by V. A. Dold
Cade crept into the house as quietly as possible. Anna had been up all night. Worry over the ultrasound had compounded her insomnia, and she was finally getting some rest. If his luck held out, they could get the painting done before she woke up. Setting the paint cans on the newspaper he had spread over the carpeting, he looked at the closed window. He’d better crack all the windows, so the smell of paint didn’t wake her either.
The quiet sound of a tiptoeing army let him know the guys had arrived. Keeping them quiet was going to be a challenge.
“Hey, Cade,” Simon whispered.
“Hi, guys. Thanks for coming. We don’t have a lot of time, so let's try to hurry. Simon, could you start taping the trim?”
Simon dug the painter’s tape from the shopping bag. “Sure.”
“Thomas, could you cut in the edges?”
“Cool, my favorite part of painting.”
“You’ve done this before?” Cade asked.
“Sure, haven’t you?” Thomas asked over his shoulder as he grabbed his supplies. Suddenly, he straightened and spun around. “Oh, shit! Please tell me you know what you’re doing.”
“Well...the guy at the hardware store told me what to do and made sure I had all the brushes and stuff. We’ll be fine.”
“Shit,” Thomas hung his head in defeat. “We’re going to die.”
“Oh, come on. Quit being dramatic and get painting.” Cade scowled.
“Okay, but when she goes atomic, rabid wolf on your ass, I’m laying all the blame at your feet.”
That thought had Cade hesitating for a moment before he shook his head.
No, this is a good idea, he thought, as he convinced himself to follow through with his plan.
Shaking it off, he turned to Stefan. “Take one of these pans and fill the end with paint and start rolling it on. I’ll work on this wall with another roller. The hardware guy said paint at angles, so we’ll do that.”
Stefan rolled a few random stripes on the wall before he pulled the roller away and stepped back to eye the paint. Frowning, he looked at Cade. “This looks really bright. Are you sure this is the right color? It looks – neon.”
“The sample was really pretty. Just keep painting and allow it to dry. It will look different than when it’s wet.”
Stefan eyed the wall again. “All right, if you’re sure.”
He was still looking at Cade’s wall as he walked backward toward his own. A squeak broke from his throat as he stepped on the slippery lid of the open paint can. Catching air, his feet flew from under him as he went down hard.
In his panic to stop his fall, he jerked the newspaper the open can was on. Like a teeter-totter, as Stefan went down, the can went up. The paint sailed in every direction. Nothing escaped the airborne, psychedelic pink destruction.
The sound of men shouting jerked Anna from a sound sleep. Almost falling out of bed, she stumbled to the bedroom door.
What the hell was that?
Then she heard them again. Why were Stefan and Thomas in the house? Was that Simon?
“Cade? What’s going on?” Anna asked as she stepped from the hallway into the nursery. “NO!”
The men froze, brushes and rollers stopping in mid-throw. Once the initial splash of paint hit everyone, a paint war ensued. Paint splatter was everywhere–the walls, window, carpeting, even the ceiling was covered with neon pink.
“What are you doing!” Anna screeched.
Thomas pointed a finger at Cade as Simon and Stefan stammered.
“Dammit,” Cade mumbled as his wolf glared at him disapprovingly. Then he turned a sad face toward the love of his life. “I wanted to surprise you with a freshly painted nursery. As you can see, it didn’t go well.” Then he quickly added, “Don’t worry babe. I’ll get this cleaned up.”
“You bet your sweet ass you will,” Anna growled as she stomped to the kitchen. Her head was suddenly pounding like a marching band had taken up residence in her skull.
Cade slipped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “I really am sorry, mon amour. I was trying to help by painting the nursery pink.” He sighed heavily. “I wanted it to be perfect for you and our baby.”
“I know you meant well, babe. It was just a shock to see neon pink covering everything.” Then she giggled. “The look on your faces, when I walked in, was priceless.”
