The Alpha and the Fox

Chapter Seven

     The next morning Ryan woke up disoriented with a weird feeling in his head and stomach. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around the room before slowly getting out of bed. He grabbed his blanket, wrapped it around himself, and padded silently downstairs. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs to rub his eyes again and yawned softly before continuing into the living room.

Maria smiled at Ryan as he entered the room, but her face turned to one of shock when Ryan walked over to where Henry was sitting on the couch and slowly, hesitantly climbed onto his lap. They were stunned. Henry sat completely still as Ryan shifted a bit to curl against his chest.

Maria and Henry shared a look before Henry slowly wrapped his arms around the nearly sleeping boy. Ryan let out a soft mumble and a few unintelligible noises then nuzzled closer to Henry's chest.

Maria got up to go start breakfast and left Henry to sit with the sleeping boy. Henry gently rubbed circles on Ryan's back before carefully carding his fingers through his soft hair, avoiding his ears.

Ryan's small fingers curled fistfuls of Henry's shirt, gripping tightly. Henry continued to stroke his back and play with his hair which had Ryan humming softly and nuzzling into his warm hand. Henry smiled and gently bounced his leg to help keep Ryan comfortable and soothed. Seemingly without thinking about it Ryan slowly released Henry's shirt from his left hand and began to suck his thumb.

Henry, unsure of what to do, gently eased Ryan's thumb out of his mouth. Ryan whined in displeasure bringing his thumb back to his lips where Henry lowered it again.

"You're not supposed to suck your thumb, Hun. It's not good for your teeth." Henry explained. Ryan didn't seem to enjoy that statement and he once again whined and tried to suck his thumb.

"Hold on, Hun. Let's see if we can find something better for ya." Henry stated, standing up and heading to the kitchen. In the meantime, Ryan had returned to sucking his thumb.

"Love, do we have any pacifiers still around?" Henry asked Maria. She turned, her eyes widening as they landed on Ryan.

"I don't believe so..." Maria answers trailing off. "I can run to the store and grab some."

"You don't have to, I'm sure there's something we could find around here."

"It's okay I need to get a few things from the store anyway. I'll go after breakfast, which is ready."

Henry smiled at her and went to set Ryan down at the table but got a panicked whine. He looked over at Maria unsure of what to do but she shrugged unsure as well. He walked over and made himself and Ryan a plate. Maria carried them over to the table for him and sat with her plate as well. Henry let Ryan stay on his lap while they ate.

When they all finished eating the dishes were done together with Maria washing, Ryan sitting on the counter drying, and Henry putting them away. Henry picked Ryan back up once the dishes were done and carried him to the living room. Ryan once again curled up on Henry's lap as he and Maria sat together watching T.V.

Ryan went back to sucking his thumb as he began to drift to sleep. Maria kissed Henry's cheek, got up, grabbed her keys, and headed off to the store. Henry eased himself and Ryan down onto their sides on the couch and decided to take a nap with him.