I woke up on a hospital bed with a giant headache. I looked around and saw Josef asleep in the chair next to my bed. I only then remembered the crash. I checked out my body. My right wing was broken and in a cast. My neck was sore from the whiplash. Finally my chest was bandaged up. And from the pain I felt when I inhaled, I knew my ribs were broken. The question that kept going through my mind was, Where are the others?

“Du bist aufgewacht!“ You’ve awoken! Josef exclaimed exitedly, „Wie fühlst du dich?“ How do you feel?

I looked at him and stated, “Nicht so gut. Wo sind die Andere?“ Not so good. Where are the others?

“You sustained the brunt of the injuries. Luckily, it was a sedan and not a truck. Otherwise, I would have lost my Nikki.”

“The car? What the hell happened to Jutta?”

“Totaled. I’m sorry babe. I know how much that car meant to you.”

“Wow! I can’t believe that my next question was about the car not the people in the other car.” I grimaced.

“Jeff was called. I’m sorry, Nikki. I’m not supposed to be here. Your nurse took pity on me and let me spend the night. I’m just glad that the injuries weren’t worse.”

“Can I… walk?”

“Yes. But you have a severe concussion and the doctor told me you shouldn’t.”

Just then Jeff, Jane, Jim and Joe walked in with the doctor.

“Nick we came as soon as we heard.” Jane said. She came over and hugged me, doing her best to avoid my right wing.

“That’s correct, Herr Gutenberg. Your question is a valid concern, though, Nick. Your sore neck could have been a broken neck had the car been going any faster when it hit you. You’re a lucky one.”

“Josef’s the lucky one. Had I not gotten myself all upset, he would have been the one in hospital bed, not me…Thanks for coming guys. Wow! The entirety of the ‘Four Js’ is here? Doctor just what exactly did you say about me?” I joked.

“Ask Mr. Gutenberg. He’s the one who called them.”

“Hey, your family ought to know.” Josef said.

“Well, how about that? Nick, you ever notice that every time something bad happens to your car, you’re not driving?” Joe said.

“Yeah, yeah. I just wasn’t fit to drive in the state I was in. I only trusted Josef to drive my car. At least he nor my other roommates wasn’t hurt.”

“Josef, treat my cousin right. He loves you more than you know.”

“Of course, Joe. Who do you think I am?” Josef said baring his teeth a little as his anger flared slightly.

“Calm, my love,” I whispered to Josef.

***

“Oh my God! Nick are you alright? Is everyone else alright?” My mom asked over the phone.

“Geez mom, it’s some broken bones. Not like I’m paralyzed or anything.”

“You could have been. Let me talk to Josef. I want to ask him about the crash.”

I handed the phone to Josef and went downstairs to the kitchen. It was a day after I had been released from the hospital. I had asked everyone to keep this from my parents. I had decided not to tell my parents until after I got out of the hospital. My insurance covered a lot of the fees, but Junior had taken pity on me and paid for the rest. I was actually glad my mom wanted to talk to Josef instead of me for once. I mean she would talk very briefly with Josef when he would pick up my phone, but other than that nothing really happened. My mom and dad still weren’t used to the idea that I liked men as well as women and therefore barely gave themselves the chance to get to know Josef better.

“Nick, how’s the wing?” Hanbei asked.

“Well it’s still broken, Hanbei-san. O-genki desuka?” Are you well? I asked the wartortle.

“Hai. Genki desu.” Yes I’m well. He replied.

“Why’d you decide to stick around? I thought you were only in town for the week.”

“Well, that was the case. However, Junyaa-kou got himself in an accident. Apparently you’re the only one with serious injuries.”

“Hell! I’m just glad that the Baka behind the wheel braked. Otherwise, you’d be attending a funeral. This has really made me think though. I’ve already talked this over with Josef and I’ve decided that I’m going find a surrogate mother with which I can have a child. I want children. I’ve known that since I was fifteen. I just don’t want to leave my boyfriend to do so.”

“So you’re going to have a child or children in college? You realize how ridiculous that is?”

“Hey, life is short. I want children and so does Josef. We’ve agreed to have them now.”

“Well I wish you the best of luck. And what of Gian and Junior. What do they think of having children around the house?”

“They don’t mind. Besides, we have the guest room. We’ll use that for the children.”

“The babies?”

“Well you see both Josef and I are wolves. We have packs. In my pack, my father is a member of the Alphas. By the fact that I’m his more successful son, I become the heir to the alpha title and my brother becomes omega. Part of that deal is that the omegas in the pack will take care of any pups I may have. So that’s the plan. Until they reach the age where they’re not keeping us up anymore. I would do this part myself, and may end up doing so once I see the child, but we’ll see. Another perk, I get to choose among the pack’s women for my mate. However, I’m also a part of Josef’s pack. So I get my choice of woman over there, too. I’m probably going to pick one of Josef’s fellow pack members instead of my own. That way at least the children will look closer to both of us.”

“Wow you’ve really thought this out.” Hanbei looked at me and smiled.

“Yeah, well…”

“Nii-chan, come check out this fighting game Gian got me for our anniversary.”

“Oh yeah, Hanbei-sama, you’ll love this game.”

