deza | If anyone's interested...

Werewolves, foster moms and one kick-ass German Shepherd Dog. :)

"Why is it my kitchen doorbell always buzzes after midnight during rainstorms?" Amy Bartlett asked as she opened the back door to her 1950’s saltbox ranch. Her German Shepherd Dog, Ree, sat quietly by her side, brush tail wagging slowly.

The hooded figure standing in the harsh glare of the porch light laughed. "Because there’s no rest for the wicked," she answered. "Can we come in?"

"You might as well," Amy sighed, stepping out of the doorway. "One of these days, Cilla, you’d better be a hot studmuffin."

Cilla dropped her oversized bag and shrugged out of her dark rainslick, careful not to jostle the toddler cradled against her shoulder. "I’d suggest you not meet your studmuffin wearing bunny slippers, Amy," she said. She slowly sat on one of the wrought-iron café chairs in the eat-in kitchen. "It’s not the latest runway fashion, you know."

"No, bunny slippers were last season." Amy started a pot of coffee brewing. The temperatures outside were just cold enough to make a spring rainstorm truly miserable, and Cilla’s shoulder-length brown hair was dripping. She grabbed mugs from the cupboard and waited til the aroma of coffee was warming the room before turning back to the older woman. "I told you not to bring me any more kids, Cilla," she said.

Cilla sighed. "I know. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t an emergency."

"It’s always an emergency."