Molly bounced excitedly in his arms, so he couldn’t deny her. He held her close, kissed her temple, and headed back outside. This time the others waited in the insulated room, which was probably for the best. It would cut down on at least a fraction of the sounds.
As soon as Gavin stepped outside, Molly closed her eyes and tipped her head back, turning slowly to angle herself how she wanted.
He smiled as he watched her. She had positioned one ear exactly in the direction of Felix’s house. There was no way she could know that, but it did give validity to the fact that she might indeed be listening to the other mates.
Finally, she covered her ears and nodded.
Gavin hurried her back in through the house and into the new room.
As soon as he shut the door, she breathed out a sigh of relief and lowered her hands. “Can we go to Felix’s house?” she asked, her eyes wide with excitement.
Gavin frowned. “Someday soon. Why?”
“They’re using finger paints, and Arion said they could have candy after dinner if none of them got paint on the carpet.”
Felix groaned. “Finger paints…”
Damon laughed. “If that’s not solid confirmation that Molly can hear at a great distance, I don’t know what is.”
Felix pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. A few seconds later, he said, “Khloe, you girls better be sitting at the table with those paints. Did Arion put a cloth down first? And if I find out you had more than one piece of candy, I’ll spank your bottom both before and after your bath.” He hung up immediately, not giving his mate even a fraction of a second to respond.
Gavin chuckled. “I suspect you just shocked the hell out of them.”
Seconds later, Damon’s phone rang. He answered it on speaker. “Hey, Arion. How are things?” he said, barely containing laughter.
Arion was quick to respond. “Would you please tell me how Felix knew what the girls were doing from all the way over at Gavin’s house? Now, they’re all mad at me because they think I called you and ratted them out.”
The women could be heard talking over one another in the background.
Molly covered her ears again.
Gavin set his large palms over hers to help block out whatever was bothering her now.
Damon took the phone off speaker and held it to his ear. “Long story. I’ll explain when I get there, but for the love of all that is holy, keep the candy to a minimum.” He disconnected.
Gavin lowered his hand and rubbed Molly’s back. “Was the phone too loud, Baby girl?”
“I think it opened a connection to everything beyond it,” she said.
Ezra rubbed his face. “Amazing. I should go. I’m going to meet with some other elders first thing tomorrow. I’ll call you afterward.” He patted Molly’s back. “Hang in there, Molly. Don’t you fret. Gavin won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Damon looked at Gavin. “Before we leave, Felix and I will move your mattress in here. Is there anything else you want us to move?”
Gavin slid his hand into his Little girl’s hair and leaned her head against his shoulder. He hadn’t thought of that, but he was grateful they had. He definitely wanted to be able to spend some quality time with Molly without the headset. “Thank you. That’s the only large thing for now. We’ll come up with a more permanent solution soon.”
He already had an idea, but it wasn’t something they could accomplish in a day or two. It would take time. In the meantime, Molly was going to be spending the majority of her days in this insulated room. It was unavoidable.
Damon and Felix maneuvered Gavin’s mattress through the door and into the small space. The doorframe was barely wide enough to accommodate the mattress. They hadn’t gone any larger because none of them had even known if this would work. Thank heavens it had.
After everyone was gone, Gavin settled his Little mate on the mattress, covered her ears with the protective headset, and set about gathering everything they would need for the evening.
Essentially moving into the small barren space took a bit of time, but soon he had the door sealed off and could remove the ear protection, look his sweet mate in the eyes, and converse with her alone for the first time since he’d claimed her.
Before he managed to say a word, she crawled over to him, rose onto her knees, lined her mark up with his, and pressedthem together. Apparently she was as desperate to have him inside her again as he was to be there.
“I love how our hearts beat together,” she murmured, holding his gaze. “Does that happen to everyone?”
