Page 30 of Bone Collector’s Mate

Chapter Twenty-One

Noir

Whisper Grove never went long between celebrations. Each had its own personality and was worth attending, including today’s. Founding Day celebrated when Whisper Grove became Whisper Grove. There were going to be games, booths, and, of course, food—because what was a celebration without food?

The whole town always showed up, something we were reminded of every time we were in town and people talked to us as if our attendance was a given. And normally, it would be. We’d go as a family, like we did with countless other festivals since we mated, and have a great time.

Except Rook was eight months pregnant now and feeling it. The exhaustion from his first trimester was back, and his center of gravity was off, making what was normally a nice walk one that had him out of breath and his calves hurting. He was very pregnant, and not what I’d call festival ready.

He disagreed and stated that under no circumstances would we be staying home unless the weather canceled the entire festival. In all the history of Whisper Grove, that had never once happened. Rook accused me of being overprotective, and I wore that title with pride because I was. He was my pregnant mate. It was my job to protect him.

I had a backpack with water and snacks, specifical things my mate had been craving lately. I was fine with buying anything he wanted from the festival, but just in case nothing caught his eye, I didn’t want him to have a craving and go without.

“Really? We’re going to town where they will have a zillion booths with all kinds of food, and you packed like we were going hiking in the mountains for a year?” he asked.

I zipped the backpack shut, having to squeeze it tight to get it closed. He had a point, but I wasn’t going to concede or acknowledge it at that point.

“Whatever. You’re carrying it, not me.”

“That was always the plan, mate.” I kissed his cheek. “And you’ll be happy for this, because there’s going to come a time you’re wandering through and you see huge onion rings and cotton candy and homemade brownies and corn dogs and a thousand other wonderful foods, and all you want is your cheesy crackers. And I will be the one to have them.”

“Did you bring cheesy crackers for me too, Dad?” Benji came running in. He was ready, shoes on and everything.

“Of course, I did. I couldn’t forget about my favorite little man.”

Autumn Square was packed when we got there. There were decorations, including displays by the school kids showing the history of the town. They had banners not just for this year but a display of all the banners of least twenty years past. And all the booths of local businesses, including people who ran them out of their homes, like me. There was a band playing, kids were running around, and food—so much food. Unlike the first time I walked through town, I recognized most of the people, and they recognized me back.

I was in my human form, but not everybody was. Some shifters came in animal form, other creatures as their true selves, and humans, all mixed together. I suspected that if a human stranger who didn’t know about our world accidentally passed through, they’d think this was the best cosplay ever. But no, it was just us being us. I’d probably end the night in my horns, but with all the food, I wanted my human side to be shining through.

My time was limited, having to work a booth the second half of the event, and, unlike most festivals, we had a plan of attack. We started with the school displays, our son’s choice. Benji wasn’t in school yet, but he was all excited because he was getting big, and soon, he’d be making displays too. He had to tell every student, parent, or teacher manning the booths how my mate was going to have his baby brother soon, because he had decided long ago, he was going to be a brother. I hadn’t had a preference, but with how excited Benji was about a brother, I was leaning that way now, too.

Each time they said they already knew, he looked surprised, despite the fact that no one could see my mate and not know that he was very, very pregnant.

The first half of the night was just us having family fun, and we’d done a great job covering all but the games. Those were going to be Rook and Benji time.

I had taken to sharing a booth space with my new friend Joshua, who made jewelry. He would mind it the first half of the night, and I had the second.

All too soon, it was time for me to man my space. I’d set up the night before and expected to find plenty of stock remaining, but there were only three pieces left, and my booth companion had already completely sold out of his merchandise.

“It’s a good festival,” he said. “When you sell out, feel free to leave. I can get this all cleaned up at the end of the night. I’m sure your mate will wear out before the fireworks.”

“Sounds good. I owe you.”

In my head, I assumed that the last three pieces were there because no one wanted them, and I’d be there all night. I was pleasantly surprised when the chimes made out of old keys went within five minutes. The last two, which were made out of a combination of spoons, odds and ends I’d picked up, and a lot of maybe jewelry from a thrift store a few towns over, were gone in half an hour.

My mate waddled over with Benji to say hi.

“I was ready to come find you,” I told them. “There’s nothing left to sell.”

“Yes! That means you can come play with me. They’re doing Ring Around the Raven, and, if you win, you get a prize.” Benji was jumping up and down.

I didn’t know the game, but I let him drag me over, my mate following behind and laughing the entire way. It was basically ring toss with ravens, and Benji was determined to win. The town saw us coming. I kept buying more and more rings for Benji who kept tossing them right past the ravens. I offered to help, but Benji was determined to do it on his own. A great many attempts later, he won. He got to pick out a raven key chain as his prize.

“Yes! I’m putting this on my backpack, so everyone can see I won.” He held on to it tightly. I might’ve spent forty dollars on that key chain, but it was money well spent.

“What do you think?” I asked Benji. “Should we go home, little man?”

“I’m not tired.” His eyes were starting to shut. Poor little guy was dead on his feet. “But if you’re tired, Dad, we can go home.”

“I’m tired,” Rook said. “But before we go, let’s get some cookies from the booth by the Founders’ Society.”

We all agreed. We couldn’t decide which kind we wanted and instead got one of each, justifying the huge purchase by saying that we’d have cookies for a month now. That was proven to be a lie. They were all gone by the next afternoon, and we were already making plans to buy more at the next festival.