From scratch ✔️

26. A bunch of firsts - the first 'first'

"I'm taking you both. You and your girl."

That phrase became the highlight of my day. No, scratch that, of my whole life. I don't think I have ever been more happy. Just imagine - me! The cripple! Carrying a child without a father and out of marriage! Being haunted by a creepy stalker and the ghosts of my past. Me, the mentally scarred woman, who is secretly afraid of people touching her or getting too close. No, I'm not crazy, I don't show it, but I tremble inside, even for a tiny second, when someone male is touching me. But would you blame me? That's what I thought. But here I am, dreaming of knowing how would Nick's hand feel holding mine, knuckles brushing my cheek, arms wrapping around me, lips connecting with mine...

That's it for now, I don't think I'm ready to go further than that. But still, it's a huge progress for me. A week ago I didn't want a boyfriend, a husband, a lover, a mate. And now? It suddenly all changed. Maybe it's the mate bond, but I don't really know. No one knows, actually, since none from my surroundings has ever spoken to a healer, so they can't possibly imagine how it would feel for a non-were to recognize a mate or how to feel about it. And that's the confusing part. I've read a lot of novels, werewolf included, but they all describe the tingles, the smell, erratic heartbeat, but I had none of that.

I felt... Enchanted, that's how I felt looking in Nick's eyes. And yeah, I wanted to experience his touch, but I wasn't sure of the reasons, maybe it was the curiosity, after all except for a sloppy kiss in 5th grade, I'm completely innocent. My parents raised me that way and I never rebelled, because I was a nerd. That sounds surprising, right? Getting through college without even a kiss? But to be fair, the college I went to was in a neighbouring town, and a lot of my high school friends and classmates went there, so that kind of kept me in my usual environment. And I never regretted that, and I still don't. So that's why I'm confused. This whole thing is not how I imagined my life going, but if everything ends in my favour, I think I will be happy, I hope. And my girl will have a father, and there's a real chance that she will grow up being a part of a big and happy family, a real family, that sticks with it's own...

Our conversation after that fateful phrase was short. We exchanged a couple of shy smiles, but both of us were... unsure of what to do next. Our situation was pretty unusual. I have to give it to Nick, he was willing to go slow, even if he didn't say it out loud. I don't know whether it was because he knew how damaged I was, or because of me carrying another wolf's smell, or something else, but I decided to be grateful for that without actually finding out his true motivation. The awkwardness was cast away by doc Evans, who turned out to be hiding in the kitchen and listening to our whole conversation. Sneaky old man. After a few clumsy minutes of not talking to each other, he suddenly appeared in the doorway and with a huge grin suggested that for starters Nick should take me out on a date. Of course he did it in his own unique way by humiliating Nick a bit:

"Well, what are you waiting for, you slow poke! Ask the lady out already!"

I laughed out loud at that and Nick blushed. That big bad wolf actually blushed! That made my day even more, so I laughed again, and the sound of my own happiness wormed my insides. Nick looked at me still shyly and in a very polite voice asked me out:

"Would you go on a date with me, Emily?"

"With pleasure!" I answered without any hesitation and with a huge smile on my face. After that he stood up, awkwardly waved at me and left, not without elbowing doc Evans in the ribs. That night I slept like a baby, without any nightmares.

The next morning was hectic. Lena woke me up somewhere around 10am and hurriedly fed me breakfast. While I ate I noticed her tapping her foot impatiently.

"What's gotten your panties in a twist?" I asked her in a light tone.

"Are you kidding me?!" She instantly shot up from her seat. "Girl, you don't realise how awesome life is now!"