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The day was just much too beautiful to spend it inside. In fact, Derek had suggested they should all go out. Hiking and exploring deep in the woods are his idea of a good time, though he had a different method of exploring than most people.
Packing up the essentials for the day came quick. Braeden getting herself and Alexis ready is a whole different story. They're still adjusting to life with a baby even though they became parents just a few months ago.
They found out that caring for a baby is almost second nature for Braeden. She finds it funny how Derek became a different person in the blink of an eye. He's always asking if Braeden needs anything, always going over to the crib to take a peek at their sleeping baby (“I just want to make sure she's breathing, that's all,” he'd tell Braeden), and feels uncomfortable with anyone else carrying or touching Alexis. Braeden doesn't mind, in fact, she likes how attentive he's become of their child.
“Did you get my books?” She asked him as she walked out of the loft, holding a sleeping Alexis in her car seat.
“I got the one with the green and white cover,” Derek replies, struggling to lock up the loft and keep the canvas bags on his shoulder.
Braeden cuts him off. “What about the big leather-bound one?”
“Yes, I got that one as well,” he replies, and knows for a fact he's got it, as it's the heaviest one, making the bag slip off his shoulder.
“Good. I'm doing some research on certain spooky things that go bump in the night,” she grins and gives him a quick kiss.
Derek loads their things in the trunk while Braeden carefully straps Alexis into the back seat. He tried not to stare at his girlfriend who is bent over, he truly did, but he is weak. He gives her a playful smack, letting his hand linger there.
Braeden suppresses a laugh then swats his hand away from her ass, then straightens up to face him. “I thought we said we wouldn't in front of the baby,” she says as he kisses her neck.
He looks at Alexis through the window and sees she hasn't so much as stirred. “She's sleeping. We've got time for a quickie,” Derek jokes.
She scoffs and pushes him away. “We've got a long drive ahead of us, Dad.”
They're headed to the cabin that Derek owns just a few hours outside of Beacon Hills. Braeden has been there a few times but never with Alexis, so this is rather special for their little family.
The cabin is located deep in the woods. Braeden swears you have to know exactly where you're going or else you'll get lost. That kind of privacy is essential for someone like Derek.
They don't bother to go inside and instead make their way to the clearing behind the cabin. Derek walks ahead of Braeden to lay down the blanket he packed. Alexis coos in Braeden's arms, enjoying the gentle breeze.
She slowly kneels and lays her down on the fluffy blanket, then lies on her side facing Alexis. “You thinking of joining us?” She asks Derek who's still standing.
“Actually, do you mind if I...” he trails off.
Braeden smiles and laughs softly, “Do your thing, babe.”
He removes his shirt and damn, Braeden never tires of seeing the body he's worked so hard for. Before he goes any further, he hides behind a row of trees, away from her and Alexis. After a few seconds, he emerges. His fur is as black as night, making his vivid blue eyes stand out even more.
Braeden understands how he could be seen as threatening, but seeing Derek in his wolf form puts her at ease, makes her feel safer than anything or anyone else ever has before.
He sniffs at Alexis' hair, then Braeden. She squeals and pushes him away. “Go already,” she says, “and hurry back.”
Braeden watches him disappear into the woods then turns back to the baby. She scrunches her face and says, “Yeah, that's your daddy.” Alexis smiles and makes sounds almost as if she's trying to reply to her mother.
They're both enjoying the fresh air and listening to all the sounds around them for a while until Alexis begins getting fussy.
“What's the matter, love?” Braeden asks her, staring intently at the “getting-ready-to-cry” expression on her face.
She shakes a rattle in front of her face, but Alexis isn't interested. She gently rubs her hand across her belly and makes quiet shushing sounds, thinking she was fussy because she was sleepy. Alexis kept crying and wiggling beneath Braeden's hand.
“Okay, okay,” Braeden groans and sits up, setting Alexis down on her lap while she pulls down her tank top.
Just then, she remembers that she has to thank Melissa again for giving her maternity bras. She had picked ones that had prints and lace; they almost looked like proper lingerie. “Just because you're a mom, doesn't mean you have to stop feeling sexy,” Melissa told her. She was right, of course. Besides that, having the right undergarments for nursing made her life so much easier.
Alexis latches on properly on the first try, which always makes Braeden happy. Again, it was Melissa who came to the rescue and taught her how to do it correctly after Alexis was born.
“The best part about being out here,” she says to the baby eagerly suckling on her breast, “is that no one gives me shit for feeding you.” Braeden laughs softly. “Right, I forgot your father says I shouldn't curse so much around you. But you're a baby, you won't remember anything when you're older.”
Moving after Alexis began feeding was always difficult. She was an extremely fussy baby and didn't like it when Braeden would make sudden movements. Reaching for a book or her phone that's in the diaper bag is next to impossible.
Once finished, Braeden starts giving her back gentle pats and hopes Alexis doesn't projectile vomit all over her. Any time she doesn't, Braeden considers that a win for her and her clothes. And as always, as soon as she's finished eating, sleep begins to creep in, making her little eyelids heavier and heavier. Braeden gently lays down, putting one of the canvas bags underneath her head and drapes a light blanket over the little bundle on her chest. Soon enough, Alexis is snoring ever so quietly and her tiny hand is coiled tightly around the strap of Braeden's tank top.
Every parent will always say you have to cherish any and all quiet moments because they're few and far between. The sun and gentle breeze almost lull Braeden to sleep as well.
Just then, a deep, long howl echoes throughout the woods, and is loud enough to startle Alexis. There's a moment when her eyes snap open just before she begins crying; it's the calm before the storm. She wails loud enough that Braeden wonders if it makes her throat burn.
Braeden sighs and kisses the top of her head and caresses her hair. “Oh, it's okay, little one,” she says and kisses her once more. “That will be you in a couple of years.”
Alexis cannot hear Braeden's voice, her ear-piercing shrieks drown out every other sound.
“Don't you worry. When daddy gets back, he's in big, big trouble."