I healed surprisingly quickly from the lightning burns, the stab wound in my thigh knitted back together under the stitches Peter put in. The burns faded to a faint silver tracery over my skin and tendrils and the knife wound didn’t scar at all. Veronica’s sprained wrist/shoulder combo healed in a week or so as well. We were lucky.

So incredibly lucky.

Mauricio, Annabella, and Maria all came home after two weeks spent with his family. Without warning. Three days early. And all trooped into Veronica’s room to find the three of us curled up together and rather vexed at being woken up at the crack of dawn (okay nine AM, close enough.)

Do you know how difficult mass introductions are when the person being introduced doesn’t have pants on initially? Veronica seemed to find it horribly embarrassing and Pete wasn’t too pleased with it. I thought it was awkward myself, though nothing to be embarrassed over. Well, not until I tripped getting out of the bed, pulling the entire quilt with me as I fell to the floor in a tangle of purple cotton and tendrils.

That’s me, elegance, grace, and falling on my face.

A shriek, a squeal, an “oh my!” then Annabella pulled the door shut with a “Madre de Dios!” I untangled myself, trying not to laugh. I failed. Had pillows thrown at me for it before we all got up, threw on clothing and headed downstairs while Veronica tried to explain why she felt embarrassed.

“Being found in bed with someone new would be embarrassing,” she said. “To have the finders be like, my parents, makes it way worse.”

“I don’t get it but I understand that it bothers you,” I acknowledged. The idea of my womb bearer walking in was horrifying, not embarrassing. “How about we put a lock on our door?”

“We can grab one at the hardware store and I can put it in this afternoon,” Peter added.

“That works,” Veronica said, leaning over to pull me into a half hug before running a hand down Peter’s face. “Ok, lets do this.”

This being a class seven interrogation from the good doctor, his wife and their adopted child. Peter got the worst of it as they demanded to know nearly everything about his life. Then, after hearing that he could turn into dogs and wolves, Maria’s eyes got huge. She’d been quiet through most of the questioning, hanging back from the unknown large, powerful male. But at this news she leaned forward in her chair. “Can you be… nah. Its silly.”

“Try me, Maria,” he said gently, eyes meeting hers for a moment. “Used it as a drinking trick, once, bet I can take the form you’re thinking of.”

While I wondered who he’d been drinking with for that, Maria whispered, “A Newfie?”

He stood and moved to the carpet in front of the fireplace. “As you wish.”

Between one breath and the next, a beast of a dog took shape. Solid black with glimmers of fallen stars, the beast shook its great head and then walked over to Maria, sitting before her. Peter let his tongue loll out as he extended a paw, asking Maria to shake. The teenage threw herself at the dog-man, her small shoulders shaking.

She liked dogs, who knew, I mused as I laid my head on Veronica’s shoulder. “I know we haven’t talked all formal like, V-me-love, but I think Maria’s ok if Pete sticks around.”

She laid a kiss on my hair, hand tracing down my tendrils and back. “Well, it’s not all ‘formal-like’ but I’m rather fond of the Wolf-man, myself.”

His voice held a rolling growl that managed to be pleased. “Do you wish me to stay with you, Veronica? Gwennie?”

I would have killed anyone else who called me that… anyone else. “Yes. Will you?”

He shifted to lift Maria onto his broad-shouldered back and carefully walked over to the two of us as his form shifted to his Galaxy wolf. Maria’s squeal of delight cut over his voice as he answered. She threw her still too thin arms around his throat yelling, “He has to stay!”

“You know that’s my boyfriend you’re making demands about,” I drawled, sitting up. I knelt beside them, forehead to forehead with the massive monster. “Stay with us.”

Veronica was right by our sides, hands winding into his fur and the other meeting mine. “Please.”

He gently leaned into us, sinking to lay down without tossing Maria off his back. “You have a family here, my girls, and I would be honored to join.”

“Yeah, puppy brother,” Maria said. This whimsy seemed so out of place for her but I didn’t say anything. She rarely found such joy in another person (werewolf, whatever) that I was loath to ask why then and there. A shared look with Annabella confirmed she was thinking the same thing.

“Well, my family, we have a new member, a battle’s been won, time to party! Gwen, Veronica, help me cook,” Annabella announced with a smile. We cooked for hours, because that’s what a family does. We diced and chopped and brought together a feast that lasted late into the evening.

In many ways, it was what I’d dreamed of as a child, having a family that ate and played and loved together. We weren’t a typical nuclear family, but that doesn’t work for everyone. Peter and Mauricio disappeared outside to have a drink and talk. It was charming to see Mauricio take the roll of a father, all asking Peter what his intentions toward Veronica and I were as they trooped out to the terrace.

Maria said my name before launching herself into my embrace, tendrils bracing to keep from falling. I laughed and cuddled her close to me. “Hiya, little sister. Are you really okay with Peter joining us?”

“I like him,” she said, looking at the menfolk as they talked outside.

“Which is rare indeed,” I added. She looked at me with a small smile.

“Yeah, I don’t like most males.”

“Lot of them are pieces of useless shi-“ I got cut off by a couch pillow across the face.

Annabella had another one ready to throw. “You cuss too much, mi hija. You need to stop.”

“I’ve heard worse, Anna,” Maria protested. As she was laughing, it took some of the effectiveness out of it. “I’ve done worse.”

“No,” Annabella said firmly. “Maria, you are a young lady and deserve a house that treats you as such. We do not cuss around young ladies.”

