"Alright, well... let's finish today's harvest, and then we'll go search for the barn kittens."
"Kittens... there are babies?"
"A few of them, yeah."
She squealed; her excitement was so strong I felt it in the beat of my heart. Then she set about doing as she promised, pruning my plants, collecting fresh vegetables, and cleaning up the garden so damn well, I would have thought she was a professional.
"There!" I pointed out, a few hours later after I dragged her into the depths of our barn. "See it? A little orange ball. It's feral as hell, but so damn cute."
She stared at where I pointed for a solid thirty seconds, squinting hard, searching, until finally her eyes popped up and she turned, looking so damn excited. "I see it! The baby nearly blended in with the straw."
"There are more around here somewhere, but they are masters at hiding. But that's the only orange one."
"I'm going to catch it."
"Sophia," I grabbed her arm as she stepped forward. "You can't catch it. It's feral. It won't let you get within three feet of it."
"I'm going to catch it," she announced again.
"Honey..."
"If you catch it, you can keep it," Leo called as he walked through the barn door, his shirt off and tucked into his waistband, his arms bulging with the weight of feed bags.
"James would never let her keep it," I shook my head at Leo, trying to keep my eyes off the sweat rolling off his chest.
I failed, and he knew it, smirking at me as he repeated, "House rules, two against one."
"You're willing to pull a vote over a kitten."
"If it makes our girl happy, of course I am," he slumped the bag of feed on top of a pile that he had already carried in.
"Need any help?" I was slacking today, and they let me, but someone had to play tour guide and make our omega feel comfortable, and it was no hardship for me to volunteer.
"What's a vote?" The omega asked before Leo could answer me.
"Whenever there is something we know might be controversial, we vote between us to see if it's a go or not. We take it very seriously, and it has to be something we're passionate about, or else a vote wouldn't really hold weight. But for you, darling, I'm passionate enough to give you anything you want," Leo gave her a wink before continuing. "Now, whydon't you work on capturing your kitten while Bran and I finish unloading this truck?"
"Thank you," her eyes gazed softly at the kitten like us offering for her to keep one was the best thing that had happened to her, and it was because of us. It was that look alone that made a house vote worth it.
We waited until she plopped herself down a few feet from the orange ball of fur before we left the barn, going straight to the truck. Leo had unloaded a majority of it, but with my help, I'd hoped to have it done in only a few trips. I grabbed two bags, one for each shoulder, and hefted them up.
"Show off," Leo mumbled.
"I am not." But I was lying, and we both knew it. I knew the way he watched my biceps bulge, and it only encouraged me every damn time to do anything I could to display it.
"Don't worry, big boy, she'll see them just fine."
I rolled my eyes, "I'm not worried."
"Think our alpha will soften toward her?" Leo looked toward the barn where she was barely visible.
"I hope."
"She smells so damn good," Leo groaned. "I don't know how he can resist."
"She's sweet as her cherry lime scent too."
We stepped foot into the barn, spotting her with a kitten snuggled up to her cheek, and I fought all sorts of feelings that seeing her pour love into that baby caused. She would love our children just as well, I was sure of it. She'd be the perfect mother.
