Come Morning Light

The night had been a long, hard, exhausting trip. It reminded Andre o when he had first shifted as a child. He had to fight the wolf and bcome dominant over the creature, not to mention hold steady on his current wolf. It was strange though. There was no added wolf, only added energy. As if his wolf had done cocaine. He could get used to this. He had been on drugs fo a long time.

"I'm alright, cheri." He spoke, his voice low as it crackled. He glanced up to Chloe when she stirred and rubbed her eyes, smiling at Andre. "Welcome back, boss." She didn't bother to ask him how he felt because she knew. She knew it would be a struggle, but he had overcome much more difficult tasks. He would be fine.

"I just want to rest." Food? Of course he wanted food, but his body was too tired and beat up to digest. Andre pulled himself up to sit on the step next to Addie, and leaned on her as he closed his eyes and started to fall asleep.

"Come on, Dre. Get up. You'll sizzle if you sleep out here." Ms Chloe urged Andre to get up aandhe followed her like a zombie inside and to the couch where he would pass out for hours. Once he was settled Chloe looked to Addie. "He's doing well. He's much better than most, and he didn't take too long to control himself. You should be proud of him."

{Sorry for typos I wrote this on my phone!!}

The couched beckoned to Andre like water to a deserted man. He dropped onto it and was asleep within seconds, a light snore soon followed. Chloe watched Addie and smiled, then went over and rolled the wolf onto his side to stop the piggish sound.

“He’ll be fine. He just needs rest. Do you want breakfast? The witch asked, testing to see Addie’s boundaries with her pregnancy. The full moon was not too far away and would likely be making Andre more sick than necessary, what with all the added weight of the moon’s power. “He’ll be asleep for days if we let him. Come, take your mind off of him for a few minutes and help me make a breakfast for the baby." She moved into the kitchen and began taking out a few pans then eggs and assorted breakfast items. The old witch pulled her hair back and pulled an apron out of the pantry to wrap around her waist.

"Have you thought of any names?”

Chloe smiled and began to hum as she pulled things out of the fridge. She pulled out eggs, bread, bacon, sausage, and assorted spices to make a full grown man cry next time he shit. She wouldn't put them on Adellas food of course, but it woul be a good wake up call to Andre. She started her stove and handed the eggs and a bowl to Addie. "Think you can handle the eggs?" Scrambled eggs were Andres favorite.

"Well now is the time to think of names. Are you hoping for a girl or miniature Andre?" She lughed at the thought. "You would be in for a handful if it's a little boy." She started the bacon and the sizzling did little to stir the sleeping bear. "Haveyou always wanted children, Adella?" She shifted her weight and pulled butter out of the fridge. "I apologize, I never bothered to ask. Please, tell me more about yourself."

Chloe looked surprised at Adellas suggestion, but did as she said. She dug in the cupboard for maple then splashed a little in to try and entice Andre t wake up. He hardy moved. His only movements were beathing and shifting now and then to keep himself from snoring. It sounded like a bear was asleep in the living room.

"I think he would enjoy a girl. If it was his girl I doubt she would be very fragile, but he would treat her like she was. He's already been through boys. A girl would do him some good." She hated to imagine how extremely protective he would be of a little girl.

The witch frowned at her story and stayed silent while she spoke. "No one deserves to be alone. What's wrong with your village? They can't accept the strange?"

The witch was delighted in the smell that the maple made with the bacon. It scented her home much to her approval and she kept glancing at Andre, secretly trying to wake him but also glad he wasn’t awake so they wouldn’t have to share food. She knew he’d eat like a starved army when he woke just to regain some of his strength.

“I don’t think it would bother him either way. Every man wants a boy, but I hope you have a girl. I’d like to see Andre with a little girl.” That would be something to see, a little baby girl Louvel.

The witch frowned when Addie mentioned her mother. “Is there nothing she can do to come and visit?” She wouldn’t pry much after that, Chloe knew when not to delve too deeply into people’s emotions and she could tell the subject was sensitive with Adella.

“He’s a lucky man. You cleaned him up well, Adella. If only you could have seen the mess he was before he had you.”

Chloe was a free spirit. She didn’t believe in forcing decisions or arranged anything, let alone marriage. When Andre had told her that their marriage had been arranged she was skeptical, but relieved in the way he had come to life. Whatever way they met it was still fate and Addie had brought him back to life.

“With your looks combined the girl will give Andre more grey hair than he can handle. Oh Lord he’ll be protective.” She laughed and shook her head, peering around the corner to check on the sleeping wolf who had turned onto his back. “Don’t forget to send me pictures and come visit.”