He chuckled along with her. “Stefan slipped on the lid and next thing I knew it was like a food fight but with paint. I tried to stop those idiots, but you know what they’re like.”
“I’ll have to call a professional painter and get it fixed,” Anna said, her voice was weak and sounded exhausted. “I guess I’ll need to order carpet, too.”
Chapter Two
Cade grabbed a cup of coffee and the phone. He needed caffeine and a professional painter. Preferably today. Once he had the painting fiasco fixed, he needed to think of a way to make it up to Anna.
By the time he was done with his second cup, he’d gotten the number for Thomas’s painter who had done his entire house and the man was on his way. He made sure the contractor had a pretty pastel pink and not the crap he’d gotten yesterday. Neon pink? What had he been thinking anyway?
Now he needed flooring. “Anna, would you like carpet in the bedroom, or would you rather change it to wood flooring?” Cade called from the kitchen.
“Carpet. Babies fall down a lot when they start walking,” she called back from the laundry room.
“I should have thought of that,” he growled. So far, he wasn’t doing very well as a father. He needed to step up his game and get a handle on this.
The painter was on his way, and the carpet guy was scheduled to measure the room later in the morning. Luckily, they still carried the same carpeting he and the guys just destroyed. It was going to be easy enough to lay the new carpet down once the paint dried.
Anna joined him in the kitchen, sighing in relief as she sat at the table.
“Let me get you some decaf,” Cade offered as he brushed his lips across her forehead. “Would you like some oatmeal? Or how about eggs for breakfast today?”
“Instant oatmeal sounds great. Thanks, babe, I’m starving, but my feet are killing me.”
“You just sit right there, and I’ll take care of you.” He was waiting for the microwave to finish her oatmeal when he got an idea. “When was the last time you and the ladies went to the spa?”
Anna took a sip of her coffee. “I’m not sure, a while ago.”
“I think you should take the entire day tomorrow and pamper yourself. Call up Rose, El, and Mom. Make a party of it.”
Anna considered his suggestion for a minute. “You know, I think I will. Thanks for the idea, sweetheart. And thanks for taking care of the nursery. Even though it didn’t work out, painting it yourself was a really sweet idea.”
Cade kissed her knuckles. “I would do anything for you, but maybe next time I try to be a manly man, I’ll do a better job of it,” he said chuckling.
“Believe me, you’re a manly man in bed every night,” Anna said, her eyes heating over the rim of her cup.
“You had better behave, or I’ll carry you back to bed, workmen in the house be damned.”
“Promises, promises,” she teased.
Anna had plans with Emma, which was just fine with him. He didn’t want her around the new paint or new carpet fumes. By nine that morning she was out the door, and the painting contractor, Nick, had arrived.
“Did a disco dancer blow up in here?” Nick asked as he turned in the center of the room to get the full effect.
Cade scowled irritably at the mess. “No. My brothers and stepson did.”
Nick gave him an odd look but didn’t ask for clarification. “Give me a few minutes to prep the room and paint a test patch for your approval.”
“All right. Do you think the paint will come off the woodwork, or do I need to have that stripped and re-stained?”
“I’ll
try to clean it off and if there is a problem I’ll let you know. Since you used a latex paint, it should come off fairly easily.”
Cade nodded. He liked that answer. At least one thing was going right. “I’ll be in my office, down the hall. Yell when you need me.”
A little over an hour later, the room was primed, and the contractor needed approval to proceed.
“Cade? I have the test patch ready,” Nick yelled.
“On my way,” Cade shouted back.
He took one looked at the test color and breathed a sigh of relief. It was perfect, soft and yet just enough color without being garish. Anna was going to love it, and he would be out of the doghouse.
“You just saved my hide, Nick. Thank you,” Cade smiled approvingly. “The color is exactly what I wanted.”
