Page 109 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I already got it if I’m gonna get it,” William griped. “Now, I’m gonna get started on some soup. I’m guessing Nana Jean’s got enough supplies in there for me to get it going.”

Vaughn knew better than to argue. His mom carried over a bag of supplies from the clinic and immediately checked everyone’s forehead herself. It was so funny how the instinct to do that carried over. He did it, even though the doctor in him knew the only way to know for sure was with a thermometer. There was something about a parent’s hand on your forehead, though. It reassured, somehow, that they were on top of it and everything would be okay.

He unpacked the bag his mom had handed him while she fussed over the kids. Industrial sized hand sanitizer, disinfectant, extra thermometer covers.

“Daddy?”

Emily’s voice drew him back to the couch. She looked up at him pitifully. Vaughn’s heart melted into a giant puddle. Man, he loved these cubs more than anything. “Did you need something, sweetheart?”

She sniffed and her lip wobbled. He hurried around the couch and sat down next to her. The rest of the kids adjusted their positions until he was in the middle of the cuddle pile. His mom smirked at him and walked away.

“I’m here,” Vaughn whispered. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“Daddy, I wanna be a wolf,” Jack whimpered.

“Not how, buddy. We’ll do a big shift when you’re all better, okay?”

Jack looked ready to argue, but Vaughn flashed his eyes at him. Jack’s lower lip wobbled, but he settled down. He climbed over the others and plastered himself onto Vaughn, sticking his hot nose in Vaughn’s neck.

Ollie was definitely the most tactile of their kids, but Jack was a close second. The wolf in him wanted his alpha, which was why he wanted to shift. Vaughn got it. He was feeling vulnerable and wanted to be safe.

Vaughn settled in and got comfortable, leaning back against the sofa cushions and closing his eyes. The kids were all focused on the movie, except Jack, who’d fallen asleep against Vaughn’s chest. Nana and Sam made it back more quickly than Vaughn expected, and his mom went outside to meet them. They came inside quietly, loaded down with groceries and supplies. Sam hurried over to him and leaned in to kiss Vaughn’s head.

“Okay?”

“Yeah. Jack’s out. The rest of us are watching a movie.”

Sam smiled down at him before leaning over and touching his hand to everybody’s forehead. They all pushed into the touch, even as he fussed and clucked at finding each forehead warmer than the last. Vaughn was honestly surprised when Ollie didn’t immediately demand to be picked up, but when he glanced over, he found him cuddled up to Ben and half asleep.

While the grandparents got soup prepared, Vaughn made sure they all had the medications they needed. He’d done everything he could. Now all they had to do was wait.

Twelve hours ago, his house had been completely normal. Now he was in a war zone. Well, technically a flu zone. Vaughn washed his hands then added a squirt of hand sanitizer. They’d had issues with the kids’ immune systems from the very first time they took them outside of the house. They’d never been exposed to all the numerous bugs and germs ordinary kids experienced.

It didn’t matter that they were constantly surrounded by guards who would crush anything who attempted to harm them. They couldn’t protect them from germs. The slightest hint of contagion, and his kids were going to catch it.

The only upside was that they generally got better a little faster. Everything else was exactly the same as human kids. The doctor in him knew that.

But the dad in him? He hated every second of it, and he wanted to make them better with the strength of his will alone.

“Daddy,” Emily whimpered.

Vaughn hurried back into the girls’ room and found Emily with her blankets thrown off. “Hey, baby. What’s wrong?”

“I need more drink.”

“Okay. I’ll go get you some. Be right back.”

It wasn’t until he was standing in the dim light of the refrigerator door that Vaughn realized he’d once again missed his chance to propose to Sam. What would have been their amazing family dinner was shoved to the side of a bunch of bottles of juice and some leftover chicken soup.

He filled up a cup for Emily and carried it back upstairs. Once he got her situated again, he went back out to the sitting area outside the kids’ rooms. Sam was leaning back on the couch with his eyes closed. Jack had crawled onto his lap an hour before, unable to rest without one of them close by.

Sam opened an eye when Vaughn settled down beside him. He found himself getting a little choked up and couldn’t have said why.

“Vaughn?”

But of course Sam saw.