(Sorry, unedited. Gotta crash early.) 

Wow.

He was shockingly gorgeous for a boy. Correcting myself immediately, I gave my head a slight shake and reminded myself that he had to be at least in his late teens or possibly early twenties judging from the scent my bear was picking up. I felt myself leaning closer to get a better smell, nostrils flaring as they took in another strong scent that mingled with his musky male one.

So good...

I couldn't really place the scent, but if I had to choose, it would be something close to a rich bouquet of flowers. Just like how my wife had smell--- The thought stopped me cold. I backed off, watching without really seeing as Sam stumbled backwards, his back hitting the wall even as he continued to push up against it.

Our eyes met. His were stressed. Wide. Bloodshot. I thought he might begin to hyperventilate but when his puppy ran around me and bounded into his lap, he immediately snatched it in an awkward hug, without using his hands, then began cleaning the top of its head meticulously. It would have been adorable, if I didn't already know that he was severely stressing out and over-grooming his kid was bound to happen if he didn't calm down soon. So, I carefully crouched down, looking away as I began to back my overly-fuzzy bum towards the sofa. It had been so long since I'd been in my bear form that I wasn't used to maneuvering in my cramped living room and managed to bump into the coffee table and nearly topple over a stand-up lamp, but I finally managed to get to where I wanted and plop down with a frustrated huff.

Tension still ran high but as both of us acknowledged safe boundaries our kids began to get restless again. Coda, specifically, bounded out of his dad's arms to Sam's displeasure, and ran over to try and tackle my daughter. Jess was still in her animal form just like him, but she was far too big and had too much fuzzy padding to even flinch from the hit. Well, she was a good sport either way though, and flopped over onto her back so that Coda could tug at her paws and ears. I kept Sam in my peripheral vision each time Jess had to give Coda a quiet grumble to correct a too-hard nip or scratch, but as the two played, Sam managed to slowly relax.

When his shoulders finally sagged in relief I wanted to wrap him in my arms just like I did with Jess so many times before and tell him it was all okay and that there was nothing to worry about. But of course, I couldn't do that. Not now, and definitely not with Sam. He was hard-wired to not trust people, and I didn't blame him one bit for that. I was curious though, about what had happened to him and how he ended up on the streets in the first place.

 Unfortunately, being a bear wasn't going to allow me to get any of the answers I wanted, let alone do anything besides saunter about trying not to step on the playing pups. I really wanted to get dinner started and set up the playpen I'd gotten for Coda, but my claws would likely shred the material before I even got it out of the box.

Bear problems.

It was why I hardly ever changed, among other reasons. Grumbling, I shook out my overly-thick coat and got up, slowly, ever-so-slowly, making my way into the kitchen. I saw Sam tense up, but when I didn't make eye contact with the kids, he calmed down. Once in the kitchen I had to figure out exactly how I was going to function. I could probably change back after a few more minutes but I needed to do something. My bear was a bit stir crazy after being tucked away for so long.

I tried to focus on getting the fridge open to hopefully take stuff out to at least get ready to make, but when I heard claws on the back sliding glass door to the pool area I knew Jess's bear wanted to do exactly what mine did. Go play in the snow.

No. Responsibility. You have three mouths to feed now. No running around like a yearling.

After adding a few scratches the fridge I managed to get it open, but procuring anything inside without running it through with my claws was a whole other story. I knocked a jar of honey onto the floor, I know, cliche', but thankfully it didn't break. A packet of lunch meat dropped next, follow by a bottle of ketchup.

Sigh.

I was about to just swipe the bottle across the floor, not caring about what the possible staining results were, when Sam's dog form suddenly appeared in front of me and snatched up the bag of lunch meat before darting away again.

Eh?

Looking over at him, I noticed Coda and Jess in front of him and rolled my eyes. She knew better than to beg, but obviously Sam could care less as he tore open the package and began offering his pup food like a caring momma. He didn't pay attention to Jess's pleading eyes at first, but after a few minutes he began to hesitantly give her little pieces. They were much smaller than Coda's but the puppy still tried to snatch the food, even resorting to biting at my daughter's face a few times. I was about to step in, not wanting a fight, but surprisingly, Sam snapped his teeth at his own boy in warning.

Oh. He's using this as a lesson.

It was a good idea and I totally hadn't even thought about it. He might not like the fact that my daughter is a bear easily twice the size of his own puppy, but she was being really well behaved besides her begging and hadn't tried to return Coda's aggression. It was the perfect time to teach the puppy that he didn't always have to have all the food. Not that I blamed him. He probably starved along with his mother on the streets, especially considering how skinny Sam looked during his short stint in human form.

