Naughty: Popping the Cork

"Granger! Hi, baby boy." His mom stepped out on the porch, looking brown and lined as tanned leather, her flannel shirt and jeans as unchanging as the mountains. She hugged him tight, and he lifted her off the porch, making her grunt. "You put me down!"



"Yes, ma'am." He grinned and set her on her feet. "Well, here I am."



"Uh-huh. You couldn't make it for Christmas…"



"Mom." He'd been in Mexico, studying migratory patterns. He hadn't gotten the message that they needed him home until he'd checked in by radio.



"Sorry." She sighed, then reached up to pat his cheek. "You're here now."



"I am. Why am I here?"



"Didn't your father tell you?"



He fought the urge to roll his eyes. That would just get him smacked. Instead, he shrugged. "They only said I was being summoned."



"Oh, those buttheads." His mom turned and headed inside. "Your sister is getting married."



"No shit?" The house smelled good, like some kind of stew and ginger cookies. "Karina? When did this happen?"



"It's sudden, I know. She met him this semester at the college. He's a new forestry professor."



Granger's sister Karina worked at the local college in admissions. He had to wonder how new the man was, and what exactly sudden meant. He settled at the kitchen table, plonking his elbows down on the worn surface.



"So, when is the wedding?"



"New Year's Eve." Mom wrinkled her nose. "I told her it was silly, but she wanted a date Cole could remember."



"Cole, huh?" Very manly. "Is he, uh, pack?"



"Of course he is."



Of course he was. The only one of them who had ever dated a full-on human was Granger. Being queer did buy you a little leeway that way, not having to worry about the whole hybrid babies thing.



"Well, good for her." Granger grinned, relieved that he'd come home for happy reasons. "So, are those ginger cookies I smell?"