Page 24 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

“Awesome! I love it. Everybody comfy? Any problems?”

Jack made a weird face, and Ben put his hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “He doesn’t like tags,” Ben said quietly. “They itch him.”

“Not a problem,” Sam said. “I take my tags out, too. Or I get ones with no tags. Blech. Who likes tags anyway?”

Jack smiled a little then tugged the back of the shirt away from his neck.

“Jack, try on a different one, and then bring that one out to me. I’ll see if I can get the tag out, okay? Everybody else good?”

They all nodded and Natasha practically bounced in her excitement. Emily blushed shyly and leaned against Henry.

“Okay, let’s try another one.”

Sam handed another outfit for Ollie to Vaughn, who helped him do a quick change. The little guy had absolutely zero interest in anything other than the dinosaur, at least until he saw the next shirt with a slice of pizza on it. His eyes lit up. “I like pizza. It’s my favorite.”

They had another few minutes of try-ons, with everyone able to get at least a couple outfits that worked. Natasha and Jack were both smiling ear to ear, both of them very happy with having new clothes. The others didn’t seem as interested, but Sam had never really cared about clothes when he was younger either.

“Now everybody be sure to say thank you to Rachel,” Sam said.

They all chorused thank yous.

“We’ll need to get shoes, too,” Rachel said. “But I had no clue where to start on that so…”

“Shoes can wait until tomorrow,” Vaughn said. “For now, Sam needs to go home and get some clean clothes. Travis, would you mind giving him a lift?”

“Of course, Alpha.”

“And we’re all going to head down to the clinic. By the time we’re done, Sam’ll be back, and then we’ll have some lunch. Sound like a plan?”

They nodded, but they were obviously a bit worried, especially Ollie, who’d turned to look at Sam with a wobbly lip and teary eyes.

“I’ll hurry, okay?”

Ollie nodded and leaned into Vaughn. “Come back, Sam.”

“I will, buddy. I promise.”