The Reindeer's Easter Family

by E A Price

  “You have to brush your teeth,” said Penny piously.

  Izzy put on her pouty face and was prepared to argue some more when Tank declared, “I’ll take them.”

  Marion raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You will?”

  He rolled his massive shoulders. “Sure.”

  All the girls beamed, and Izzy was apparently more than happy to brush her teeth for Tank.

  “Come on angels,” he said, lumbering to his feet.

  Marion smiled at him, and he winked as he herded the girls out. The moment he left the room, the sisters were on her for details.

  *

  “Are we going to live here with you?” asked Izzy after she finally submitted to a teeth cleaning. She was stubborn, but if he managed to get Trini to clean her teeth when she was Izzy’ age, he could manage it with anyone. Trini used to bite the heads off toothbrushes.

  Tank wondered how much detail he should tell them. “Ah, yes, Mommy and me…”

  “Are going to mate,” finished Penny.

  “Yes, that means…”

  “You’re going to be our Dad,” said Penny with a knowledgeable look.

  “Yes, I ah…”

  Penny frowned. “Do we have to call you Daddy?”

  “No, you don’t.” Though, he wouldn’t really mind it… eventually. If her ex-mate was still a part of their lives, then, maybe not. But he hadn’t been on the scene even before he died. So the field was wide open for Tank.

  “I’m calling you giant,” declared Izzy.

  Tank chuckled. “Sounds good, now you girls better get some sweaters. Today’s going to be cold.”

  They nodded, and he followed them into his bedroom – the one they were sharing with Marion. Not that Marion had spent a lot of time in there last night he thought just a tad smugly.

  He watched as the girls pulled out various sweaters and cardigans. Marion had nothing to worry about; he could easily take care of these three – they were nothing compared to his sisters. Plus, he had a much better height advantage now than when his sisters were their age.

  Penny, who was a lot more practical than her younger sisters, was ready a lot quicker than them. While Izzy was still deciding on which pink sweater she preferred, Penny was giving him a pointed look.

  “You’re not going to change your mind, are you?”

  Tank grunted and frowned at her.

  “You want to be with us, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do,” he replied emphatically.

  Penny fixed him with those devastatingly huge eyes. “Promise?”

  “Promise,” he rumbled.

  Penny nodded in approval, and he couldn’t help the giddy smile that erupted over his face.

  Should he be a little dazed that he suddenly had a family? Maybe, but, he almost felt like he’d been practicing for this his whole life, and he was a good guy, patient and kind – even if he did say so himself, and he always tried to do the right thing. Why didn’t he deserve a sweet woman like Marion and three adorable kids?

  “Just so you know, I want a baby brother,” said Penny, completing taking him by surprise.

  “No, a sister,” said Izzy.

  Sophie nodded. “Two sisters.”

  “Three.”

  “We want lots of sisters.”

  “No, brothers,” insisted Penny, “they’ll probably be nicer.”

  Izzy stuck out her tongue and Tank gulped.

  “Ah…”

  “Everybody ready to go?” asked Marion, sashaying into the room.

  “Tank says we can have four sisters!” declared Izzy – completely untruthfully!

  Marion opened her mouth in surprise and looked at him inquiringly. “No kidding!”

  “Ah yes, uh,” he stammered.

  “When will they get here?” asked Sophie, her small face creasing in a frown.

  “Okay, girls, time to go!” called Marion.

  “But…”

  “Everybody who goes downstairs right now will get pizza for lunch!”

  The sibling discussion was quickly dismissed in favor of pizza – which the girls all said was their favorite meal when his mom asked them. Though they differed and argued over their favorite toppings, which in turn started his own sisters arguing about their favorite toppings. It had turned into a long discussion, especially when calzone was thrown into the mix.

  Tank caught Marion’s eye. She blushed, and then he blushed, and through an unspoken agreement, they decided not to talk about it for the moment.

