Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,153

hall and slammed into Eric who chuckled and tousled his disastrous mop of air. Jessie inwardly noted that he needed a cut as she handed Alanna the half and half and almost dropped it when Jason abruptly ran across the hallway into the kitchen and slammed into her next. He had a habit of butting people with his head when he wanted to hug them and she giggled and wrapped her arms around him until his cheeks burned red and he skipped away again. She had discovered that the kids, especially the boys, were shy when they wanted affection but they wanted it often and she was happy to give it.

“How’s this brood?” Connor blew through the door. Jessie hadn’t even heard his car pull up.

It was fall and chilly out, but Cody had just bought a fancy barbecue for their yard and he was itchy to use it so they’d bought a couple outdoor heating lamps and a patio table, and decided to throw a family barbecue. It was their first real family event at the house and Jessie had thought she would be nervous but found she was only quietly content. The house didn’t need the extra nervous energy anyway as all the kids were bouncing around with excitement, except for Molly who just wanted to do math.

“The brood’s great!” Jessie called out from the kitchen. She went out to give Connor a hug and say hello to Eric, and wondered where Cody had disappeared to.

“Every time I come here,” Connor said, as he followed her out to the yard, “it looks a little different.”

“I can’t keep still,” Jessie said, shrugging. “I never thought I’d live in a house like this and now I can’t leave it alone. I was thinking of repainting the crown molding next and then I was thinking maybe some air plants hanging in the living room. They’re so pretty in front of a window.”

“So it feels like a home,” Connor said.

“Oh, of course it does!” Jessie beamed at him and behind her, she heard a happy sigh and the scrape of a chair and then Molly was slumping against her, and Jessie knew to pat her head gently because she needed it sometimes. She smiled shyly at Jessie before she ducked away again without a word.

It wasn’t always easy with the cubs. They weren’t used to other kids and sometimes Chris in particular acted out at school or started fights, but he was still nothing like the sleuth he had come from, and Jessie was confident that would improve. Sometimes the kids still had nightmares about their old days too and Jessie and Cody had to keep their bedroom unlocked so the cubs knew they could come in for comfort even if it was three in the morning. Sometimes that meant that intimacy was hard to come by but Jessie and Cody managed to find time together where they could.

“There he is!” Jessie jogged out to the backyard where Sophie was safe in a toddler swing well away from the barbecue that Cody appeared to be playing with, studying the nobs and fiddling with charcoal briquets, although Jessie knew he would bristle if she referred to it as playing. He was all too proud of his barbecue and was talking about a dedicated stone pizza oven next.

“Hey!” Cody said brightly. Jessie slipped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. He was wearing a very cheesy apron with a roaring bear on it and Connor just wryly shook his head when he saw it. “Take a beer,” Cody said to his brother.

Connor found one in a cooler and loitered with them and Jessie kissed Sophie on the cheek and made faces before joining the guys’ conversation.

“You got it made,” Connor said. He ran a hand through his hair, looking around the yard with its slightly wild lawn and the kiddie pool full of plastic balls Cody had just bought and the patio tables decorated with tablecloths already bearing the dishes Cody had cooked up that morning. “Cool house, cute cubs... and your mate. It’s all so fast.”

“It was fast,” Cody said, chuckling, squeezing Jessie tight. “Feels right though. It doesn’t feel like this big, jolting sudden change. It feels like this is where I’m supposed to be, ya know.”

“Yeah,” Connor said softly. “That must be nice.”

“You okay, big bro?”

Connor shrugged but he managed a smile. He was lonely. Cody had told her as much. For the last year or so he