“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Rebecca for once was speechless.
“Ashby, is that a baby?” Kate asked, eyes bright. She had already pulled one of the Pack ’N Plays over and set Landon and Lucas in it to play. She held Merrick and Bran held Matthew.
Ashby nodded and beamed at his friends. Everyone gathered around to inspect the newest member of their family. Connor and Madison made their way over. Connor met Gabriel’s eye and the prince nodded. Connor nodded in return.
“Congratulations, to you both,” he said.
“Ashby, how could you keep this from me?” Rebecca demanded, her hands on her hips.
“That would be my fault. I wasn’t able to tell Ashby himself until right before this little one was on our doorstep. His parents were killed by Drainers, and since he had no other family, the council awarded us custody,” Gabriel explained.
“He is so tiny! He looks like you, Ashers!” Rebecca said excitedly.
“He’s a fennec fox too, it’s why they gave him to us. There aren’t that many of us.” Ashby smiled down at the baby who had woken up and looked around with wide blue eyes.
“What is his name?” Sebastian asked, cradling his son against his chest.
“We have named him Arthur. How is baby Lucian?” Ashby asked.
Sebastian grinned. “He eats more than all our lions combined!” Sebastian laughed.
“Tell me about it! I have two. I don’t know how I’m going to keep up. When one isn’t hungry the other is, by the time you’re finished feeding one, the other one is hungry again.” Kate rolled her eyes.
“Oh let me see!” Ashby said, looking at the baby in Kate’s arms.
“This is Merrick, Bran is holding Matthew.” Kate turned so Ashby could see his face.
“Wow, he looks like a mini-Bran,” Ashby joked.
“They both have his hair, but it’s the eyes I love. They both got his amber-colored eyes.” Kate smiled down at her son.
“Shifter babies are different than human ones. You usually don’t know a human baby’s eye color until they are six months old,” Rebecca said as Arthur grabbed her finger and began to wave it about.
“Shifter babies are only slightly more advanced but definitely stronger,” Ma said.
“Thank goodness you have the Pack ’N Plays here. I can’t imagine hefting two about, plus four babies and diaper bags.” Kate smiled her thanks at Ma.
Ma looked over to Connor and nodded.
“And on that note. Can I have everyone’s attention?” He walked to the back of the diner where the new doorway still looked out of place across the hall from the long serving counter.
“As you know we’ve had a bit of construction here lately. Now you will get to see why. David, Daniel, if you would?” Connor waved to the new parents.
David and Daniel split up. They handed fobs to each set of parents, including Ashby and Gabriel. Connor was willing to bet they worked double time last night to get those ready for today.
“What our technical geniuses have passed to you are fobs that will act as keys to get through this door. The only other people who have a fob are myself, Ma, and Pa.” Connor grinned. He deliberately waited, drawing out the suspense. He could see Rebecca practically coming unglued.
“Connor!” she wailed.
He decided to take mercy on his little sister.
“Okay, Rebecca, we’ll let you go first. You can see what is behind door number one.” He bowed and gestured to the door. She quickly waddled forward and used the fob on the small black electronic box installed on the right. They heard a click as it unlocked and she opened the door. Behind her, Kate, Sebastian and Ashby followed, holding their babies.
“Welcome to Baby Central, your home away from home,” Connor announced.
The new mommies and daddies turned this way and that to take in everything that was in the room. Kate, then Rebecca, plowed into Connor to strangle him in a hug.
“You have no idea what this means.” Kate sniffled.