  Twenty-One

  Marion looked up the nearest pet store online. It was about ten minutes away by car. She wanted to get the girls a new fish – Fluffy the second. Plus, they deserved a better fish tank. The old one was bought at a yard sale and had seen better days; maybe she would splurge and get them a treat.

  Money was always tight, but she kept a small fund aside outside of her weekly budget for regular treats and rainy days – like when Penny won the school spelling bee or when the washing machine broke.

  Actually, now, maybe it would be a little looser – now that she had Tank. Perhaps it was a little cheeky expecting him to fork out money for her family – but it was about to be his family too, and well, she didn’t look gift horses in the mouth. Gift reindeer maybe?

  After last night it seemed to her like he was all in on this mating thing, and well, so was she. She wasn’t kidding when she said she didn’t want to mate anyone else – she wanted Tank. He was sexy and funny and strong and just the kind of guy she wanted but had never found – always attracting men like Jack. Didn’t she deserve a Tank?

  “Hey.”

  Marion found Tank at the reception with his cousin, Dozer. She smiled at Dozer who blushed slightly and looked away. She hadn’t noticed before, but he was a little shy around women.

  Tank gave her his panty-dropping grin, and she let out a little ooh.

  “What was that?” asked Tank.

  “Nothing! I was just wondering whether we could take a trip to a pet store. I don’t think telling the girls that Fluffy’s sleeping over at a friend’s house is going to stand up for another night – it’s already pretty flimsy.”

  Dozer chuffed, and when Marion smiled at him, he turned even brighter red.

  Tank grunted.

  “I know, I know,” she said patiently, “it’s dangerous, but the girls will want to know where Fluffy is.”

  Tank grunted.

  “Well sure, but do you want to be the one to tell them about their beloved pet?”

  Tank grunted.

  “There is a pet store only ten minutes away from here. We could go there, pick up Fluffy the second and be back within half an hour.”

  Tank grunted.

  “I already called to make sure they have them in stock.”

  Tank grunted.

  Marion beamed in satisfaction. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

  Dozer was gaping at the two of them. “What the hell was that?” he muttered.

  She surged forward, considering kissing him – Tank that is, but she hesitated slightly. They were still so new to one another, though shyness after the previous night was perhaps a little pointless. But being intimate in private was different to public displays of affection. Even if it was only Tank’s cousin.

  Tank smiled and leaned down for a kiss, it was quick but soft and gentle and felt as natural as breathing. Yep, she’d only known him for three days, but being around Tank felt like the most normal thing in the whole world – well, after being with her girls of course. They were always first and foremost in her heart and thoughts, but Tank was definitely creeping his way in there.

  Twenty-Two

  Tank wasn’t particularly happy about going to the pet store, but yeah, he wanted a replacement for Fluffy too.

  Penny had asked some very probing questions about the supposed fishy sleepover, and he wasn’t sure he could come up with more answers on the spot. It was her eyes – it was so difficult to lie to those beautiful, earnest eyes.

&nbs
p; He surveyed tank after tank of fish, and he didn’t want to sound fishist – but those suckers all looked the same.

  “What kind of fish was Fluffy?” he asked, frowning at an eel. He was glad it wasn’t an eel – they were kind of freaky.

  “Regular goldfish I think,” said Marion. She pointed at a tank containing a dozen bright orange fish, “Like these.”

  The girls were back at the center, surrounded by three enforcers, including Mal. Branch and Harlan were also there, watching over their mates. The girls would be okay, he was sure. To the pet store, he had brought Dozer. Neither Mal nor Branch believed they would try to take Marion on her own. Marion was just a means to an end; Marcus really wanted the girls.

  Dozer was currently inspecting the various birds, giving them suspicious looks.

  Marion chewed on her lip. “Which one do you think?”

  “How about this one?” He pointed at a random fish.

  “Which one?”

  “The one that looks the same as all the others.”

  Marion smiled and waved over Randy, the eager, young shop assistant who had introduced himself the moment they walked through the door. He had wanted to give them a tour of all the animals, but Marion only had eyes for fish.

