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[Jul. 21st, 2009|08:42 pm] |
Wendell was prepared for the arrival of children. He'd gone to the store and purchased kid-friendly meals, toys, and best of all in his opinion children's books that he woud be able to read to them. There were things already on hand with the twins, of course, but Wendell liked for each child to have their own special things that belonged only to them. He'd finished a room for them as well, prepared it with two twin beds and inviting wallpaper. At the moment, he was baking cookies in the kitchen, from scratch of course. It was nice to take his mind off of all the bad things he'd been looking at recently.
For the duration of the ride, Jeremiah and Julian had been attached to one another and Jeremiah had absolutely howled any time they tried to separate them. When they finally got back to the house they had both calmed down and Julian had even fallen asleep, so Hunter carried him into the house and put him in one of the beds. Jeremiah was still awake and having a fairly needy moment and he was clinging to Hunter. Not wanting to leave him alone and awake in the bedroom, he came downstairs with the tiny wolf tucked in one arm, holding onto the front of his shirt for dear life. Jeremiah had his head turned so that he could ese where they were going but his face was mostly tucked down into his own shoulder so that only his eyes were visible. They were wide and taking in absolutely everything.
Wendell had cookie dough ready and was squeezing it between his fingers a bit childishly when Hunter arrived in the kitchen. His heart gave one giant leap at the sight of Hunter carrying the pup and he was actually a little embarrassed by how deeply that sight affected him. "Hello," his voice was infinitely soft and he pulled his hands out of the dough to wash them off quickly. Walking toward them, ever bit of his posture was submissive and the vibe he put out was non-threatening. If anyone knew how to approach children, it was Wendell.
Jeremiah was small for his age. The size of the twins, who were two, though he was four. The boys were severely undernourished and had spent the last few weeks in the care of someone who planned only to sell them. And there they were better cared for than at home, so it said a great deal about their mother and her choice of company. When Wendell came closer his shoulders hunched up a little bit but he didn't recoil entirely. He was so tired and in such desperate need for affection that he couldn't stay on the defensive for long. "hi." he whispered.
Glancing up at Hunter, Wendell stretched out his arms for the boy. Every bit of him wanted that kid, wanted to hold him and make everything right for him. Maybe it was something in the eyes. He hadn't been there for some of the younger wolves and now was his chance to make up for that. "Are you hungry? How about you help me put some dough on the sheet and then we can watch the cookies bake in the oven."
Jeremiah didn't know either of them, so he saw no danger in going from Hunter to Wendell. When Hunter moved to let the other wolf take him, Jeremiah let go of him and reached for Wendell. The length of time it took to transfer afforded him one whiney whimper. A protest at not being held as closely as Hunter had been until he was in Wendell's arms. He took a hold of Wendell and pressed his head down against his shoulder as he clung to him.
Something told Wen that Jeremiah wouldn't be hopping down to get on the little stepping stool he'd set up for him. This would work though, he could do things one handed. "You're going to like it here," he whispered into the boy's hair and whisked him off toward the bowl of dough. "Chocolate chip," he kept talking, only half-expecting a response, just so that Jeremiah could get used to the lilt of his voice. Taking a handful of the dough, he rounded it into a ball and plopped it down on the cookie sheet.
Jeremiah clung to him but he watched as he formed the dough into the little balls and put them a few inches apart on the cookie sheet. For a while he only watched, studying the process. The dough smelled good and it looked weird so when he had distracted himself enough with the need to touch it he reached forward and poked one of his fingers into it and then he leaned back again.
"It tastes good," Wendell offered him up a little swipe of the dough before taking the completed sheet and putting it into the oven. It didn't take long for them to bake and as he closed the oven door, he knelt down with Jeremiah so that they could both peer into the little window. "There's fat in butter, you know. It melts first and as it melts it lets off air. See? See how the dough puffs up a little?"
"How come they go in there?" His words were barely above a whisper. Jeremiah had gotten punished one too many times over being loud and he was very conscious of it in front of new people. "why can't we just eat it with spoons."
Wendell lowered his voice, approaching the same slight volume as Jeremiah. "Eating too much raw dough can give you a stomach ache. And putting dough in the oven makes it taste even better." The cookies started to pool, little waves of heat rolling off of them. The smell was overwhelming. "All of the ingredients work together in the heat to make the cookie taste good."
