The fire crackled and snapped as everyone sat around and roasted marshmallows and sang songs. No one seemed to know any one song all the way through. Not the old songs from our childhood anyway. So we frequently deferred to the children. The only thing they wanted to do was sing theme songs from cartoons. That we unfortunately knew.

Even Willow seemed a bit out of her depth. She had overprepared with songs that were camp friendly and age-appropriate. Otherwise, boring. The kids were uninterested and she saved the day with roasted marshmallows. The smiles on the kid's faces were priceless. However, nothing more so than Valentine pretending like he doesn't like marshmallows.

Rocco and Charlotte were thoroughly ingrossed in a humming contest with a mouth full of marshmallows. Allowing me to sneak away to the surly camp-miser.

"Don't come any closer you smell like smoke and pine needles," Valentine complained with a frown.

I merely smirked. "What do you think you smell like?" I took a stick and a marshmallow from a kid who was looking for a way to abandon the supplies. Slipping a soft mushy mallow at the end of my stick. "I actually haven't seen you eat one of those."

"You mean the peasant snacks?" he asked, bringing a handkerchief up to his nose.

I laughed. "Oh, come on. You can't be that miserable all the time." I lightly blew on the sticky snack and brought it over to him. Holding my hand underneath it just in case it fell off the stick. "At least try it before you completely dismiss it."

He removed the cloth from his mouth temporarily. "My sophisticated palate wont stand for such drudgery."

"Oh, Dad, are you going to try a marshmallow?" Charlotte asked from the other side of the campfire.

"Yes, dad, are you going to try it?" I mimicked, looking at him slyly. I had already won this argument. Bonus points for Charlotte.

He blew on the marshmallow and even I had to admit that it was kind of cute. But the hard outer shell had already started to slip and he had to lean under it to put the whole thing into his mouth. I chuckled from a good healthy place at the sight of him eating something sloppily. "That wasn't so bad," I said, dabbing at the little bit of cream in the corner of his mouth with my thumb.

"Okay, everyone. Storytime and then bedtime," Willow announced to the kids. They all rushed to pull out there sleeping bags.

"Scary story," all the boys chanted. The girls shrieked in anticipation.

I wasn't surprised when Charlotte got up and sat next to me. Willow hadn't uttered a word yet, but it was clear that she wasn't happy. I smoothed down her hair and gave her a gentle smile. "There's nothing to be afraid of," I whispered.

She must've decided that I was telling the truth because halfway through Willows's story she fell asleep on my lap. It was a familiar one, as it was Little Red Riding Hood. However, her flourishes were certainly unique. I gave her props for making the noises scary enough to keep this bunch interested.

"Sugar and now a scary story. This will certainly put the kids to sleep," Valentine whispered annoyed.

I cut my eyes at him. "Like you're really concerned. Your munchkin is asleep."

"Good point," he smiled. He crossed his legs at the ankle and looked more engrossed in Willow's story. I wanted to roll my eyes, but instead, I just sighed. Keeping a close eye on Rocco who was huddled with his friends, pretending to be brave. He would be okay. These kinds of stories were a right of passage. I wouldn't expect Valentine to understand that. His childhood wasn't exactly run of the mill. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. For a minute, I felt bad for him. Every kid should go camping and be scared by inappropriate stories. I was happy that because of Charlotte, he got to experience a little bit of that now. A part of me wanted to ask how he was enjoying it, but I knew better than to expect the truth.

"And then she ran away, living happily ever after," Willow said softly.

I shook Charlotte about to wake her up.

"Don't, I got this." He stood up and scooped Charlotte into his arms, taking her over to there tent.

I looked after them feeling a bit inadequate. Until I turned my attention to Rocco. "Come on buddy. I think in these stories you're the Hunter, but even the Hunter had a momma to make sure that he rests."

Rocco groaned and reluctantly headed back to the tent that he was sharing with one of his best friends. I made sure both boys were settled before heading back to mine. It wasn't really clear how long I had slept before I was awakened in the middle of the night by strange noises. I reached for my phone and turned on the flashlight in the darkened tent. Listening intently to the wind and the sounds of the forest. This was a popular campground. Surely, there wasn't anything dangerous out here. Then again humans weren't smart enough to build these parks and event spaces out of certain animal habitats. We simply expected them to move on. When I heard another howl, I gasped. "It can't be."

Breathing heavily, I crawled out of my tent and made my way over to Valentine's. I unzipped it, staying low to the ground. The wolf would simply think I was a log. I was big enough to be a log, right? "Valentine, valentine," I whispered, shaking his boot. I looked around the massive tent. God, this was a real splurge. I crawled inside as soon as I heard another sound and zipped the tent back. "Get up," I pleaded, smacking him in the face.

He woke up with a start. "What the hell are you doing?!" he blurted out.

I put my finger up to my lips. "We have to get the kids. I heard noises outside."

His head fell back on his pillow. "There aren't any wolves out here."

I frowned at him. "I know that, but what about bears or coyotes."

He pushed himself up on his elbows. "I have to say, I find your actions disheartening. Surely, you can't be trusted with C-"

I covered his mouth with my hand, "Just listen."

His ears seemed to perk up. "Okay, that's something."

"Right," I said, my eyes bugging out as I removed my hand.

"I'm suing the school and I'm getting Willow fired for putting our lives in danger out here," he said, yanking the blanket off of his blow-up mattress. Of course, he wouldn't have a sleeping bag. He crawled slowly out of the tent and I followed up behind him.

"Let's just try not to get eaten first," I said through gritted teeth. He turned right to head to Charlottes tent and I went to get Rocco. "Baby get up," I said, shaking him.

"What's the matter?" he grumbled.

"You're sleeping in my tent," I whispered.

"I want to stay with Roger."

I groaned. "He'll have to fend for himself. Hop on my back."

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and did as I asked. I struggled to crawl out of the tent and back to mine. Pausing to catch my breath, just as another howl split the air. I immediately turned and headed for Valentine's tent. Only to find that the zipper was locked.

"Who is it?"

"The wolf, he told me to knock first." My voice rasped as I struggled to keep it below a certain volume. "Let me in."

He crawled over and unlocked the zipper reluctantly. I crawled inside, dropping my heavy snoring load on the bed. Collapsing on the bed beside him.

"Who said you could sleep in the bed?" he asked, incredulously.

"It's a queen," I strained.

He sighed and eased in between me and Charlotte. Suddenly, we were awkwardly staring at each other in bed. It was oddly familiar. I turned to Rocco, who was snoring lightly. Only to turn back to Valentine at the next howl. "Did that sound closer?" Unable to hide the fear from my voice.

"It sounded right outside the tent."

I screamed at the sound of something thudding against the ground outside our tent.

"Sorry, sorry," Willow stammered, sounding a bit tipsy. "It's just me."

"I always knew you howled at the moon," Valentine growled.

I elbowed him in his stomach. "Shut up."

"Do you have a girl in there? Who'd sleep with you?" her voice carrying through the tent.

"Smurfette."

"Whatever!" Willow replied before slinking off.

I was just mortified, turning to curl up next to Rocco. As if I couldn't feel the warmth drifting off of Valentine's body as he pulled the cover over everyone. It's crazy, but I don't think I've slept that fitfully since Dante left. And there were literally wild teachers and coyotes at our door.