  “Just one of those please, and we need a new tank for him.”

  Tank nodded and pointed at a tank called the Fishmaster 5000. “How about this one? Nice and big.”

  “That one houses over a hundred fish,” said Randy.

  “Yeah, how about it?” asked Tank.

  Randy winced, clearly not wanting to disagree with the customer but feeling like he ought to. “It’s a little big for one fish.”

  Marion found a much better option on a display stand next to a cardboard cartoon octopus. “How about this one – it’s got a mermaid and a castle in it and pink pebbles – I think the girls will love it.”

  “The princess tank? Yeah, I guess,” agreed Tank.

  She laughed. “We’ll take the fish and a princess tank please.”

  “Sure, your purchases will be waiting for you at the counter, when you and your…” he glanced over at Dozer who was now petting the puppies, “friend are finished.”

  “Oh, puppies,” sighed Marion, “the girls begged me for one before we finally settled on a fish. Actually, they wanted a rabbit, then a cat, then a gorilla, then a dog, then an otter and finally back to rabbit. They adore otters after seeing them at the zoo.”

  They strolled towards the dogs, and she slipped her hand into his with comfortable ease.

  “Didn’t fancy a dog?”

  “I didn’t fancy the gorilla or the otter either. I just knew that I would be the one taking care of him. Oh, they are cute though!”

  He chuckled and then grunted.

  “Though, maybe we should start small with a hamster or something.”

  “Yeah, there’s no rush.”

  Tank smiled down at her, enjoying a lovey-dovey moment. But it was short-lived; he growled as familiar scents assailed him.

  “What’s wrong?” she breathed.

  “We need to leave,” he rumbled. “Dozer.”

  His cousin stilled and looked at him, the puppy he was holding continued to lick his face. Dozer read his expression and nodded. He carefully put the puppy down, and keeping Marion between them, they moved toward the front of the store.

  Tank stopped in the dog food aisle. Randy was on the floor, blood pooling around his head.

  Shit.

  Wolves could be damn stealthy when they wanted to be. They had taken the young man down without a peep. He peered around a shelf and noticed the other sales clerk and two customers were also down. Jeez. He could scent their blood, but couldn’t tell whether they were alive. Poor bastards. Damn predators. They wanted to tear him and Dozer to shreds and leave with Marion. Like. Hell.

  His reindeer rumbled, and Marion squeezed his hand. He turned to Dozer and held up four fingers. He scented four of the bastards – including Marcus.

  Tank dropped to one knee, pulling Marion down, and Dozer did the same. He made various hand gestures, and Dozer gave him a blank look.

  Tank rolled his eyes and mouthed, “Head toward the back of the store, make some noise.” He turned to Marion, “Give him your jacket.”

  She frowned slightly but didn’t argue. She had been carrying it so just handed it to him.

  “Give me your sweater,” mouthed Tank.

  Quietly, she pulled it over her head and handed it to him. He rubbed it over himself and nodded at Dozer to do the same. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t be pleased with his cousin fondling his mate’s clothes, but these were extreme circumstances.

  “Get to the counter and hide under it.”

  She nodded and before she could go, he brushed her lips with his – why not, he liked kissing her and well depending on how the next few minutes went, he wasn’t sure when he’d get the opportunity to do it again.

  He watched as she scampered away, and then nodded at Dozer who took off in one direction while he took off in the other.

  He didn’t really think that rubbing her clothes over them would fool the wolves for long, but there were four of them, and hopefully, he and Dozer could pick off a couple.

  There were crashes at the other end of the store and a stifled yelp. Good for Dozer.

  Tank knocked a fish tank off the shelf, and a second later one of the wolves careened into him. He roared as his reindeer burst out of his skin. This damn wolf was not getting anywhere near his family! Hoot!

  Twenty-Three

  Marion ducked under the counter, her heart beating frantically. She heard crashes, and growls and hoots from all over the store.

  Marcus must be desperate considering he was willing to kill innocent bystanders, or at least maim them. Oh, she hoped they were okay.

