Chapter 139 - 139 – A Happy Morning

"Uh, you're glowing with the radiance of love, I'm feeling blinded," Wolf said and pretended to be injured as soon as he saw Ren and Fang appear the next morning.

Ren smiled helplessly and Fang slid his arm around Ren's waist possessively and glared at Wolf.

"You go and fine yourself a partner if you want to glow with the radiance of love yourself," Fang snapped at Wolf.

Wolf gave him a puppy eyed look. "I'm so hurt, little disciple – is this how you speak to your master?" he asked with a pathic expression.

Fang rolled his eyes. "But out the dramatics, 'master' – instead, may be you should focus on Claw instead," he said dismissively.

Wolf sat up straight. "Claw?" he asked worriedly. "What happened to her?"

Fang narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you are worried about her? That's good, that's good," he said sanctimoniously.

One could see the question marks floating above Wolf's head.

"What's wrong with Claw?" Wolf demanded. "She was fine when I spoke to her yesterday…"

"She hasn't been fine for a long time now," Fang said.

Wolf jumped from his seat and rushed to Fang. He grabbed the younger man's shoulders anxiously. "What's wrong with her?" he asked, worry dripping from his voice.

"There's something wrong with her brain," Fang said.

Wolf turned to Ren. "You'll help Claw, won't you, Ren?" he asked desperately.

Ren scratched his head awkwardly. "Actually, I'm not the one who can help her, in this case…" he murmured.

Fang beamed at Ren. "Oh? You have noticed it, too, Ren?" he asked happily.

Ren shrugged. "I think everyone other than Wolf has, probably," he replied.

"Notice what?" Wolf asked urgently.

"The woman has a crush you, my dear brother," Pax said, walking over with three furballs in his arms and a little wrapped around his head like a living coronet.

Wolf gaped at his twin brother.

"Claw – she has a crush on me?" he asked slowly.

"Yes," Fang said with a teasing smirk. "Why do you think I said that there's something wrong with her brain?"

"But – but Claw is so cool!" Wolf said.

"Yes, all the more reason for you to grab the opportunity and make her fall in love with you properly," Ren suggested. "You'll never find one as well suited for you as her!"

"But she's never said anything to me!" Wolf protested.

Pax narrowed his eyes at his brother. "She probably thinks that you are still hung up on Ren and heartbroken about Ren and Fang being together," he pointed out.

Fang immediately tugged Ren closer to himself. "You're not getting my Ren!" he declared.

Wolf rolled his eyes. "There's no need for you to act jealous, kid," he said with a hint of exasperation in his voice. "I told you that Ren and I were just pretending to be together back then for safety reasons. For all intents and purposes, Ren is like a kid brother that Pax and I raised!"

"Well, that's true enough," Pax said to Fang. Then he turned to his twin brother. "But seriously, Wolf, you want the girl to do everything? What's the point of you in a potential relationship if she has to do everything?!" he scolded.

Wolf was stunned for a moment, and then a full fledged grin bloomed on his handsome face. "Claw really likes me?" he asked giddily.

The other three men nodded.

"Auntie Claw even keeps a picture of Uncle Fang in her wallet," Snow spoke up.

Wolf turned to the little kitten, who nimbly jumped out of Pax's arms and towards Wolf.

Wolf caught her carefully and held up the little kitten at eye level. "Really, Snow? Are you sure about that?" he asked eagerly.

The little white kitten huffed. "Of course I am," she said. "I saw her peering at your photo and sighing several times. Daddy and Papa also used to do that with each other's photos sometimes when Daddy was away in Sand Country."

Ren and Fang glanced at each other at the same time – and then looked away, their faces red.

Wolf laughed happily. "Thank you, little one!" he said to the little kitten, rubbing her head affectionately. "Uncle Wolf will get you an extra treat today!"

Snow's ears perked up immediately. "What extra treat?" she asked curiously, licking her lips.

"Would you like a pizza?" Wolf asked.

"Yes!" Snow agreed immediately.

