Kimberly - Our Little Chop

Virginia thanked Wendell again, hugged her father warmly and, deciding to retire for the evening, she headed for the stairs. She turned back to look once again at the party that was still going full-force. She saw Art waving up at her and she blew him a kiss, thanking him again for all of his help. She wiped a stray tear from her eye, thinking about the touching speech that Queen Gretel had made earlier in the evening. Hansel seemed years younger, smiling and laughing and chatting up all the young ladies. He’d been making up for lost time, he’d told her with a wink, and feeling better than ever. She was glad for him.

Virginia had been recovering nicely too, but was still pretty tired, what with the ordeal they’d endured and one-month old baby keeping her busy. And besides, Wolf had gone upstairs nearly half an hour ago to check on their son and hadn’t come back. She wanted to make sure everything was okay. She headed down the hallway toward the rooms the queen had used here several months before. They had been transformed into comfortable quarters for herself and Wolf, and a delightful nursery, decorated in a peaceful, airy blue with lambs everywhere. She saw that the door was slightly ajar and there was light spilling out into the hallway.

She crept toward the door; she was still much more cautious than usual, but she’d decided this was probably a good thing. Peeking around the doorframe, she saw Wolf, with his dinner jacket off and his tie hanging loosely around his neck. She smiled when she saw that his tail was out as well. He was standing beside the crib with their cub in his arms, his little finger in the baby’s mouth. He was looking down at his pride and joy, his hair hanging carelessly over his eyes. The baby was playing with his tail and gazing at his father intently. Virginia could hear him humming, and tried to place the song... oh yes, she began to join in as she entered the room: Shepherdess makes quite a mess, but little lambs are lovely...

Wolf looked up at her and they shared a private smile. He reached out one arm to her, and she sunk into the warm, safe circle of her little family. She knew that trouble would probably come again eventually, but as long as she had this, her Wolf and her cub, she felt she could handle anything that came her way.