Give Lock a couple of hours, he could write the paper that his mother would present at the next female empowerment rally she would be hosting in the New Year.

“So you’ve been doing this for years,” Alla said to Gwen, ignoring the burning smell coming from the stove.

“Mom, when was the last time you checked the meat in the oven?”

“Mmm?”

“You’re supposed to be warming this up, ya know? Not grilling it all over again.” Lock motioned her aside so he could pull the oven door open.

“I used to follow my Uncle Cally around when he’d come over to fix Ma’s plumbing and by the time I was thirteen, I had a regular summer job with his company.”

“Now this Uncle Cally, is he an actual uncle or simply one of the many males your mother had around for breeding purposes while you were growing up?”

Lock bolted up so fast, his head slammed into the stove. “Mom!”

Perplexed, his mother studied him while he rubbed the back of his head. “Whatever is the matter with you?”

“Me? You can’t ask Gwen a question like that.”

Alla sighed in exasperation. His mother had often told Lock that he was much too polite to ever be a true intellectual. “But this is a Pride we’re discussing, Lachlan. They don’t keep males around except for protection and breeding purposes.”

“Mom!”

“Any Breeding Males we had around the house,” Gwen calmly cut in, “were never called uncle. Ma always thought that was creepy.”

“I have to agree with her,” Alla muttered, again ignoring the glare from her son.

“My Uncle Cally is one of Ma’s brothers.”

“Half-brother?” Lock asked.

Gwen scowled but he knew it was to keep from laughing. “Shut up.”

Brody walked into the kitchen, happily clapping his hands together. “Dinner ready?”

“Mom burned the meat. Again.”

Alla glared at her husband rather than her son. “If you wanted a housesow, you should have married one!”

“I didn’t say anything!” Brody argued, pointing a damning finger at Lock. “It was the boy!”

“But you were thinking it,” she accused. “Now, I’m going to take Gwen into the living room and you two can work out dinner.” She smiled at Gwen. “You’ll stay for dinner, of course.”

“Okay,” Gwen said easily, surprising Lock.

Alla walked to the refrigerator and Gwen stepped out of her way. The kitchen had always been too small for a family of four bears, but Lock wondered if Gwen was feeling a little overwhelmed. She was only about five-eight. His mother was six-four and had the sturdy hips and shoulders of a true breeding sow. Lock could never think of a time as a child when his mother didn’tmake him feel safe. Because who’d be crazed enough to try and get near him when his mother was around?

“I have iced tea, dear. Or beer?”

“Maybe a saucer of milk?”

Gwen and Alla looked over at Lock and he immediately pointed at his father. “It was him,” he lied.

His father, oblivious as always, held up a menu from the stack they kept on hand in one of the cupboards.

“How about Chinese food? They deliver and have those wonderful family-style meals to feed four. So I’ll order eight of those.”

Gwen was kind of amazed. A mother with several degrees and a prestigious position at an Ivy League college did not ensure that she’d be any less embarrassing to her child than a mother who became a nurse through night school. Gwen knew this when Alla launched into her “unfortunate changes in my vagina after the birth of Lachlan” discussion.

Lock had to put his big glass of milk down for that one, his head buried in his hands. The parts of his face not covered by his long fingers turned a lovely shade of crimson. Gwen had nail polish that matched that color perfectly.

“Was it his giant kumquat head?” Gwen asked, thoroughly enjoying every second of Lock’s misery.

“No. It was his shoulders. He’s always had very large shoulders. I mean look at him. Even as a baby they were freakishly long.”

“Freakishly?” Lock snapped.

“They stretched me right out.”

“Mom!”

Brody shrugged and reached for more moo goo gai pork. “I didn’t mind.”

“Dad!”

“Well, darling, you were always quite large, so it made things a little easier for both of us when it came to sex.”

“Mom!”

Alla shook her head. “I don’t know what happened to you, Lachlan MacRyrie.” She turned to Gwen.

“I’ve always insisted on being quite open about human bodies when talking to my children. There’s no shame in a woman’s body. And like everything else in the world, it ages. So while you still have the exquisite body you’ve been blessed with, Gwen dear, and that prebirth vagina—enjoy it.”

“Is there any way to get you to stop?” Lock begged.

“Eat your food and stop whining, Lachlan. It’s not attractive.”

Brody’s head lifted and he leaned back in his chair, staring off through the living room and into the front room. Their house was like one long building, everything linear. It fit them so well.

After a few moments the front door opened and Brody grinned. “Well, look who’s here.”

Three young children ran in, screaming. Brody stood and held his arms open, allowing the children to crash into him. He didn’t budge an inch.