Then the subject was changed to the mess that the shell of Andre once was and Chloe frowned. “He was. He was a shell of a man. I don’t think there wasn’t a day he wasn’t drunk or on some drug, or waking up next to some girl he didn’t know the name of. You can’t get mad at who he was, alright? You just have to accept who he is now. ”

Such a silly girl. Didn’t she know she was beautiful? Andre wouldn’t have married some mountain troll. He wasn’t a shallow man, but he was a man and he wouldn’t marry someone that didn’t tickle his fancy. She rolled her eyes and continued to cook breakfast, by now it was almost ready.

The witch laughed at the baby talk then nodded. “That would be nice.” But she wondered if Andre would truly let her back into his life. She was aware the wolf was opening up more restaurants, and knew he had looked at a house to buy in New Orleans, but would he really come back home?

“Men need stability in their life. He was somewhat cleaned up by the time he started teaching. Not fully, but he had himself together enough to teach a class. You were the icing on the cake. You’re the glue that holds him together and keeps him from going back to the way he was.” For as long as she had been away from Andre she knew him well enough to know that he was the sort of man to need a woman as his support. He needed a mate. Without one he was a mess.

Speaking of the mess, the wolf stirred silently on the couch. The smell of food, as Chloe predicted, had lured the bear out of hibernation early. He was already in the kitchen and sitting down at the small table before Chloe noticed him and pulled out an extra plate from the cabinet. “Couldn’t sleep?”

The wolf sat hard on the little wooden chair, testing it’s ability to hold too much weight. It would have crumbled under him if Chloe hadn’t just rewrapped the legs last week. He rested his arms on the table, but tried to sit up a little straighter when Addie came to him. “Tired.” That’s how he was feeling. Tired. Exhausted. Famished.

He glanced to the stove as Ms. Chloe pulled the bacon strips out and put them on three different plates, adding a few extra pieces to Andre’s plate. She scraped the eggs on the plates as well and put the warm toast over them. It wasn’t the feast that Andre made at home, but it would tide him over so he could sleep more thoroughly without being disrupted by hunger.

“Thank you.” He said as he looked back to Addie. He wanted water, and food, and sleep. Without saying anything else Chloe poured him a glass of water and set it in front of him which he downed immediately. He took Addie’s hand and held it against his cheek as he closed his eyes for a short time while Chloe set the food down on the table. She kept silent, knowing there weren’t words to console the exhausted. Andre tugged Adella’s hand gently after the food was set down and began to eat, all the while still holding her hand in his free grip.

The baby was safe. The baby was safe. That’s all Andre needed to hear to make his night worthwhile. He looked at Adella with relief in his eyes and touched her face, but couldn’t muster up a smile. It was evident in his eyes he was happy, but he was too tired to show it anywhere else.

The wolf ate his breakfast slowly. Most of the time he ate like a man coming back from war, but today he savored his food. Chloe handed him another glass of water before sitting herself down across from him and enjoying her breakfast as well. She found peace in knowing Andre would be fine, and was able to eat without a second thought. Her brows knit when Addie offered her food up. Could it be morning sickness? No. After a moment the woman smiled, but kept her mouth shut and let the couple have their moment.

“No, eat.” She had to be hungry. He couldn’t remember the last time she ate, unless she ate while he was gone; but knowing Addie he knew she didn’t have the stomach to worry and eat. “Please, cheri.” Maybe if he managed a pet name she would know he was fine, and would relax a little. He finally offered her a little smile that didn’t last for more than fifteen seconds and touched her face gently before finishing the rest of his breakfast. “Did you get much sleep last night?”

If Andre had been more on his game he would have told Adella to stop watching him and to stop worrying, but he hardly noticed her stare. He didn’t even notice Chloe watching him as she sipped her coffee and finished her breakfast. When Addie brought up the names he smiled a little, relieved to be reminded that he was exhausted for a very good reason. “We’ll move.” There wasn’t room in the house for a baby room. They needed a new house… a new house in Louisiana, but he wasn’t about to bring that up.

Once Addie started to eat Andre felt himself sigh a weight off his shoulders. Even if he was exhausted he still managed to fret over her. For the most part he remained silent while she ate, then once she was closer to done he finished his water and stretched back in his chair.

Chloe smiled at the couple and laughed. “You two done look like you been to war. Why don’t you take my bed and sleep while I run some errands into town.” She chimed, her thick Cajun accent gripping every word. With that she stood from her chair and took their bare plates to put into the sink, then shooed them both towards her room. Andre got up without much fight in him and took Addie’s hand to bring her with him. After the last forty-eight hours he felt like he could sleep for a week, and longed to hold Addie while he did. "Come on, cheri." It was time to stop worrying and get some well deserved rest.