Cade was feeling much better about the baby’s room. With the stress from the paint disaster under control, he could concentrate on the file spread across the desk. Lucas had emailed ideas for the ranch in Texas and wanted him to look them over and advise him on how to move forward. The new project of a cattle - dude ranch combination had his creative juices flowing like nothing had in quite a while.
Anna waddled across the yard to the main house. She had a morning tea date with her mother-in-law, Emma, to discuss a baby shower and family heirlooms. Knowing a shifter lived to be fourteen hundred years, heirlooms could be from almost any century.
By the time she cleared the top step on the front porch, Emma had the door open with a welcoming smile.
“How the heck do you do that? Were you watching for me?” Anna asked as she hugged Emma.
“I have my secrets, and as queen, I have an extra power or two, but we can talk about that another day.” She grinned and then began to rub her hands together. “Today is all about my grandchild and your baby shower.”
“One of these days I’m going to make you tell me all your deep, dark secrets. You know that, right?”
“Of that, I have no doubt. But the time and place to pass on the secrets of the queen’s powers is neither today nor is it in my living room. So, what flavor would the baby like today?”
“Rooibos would be wonderful.”
“My granddaughter has good taste.” Emma grinned as she steeped the tea. “Let’s talk about the shower first.”
“All right.”
“I was thinking,” Emma said as she poured the tea, “since this is our first grandchild and the future queen of the shifters, I would love to involve the entire family in the shower.”
Anna frowned. “Entire family?”
“Yes, a men’s and women’s shower,” Emma stated like it was a normal thing.
“How, exactly, would that work?”
“The women buy all the pretty little outfits and such that every mother loves while the men buy the new father things he may need for the baby.”
Anna still looked leery. “Okay, I’ve never been to a baby shower with men before, but if that’s what you want to do, I’m game.”
Emma clapped her hands happily. “I’ll address the invitations and have Rose help organize the event. Leave everything to me.”
One look at her mother-in-law’s gleeful expression, and she began to panic. “This is just immediate family, right?”
“Absolutely, just family. Now, before you start buying baby stuff, I have some things I saved from when the boys were little.”
“I was surprised when you said you had heirlooms. I’ve never seen any baby items in the house. Where have you been hiding them?”
“There’s a storage building on the island with the cabin. Isaac is fetching the baby things for me, and we’ll give them to you at the shower. Don’t buy anything for the nursery until after the shower. I have a feeling you are going to receive everything you need as gifts.”
Nick was rhythmically rolling the first coat of pink on the third wall when the carpet contractor arrived.
“Good morning, Mr. Le Beau. My name is Jeff,” the contractor said, offering his hand.
“Good morning, Jeff, and please call me Cade.”
“All right, Cade. Where’s my patient? I was told this was an emergency.”
“Right down here.” Cade gestured and led the way to the nursery.
The walls were in much better shape than they had been, but the carpet still bore the evidence of yesterday’s paint war.
Jeff’s eyes widened. “Wow. What happened in here?”
“My family happened. I made the mistake of asking them to help me paint the room. I won’t make that mistake again. Paint and the Le Beau men are not good bedfellows.”
Jeff chuckled as he pulled his measuring tape from his back pocket to jot down the measurements.
“I’ll leave you to it. But just one thing...”
Both men stopped to look at him.
“If you get the room finished by dinner time, I’ll handsomely reward your efforts.”
“Well, all right,” Nick grinned.
“I have the carpet in stock so I’m sure I can meet your deadline,” Jeff nodded his acceptance.
It took the entire day and a lot of bribing with bonus payments for the contractors, but the nursery was perfect. And empty.
The next morning
Cade tapped his fingers on his coffee cup. Even though Anna had been thrilled with the pastel pink nursery and new carpet, he’d been awake much of the night thinking about the empty nursery. Somewhere around three a.m. he had hit upon the solution he needed in order to make things up to Anna. Now he needed his lovely mate to head to the spa so he could call in the cavalry. Since they had created the unholy mess in the nursery, they could help him fix this with his mate.