  She guessed that since she was supposed to mate Tank tomorrow, Marcus was now desperate and willing to risk everything to get to the girls.

  Jeez, Louise! If he wanted his gene pool, (which she considered was definitely questionable when it came to anything with a Y chromosome), to continue he should just get re-mated. He was still pretty young; she was sure he could find some willing she-wolf shifter to put up with his objectionable personality.

  Marcus would probably kill Tank and Dozer, and try to force her to get the kids. How did he think he would get away with it? Probably by lying – and forcing her to lie by threatening the kids.

  That despicable… just when she thought he couldn’t sink any lower.

  She stilled as she heard footsteps nearing. Her hand slowly and quietly reached into her purse.

  The counter above her creaked lightly – someone was leaning over it. She held her breath. Whoever it was moved away, and she heard retreating footsteps.

  She breathed out in relief, a second before Marcus leaped over the counter and howled at her.

  Marion screamed in surprise and threw her purse at him. He tore it apart and reached for her.

  *

  The wolf whimpered on the ground. The reindeer huffed at him before slowly shifting back to human – reindeer were not stealthy and nor were they made for running around pet stores. He’d have better luck as his human self.

  He froze as he heard Marion scream. Damnit. He hurtled toward the front of the store. One of the wolves leaped at him, and Tank hit out against him, sending him flying.

  Then Dozer was on him, his reindeer pinning him to the floor.

  Tank ran to the counter gaping as he found Marcus sprawled on the floor, whimpering and twitching and Marion over him trying to taze him.

  She held the tazer up. “I think it ran out of juice.”

  Tank chuckled in relief. “Where did you get that?”

  “Your mom, plus,” she held up another, “this one was from Tamra, and this one,” she produced another, “was courtesy of Teena, and finally,” she held up the last, “this was Trini’s. You know, just in case of emergency. I used all of them, to make sure.”

  Marcus was now d
rooling. Thank goodness for that. No wonder her purse was so heavy and bulgy.

  Marion’s eye widened. “Did you know you’re super naked?”

  “Yep.”

  He pulled her to her feet and wrapped her in his super naked arms. His mate was safe, and his family was safe, and he was happy.

  Twenty-Four

  “Not that I don’t appreciate all the attention ladies, but do I really need to stay swaddled in these blankets,” said Marion, pretending she wasn’t sweating up a storm under six blankets.

  “It’s for shock,” said Tank’s mom soothingly, “now drink your tea. Hot sweet tea is also good for shock.”

  Marion snickered. “You’ve given me seventeen cups; I’m going to be up all night!”

  Tank’s mom and sisters were coddling her, and yeah, it felt nice, but actually, she didn’t really need it. She was okay.

  She was relieved. Though she adored her new ‘get well soon’ pictures that the girls made for her. Sophie drew pictures of sunflowers. Penny drew her a reindeer, and Izzy drew their family – including all of Tank’ sisters and mom. Tank, in comparison to them, was about thirty feet tall in the picture, and it was adorable.

  The people hurt in the store were alive, though injured, and suffering concussion and requiring stitches. At least they didn’t feel anything when it happened - the wolves were fast. Though, she suspected they would be suffering headaches for quite a while to come.

  Marion looked over at the new Fluffy – at least they had managed to salvage him and his new princess tank. The girls adored the tank and didn’t think anything was amiss with Fluffy. When this Fluffy died, she definitely wouldn’t just replace him – she would tell them the truth. But, they were happy right now, so, she was fine with the deception.

  Sadly, the wolves had no lasting damage either. Thanks to their enhanced healing abilities, they would be fine. Though, they had been arrested. First by the cops, and then Branch told her that the council of shifters took them into their care. The council was very hush-hush but had shadowy tentacles everywhere.

  The council would have supported Marcus’ claim to her and her kids, but since he injured innocent humans and tried to kill two reindeer shifters to enforce his claim, that was now void, and he had no right to her or her kids.