"The cola and the lollipops from yesterday will go well with the pizza, too," Pax said.

"I want balloons, too!" Sylvia spoke up from Pax's head.

Shadow looked at his big sister. "Balloons?" he asked. "But you can't eat balloons!"

Sylvia stuck out her forked tongue at the little puppy. "What's with you, you little idiot? Balloons are fun to play with! Not all good things need to be edible!" she hissed in annoyance.

Shadow shrunk his head fearfully.

Pax chuckled and rubbed the little pup's head. "We'll get stuff to eat for our little glutton Shadow, and we'll get balloons for Sylvia to play with," he said. "Snow wants a pizza, so we'll get her that. Smoke, what do you want?"

The little pup looked up. "I can ask for anything?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Pax said, rubbing the little pup's head.

Smoke's golden eyes glowed with excitement. "I want a magic potion!" he declared.

The four men were stunned.

"A magic potion?" Pax murmured faintly. "What do you want a magic potion for, little one?"

"Daddy gets hurt very often, and I want Daddy to have a magic potion to heal himself!" Smoke said, blinking his big, round, golden eyes innocently at Pax. "I can't have one, Uncle Pax?" he asked sadly.

"No, no, little one, we'll give you a magic potion for sure," Wolf said immediately – neither Pax nor Wolf could resist the sad eyes of the puppies at all. "It's a good thing that one of your well wishers has actually sent a magic potion for you guys! We'll give that one to Smoke, then!"

Smoke brightened right away. "Thank you, Uncle Wolf!" he said sweetly.

Wolf beamed at him. "No need to thank me, kid," he said with a big grin. "You have plenty of well wishers – and there's a lot of stuff that they have sent you. You should thank them, all right?"

"Yes, Uncle Wolf!" all the four babies said at the same time in a chorus.

"So, we can have some ice cola and lollipops and pizza now?" Shadow asked eagerly.

Everyone laughed.

"Yes, you little glutton," Ren said fondly and Wolf immediately went off to fetch the promised things.

And thus, the four babies had a happy time feasting on pizza, ice cola and lollipops, and playing with colourful balloons.

Smoke brought the bottle of magic potion to Ren. "For you, Daddy," he said seriously.

Ren picked up the little pup and buried his nose in his soft fur. "Thank you, little one. But Daddy is not injured now, so may be you can keep it safely with you?" he suggested.

Smoke eyed Ren critically. "There is a red mark on Daddy's neck. Did an insect bite you, Daddy?" he asked innocently.

The 'insect' Fang flushed red and pretended not to hear a word.

Ren chuckled. "No, my dear, that's fine," he said to the little pup.

Smoke looked at Ren, examining him carefully. "Are you sure it doesn't hurt, Daddy?" he asked. "Should I drip a little bit of the magic potion on it to make you feel better?" he suggested.

Ren laughed. "Thank you, my dear boy, and that's very generous of you, but it's not needed. It doesn't hurt at all," he said, rubbing Smoke's head. "Now, why don't you put your precious potion away and then go and play with your siblings?" he suggested.

Smoke gave Ren one last look and then did as he was told.

"The babies are growing up," Ren said fondly.

Fang immediately scooted over to Ren. "I'm sorry," he said, resting his head on Ren's shoulder. "I'll not leave any marks above your collar next time, ok?"

Ren rolled his eyes. Who could control these things in the heat of passion? Besides, the whole world knew that the two of them were together, so what did it matter anyway?

But then, Fang with his tendency to worry too much – Ren decided that it would be better to simply agree with him and let him do as he pleased.

"All right," Ren said.

"The magic potion…" Fang murmured. "Is it real? Did someone truly send a real magic potion to our children?" he asked curiously.

Ren nodded. "It is quite real, and a very effective healing potion, from what I can tell. It seems to be a high quality broad spectrum healing potion from my previous world – I'll write down whatever I can remember about it, and we can leave the record with Smoke for later.. For now, Sylvia will give him a quick explanation that he will be able to understand, and we can also give him a general idea."