“This should be interesting…don’t forget about your wing, Nick.” Hanbei finished as he entered the next room. What he meant by that was don’t forget you can’t fly for the next couple weeks. Flying Wolves had accelerated healing compared to a human. Our bones took two to three weeks instead of five to six weeks to heal. At least I’d be able to fly to Colorado.

I went back upstairs to save Josef from my mom. “Also, Frau Coulter, sehe ich dich in Nicks Party. Wir können über es mehr dort sprechen. Auf Wiederhören!“ Well, Mrs. Coulter, I’ll see you at Nick’s Party. We can speak about it more there. Goodbye. I heard him end the phone call and then he sighed.

“So what did you and my mom discuss?”

“Nichts.” Nothing. He said. I knew something was up. However, he did stick to my new rule about only speaking German in the bedroom. I broke it more than he.

“Ich glaube dich nicht. Was hast du mit meine Mutter besprochen? Ich hasse, wenn ich nicht weiß.“ I don’t believe you. What did you and my mother discuss. I hate when I don’t know. I said.

“Es ist ein Geheimnis. Ich kann dir nicht etwas erzählen.” It’s a secret. I can’t tell you anything. He replied, “Ich werde nichts sagen. Warte für deinen Geburtstag. Oops, habe ich schon zuviel gesagt.“ I will say nothing. Wait for your birthday. Oops, I already said too much.

“Ahh…bitte?” Ahh…please? I said. I laid my ears back on my head, and dropped my shoulders in defeat.

“Warte! Immerhin, ist Geduld eine Tugend.“ Wait. Afterall, patience is a virtue. He said.

“Weil du mich gefragt hast.” Because you asked me. I replied and went to sit next to him on the bed. “Wir sollen über gestern Nacht sprechen. Ich weiß, dass du nicht so gut mit deinen Eltern auskommst, aber dies ist wichtig, um ihnen zu sagen. Sie verdienen, um ihren Sohn zu kennen. Ihren wahren Sohn sollen sie kennen.“ We should talk about last night. I know that you don’t get along so well with your parents, but this is important to tell them. They deserve to know their son. They should know their true son.

“Du verstehst nicht. Ich soll der nächste Rudelführer sein. Ich kann das nicht sein, wenn meine Eltern herausfinden, dass ich homosexuell bin. So, siehst du? Siehst du meine Position? Ich werde ihnen nach der Zeremonie erzählen. Für dich werde ich ihnen erzählen.“ You don’t understand. I’m supposed to be the next pack leader. I can’t be that if my parents find out I’m gay. So do you see? Do you see my position? I will tell them after the ceremony. For you, I will tell them. He bawled. He was crying profusely at this point. It was humbling to see such a large furry cry. I hugged him tightly while he let out his tears.

“Look, babe, you may not get along well with them, but they love you. They will always love you. You must know that. In general the Gutenberg clan isn’t very religious, even more so with your parents. Thank God for that, though. My parents are religious and look how they reacted. Hopefully thine will not react badly.” I said, breaking the rule to show the sincerity of my words. He looked at me with slightly red eyes. “You are amazing, my love. You truly are. Don’t dwell on this too much. Most of all don’t tell your parents over the phone.”

“Ich liebe dich so viel!“ I love you so much! He exclaimed, hugged me, and buried his face in my chest.

“Ich dich auch, Wölfchen.“ I you too, Wolfy. I replied.

“Nick, Josef, everything alright up there?” Junior called up the stairs.

I looked at Josef and motioned toward the door. He nodded and we went downstairs. “Yeah, yeah. Josef and I were just talking.”

“Josef’s been crying though.” He looked at me, “What did you do, Nick?”

“We talked. Junior, I needed to get something straight and found out something cool. This bloak’s about to inherit his entire pack. Damen und Herren, ich gebe Ihnen den Rudelführer des Rudels Gutenberg.“ Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Pack leader of the Gutenberg Pack. I said, “Though, unfortunately I broached the sensitive subject again.”

“You have a habit of being overly direct, Nick… How are you doing Josef?”

“Fine, fine. Just a little upset about this whole thing. It’s annoying not being able to be who you are. You know, Junior, how difficult this can be. Nick does have a point. My parents do deserve to know who I actually am.”

“Wow, Jo, that’s a big step. Don’t forget, they will love you no matter what. They’re your parents, after all.”

“That guarantees nothing, Junior. You forget that a quarter to almost half of homeless youths are members of the LGBT community. Their parents threw them out because of their ‘choice.’” I said. Considering Junior’s coming out story, I couldn’t blame him for being ignorant to the fact that not all parents accept their children being homosexual, bisexual, or transgender.

“Don’t scare him, Nick. I know the statistics, but you’ve met Josef’s parents. I’m sorry but Herr and Frau Gutenberg don’t seem like the type to throw Josef out.” Junior told me.

“You’re a psychologist, right? Tell me, then is there a psychological reason to how some parents react to their children being gay?”

“Actually there is. It’s all to do with how parents view the future they have for their children.”

“I’ve heard that one before.”

“Ihr beide, Haltet die Munde!” Both of you, Shut up!

“Sorry, Wolfy.”