“Erm, i-it means transgender.” Nella picked at her left elbow by her side. “You should know that, before you see my birth certificate. I’m…legally called Nelson Hendrix.” Nella braced herself. Frankie didn’t need to be a werewolf to sense the tension in the air.
“…but it’s Nella, right?”
“Yes.” Nella’s heart raced. Frankie didn’t know it, but he was the first person she’d told she was trans. Her mother told her school, as she had to, and her peers found out and spread it like hateful wildfire. “I identify as female though. I’m a girl. Nella.”
“Okay.” Frankie smiled and discretely inhaled her scent. It was still quite subtle, pre-shift, so he couldn’t get a gender from her pheromones. He also couldn’t tell what kind of wolf she would be, but he would bet money that she isn’t an Alpha. She’d already have the muscular build of one, and she was slender. A Beta like me? Her scent isn’t intense and we aren’t as pungent as the others, but then again she’s a late bloomer. She could be an Omega. Either was equally likely. “That doesn’t change anything on my end.” He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. “You’ll find Glenn Valley is a very accepting place.” Frankie winked at her and saw that Ruby was staring at him with shock. “What?”
“Oh, no I just…” The blonde folded her arms and cautiously smiled. That was the kind of reaction her daughter should get. Ruby still didn’t trust this handsome stranger, and she sure as hell isn’t agreeing to shared custody, but he accepted Nella without hesitation. That was a damn sight more than a lot of people had done her whole life.
Nella was just as surprised and she started to cry again.
“Yeah, so earphones? I-I’ll see you around.” Nella retreated before she became even more of a mess and fled for her bedroom.
“Is she okay?” Frankie took a step to go after her, but Ruby touched his arm.
“She will be. Can we both agree that this is quite a lot for anyone to take in? Hell, part of me still wants you to get lost.” Frankie raised a brow at her and stopped himself from barking at her. He wasn’t going anywhere. “Can you blame her for wanting some space?” Ruby sighed and released his arm to point at the second brown comfy chair. “You want to talk? Okay. Let’s talk about how we’re going do this.”
Frankie obediently took the seat and sat forward with his elbows on his knees and his fingers interlocked. Ruby prayed for strength before pulling the other chair from in front of the window. She dragged it across the wooden floor to face Frankie’s seat and sat down with a sigh. “I’m not giving you shared custody.”
“Yes you are.” He countered. “You can be present to start with if it makes you feel better, but I’ve got the legal right to shared custody.”
“Legal right?” Ruby’s heart fluttered. He wasn’t wrong, and she knew a judge would agree. If Nella hadn’t been excluded today, and chucking her into any old school absolutely not an option, she wouldn’t even be entertaining Frankie. Nella had been bullied so badly over the last few years she’d already been transferred from one school already. This one was supposed to be more LGBTQ+ friendly.
Like hell they were.
If Ruby could afford to have Nella privately educated, that would have been perfect, but she served tables in a bar. She didn’t bring home that kind of money. Frankie though? A fire chief must earn a decent wage. He didn’t hesitate to offer to pay half their rent and give her child support. “It’s important to me that Nella’s happiness and future is at the forefront of whatever we agree. And you don’t make decisions for her without consulting me first. I am her mother, and you haven’t been her father before 10 minutes ago.” Frankie inclined his head and took a moment to assess her motives. “Most guys would have run for the hills, finding out they had a kid with a one-night stand 18 years ago who might ask for back payment in child support.” She chuckled, and Frankie grinned at her.
“I can’t afford that in one lump sum, but we can discuss that, as long as it goes into the uplift program to send her to college with.”
“I can respect that.” Ruby sat forward to mirror him and looked to her right at the door leading to Nella’s room. She hesitated, wondering if her daughter would do as she was told and put her earphones in, or if she was listening intently. “As you can likely imagine, I’m very protective of my daughter. And she is my daughter. This isn’t a recent development or a phase. She may have a penis, and I called her Nelson thinking I had a son, but she never wanted to be a boy. She’s always liked wearing girl’s clothes, puts on makeup, and behaves as any awkward and insecure teenage girl does.” Frankie nodded, not relating to what was being said, but understanding and accepting it. “She likes boys too, and no, she doesn’t consider herself to be gay. She identifies as a girl who finds boys attractive. As you can probably guess? She hasn’t had a boyfriend yet.” Ruby pursed her lips together and waited for Frankie to nod.
