shift. That means we can turn into animals," David hesitated a moment to let that settle in. "As children we didn’t have any control and the mere sight of an animal could invoke the shifting to take place.”

  "As adults we have more control, especially since my dad and I take Adoral to stabilize our moods," Ben added, probably so he and his dad wouldn't come across as loose cannons.

  My parents looked somewhat frozen. Not much blinking or breathing seemed to be going on with either of them.

  "Mom, dad, do you understand what they are saying?" I asked.

  My parents looked at each other, then at me. "Emily, is this a joke, because it's not very funny!" My mother seemed to be getting more upset by the minute.

  "What is this about Emily?" my dad asked.

  "Why don't you guys show them since that is much more convincing than trying to explain it," I told Ben and his dad.

  "Okay, here goes," Ben said. "I hope you will both be open-minded after you've seen this and give us a chance to explain and answer your questions."

  Show time! I had no idea what they were going to shift into, but I did know the two of them had discussed it.

  "Wait! Wait! Wait," I yelled, as I jumped up, or more like hobbled off, the couch with my growing belly. "I need to get my camera!" I told them. I ran and grabbed my iPhone from our bedroom, then ran back into the living room. "Okay, I'm ready," I said as I stood just behind Ben and his dad so that I was facing my parents.

  I pressed record, knowing this video could never leave this room, but I had to capture my parents' reactions. My mom looked like steam was about to come out of her ears. Oddly enough, my dad seemed to be mostly relaxed, and patiently waiting for the show to begin.

  Within a few moments a large brown and white hamster, or maybe it was more of a large guinea pig, was crawling out of the pile of clothes where David had been standing. A large white rabbit was on the floor hopping out of Ben’s now empty jeans and t-shirt.

  Nice! They had picked very non-threatening pets for their demonstration. The chance that they would be assaulted by
my mom or dad was probably pretty low for these particular animals.

  The video recording continued on and was right around three minutes in before either of my parent said anything or moved.

  “What the fuuc-dge is going on?” my mom screamed, catching herself before the f-bomb was dropped.

  My dad was the one who answered her. “Well Jules, it looks like Ben and David just turned into a rabbit and a, um, I’d say a rather large guinea pig.”

  “Yes, I see that dear, but could someone explain to me how the hell that happened?” my mom screamed as she looked at me. I’d better start explaining or she was going to go ballistic.

  “Mom, they told you that they were born with the ability to shape hift, which means they can turn into animals. They are not going to hurt you, and they’ll look just like they usually do in a minute. Only they’ll be naked.” That was definitely not something I wanted my parents to see. “Why don’t we all head over to the back porch so they can get dressed and back to normal?” I suggested.

  Susan went over to help my mom off the couch and out the back door. “Come on Julie. I’ll tell you all about my unusual husband and son, so you’ll know what to expect when our grandson get here,” she told her.

  My mom let out a high pitched shriek and then covered her mouth with her hand, as she looked back and forth between Ben and his dad still sitting in the same place exact place.

  “Are you okay dad? You’re awfully quiet,” I asked with concern. My mom’s reaction I had expected. I’m not sure what I expected from my dad, but it was definitely not this sort of quick acceptance. My dad was a retired auto mechanic, so he was always fixing and building things. Maybe he was okay with what he had just witnessed and only wanted to know how it worked.

  “Em, it’s going to take more than that abracadabra trick to surprise me. Now if they had a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, and were trying to take my leg off, we might have a problem,” he said, as he stood up. “I’m just wondering why you’re telling us this now. Our grandson is going to be one of these shifters too?”

  I think he was catching on quicker than I had. “Yeah, pretty much,” I told him as we made our way outside to calm down my mom.

  Over the next hour or so my parents asked Ben and his dad some of the same questions I had asked after finding out their secret. When it was time to leave they seemed to understand all there was to know, and I reiterated to them how important it was for them to keep this to themselves. But really, who would they tell?

  Chapter

  Three

  The next three months were a blur consisting of me growing larger and larger, becoming more and more uncomfortable, having a few baby showers, getting the nursery finished, and training my replacement at work.

  Everything was going great health-wise for me and the baby.

  Ben and I had starting thinking of possible baby names. We had pretty much agreed on Lucas Robert Hunter, giving him my dad’s name. I told Ben I felt bad that we were not using his dad’s name, but like he said, our son would pass on his father’s surname.

  We decided not to tell anyone our idea on the name until he was born, just in case we changed our minds once we actually saw and held him. He might not look like a Lucas, so we were going to wait and see.

  On October 24th, about two weeks before my November 8th due date, I had walked the three blocks from our office to the courthouse to show Jack’s new assistant, Kathy, where to file court documents. As we stepped onto the elevator to go up to the Clerk’s office my water broke right then and there without any warning. It was a really good thing I wasn’t planning on going back to my job after I had the baby, because I was pretty sure I would never again show my face in that building.

  My office was only about two miles from Charlotte Regional Hospital, so after I waddled back to the office I called my doctor, grabbed some towels and drove myself there. On the way I called Ben and then my parents to tell them it was show time.

