Chapter 1

“You did not!” Poppy Fields threw her head back releasing a rich belly laugh.

The baby suckling at Heather Armstrong’s breast lurched with the sudden outburst.

Heather winced. “Ow, you made her bite me!”

“Sorry.” Poppy repositioned on the bed and lowered her volume. She endearingly admired the tuft of cotton blond hair poking out from the loosely swaddled receiving blanket. Heather hadn’t quite mastered the tight burrito effect the hospital nurses could achieve. “So, what did he say to that?”

“Well...” Heather looked up in thought. It had only been three days since Haddy Sylvia had been born. The memory of the pain and anguish already faded, along with some of the details of the first six hours afterward. Exhaustion weighed heavy in Heather’s limbs and mind from laboring twenty-seven hours and little sleep since.

However, her baby revealing the Rivers family legacy that lay dormant no longer was still pretty sharp in her mind. With her husband, Brady, being a shapeshifter, and a supposed dormant shapeshifting gene in Heather’s DNA, Haddy probably had little chance not inheriting some element of the phenomenon.

“He was very confused, of course. In his family, only the males inherited the legacy. He really thought it was all over when the nurse announced ‘It’s a girl!’” Heather looked down at the sweet child vigorously nursing. She placed her finger next to her daughter’s mouth and broke the suction, so she could put her over her shoulder and give her a good burp. Then she’d resume on the other side.

“But all of a sudden her eyes flared orange and we both just stared at her. Brady turned to me with such bewilderment. I knew immediately what was happening. GiGi had told me, in private, what to look for. When he turned wide eyes to me, all I could say was, ‘Oh yeah, there’s something I forgot to mention.’”

The sisters broke into another bout of laughter. Poppy struggled to breathe. “Wasn’t that what you had accused him of possibly saying before you knew he was a shapeshifter? If he hadn’t run away when BJ— well when you miscarried?” Sadness filled in where laughter had saturated their conversation.

“Yes. I did yell that at him.” Heather shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just what came to mind and it was what I said. It was the first time he even considered that somebody other than he might have a family burden that wasn’t easy to share.”

Heather’s lip quivered with mirth. Poppy gazed into her sister’s eyes. They both busted out laughing again. Haddy burped and that sent the sisters laughing even harder. Heather moved her daughter to the other breast and continued feeding while she chatted with her sister.

“What’s all this jocularity?” Brady entered the bedroom.

“Poppy came to see her new niece, but Miss Haddy had other plans. Little Piggy decided to eat the entire time her company has been here to see her.”

Brady chuckled as he cupped his daughter’s softball-size head in his palm. “She loves to eat.” He grinned mischievously. “I can’t blame her. That’s one of my favorite places on mommy, too.”

Heather swatted his head away from the baby’s head. “Brady!”

Poppy laughed and stood. “Well, I plan on spending a lot more time hanging around this precious little one. So not to worry. Aunt Poppy will see her face eventually.”

Heather and Brady laughed. Then Heather winced. “Ow! You little monster!”

Brady’s eyes went wide. The laughter waned from his face. He glanced down at his daughter. “She doesn’t have teeth already, does she?”

“Oh, Brady! Get real.” Poppy swatted her brother-in-law’s arm. “Listen, I’m going to go. It’s probably better if I don’t hold her today.” Poppy sniffed. “I feel a cold coming on.” She pressed the back of her hand against her cheek. “Do I feel feverish to you?”

Closing her eyes, she lifted her chin toward Brady, inviting him to feel her forehead.

He put the underside of his wrist on her forehead and then on the side of her face. “You do feel a little warm. Drink water! Get some rest.” Brady turned back to his family. “At least somebody in this family should be getting some sleep.”

He smiled at Heather.

She lifted her eyebrows in agreement.

Poppy sighed. “Y’all are adorable.”

Poppy did feel the lethargy of a fever coming on. She hurried home. Her girls were playing in their treehouse Hank had built them in the backyard. She hollered out the back door to let them know she was home.

“Okay, Mom!” Marla hollered back. “Hey, mom?”

“Yes.”

“Can Chelany spend the night? We want to sleep in our treehouse.”

Poppy considered Marla’s request. “Is she here, already?”

“Yes.”

“So, does her dad know she wants to spend the night?”

“No.”

Poppy sighed. “Girls, I’ve told you a hundred times. You can’t just spring this on me.” She walked out to the treehouse so she no longer had to yell. The neighbors didn’t need to know everything.

Marla and Mable stuck their heads out opposite windows of the little cottage. Chelany’s head popped out of the curtain covering the door.

“Pleeeease!” They chimed in together.

Poppy giggled. “I-uh, alright. I’ll call Jeremy and see what he says.”

“Yay!” The girls disappeared into the wooden structure.

Poppy sniffed. She really felt lousy. Should she let Chelany spend the night if she was coming down with something? Well, they wanted to camp out in the treehouse. It wasn’t as if they would be around Poppy too much. Besides, she’d make sure to put their old baby monitor in there so she’d know they were alright.

Hank was reclined in his chair, binge-watching an Ice Road Warrior series. Heather stayed in the kitchen while she texted Jeremy. She filled a large glass of water and waited for his response.

Are you sure you don’t mind? He texted.

Never a problem. Chelany is a dear. Heather replied.

Okay. What time do you want me to come by tomorrow?

Heather thought about what she wanted to do tomorrow morning. After breakfast, then whenever is good for you.

So 3 tomorrow? LOL JK.

LOL How about 10 Great. See you then She held her phone against her chest, dug out a digital thermometer from the medicine cabinet, and covered herself with a throw blanket from the couch. She reclined in her chair beside her husband. Before she took a drink of cool water, she put the digital thermometer in her mouth. Glancing at Hank, to see if he noticed her potential ailment, she waited for the soft beep.

He didn’t move, or notice.

The thermometer beeped and she lifted it to focus on the softly lit number. 99.8 Not much of a fever. Why did she feel so bad?

She swigged the water and laid her head back. Her eyelids felt so heavy. She considered the girls out back. She should go get the baby monitor and take it to them.

She sighed deeply. Maybe she’d get it in a minute. Sleep had other ideas.

The shower head poured hot water down over Poppy’s body. She lathered up a large sea sponge and slowly rubbed it over her breast, down her belly, and between her legs, imagining it was the gentle hand of the faceless lover that existed only in her dreams. She knew his touch, but not his identity.

He was nothing like Hank. Never in a hurry, he took his time pleasing her body and bringing her to a point of ecstasy that left her dizzy and happily exhausted. He was flawless. Dark, tall, and, although she had never seen his face, she knew he was ruggedly handsome, like the men from her great-grandmother’s Karuk tribe. Military build, warrior strong, and cunning, this fantasy lover was impossibly perfect.

She let her finger slip past the sponge and imagined her lover’s firm tongue teasing the spot that hardened with pleasure. She moaned. Her knees went weak and gave way, but her lover caught her in his powerful arms.

When had he stepped into the shower? Her eyes popped open. Steam filled the shower, obscuring his face. Condensation ran down the clear glass walls and beaded on Poppy’s face. Sweat gathered into one drop and teased a trail between her breast.

He drew her against his taut body. His hand covered hers and took over where she had been holding the sponge. His finger gently massaged her sweet spot.