"How can those be cookies?" because the dough had smelled like cookies but didn't feel like them or look like them. Jeremiah hadn't ever seen cookies made and he hadn't really gotten to eat them very much. As they started to flatten out he leaned in closer, wanting a better look. They smelled good and it made his stomach rumble because he was getting hungry again.
Wendell could feel the gurgle of the boy's stomach under his hand and it made him frown. A young wolf's stomach should never be empty enough to growl like that. In a perfect world, anyway. He could see that the boy was behind in developmental milestones and it troubled him a great deal, but he didn't show it. "Heat changes lots of things," he said as the timer went off. Lifting Jeremiah up, he was careful that the hot sheet stayed out of the boy's curious grasp as he took the finished cookies out. "Do you have a favorite thing to eat?"
Biting his bottom lip, he just shook his head a little bit. There wasn't anything he could think of that he got to eat regularly that he really liked. The few times he had had fast food he had liked it but they never got that so it didn't even cross his mind to mention it.
Wendell figured that the reason for a lack of favorite was exactly that, nothing that great to eat. "I'm sure you'll find something you love here," he said firmly, testing the cookies to see if they were cool enough to eat. Waiting just a bit longer, he offered one to Jeremiah.
Taking the cookie, he brought it up to his mouth. His eyes stayed on Wendell and he tried to see if the man was going to take it away from him. When he didn't he just tried to put the whole thing in his mouth all at once to ensure that no one took it away from him once he started.
Blinking, he supposed he should have expected it. "I don't think your mouth is that--" When the cookie disappeared into it, Wendell stopped and didn't even bother to say 'big.' Getting into the fridge, he got some milk out and poured two glasses. Taking a plate of cookies and the glasses (one at a time) to the table, he sat down and kept Jeremiah on his lap. "Don't eat so fast, it'll be here for you."
Once they were seated, Jeremiah took two cookies from the plate. He put one in the front pocket of the bibs that Hunter had put on him and the other he tried to eat much the same way that he ate the first one. They never got to eat much with their mother and she took food away from them as punishment, so it was just a reflex for him to try to stuff his face.
Gently, Wendell took his hand and tugged it down. "Slow," he said firmly, but kindly. "Here," he broke the cookie and gave it to him a bit at a time. "The whole plate is yours. I made them for just you and I don't want you to get a stomach ache by wolfing them down." Wendell kissed the top of the boy's head, trying to reiterate that he was in a different place now, though he knew it would take time.
It was really different and he looked a little sheepish as he ate the cookies one piece at a time. He'd managed to get his hands messy with the cookies and by pushing his fingers into his mouth with each piece. Once he had finished off a few cookies he just sighed and leaned back against him, his stomach already starting to hurt a little because he wasn't used to eating so much.
Wendell had overestimated his belly, but that was all right. He leaned back too, making himself a comfortable chair for the boy. "How is your brother doing? I see that Hunter took him upstairs to sleep."
"Julie is tired. He didn't sleep at all while we were in the house becuase he wanted to make sure I was okay." Jeremiah tucked his knees up against his stomach and he put his thumb in his mouth as he got comfortable against Wendell.
"He did a good job making you safe," Wendell agreed. Even if both of them had been mistreated, the fact that they'd had each other probably had done wonders for their psyches. "Would you like to go lie on the couch with me and I'll read to you?"
Instead of taking his thumb out of his mouth he just nodded and curled up against Wendell a little more. He wanted to lay down with him, that sounded nice. "Can we go in our room with Julie?" Just so he could see his brother while they laid down.
He nodded. "Of course we can," he said as he stood up. Packing the boy upstairs, he chose one of the books with which he'd stocked the room. Where The Wild Things Are. Never once did he let go of the boy, knowing he needed the comfort. Arranging himself and Jeremiah on the empty bed, he glanced over at Julian and then started reading in a quiet voice so as not to disturb him.
Miah practically crawled right on top of Wendell and he stretched himself out so that he could stay close to him. With his head tucked down against Wendell's shoulder, he closed his eyes and just listened as he read the book to him. It was nice, no one ever read to him.
When he was done with that book, he reached for another, The Last Unicorn. That one lasted longer and by the time he was near the end, Wendell himself had drifted to sleep. The book lowered next to Jeremiah and Wendell's breathing evened out and deepened as he dozed off.
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