"I'm asking you out to dinner, not to kill somebody." Hamish followed behind her trying to just convince her the second she left the house the world wouldn't end. "We would be gone for an hour tops, you've left her for more than an hour Vera."

"Yes, and what happened? Every time we leave her alone with someone else she ends up in harm's way and I can't live with that Hamish. I can't put our daughter at risk just because you…" She paused and threw her hand up "because you selfishly want to get me to yourself."

"How dare you, Vera, I would never do anything if I thought it would put Theo at risk. I know it's been stressful lately and that Theo's been in danger a few times when we weren't there but…"

"No, first Alejandro tried to kill her, then Alpha, and then she was attacked by a wendigo when I was out with you at the farmhouse. How can you casually think she's safe just leaving her with Randal and Gabrielle?"Vera fought back tears trying to maintain her bravery. "I worry everyday that something is going to happen or that someone will hurt her and I won't be there to protect her. It's terrifying Hamish. I am utterly terrified for her."

"Funny for being the first person who wanted to kill her." Hamish bit down on his tounge after saying it. He'd always told Vera she was forgiven for her earlier choices on Theo's fate, it was all in the past but the reality was it still stuck in the back of his mind sometimes. "Vera I'm…" She turned around going up the steps to their bedroom shutting the door behind her with a flick of her wrist. "Stupid." This was their summer, what he thought would be perfect getting more time at home with her had turned into them constantly setting each other off. It made Hamish worry that this might not work out if they kept getting at each other's throats.

He paced back and forth downstairs for a moment running his hands through his hair and letting out a huff before looking up at the stairs. What was he doing? Of course everything wasn't always going to be perfect, he shouldn't expect it. Just because they were going through a rough patch didn't mean he had to worry about this ending. Walking up the steps he opened the door carefully just in case Vera was still feeling like she would strangle him. Not that she had said it but after what he'd said he wouldn't blame her. "Get out." She snapped at him laying on the bed with her back facing the door.

"Vera I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"Are you going to hold that against me for the rest of my life?" Vera sniffed trying to hide the fact that he'd made her cry. She was too strong to cry in front of others and she hated to let him know he'd made her cry. "I know I made a poor choice in a moment of uncertainty and panic but it doesn't change how i feel now or how much I care or what she means to me."

"I know Vera."

"No Hamish you don't know, you can't know because you haven't lost a child before. You've lost someone you loved but you never lost a child and it's so much worse. I can't live without this constant fear that anything or everything could take it all away from me again because it was one stupid little thing that took Maggie from me. One stupid moment of not watching her, I just took my eyes off her for a moment and that was all it took and I won't let it happen again."

"I know Vera, I wish that somehow I could undo that pain for you but I can't." He sat down beside her resting a hand on her back and making her flinch against his touch. "But I can promise you that I don't want anything to happen to her either and I'll do everything in my power to keep her safe." He went to hold Vera when he heard Theo cooing from her crib, sometimes he swore that child knew when her mother was upset and could wake from a dead sleep to try and cheer her up. Hamish was quick to get off the bed and walk over to the crib looking down at Theo as she smiled up at him. Every time she smiled it was just as heartwarming as the first time he'd seen it while she was sleeping in Vera's arms and made that goofy smile with her tongue half out of her mouth. Picking up the baby he supported her head, even if she could still mostly hold it up herself now he didn't want to risk it, more so when she was still sleepy.

He sat back down on Vera's side of the bed watching Theo wiggle excitedly when she saw her mother and smiling again. An excited happy little squeak came out of her making Vera smirk herself and sit up taking the baby from him. "That's so wrong of you."

"What is?" Hamish tried to play innocent for the time being.

"Using our daughter to cheer me up." Theo babbled a little making her typical 'baby talk' noises.

"She's so good at it though." Sometimes it didn't help so much that Theo had his smile, especially when she was mad at him. "We don't have to go out tonight. I'm happy enough being home with both of you. I just wanted to give you a few hours without being so worried where you could relax but if being away from her will just make it worse then I can't take you away."

"I'd love to, I really would. I miss when it was just us sometimes but I can't." They would never have a moment in their life where it was just them ever again. Theo was such a big part of their world now. "But all relationships are about compromise." Vera hugged Theo making the baby grin again and wiggle in her arms. "My compromise will be, yes I'll go tonight if your compromise can be Theo comes with us too."

Vera might have been the one who was weird about leaving the house without Theo but Hamish was the one who was weird about taking her out into public with a lot of people around. Theo had never been sick but he didn't want to push that luck and expose her to a bunch of germs when her little system was still developing. Even at six weeks old Hamish kept telling himself she was too young to go to crowded places. He didn't want to be the dad who made everyone disinfect their hands before they could handle her but he was. "Do you think it's okay for her to go out in public yet? Don't you think she will pick up germs?"

Now who was being the overly cautious parent? "She's almost two months old, I think she will be fine." Well if Vera thought that it was safe for Theo to be going out then it must be true. Hamish knew with how much of a sMother she was she wouldn't put Theo out there to get hurt or sick. God forbid Theo get sick because Hamish would probably freak out, Vera would freak out, and Theo would think everything was ending because both her parents were freaking out.

