Chapter 13

"Lori?"

She said in surprise as she took in the sight before her. The stroller with the baby in it and Lori.

"Mrs Fuller. It’s so nice to see you."

She said as politely as she could muster.

"Who's baby is that?"

The woman asked right away, her eyes set on Emilia and a frown on her face.

"I'm a nanny now."

She simply said and Mrs Fuller chuckled.

"A nanny?! That's ironic."

It was true. It was pretty ironic, Lori thought as she didn't reply.

"Be serious now, who's baby is that?"

"I am serious."

Lori fired back.

"Since you're here Mrs Fuller, I was wondering if it's possible we talk in private."

Lori started and Mrs Fuller shook her head as she raised her hand. She seemed to still be processing Lori's statement.

"There's no way someone would give you a job as a nanny! Not after what you did!"

She said and Lori sighed.

She ignored her statement.

"Mrs Fuller, if you'll give me a few minutes of your time to explain..."

"Explain what?!"

The woman snapped.

"There's nothing that comes out from your mouth that I'm willing to hear. "

"Nothing at all."

"I just want to know where he's buried! Is that too much to ask?"

Mrs fuller walked up to her and looked her right into the eye.

"Yes. After all you've done, it is too much to ask."

She said as she walked away. Lori stood at the entrance for a few moments before gathering herself and walking in. Her whole mood was already ruined and she didn't even know why she had asked, the Fullers would never forgive her, even though she didn't know why, she had asked them for forgiveness, it wasn't her fault.

She walked straight to the baby aisle and picked out the brand of diapers that Emilia used. She picked just enough to last for a few days and walked right to the cashier, in a flash she was out of the checkout line and was back in the car fixing Emilia into the car seat. She went back into the car and noticed she had left her phone.

Her eyes widened at the number of missed calls she had from Gabriel.

Twenty missed calls?! She was out for at least five minutes, when did he have a chance to call twenty times!

She was about to call him when he called again, Lori hastily picked the call.

"Where have you been Lori?! Why weren't you with your phone? Do you know how terrified I was?"

Gabriel barked into the phone, startling Emilia and Lori.

"I'm sorry... I left my phone in the car..."

"It's a phone Lori! You should take it with you next time!"

"I'm sorry."

Lori whimpered.

Gabriel seemed to calm down once he heard the tone of her voice.

"Did you get the diapers?"

He asked and she nodded.

"Yes. I got them."

Gabriel nodded.

"Good. I'll be home soon. Drive safe!"

He added as he ended the call.

Lori sighed.

She turned to the backseat and saw Emilia finally awake, she was starting to get fussy.

Perhaps she needed a diaper change, or food.

Lori thought as she reached out for her from the backseat, safely getting the baby out of her car seat.

She had never breastfed in public before, but she didn't pack a bottle, it was meant to be a quick run, in and out. She grabbed a blanket and put it over her shoulder, instantly covering the baby's head and her exposed chest.

Emilia gurgled as she latched on quickly and Lori checked her diaper.

The baby wasn't really hungry and she started playing with the boob a few minutes later so Lori dressed herself and put her on her shoulder to burp her.

"Okay now! Time to go home!"

She told the baby after she finally burped and put her back in her car seat with her pacifier in her hand.



Gabriel got home as early as he could. Lori was already home with the baby. He could hear her talking to Emilia as he walked past the nursery into his room to change. It sounded like she was giving the baby a bath. In his room, he stripped off of his clothes and got into more comfortable clothes.

He had a long day, a very long day. He remembered what happened at the underground vividly. The defectors had pleaded to be reinitiated into the pack and swear allegiance to him as their alpha but Gabriel flat out refused. He was about to turn them away when Draco convinced him to let them stay, stay and work their way back to be reinitiated into the pack.

It was a good idea and it solved the problem of any more defectors they would have coming over and complaining about trouble in the hands of Sabine.

Hopefully his little problem with Sabine would also be dealt with quickly. The council had got back to him and he was to see them the next day. He wanted to at least try and settle things the right way.

Sabine has been on his ass for at least two years, ever since he rejected her she found ways to bring him trouble, ways to provoke him and ways to just make it seem like he had offended her or something. It was exhausting and he was somehow glad that it might be over.

After changing he went back downstairs. The house was so quiet.

Quiet and empty of his staff. He always gave them the day off every time it was a full moon. Many werewolves liked to spend a full moon in solitary confinement, others with family and some with members of their pack. Gabriel could control his wolf, so in some cases he wasn't bothered or particularly under the influence of the full moon. He still liked to take extra precautions though.

