Page 77 of Packing for Vacation

“She’s fine—Coco, I mean. She’s fine and she’s at a vet in Springridge, Ottawa, if that means anything to you. We’ve been in contact with Édouard. He doesn’t know I know you. He emailed the vet and told them I can have Coco. I’ve been on the phone to the vet multiple times this morning. Coco has been boarding with them since Christmas and she’ll continue to while we get things sorted, but the vet checked and you’re the one still on Coco’s microchip and Coco is probably not even registered at the moment, so for all intents and purposes you are Coco’s owner.”

“Why is she at the vet?!”

“She’s okay, I guess Édouard needed somewhere to put her, and the vet said she had some matted fur and was mildly malnourished, they’re sorting her out.”

“Breathe,” Matiu murmurs in my ear, and I take a gulping breath, and then another.

“She’s in Canada. I…”

She’s been in Canada the whole time, but there’s something about knowing that she’s been left at a vet that has me freaking out.

“You’ve got options,” Matiu says. “Breathe. Don’t panic.” He begins to purr, and so does Scott, and I breathe a little more easy.

“What options?”

“You can import her to Aotearoa, for one. If you want to live here with us, that can be done, but unfortunately it’s a six-month process. She needs to get new vaccinations and blood tests, and they have a stand down period because it’s really important to not bring new diseases into the country, but she could be here in six months’ time.”

“We can sort out a foster situation for her until then. And we’d talked about the idea of us all taking a trip to Canada to help you pack and ship your things here, so if you want to do that, we can, and we can visit Coco.”

What they’re saying finally truly sinks in. “I’m getting Coco back?” Coco, my baby, my little best friend who I’ve missed every day for the past three years.

“You’re getting Coco back, sweet. I promise.”

I burst into tears right there on the beach.

I forgot about the clothes on the bed.

“Hey, I was wondering where that shirt went,” Scott says as we enter my hotel room.

“Nooo, I’m so embarrassed.” I cover my face, feeling myself flush as Matiu steps in behind me, his hand lingering on my hip.

“Why? This is normal omega behaviour.”

“Yeah, but…” I gesture at the bed, where the shirts are still pulled over pillows in sad approximations of people.

“You missed us,” Matiu says quietly.

“I missed you so much,” I say, my voice cracking. I’ve been teary on-and-off since they told me about Coco, the emotions I’ve held at bay for days all hitting at once. After I stopped crying on the beach we walked back here, and I had to stop twice for hugs so that I wasn’t walking up the road with tears streaming down my face.

“May we?” Scott asks now.

“Yes, but…”

“Naked?”

“Preferably,” I admit. I was joking before about the sausages, and this isn’t about sex, but I’ve missed them. I’ve missed the warmth of their bodies, the smell of their skin. I’ve missed their touch and the reassurance that gives me. I’ve missed everything about my pack.

We strip quickly. This room isn’t made for nesting, really, and it’s only a standard king bed, but we fit. Their scents fill the space, filling my nose, and it’s the best I’ve felt all week. I relax between them, Scott’s hand on my breast, Matiu grabbing my ass, and the length of their bodies against mine.

And then we talk about everything and nothing. Our flights down, that Barry is with Amokura for the time being, whether we should go back down to the lake to view the midnight fireworks or just stay in.

“Come on,” Scott says to Matiu. “She loves this kind of shit, we have to go see the fireworks, it’s New Year’s Eve! Where’s the romance?”

“I’m currently naked with my omega, that’s romance.”

“That’s sex.”

“Are we having sex right now? Is the sex in the room with us?”