"Then you have to be well behaved, no screaming, no throwing anything, no heavy drinking and getting irate." Theo smiled at him, she just thought everything was funny, it was kind of nice to have someone who would smile at all your jokes. "Do you get angry when you drink?" He tickled her foot making her kick trying to get away from it since she was almost as ticklish as Vera, almost. "Nah, you are sleepy when you drink, it's when you get hangry that we have to watch out." Getting hangry was something he could relate to though, he did get pretty huffy when he was hungry.

Theo made a sharp high pitched scream sound and looked up at Vera smacking her lips. "Speaking of getting hangry, you can get ready and I can feed her."

Hamish reached over grabbing her pacifier knowing she wasn't actually a big fan of it and put it in Theo's mouth. "I think I bought you enough time so you can get ready too." Theo sucked on her pacifier for a moment before furrowing her brow knowing Hamish had tried to trick her and she wasn't about to fall for it. She stopped sucking on the pacifier and tried spitting it out between whining. "Nevermind, she's too smart for that. I'll get dressed then." Vera pulled the pacifier out of her mouth making Theo groan angrily.

"I'm sorry, did your daddy tease you?" Theo groaned again, her brow still furrowed. "Are you growling at me?" Theo groaned again, when she got cranky she stayed cranky just like Vera. "You are turning into such a sassy werewolf."

Hamish called from the bathroom, "Don't tell me she's Randal's. Oh man Vera she's not Randal's is she?"

Vera looked horrified by that comment, "No, excuse you but that's...no."

"I'm joking Vera." Hamish tried to calm down the potential storm that was likely brewing right now because Vera detested Randal. Not that she hated him but he annoyed her to no end which was the main reason she didn't tolerate his nickname of Fluffy for Theo. "Look at that devilish little smile." Hamish noticed Theo doing one of her little smirks again as she looked up at her mom. "That's my devilish smile." And he was damn proud of it too. He loved seeing his smile on Theo's face, not because he needed some proof that the baby was his, it was super obvious long before she'd ever been born. He was just proud that people could see she was his little pride and joy and compliment how cute and pretty she was and how much she looked like him. To quote the cat meme he was completely that mama cat in the meme showing off his little pup to others with the internal monologue of 'I made this.'

Hamish took his sweet time showering and getting dressed since Theo took her sweet time doing just about everything. She was going to be worse than Vera when she grew up. He could picture himself having to haul her through a morning routine so he could get her off to school. Brushing out his hair and shaving quickly Hamish realized he was letting a bit of a 4'clock shadow grow in also known as his 'summer vacation' scruff. He'd ask Vera if she was okay with him growing in some facial hair if it hadn't bothered Theo so much. If he had too much stubble and tried to kiss his daughter she would be the one to try and punch him in the face and start crying. If Theo didn't like it then it couldn't stay, even if he did think he would look damn handsome with a bit of a grizzled woodcutter look.

Walking back out into the bedroom Hamish clapped his hands and motioned to hand Theo off to him so Vera could get ready. He was a bit shocked that Theo was passed out already, she had such a predictable schedule that went a little like eat, sleep, play, poop, rinse, and repeat. At least until midnight rolled around then her schedule became scream, scream, scream, fuck everything and everyone, scream. "What happened? Did you just kill our daughter?"

"No." Vera patted her back lightly. "She puts herself down pretty quickly once she's full." Handing Theo off to him Vera kissed him quickly and went into the bathroom for a quick shower herself.

Hamish grabbed the pacifier and tried to give it to her again only to have a still sleeping Theo spit it out and furrowed her brow. "Randal is right, you are like living with a tiny alcoholic. Just drink and drink until you pass out." Theo flailed her arms hard acting like she was falling and making Hamish clutch her close to him in case she was having a bad dream. "Well, I was going to take your mom out someplace nice tonight but I can't have you screaming and crying at a nice restaurant. Have you ever been to the Blade and Chalice? It's not going to be really busy anymore there and they have amazing burgers. Sorry you can't have one yet but maybe if you behave I won't keep trying to put this stupid thing in your mouth."

She flailed her arm in her sleep smacking a closed fist into his chin and making him flinch and laugh a little. "You trying to hit me for that? Violence solves nothing Theo." He paused, "Unless you are Lilith." Hamish rubbed her back glancing over to the bathroom door and realizing by the time Vera was done getting ready it might be tomorrow but that was okay. It was nice when he got time alone with the baby since most of the time the hover mother was always secretly judging him and how he was handling her. "I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,

Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,

Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,

With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:

There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,

Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight."

Reciting Shakespeare took him back to before she was born when he used to read to her, all those stories Vera said weren't age appropriate.

Once Vera came back out of the bathroom for what seemed like three years later Hamish turned to her. "You know, you are very attractive when you are being domestic."

"Is that you trying to talk me into cleaning the house?" Hamish asked, wondering what her ulterior motive was.

"No, but you know what would be pretty sexy? If you did the laundry tomorrow." She smiled at him being a bit mischievous.

"Want me to do the laundry fast, or slow?"

She stopped trying to think of what sort of answer she was going to be giving to that question. "Gentleman's choice?"

"Are we talking about laundry or something else?"

"Laundry Hamish." Vera nodded her head and single handedly killed his dreams for tonight, or tomorrow. "You are still not touching me for another month."

"Ouch." Hamish looked back at Theo. "You really hurt her and you were just five pounds."

"Just?" Vera raised a brow. "You push five pounds of anything out of your body and tell me how it goes."

"You just keep napping Theo, your mother needs a glass of wine tonight."