In the kitchen he walked to the fridge to check if Sylvia had made something for dinner for him.

He smiled when he saw a Tupperware of chili.

He popped it into the microwave and looked out the window to see the sunset.

Lori walked down the stairs while holding Emilia. She was in the bathroom bathing the baby when she heard footsteps. Her heart had momentarily stopped before it started pounding sporadically out of fear wondering if it was an intruder.

Gabriel didn't arrive home early. In fact, he was at least two hours too early if he was the one in the house.

Still, she had walked out of the nursery and right in front of his room, she slightly opened his room and found his worn clothes on the bed and his shoes on the floor.

She sighed, realizing that he was the one with the footsteps and he had come home.

With that, she quickly put Emilia in a onesie and wrapped her up in a blanket to take downstairs.

At the bottom of the stairs and on her way to the kitchen, she caught a glimpse of Gabriel in front of the kitchen window wearing a checkered Pajama bottom and a plain white tshirt. He looked so relaxed. So calm and even his dark hair was disheveled.

He turned slightly and found Lori approaching him with the baby in her arms.

"Hey Lori."

He said.

"Mr Gabriel. Welcome home."

She said, forgetting to remove the Mr.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows at her.

"It's Gabriel."

He corrected.

“I hope it wasn't too much of a hassle going to pick up some diapers?"

"I had them stocked when Emilia was born but I didn't think she'd go through so many so quickly or else I'd have restocked sooner."

Lori shook her head.

"Oh no. It wasn't a hassle. It was actually quite refreshing going out."

Gabriel nodded.

"Yea. You've been cooped up indoors for too long."

He mentioned and Lori nodded.

"Exactly."

"How was the ride? Did the car give you any problem?"

He asked as he walked across the kitchen to take Emilia from her arms.

That was the closest they've ever been to each other and he was so close that Lori could smell his cologne that still clung to his skin. And up close, she could see how really clear and blue his eyes was.

Gabriel didn't catch her watching, he was too focused on taking his daughter from her arms to notice Lori's eyes on him.

"No. I was scared I was going to crash it. But thankfully I didn't."

Gabriel scoffed

"It's a good thing you didn't. It's one of my favorites."

"Ah. I'm happy I didn't."

"I hope you're not missing the staff too much. I know you and Grace are close."

Lori nodded.

"Mr Gregory stayed to make me breakfast. But yes, I do miss Grace and the others."

"It's only for a short time. They'll be back soon."

Lori nodded.

She knew that. She just didn't understand why though, or if by logic the same thing would apply to her. Would she also get a day off? When was the appropriate time to ask?

"Have you had dinner? There's chili."

Lori shook her head.

"I've been with Emilia all day. With no one to take her I haven't really eaten much."

She said and Gabriel nodded.

"I understand. Well I'm warming up the chili. I think there's some rice too, can you check the fridge?"

Lori nodded as she walked towards the fridge and pulled out another Tupperware of rice.

"I'll just pop it in the microwave when the Chili is done."

She murmured and Gabriel nodded, he was smiling at Emilia and kissing her hand.

They had such a special bond, he could calm her down just by rocking her, or looking at her, that was exactly how much of a bond they had.

Lori smiled at the baby, Emilia was a lucky child, so lucky to have love and lovely people surrounding her. She wished she had been born like that, into a family an actual real family, not having parents who abandoned her or adoptive parents who made her life worse.

She teared up just thinking how horrible her life was. Gabriel's eyes shot up to her really quick, he had sensed the change in her emotion, he could almost taste the salty tears that were about to explode from her big hazel eyes.

"Are you okay?"

He asked and she laughed nervously.

"Yeah. I'm just really stressed out."

Gabriel nodded, now noticing how tired she looked, the front of her large shirt was wet, probably from the bath, her hair was greasy and in a bun. She also had tired eyes.

"You should get some rest. Maybe get in the shower or something after dinner."

Lori nodded, she looked up at him and saw that he was staring at her, he looked so concerned.

"I promise. I'm fine. Really."

She assured and he nodded.

"Okay. But you know you can always tell me anything..."

"I know, I know I'm your boss and it might seem inappropriate to you, but trust me, you can tell me anything. Anything at all and I will always listen to you."

"I can promise you that."

He would always listen. Wow.

How long had she craved a listening ear from someone genuine. Someone she could talk to.

She never really had someone like that.

It felt nice.

It felt warm, to know that someone was there, someone would be there, listening.

“Thank you Gabriel.”

She whispered.