7 FEBRUARY, SUNDAY, AFTERNOON
Beta Gerald's truck was a beaten up grey old thing. It reminded me of a large tin can with a lot of dents in it.
We loaded up crates of apples and bananas, detergents, paper towels... We had everything from a rake to a toilet brush, a drill, a saw, some spades, a ladder, and even paints, rollers, and brushes... We had a lot of stuff.
Then we all crushed into the two row cab of the tin can truck like good little sardines. Lola and I sat in front with Beta Gerald while Harvey, Fluffy, and Flynn sat behind.
I had to say, Sunday Rounds with Beta Gerald was the most fun thing I had ever done. Just the journey out was eventful, we cleared a clogged gutter, rescued a kitten from a tree, and moved a large fallen branch away from the road. Someone flagged us down to give us muffins, and some kids hitched a ride on the back of the truck to get to their grandparents' home.
We waved goodbye to the kids and arrived at the first home, a little run down cottage at the edge of the town. It was pretty much next to no where. Morning Light was kind of rambling and spread out like that.
A lady opened the door for us. She had been expecting us. Normally, when my mum visited ladies in Night Leaf, and they said they were expecting us, the house would be really tidy, and there would be hot water for tea.
The inside of this lady's home was like she kept everything in a jack-in-a-box and it got all thrown up. This was probably because she had six kids, half of them were age 3 and under.
The house smelled like her kids had jack-in-the-box out their meals all over the place too.
Beta Gerald politely thanked the lady for her hospitality. He asked her about her mate who was working his weekend job at Gate City today.
Her mate was a warrior, but had been injured badly a few years ago. Because of this, he had to resign from his warrior position. He was working as the Gate City Station Manager from Monday to Fridays. And on the weekends, he taught piano at a music school in Gate City.
They were saving up to open their own music school one day, since they were both pianists. They figured that when their children were older, she'd have more time to teach music too. She looked longingly towards the side of the living room and I noticed an old piano covered with school papers and plastic sippy cups.
And then I realised that this wasn't a sop story, this was a happy family.
Yes, the children were yelling and bickering every ten minutes, and the baby kept fussing in between. Yes, the place was a mess and the house was full of things and smells like it hasn't been cleaned as often as it needed. Yes, the dad was injured and retired from warrior duties. But this family had enough.
Their children were dressed warmly, they've got toys and books and unfinished homework, and enough food to leave leftovers on their plates and not wash them. But most of all, this family was happy. The mum clearly loved her pups, even if the constantly crying baby was making my hair flare. And they were working together towards a happy future.
"Sorry." The mum apologized for the upteenthed time when the baby cried and my hair flared, "He's fussing because he's tired, but the older ones are making it hard for him to fall asleep."
I could empathise.
"I was wondering, if there is anything we can do to help you right now. I understand it's tough with so many young ones." Beta Gerald asked.
"I'm okay." The mum lied.
"Really?" I asked, "Like what's the thing you want most right now?"
"Right now?" The mum blinked, "Maybe a shower. Just 15 minutes."
Then she laughed, "Yeah, what would I do for a shower."
Oh. Yeah. She smelled like she could do with a shower.
"Okay, go take a shower." I said.
"But the kids haven't done their homework..." The mum said.
"We'll take care of it." I said.
"And the baby is fussing." The mum said.
"Leave the baby to us." I said.
"And the younger ones always get into trouble..." The mum said.
"They won't when I'm around." I said.
"But..." The mum said.
"Just go. We can hold down the fort for 15 minutes." I said.
"Urm, Sam... Are you sure?" Lola asked.
"Of course, I'm the alpha. I can handle half a dozen small pups." I assured her. But it wasn't just Lola, no one else looked particularly confident.
It didn't help when two of the boys started fighting on top of the stairs.
"Mom, they're fighting again!" One girl yelled.
"Stop it!" The mum yelled, "That's dangerous! Boys! STOP!"
And then the baby started to cry. It sounded uncannily like a gyara. I took a careful look into its bassinet to make sure it was really a baby.
And then to make everything worse, a little girl around Sabre's age screamed. She just screamed, "Eieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!"
I think that was the last straw. I flared up at full length and pretty much alpha commanded, "Quiet!"
Everything fell silent. Even the baby.
"I want every pup down here front and centre." I ordered.
"Where's front and centre?" The little girl who screamed came over to me and asked.
"Just where you are." I put my hand on her head, "All pups line up behind your sister."
The pups popped themselves into a short line.
"Do you know who I am?" I asked, "I'm the alpha. You will do as I say."
"Sit." I alpha commanded, and they sat. Pups have very little resistance to alpha control, "Good puppies. Beta Harvey will reward you with..."
I looked at Harvey, who produced a packet of gummies from his jacket. Good beta.
I opened the packet and gave one to each of the seated puppies.
"Who hasn't done your homework?" I asked.
Three hands went up.
"Go get it and come back here." I ordered.
"Awwww..." The three said, but they got up and went.
"Okay," I said brightly to the mum, "Go have your shower."
The mum looked a little stunned. Beta Gerald smiled, "Yes, please go. Since our Alpha has willed it."
The mum bobbed her head and left.
Lola peered into the bassinet, "Oh she's sleeping. She's so cute."
I took a peek. It looked like a normal baby to me.
Then I turned to the other two pups left, a girl and a boy. The girl was the screamer. The boy was younger, still in diapers. I knew because I could smell the diapers and it was nothing to do with having wolf senses.
"What's your name?" I asked the girl.
"Taylor." She answered.
"Taylor, do you know where your brother's diapers are?" I asked.