“Gwen’s only three years older than I am!”

“I’m getting out of this,” I murmured and slipped into the kitchen as they playfully argued back and forth. It was nice to see Maria opening enough to argue something with Annabella. See her accept a new person into her life.

Veronica was at the sink, scrubbing dishes and I started drying them as she finished. I shot her a sidelong glance. “So, we’re dating a guy now, right? That’s what this is?”

“That started after we feel asleep together for the second time, I think,” she said before pausing for a moment. Water rushed over her hands before she looked at me. “You’ve never done this before, have you?”

“Dishes? Yes, I have.”

“No, Gwen, dating someone other than me.” Veronica shook her head. “I forget that you’re younger than I am sometimes. That you haven’t had certain life experiences that most people would have had by our ages.”

“You’re six years older than I am but some experiences age one in a way that goes beyond years,” I told her. It sounded right for the conversation. “But you are more experienced than I am about this whole dating thing and dating two people seems like it would require more expertise. But love shared is love doubled and I find I’m starting to love Peter like I love you. Is that ok?”

“I think we’ll be fine,” she mused. Her eyes took on a far away look as she scrubbed at a stubborn pan. “I’ve been in a triad before, good times but it fizzled out. You’re the longest relationship I’ve ever had, to be honest.”

“We are honest, I think that’s why we work,” I said, using my tendrils to bring the rest of the dirty dishes to the sink as I kept drying. “You and me, we’re solid. Been through murderin’ my sisters together, saving wildlife, that one time on the beach, that’s a strong bond.”

“Just don’t go all Bond-villian on me again,” she said with a slight shudder. “You weren’t you like that.”

“I was in there, you just had to call me back.” I gave a heavy sigh. “I’m kind of afraid of that side of myself, I don’t think I’ll try it again in the future. Plus I’ve got a feeling we’re all going to be busy soon.”

“Mauricio and I will be at least. Our grant just got re-approved; email came in this afternoon.”

“That’s great!”

“I’m excited,” she said before starting in on some of the new equipment she was going to order as soon as money hit the team’s accounts. She stopped short for a moment, eyes going to my tendrils. “We also have the annual visit coming up. Not sure what to do about you and Peter for that one. Well, he’s easier to explain as he’s another marine biologist.”

“I do seem to have a type,” I said with a grin. “I like them water based researchers.”

“All that swimming does wonders for our butts,” Veronica said with a saucy grin of her own.

A hand slid around each of backsides and Peter pulled us in tight. “Swimming does indeed make the booty better.”

A week later, Peter came into the computer room as I was working on the latest research data from Mauricio and Veronica. They had a lot of catching up to do and having me do the note entries let them spend more time in the water.

“Hey, I have a question.”

“I have an answer,” I returned, leaning back in my chair with a smile. “What’s up, cutie-pup?”

He stopped at the nickname and gave a snort of laughter. “’Cutie-pup?’ Guess that’s fair, given I know you don’t like Gwennie.”

“I don’t mind when its you,” I said, looking back to my screens. “You have a question?”

“Want to go count and protect Vaquitas with me?”

“Va-whata?”

“Small porpoise, lives in the northern parts of the Baja,” he explained.

“Oh, those,” I felt silly for not catching the name sooner. “Yeah, we’ve seen a couple when on the northern side of the pups’ current range. I told the boys not to eat any of them because they’re so little, it isn’t fair.”

“They’re also extremely endangered,” Peter said, looking at the data system I’d set up. “Can you build one of these systems to operate off a laptop? I’ve been offered a count and study contract being paid for by the US, Chinese, and Mexican governments in a coalition to save them. They want me to start in a couple weeks.”

“I can have a duplicate system tuned for different animals in a couple hours, I have the template saved on the master drive here and off site,” I said, finishing my data entry and turning around. “Aren’t they really skittish?”

“That’s why I’d like you to come along,” Peter said, sinking into a chair next to mine. “We’d be operating off of my research boat, buddy is bringing it here for me, should arrive tomorrow. He’ll catch a ferry back and then we’re free to head up north. If you’re in the water, we can get better population numbers and pictures. Sea life isn’t afraid of you, I saw that yesterday when those seals swarmed around you to play yesterday.”

“Would let me pad my pocket money accounts by pulling up and turning in nets,” I mused. “Aren’t there cartels and shi- stuff, stuff I mean, up there that might object?”

“Humans seeking profit over lives,” he said with a growl of distaste. “Might have to beat up a few.”

“If they deserve it, I’m not opposed to reminding men that nature hits back. I’m in. You tell Veronica?”

“Figured I’d ask if you wanted to come along first.”

“I wanna go,” a voice from the door stated.

We looked up to see Maria in the threshold, clad in swim leggings, rashguard and ready to head out for our afternoon swim. She’d gotten strong enough to start doing open water work with me. Wasn’t a smooth swimmer but a determined one.

I looked at Peter. “I don’t know, Maria, this could be dangerous as well as educational.”

“And you’d have to ask Mauricio and Annabella,” Peter added. “They’re your legal guardians.”

“I want to help you research,” she said. Maria sat down in a chair and studied us. “Everyone here studies the sea or is from it. I want in on the family business. I’ve gotten a lot better with reading and writing, my typing, too, from those classes online Gwen made me take. I can help.”

I want to say that I was a good assistant guardian and said no, she can’t go face cartels, storms at sea and more with us. Of course, I caved first, Peter right after and together we brought Mauricio and Annabella around. So the three of us started packing for an adventure.