“Most boys who are attracted to girls aren’t expecting the lady to have…?” Frankie pointed down at his own groin, blushing, and made Ruby roll her eyes.
“Pretty much. Her peers haven’t been very welcoming to her, so she certainly hasn’t attempted to date anyone. I’m only telling you so you don’t upset her by asking her about having a girlfriend.”
“No problem. I don’t care who she dates as long as they know I’ll have something to say if they upset her.” Frankie smiled and his comment was well received.
“I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this, since I don’t really know you, but as you have said several times you have a legal right to Nella, I’m going to ask anyway.” Ruby shook her head in disbelief but got on with it. “Can you promise me that Nella will get a good education and be safe in Glenn Valley?”
“I can give you a personal guarantee. We have plenty of same-sex couples. No one will care she’s transgender.” Frankie took his cell from his back pocket.
“We aren’t living with you, and she isn’t to start with.” Ruby sat back, crossed her legs elegantly, and folded her arms over her blue sweater. I’ll take you up on that offer to pay for half the rent somewhere and pay child support. I’ll need to hand in my notice at Vince’s and find a new job.”
“I’m sure I can put a good word in for you. We have a couple of bars, and then there’s the dance hall. It’s the watering hall in Glenn Valley.”
“Oh, right. Good. I want to be financially independent.” Ruby stared at him as Frankie started texting. “What are you doing?”
“I’m documenting what we agree and also putting things into place.” Namely, I’m making Caleb aware of what’s happened and that I need his help. In one week Nella would shift and she would need to be welcomed into the pack. But what are we going to do about Ruby? He lifted his steely blue eyes to regard her curiously. Will Caleb degree we turn her? We can’t expect the pack to hide their natures indefinitely for nearly 2 years until Nella goes to college. Obviously, Ruby would have to become pack. Frankie put in his plea for it not to be next week. He was going to be busy enough getting to know his new daughter and teaching her how to be a werewolf. Trying to deal with two new werewolves at once would be chaos. He made sure to phrase it that way in the message. I’ll be busy with Nella. Someone else will have to sire Ruby. Emma and Beth Carter got 2 months before they were sired. Surely they will give Ruby at least that? So someone in the pack comes forward as a volunteer to sire them?
“Ths is crazy.” Ruby lowered her head into her hands and groaned. “Why?” She suddenly questioned Frankie with desperation in her green eyes. “Why, of all days, did you turn up on my doorstep today?” Any other day she would have stood her ground and told him to get lost. But today Nella was permanently excluded from school and came home early. Any other day and Frankie would have either gone willingly or in cuffs from her apartment long before Nella came home. As soon as Nella made it clear she wanted to go? Ruby lost her nerve.
Other than to be treated as a girl, Nella never asked her for anything. It made Christmas ad birthday shopping in the past very difficult. Her request to hear Frankie out was impossible to refuse. She wasn’t happy about it, but if Nella wanted to know her dad? Well…Ruby had no right to stop her. But she was going to make sure this was done on her terms. “Fine fine fine. Nella needs a new school and you swear she won’t be bullied for being trans in Glenn Valley?”
“I’m confident she won’t, but at the first sign that she is, I’ll kick their ass.” Ruby smiled. She didn’t know he was being literal.
“I want documents to prove this isn’t some sort of trick.” Ruby waved her cell at him. “I’ll give you my number, and you can give mine to the school she’ll transfer to. Once I have the transfer papers and confirmation of our new home, I’ll hand in my notice at work and on this apartment. But not before.”
“Deal.” Frankie grinned. Ruby assumed that would take a few weeks, or months. She had no idea that everything would be handled in time for lunch tomorrow. After all? They only had 6 more days to the full moon and Nella’s first shift. “Gotta say? This isn’t how I thought I’d be getting your number.” He joked to lighten the mood as they swapped numbers, but Ruby deadpanned him.
“Okay, let’s just get this straight?” She pointed at him with her cell. “I’m doing this for Nella, not to hook up with you again. Our relationship will strickly be as her parents putting her interests first. No funny business.”
“No mam.” Frankie agreed. This was going to be messy enough without adding sex to the mix. It’s not going to be a fun conversation. Oh yeah, by the way? Nella’s a werewolf, I’m a werewolf, and now you need to become one too so our secret is safe. Welcome to Glenn Valley Pack Ruby.
Comments (0)
See all