The Last Shifter’s Baby

“Okay, I’ll pick you up at seven.” He smiled and bent to brush his lips over her cheek. “I have to get that cage back to medical and then I have a few things to do but I’ll see you tonight.” He said.

Rebecca moved to help him heave the cage up the ramp and back into the truck but to her amazement Luke was able to manhandle it in by himself. He put away the ramp and climbed into the truck, waving to her before driving off towards the back entrance of the habitat. She was left there, standing alone in a clearing, her heart thudding in her chest and a blush spreading across her cheeks.

It took her a moment to get her thoughts together and climb back into the ATV, driving down to where the giraffes were kept. She let herself into their enclosure, her hands finding their way down their soft fur. They knew her by now and let her stroke down the fur on their chests. The rhythmic petting soothing her worries and giving her mind some time to catch up with everything that had happened today. She could feel her nerves rising as she thought about going on a date with Luke. She hadn’t been on a real date since the early days of her and Ryan’s disastrous relationship and she could only hope that this one would turn out a little better. She really liked Luke, there was something about him that felt different, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad different.

The more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t help but think that a relationship between them could be so good. He shared her passion for working with animals and while his methods may be more based on feelings and intuition than hers of procedures, they still shared a love for the work. She could picture them together so easily and more than that, she could picture starting a family with him. Whoa, slow down, she told herself, you cannot go talking about starting families and babies on a first date. Shoving the thoughts of babies and first dates from her mind, she got ready to work. She still had six hours before he was going to pick her up and a long list of tasks to be completed.

*****

When she arrived at her home after finishing as much work as she could, she set out to prepare for her date. She willed herself not to panic because technically she had been out with Luke before, but this felt a lot different. At least her good jeans had been washed since she went out in the woods in them, and the mud hadn’t even stained. She slid the jeans on, debating tops before pulling out her nice lilac blouse. She hadn’t really packed any nice clothes for dates, not expecting to go on any, but she told herself not to worry. Luke asked her out after having seen all of her dull but comfortable work clothes so anything she could wear with some color was a step up from that. Dressed, she prepared herself for the hardest task of the night, taming her curls.

She refused to have her hair up in a ponytail for this date, no matter how long it was going to take to comb and fuss her dark locks into submission. Luckily, she must have been thinking ahead when she packed because right beside her vanity was her one and only styling product: a canister of extra strength mousse. Getting her hair damp in the sink, she started to work the mousse through her fizzy, brushed-through curls. The end result was surprisingly pretty, her dark hair glossy and shining with thick curls that swept past her shoulders. Unlike her usual curls, these ones were obviously styled, sleek, and no frizz in sight. She applied a light touch of makeup, never having been one to mess with it much save for special occasions and grabbed Luke’s flannel hanging off the knob of her bedroom door without a second thought. She slipped it on and fixed her hair over the collar.

Hm, she thought, if this date goes well I might not ever have to give his coat back. Not that I had considered giving it back anyway. She took her customary spot by the kitchen window, not letting herself think about how creepy it was, and waited to see the headlights of his truck as it twisted its way up her driveway. She was out the door as soon as she saw the first flash of light, grateful for Luke’s flannel against the freezing air outside. It was getting colder and colder as December neared, edging toward the type of cold that made your teeth ache and breathing uncomfortable. It’s amazing it hasn’t really snowed yet. Usually, every thing’s covered in snow by this time of year. She wasn’t going to complain, as beautiful as the snow was, it was awful to work in. No matter what kind of shoe Rebecca tried on, she always ended up with soggy, cold socks by the end of the working day.

She hopped into Luke’s truck before he even had the chance to put it in park, pressing her fingers against the heaters, and offering Luke a shy smile. “Hello.”

“Wow,” she heard him murmur. “You look really nice.”

She huffed a little laugh. “Try not to sound too surprised.”

“No, no, no,” he backtracked frantically, and she laughed, the horror on his face was comical. “I’m not surprised, you always look beautiful. I’m just a little embarrassed. You dressed up but I figured we could just go to the diner again.”

She instantly felt like massive pressure had just been lifted off her shoulders and let out a small sigh of relief. “The diner sounds amazing. I don’t usually feel comfortable in high-end restaurants.”

“Okay, great, because that’s where I was taking us.” He laughed. “It’s been a few days since I’ve been there actually, one of the staff called me this morning to ask if I was feeling okay.”

Rebecca giggled into her hand. “Not usually the reaction you want, Luke.” She paused, watching the dark shapes of trees pass by. “Wait, what did you mean I dressed up? I’m in jeans and a flannel. Oh, it’s the hair, isn’t it? My sister says when I actually put effort in doing my hair I look like a completely different person.”

“No, I love your hair when you have it up too. I just mean – I just thought you looked beautiful with your hair down, drowning in my coat.” He chuckled a little and they fell into silence as he drove. Rebecca didn’t know how to reply to that, men rarely told her she was beautiful. The silence wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t their usual comfortable silence either, the air felt charged between them. When Luke pulled up outside of the diner, he got out of the truck and crossed over to open her door and help her out before she could even get her seatbelt off. He put a hand against the small of her back and guided her inside to the booth that they sat in last time, greeting the staff politely as they went. This time however, he slipped into the same side as her and wrapped an arm around her middle, one large hand squeezing her hip.