Taylor pointed to a clean diaper and a half used packet of wipes left on the sofa, "Mommy was going to change Tyson."
I gave her a gummy for the info.
Tyson wanted a gummy too, "Gum gum."
"Yeah, but only after you change your diaper." I told him, holding the packet away. I looked back at my team.
"I'll do it." Harvey decided, somewhat reluctantly. I tossed him the clean diaper and packet of wipes. I would have given Harvey a gummy too, but the packet was small and I needed it to last 15 minutes.
The three elementary school pups returned with homework.
"Someone, clear that table." I said.
Fluffy and Lola immediately started cleaning up what looked like the remains from lunch on the dining room table. Beta Gerald found a cloth to wipe it down. And then the elder Beta started washing the dishes.
The kids sat down. I put a gummy in front of each of them.
"Okay, do your homework." I alpha commanded.
"I don't know how." One of the kids said.
I sighed, "Just write something in it."
"I'll help." Lola said, "You can ask me if you don't know how to do it."
This left Beta Gerald, Fluffy, and me with Taylor.
"What do you want to do Taylor?" I asked.
"I want to play princess tea party." Taylor answered immediately.
I grinned, "Good idea. Come sit on the sofa. Fluffy will be your butler."
Fluffy smiled his beautiful smile, "Good afternoon, princess. What kind of tea do you like?"
When Harvey came out with a freshly diapered toddler, I gave the toddler a gummy.
Fluffy had excused himself into the kitchen while Princess Taylor brought a couple of "friends" down from her room. A yellow pony toy which looked related to Sir Sparkalot and a pink dog.
Harvey put the toddler down to play tea party too. Fluffy returned with freshly sliced bananas, a pot of hot tea, a jar of milk, and a bowl of sugar.
"Better use plastic for the pups." Harvey said, such an experienced "dad" that he was. Haha.
I tossed the bag of remaining gummies to Lola to dole out so the older kids would stay at their table. Gummies beat small pieces of bananas hands down.
When the mum got back smelling all nice like a flower. The baby was still sleeping. To be honest, I had forgotten it was there.
The older kids were still working at the dining table with Lola.
Taylor and Tyson were drinking milk from sippy cups, while Beta Gerald, Harvey, and I were having tea. (Mine was more milk than tea.)
"Would your majesty like a cup of tea?" Fluffy offered.
"Oh." The mum answered quite surprised.
We had tea, and Beta Gerald conversed more about the kids, the mum's aging parents, and what the mum might want to grow in her garden when spring came about.
When the older kids finished their homework, we thanked her for the tea and took our leave. Beta Gerald left another two bunches of bananas for her kids.
That was fun.
The next house was actually just a stone's throw away. We didn't go inside. It was home to an elderly couple who had apple trees growing in their backyard.
The heavy snowfall the other week had broken quite a number of branches. So we helped clear them. We collected a nice big pile and Harvey sawed them up so they could use it in their fireplace.
Apple wood smelled really good, they told us. They also invited us young ones to come pick apples next autumn. Their daughters had grown and mated far away in other colored packlands, but in the summertime, they would come and visit with their pups. That's when things get really lively and the apple trees bloom.
The last house was a large stately home, we stopped there on the way back to the packhouse. Beta Gerald said that he was invited for tea here today.
We parked outside along the road and walked in. It was about the same size as the alpha house, but it was made very old fashion looking on purpose with pink bricks and blue tiled roofs. We walked up the driveway past what looked like a stable, but instead of animals, it smelled like cars. I guess it was a garage.
The owners of this home were lawyers, Priscilla and Sean Sawyer. They had their own firm in Gate City. I followed Beta Gerald and the others cautiously.
The front door was opened by a uniformed maid, and the inside smelled like lemongrass. Priscilla rushed over to greet us. She reminded me of a mini tornado, "Welcome! Welcome!"
To the maid she said, "Don't just stand there! Go call sir down. "
"Yes, Madam." The maid said and left.
To us she smiled widely and waved us in, "Oh my! I'm so pleased you came Beta! And you've brought the next generation leaders with you too! How wonderful! Now I can meet them. Sean would love to meet them too."
I left Beta Gerald to answer all the correct niceties because he was good at being polite.
Priscilla led us to a large dining room with a big chandelier and a long dark wood table that gleamed and smelled of furniture polish. I could smell food too, although I didn't see any.
"Oh, the food!" Priscilla looked at the empty table, "Someone serve the food! Our guests are already here!"
She smiled at us, "It's so hard to find good help nowadays. We used to have a housekeeper who was perfect, but she retired recently to help her daughter take care of pups."
Sean showed up. He was a hawkish looking man with a very irate wolf. He also had a dog, it was a large white pitbull dog.
"I got this old thing from a friend. I thought we were both old things. And he helps me fetch the game when I go hunting." Sean said. He talked a bit with Beta Gerald about hunting. Sean liked to shoot birds.
"This old thing" had a massive mouth. It looked like a gyara's mouth, full of teeth, but unlike the gyara, it only opened its mouth once when it yawned.
Apparently, grown up conversation bored it. I think it was pretty intelligent. It came over rather calmly and sniffed me. I patted its large head and told it, "I'm the Alpha." It wagged its short tail.
Sean looked surprised, "He doesn't usually like guests." The dog returned to its side and rested its head on Sean's lap.
"Well, I have work. Please make yourself at home. Priscilla no doubt will have a lot to say to you. You know how women go on and on..." Sean laughed, but it sounded like a mean laugh.
With that, Sean just got up and left. The maids scurried to remove his cup and place settings.
His dog had the decency to lower its head a little as they passed us. Well, at least one of them still remembered how to respect hierarchy.