Speaking of the devil, she walked into the kitchen. “Good morning,” Anna’s wolf rumbled contentedly as she kissed his neck on her way to the teapot.”
“Good morning, cher. You’re especially beautiful today. What time are you and the ladies heading to the spa?”
She glanced at the clock. “In about fifteen minutes, just enough time for a cup of tea with my incredible man.”
“You keep that thought in mind today. Just remember how incredible I am and ignore those masseurs I know they have.”
“Masseurs? Hmm,” She grinned, teasing him.
Cade swept her into his arms and kissed her hard. “You shouldn’t poke the big bad wolf, mon amour.”
Anna giggled at his mock-angry expression and kissed him again.
“Keep that up, and you’ll never get to the spa,” Cade growled.
“That dang spa is looking less inviting by the second.”
“Oh, no you don’t. You need a day away. Now, get.”
“All right, I’m going.” Anna laughed as she put her cup in the dishwasher and headed for the door.
The women weren’t even out of the driveway when Cade dialed Simon’s number.
Simon answered in his usual way. “Hey, Cade. What’s up?”
“I know how we can make the painting disaster up to Anna.”
The line was silent for a second. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“The nursery is empty. We need to furnish it from top to bottom. You know, get the crib, dresser, and that changing thingy. All the stuff women like in a baby’s room.”
“This sounds like a really bad idea, Cade. Women are kind of particular about that stuff.”
“How would you know?”
“Rose and I talk about kids, too. We just haven’t started a bun in the oven yet.”
“Are you telling me, you don’t think four grown, intelligent men can furnish one nursery?”
“Heck, no. I’m sure we could do it, but how many of us are going to die over it? Angry wives are scary, Cade, and Rose will have my balls if we screw up again.”
“Well, if you’re too chicken, I’ll have to see if Thomas and Stefan will fill in for you. I was going to call them anyway.”
“I’ll tell you what, if you can get Thomas to go, I’ll g
o, too.”
“You’re on. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”
Cade quickly dialed Thomas’s number. This was going to be harder than he’d planned. He hadn’t expected Simon to be such a big baby.
“Good morning, Thomas speaking.”
“Thomas, how are you today?”
“Fine...what are you up to? And don’t tell me nothing.”
Cade chuckled. “I can never slip anything past you. Sometimes you take all the fun out of life. I want to make up the painting mess to your mother by furnishing the nursery. I could use some help shopping and stuff.”
“Did you hit your head?”
“What?” Cade frowned at the phone. “No, why?”
“You either are delirious, or you have a death wish.”
“What is so wrong with buying a crib and stuff?”
“Cade, my man, you have no idea how many ways that could go wrong.”
“Are you saying you won’t go with me today? I was really counting on your help. Tell you what. You come with me, and I’ll get your mother to stop grilling you about your ‘dates’ for the next month. Deal?”
“Make it two months, and you’re on.”
“Deal. Come to my place A.S.A.P. I gotta go and call Stefan.”
Cade quickly dialed Stefan’s number, a little happier now that he had Thomas onboard, even if he had to bribe the little shit.
“Yeah?” Stefan yawned into the phone.
“Are you still in bed? Get up, you lazy ass.”
“I had a very – active – night and went back to bed after I left El’s house. There is a difference. Why are you bothering me?”
Cade explained the situation to Stefan and waited.
“All right, I’ll go with you guys.”
“Why are you being so helpful? I expected you to refuse.”
“I can’t wait for it to backfire and I want to be there when it does.”
“Whatever. It’s not going to backfire. It’ll be great.”
“You keep telling yourself that. I’ll be the one laughing my ass off when Anna neuters you.”
“Just get your butt over here. I need to call Simon back. We leave in twenty minutes.”
He got ahold of Simon and now all the guilty parties from yesterday were in place to make the nursery epic. There was a children’s specialty store about thirty minutes away. He figured they would find everything they needed there.