I waddled over to them and plopped down a few feet away, knowing that I shouldn't get too close being in my bear form. Sam kept an eye on me but for the most part, didn't bother growling. When the bag was nearly gone not twenty minutes later, he'd eaten about half of the meat with the other half going to the kids. I thought he'd eat the last scrap of turkey left, but to my surprise he grasped it between his teeth and hesitantly dropped it in front of me.

It wasn't much. Nothing really to my bear, but I took it off the floor anyways and ate it, even though I didn't like teaching Jess that it was okay to eat things off the floor. While I chewed the meager piece of meat Sam trotted back into the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with a punctured bottle of honey, one that had obviously been taken from the open fridge. 

Yes, I liked it. I didn't have a problem... just twelve bottles of it in my fridge because there was a sale.

Before I realized what he was even doing I saw Jess grab for the jar, squeezing it just enough to spill the gooey stuff down her face and dear god.

Don't get it in your fur!

The stuff was a literal bitch to get out, and it was soaking in like shampoo as she fought Sam for the bottle. And of course, Coda joined in happily, wagging his tail as he latched onto the remainder of the bottle and got honey all over his muzzle and paws as they swatted at it.

I prayed that Sam would just drop the bottle and let them have it so that they didn't continue to get covered in the stuff, but I never had any luck with what I wanted. He instead padded over to the sofa and hopped up, then began squeezing the stuff all over the furniture!

By sheer terror alone, I shifted back to my human form and jumped up, snatching the bottle from him before he could really process what had happened. It made him growl, likely from my sudden appearance over actually taking the food, but either way. 

"You're going to ruin the couch with this stuff. If you want it then just ask for it and eat it off of a plate or at least on the tile in the kitchen." I shook the bottle at him, then walked over and tossed it in the trash before getting a huge handful of papertowels and wetting them. When I went back to scrub the floor I can't say that I was surprised to see Sam on his belly, lapping at the sticky wooden floor with a guilty look that totally reminded me of when Jess was a little cub just figuring things out... and figuring out how to get in trouble. And get out of it using a cute expression.

I wasn't sure if that was what Sam was really intending to do or if he just wanted to eat the honey before I wiped it up, but either way, his face was definitely tugging at my chest.

"I'm mad at you." I clarified, being sure to let him know that I was mad that he'd wasted half of that honey by puncturing the bottle and nearly ruined my sofa.

His ears perked up, then drooped as he sat up and guiltily looked away. When he did nothing further I ended up sighing, figuring that we weren't going to be having any kind of conversation since my daughter didn't look like she was interested in translating right now... and was kind of a bear. Not that we couldn't communicate telepathically in this type of situation, but she never really wanted to. It was understandable, since most young kids had trouble controlling some of their instincts when in their animal forms. The idea that her bear didn't want to talk to me right now was perfectly plausible.

"Alright. I'm going to finish cleaning this up, but there are now two little brats that need baths, and since a certain dog caused the problem, how about you get the honey off of them while I make dinner?"

I normally wouldn't groom Jess the animal way, but the honey had just mainly gotten on their faces and shoulders, so it wasn't a big deal to just lick it off. Heck, they were already doing it to each other anyways. Rather humorously, in fact. 

Sam glanced over at the two kids, then pouted. But, he did walk over, plopping down in front of both before bopping Coda on the head and beginning to clean him off. Each time Jess tried to run away he'd swat her back to him with a paw, making sure that she waited her turn. It was funny to watch but I had dinner to make, and clothes to put on.

Shaking my head, I gave a quiet chuckle and ran to my room, changing into a pair of basketball shorts and a loose T-shirt before heading back to the kitchen. Since I was now in my human form I got what I'd knocked out of the fridge put back, then began getting some chicken and vegetables ready to put in the oven. Once the veggies were done cooking I'd take some and blend them with a few pieces of chicken for Coda, then the rest would be ours to eat normally.

As I worked I heard scratching at the back door again.

No going outside right now. I told Jess through our thoughts. I could feel her upset, and the spoiling dad in my caved immediately. After dinner I'll turn on the outside light and we can play a little. 

Excitement shot through our bond before I heard Coda squeak and Sam grunt. My daughter had likely tackled him to play, making me shake my head and smile. I didn't hear Sam again except for random scrambling paws, so I figured he was just playing over-protective referee. I even peeked into the room a few times to see that exact occurrence going on. It was cute. He hovered over Coda but also made sure that his son didn't get too aggressive with my daughter.

He caught me looking one time, but when I smiled his ears perked up and I could have sworn I saw the stub of his tail twitch.

Just your tired mind playing tricks on you.

The memory of his human form flashed into my mind, making me duck back into the kitchen as my heart pattered against my chest for unknown reasons. I forced my mind to return to cooking, knowing that I couldn't afford to dwell on weird feelings that didn't make sense.

Mouths to feed.