  I'm pretty sure Ben started hyperventilating while he was on the phone with me. I worried about him making the long commute from his clinic to the hospital downtown. What should have been a thirty or forty minute drive only took him fifteen minutes. I really hoped his SUV was still in one piece, but I had more important things to worry about.

  By the time I got checked in and was sent to a labor and delivery room, I was starting to feel contractions. We’d taken one of those birthing classes at the hospital, and I was breathing right through those bad boys just fine. This wasn’t that uncomfortable at all. I couldn't understand why some women complained about how painful their labor had been.

  Fast-forward four hours later and I was ready to kill someone for an epidural. The pain was excruciating and I was only dilated to seven centimeters. What the hell was ten centimeters going to feel like?

  Profanities I had never used before in my life starting flying out of my mouth whenever the contractions hit. Ben was trying his best to track down the anesthesiologist for the pain meds. I think he was also trying to get a break from me, which only made me angrier.

  When he came back into my room he frantically assured me help was on the way.

  “The nurse said that the anesthesiologist has two more women in front of you, and he’ll be here as soon as he can.”

  As I looked him over during a break in the contractions, Ben looked worse than I’d ever seen him before. Sweat was pouring down his face and covering his shirt. His eyes were too wide, and his hair was sticking up in every direction.

  “I can’t wait that long!” I screamed at him, as another contraction started. “Ahhhhh. Find my doctor and tell her to get her ass in here!” I yelled as I grabbed and squeezed the handles on the bed.

  Why didn’t anyone warn me how bad this labor and delivery thing was! My mom, Ben’s mom, my friend Lindsey, or my doctor; Those little bitches! I was not prepared for this! Oh God, the magnitude of pain was beyond words.

  Ben tried to help as best he could. He rubbed my sweaty hair from my face, found ice chips for me, and tried to motivate me to hang on a little longer, as he held my hand through the rough parts. He even put up with my constant yelling and complaining without commenting.

  The ever elusive, son of a bitch, anesthesiologist finally appeared to give me the epidural. While he was getting his utensils ready I was begging him for the drugs like a crack addict needing a fix.

  I felt instantaneous relief after he was finished, which lasted for about three hours, right up until I was ten centimeters dilated and ready to start pushing.

  The stress level in the room was tremendous by the time my doctor came in to deliver. I was in tears and yelling at her to get the baby out of me, even if she had to cut me in half.

  Ben was holding my hand and telling me to keep pushing, and that it would all be over soon. Finally, I pushed with everything I had left in me, and the doctor held up a screaming baby, our screaming baby.

  “Is ... he ... okay?” I gasped out.

  They laid him over in the bassinet with the heated lamps to check that his lungs, which sounded pretty freaking strong, and everything else was working as it should be. It was such a relief to finally see him.

  “He is perfect and as healthy as he can be!” one of the nurses said the doctor finished up with me.

  “Oh, thank God!” I said in relief as I laid my head back onto the pillow. I suddenly realized that Ben was missing, and I hadn't seen him since the baby was delivered.

  I looked around for him, and had to do a double take when my eyes reached the windowsill. Was I having some sort of post-partum delusion? Nope, Ben really had turned into a Freaking. Grey. Cat.

  He seemed to be trying to see what was going on in the room, while hiding most of his feline body behind the window curtain. This was so bad.

  Chapter

  Four

  What were we going to do? How was I going to explain my missing husband, his pile of clothes that were visible to anyone who walked in the room, and, if they were not blind, a cat run
ning around all nimbly-pimbly?

  Oh, this was the absolute worst time for this to happen! I covered my face as the sobs started. I knew this was a really stressful situation, but I thought Ben had more control than that!

  Before I could figure out what to do, the nurse was handing me our beautiful son and telling me to calm down, that he was perfectly fine. She had no idea why I was upset, but then everything else was forgotten as I looked down at the tiny new person in my arms.

  "He's twenty-one inches long and weighs eight pounds and nine ounces," the nurse said.

  He had stopped yelling, more content now that he was wrapped up all nice and warm. He kept blinking, like he was trying to make his eyes work against the brightness in the room that he'd never experienced before.

  I gently rubbed my fingertips over his damp, sparse hair, with pieces sticking up as it dried, then down to his chubby cheek, and his little curled fists. He had a cute little nose, and when they were cracked open, what looked like dark blue eyes.

  He was the most precious thing I’d ever seen or touched in my life, and I already loved him more than anything in this world. I only wished his father could hold him and be a part of this moment, I thought as more tears ran down my face. I knew there would soon be time for that soon, but right now we needed to figure out what to do to limit Ben’s exposure.

  At first, the doctor and two nurses didn't seem to notice the sudden disappearance of my husband. When the younger nurse eventually asked where he was, I told her he had gone out to get our family. I needed someone to do that, but it would have to wait.

  It seemed we might be out of the woods since Dr. Wrenn was busy stitching me up, and the nurses were busy cleaning up. Even the pile of clothes went unnoticed, since they probably thought it was simply our mess from being cooped up in this room for over eight hours.