Page 15 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

Sam wished Vaughn would stop being so damn sweet and gentle. It was killing him.

“I want to get him out of these damp clothes. He doesn’t need to sleep all night in them.”

“Okay. I’ll be back in a second.”

Vaughn leaned in and pressed his forehead to Ollie’s head, and then turned and left the room. Sam checked on the rest of them, but they were still enthralled with Vaughn’s Nana. She’d placed a big plate of sliced fruit on the table next, and they were looking at it like they’d never seen fresh fruit before.

Ben’s eyes were almost wild, and it broke Sam’s heart all over again. He walked over to the table and snagged a grape before popping it into his mouth.

“Eat up. We’re going to sleep soon, so go ahead and eat what you want. Slowly, Natasha. We aren’t in a race.” Ben was waiting and watching the other kids, and Sam realized he was making sure they had enough first. He reached out and pulled the plate over to Ben before nudging his back. “Take three of each kind.”

Ben looked up at him, but Sam put on his no nonsense teacher face. Ben blushed and looked down again, before doing as Sam asked and taking some of the fruit for himself.

“Good. If you want more, take more. There’s more than enough for all of you.”

Ben glanced up again. “What about Ollie?” he whispered.

“You really think he wouldn’t wake up with all this racket if he was hungry?”

Ben only looked half convinced.

“I’ll make sure to put a plate aside for him for later, just in case he wakes up. Sound good?”

Ben nodded then turned back to his food. The poor kid practically moaned when he ate his first slice of apple. Sam rubbed Ben’s hair for a second before looping his arm back around Ollie and shifting him up further against his chest. He’d been holding him for so long his arms were starting to get tired, but he didn’t really want to put him down yet either.

Vaughn came back carrying a stack of T-shirts in one hand and a black leather doctor’s bag in the other. He waved Sam over to the family room beside the kitchen and sat down on part of the large sectional sofa in the room. Sam sat down beside him. Ollie grumbled and snuggled his face closer into Sam’s neck.

“Dad and I are going to do quick wellness checks on them then we’ll let them get some rest. Mom’s getting some air mattresses out so we can pile together on the floor down here.”

Vaughn guided Ollie away from Sam and began tugging his little shirt over his head. Ollie opened his eyes in complaint but lifted his arms to let the shirt slip free before leaning back against Sam.

“I can’t believe how much he trusts you already. It’s not common at all,” Vaughn explained. He took a stethoscope out of his bag and warmed the end between his hands before placing it against Ollie’s back. He listened for a moment then moved it to another position.

“Everything okay?”

“He seems fine. Lungs clear. Heart strong. We’ll examine them more thoroughly tomorrow. I just… I need to check.”

Joanne and Stuart came back into the room carrying pillows, blankets, and an air mattress. They began setting up an area on the floor while Vaughn finished up with Ollie. He put one of the T-shirts on him, and Sam smirked when he realized that they must belong to Vaughn. The shirt was nearly as big as Ollie and covered him from neck to toe.

“Can I hold him for a bit?” Vaughn asked quietly once he’d finished.

“Oh. Sure. Okay.”

Sam let Vaughn take Ollie out of his arms, and the boy snuggled up to Vaughn with no complaint. It sent a weird little ripple of happiness through him that Sam chose to tuck away and examine later. Much, much later. He went back to the kitchen to check on the others, but he had a hard time tearing his eyes away from the careful way Vaughn held Ollie against him.

His heart sputtered and skipped a beat or two, which drew five sets of small eyes to him. Sam smiled and ran his hand over Henry’s light brown hair. He wasn’t surprised to see two empty serving plates where there’d once been a stack of sandwiches and a pile of fruit. “Everyone have enough to eat?”

They nodded.

“Okay, take your plates and cups to the trash can and be sure to say thank you to Nana for the food.”

She paused in straightening up to hug each of them in turn as they followed his instructions, and she pulled Sam in as well and patted him on the back.

Vaughn had used the few minutes to settle Ollie onto one of the mattresses. He recovered him in the blanket they’d brought from Sam’s and turned to the others. “Okay guys. I brought some of my shirts down for everyone. I guess you guys know I’d rather have you smell like my pack than not, right?”

Ben nodded his understanding, but the others looked slightly confused.

“We smell like Mrs. Foote’s bad magic,” Ben explained. “He wants us to smell like him instead. It’s an alpha thing.”