<3<3 403 words.
####Waiting for her to answer had to be the longest few moments of his life, and Vigilante did not know what he would do if she did not answer him. His immediate thought upon her silence was that she was angry that he would ask her this now, and as the tears formed in his eyes, the dog mutt knew that he had messed everything up now. Even with her positive answer, his mind did not immediately associate the tears to be good tears, tears of joy. He had never shed such tears—he could not remember ever really crying in his life at all, actually—so it did not compute correctly in his brain. However, he did know what to do instinctively as she leaned into him, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. Her next words were what really made him realize what she was saying, and he smiled, kissing the top of her head tenderly. “I love you, Ayita,” he whispered, the butterflies in his stomach dissolving quickly. He had been so nervous, waiting for this moment for the entire time he had felt so close to her, and now that it had passed and he could officially say that she was his, he felt elated.
####“If you feel like that would be the best idea, then you should do it,” he agreed, finally releasing her from his arms so that she could write a note for Leroy. The tightness in his chest returned as he wondered how the black and white male would react to finding out that the mother of his children now had a mate, was moving out, and planned on having the children move with her. Vigilante understood why she would not want to bring Kable and Amaranth yet, as he suspected she probably would want to talk to them and explain what was going on. He wanted their night together so badly, so he did not mind the idea of her leaving the children with Leroy tonight. It made sense, and he wanted the two young pups to be comfortable with what was going to happen, so he would need to let Ayita handle the situation as she saw fit. Obviously, she knew her children better than he did, and she would know how to handle everything. “If you want to gather everything, I can carry it to my house,” he suggested, chivalry returning.