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E. whistled merrily as he pedaled his bicycle up the driveway to Granny's house. When he came through the kitchen door, Granny was busy fixing supper.

"Oh, hello Edward dear," she said sweetly. "Did you have a good day?"

"I did, Granny. I did," he said.

"Well, I'm glad, dear." The teenage wolf sighed.

"I'm glad too, Gran."

She sprinkled some kind of spice into the pot that was simmering on the stove and then reached into the oven with her mitts to pull out a pan with a large ham in it. She set the ham on top of the stove and turned the oven off.

"Now, Edward," she said, pretending in her own way to be a queen, "How would you like to help dear old Granny bake some cookies?"

E.'s grin went unmasked. He knew she knew his answer would be yes. Ever since E. was a pup just old enough to talk in complete sentences, helping out sweet Granny in the kitchen had been something he loved to do, especially when it involved baking of sweet treats. That was part of the reason he was her favourite. The four older brothers just had no interest in such things. It made old Gran sort of sad that they strutted around like they were too good for her, the very one who raised them.

The youngest wolf brother, who was much taller than the tiny, bent, old woman, easily reached the big mixing bowl on the top shelf and brought it down to the counter, while she got the ingredients from the fridge and pantry. She handed him a smaller bowl, three eggs, and a fork, and said, "Here, dear. Whip these up for me." The wolf cheerily did as he was told.

"Just tell me, though," the old lady suddenly started, "if I'm not being too nosey, but why were you so angry earlier, and now you are so happy?"

His ears lay back as he was unsure of what to say. She had caught him by surprise this time. This whole issue between him and Al was over a human, and Granny was a human... would she be offended if he told her? He decided to go with a short version of the truth.

"I'm sorry I was so... 'Grahr!' yesterday, Gran. Al was bein' a jerk is all," he said. "But now I'm feelin' good cause of someone I met at the park." He smiled at the thought of Anastasia's kind words and how she felt about his rapping.

Gran smiled a knowing smile.

"Ahh, I see," she said. After a few moments' pause, she continued, "So this 'someone' you met... is it a girl?"

Now this really did catch E. as a shock. How had she known?

"Well, I- uhh... yeah. I mean, sorta. She is a girl, but we're just, ya know... friends," he stumbled over the words. "I mean, it's not like she's my girlfriend or anything." He giggled nervously and wondered if he would be forced to tell Gran why this girl couldn't be his girlfriend. But Gran just continued.

"Is she pretty?"

"Well, yeah," he said. "She's beautiful, but... ya know..."

"Ah well, that's okay," the old woman said. "It's just a shame none of you boys have been able to find any girls you like around here. Of course, your brothers are usually too busy shooting hoops and lifting weights to notice anyone else anyway." The two sighed together.

"Well, ya see, Gran," E. finally began nervously, "I sort of... do like her. It's just that she's not... my type."

Then Gran looked him right in the eye, a direct challenge to say everything, exactly what was on his mind, and said, "Well if you like her, then how could she possibly be 'not your type'?"

The question was innocent, but it stung in the young wolf's chest. He decided to tell her everything.

He took a deep breath in, and then let it all out.

"Okay, Gran," he said. "Okay. Her name is Anastasia. She's a girl in my English class. Yesterday, I got in trouble for writing a rap during class, and the teacher threw away the sheet it was on, so this girl goes and pulls it out of the trash to give it to me after class. And she liked it! She actually liked my rap! So I was gonna walk her home after school and all, and Al suddenly shows up and yells at me to get in the car. He was callin' me a pervert for liking a human girl, and I'm pretty dang sure he'll kill me if he ever sees me with her again. What do I do, Gran? What do I do?" He closed his eyes and suppressed the anger that was threatening to rush in. His ears were flat against the back of his head.

"Oh, Edward," old Granny said sadly as she hugged him to comfort him. "Why do you need to listen to what Al says? He may think he's the big, bad wolf, but inside, he probably feels just as alone as you do."

E. sniffled a bit as she continued, "Your brother doesn't know about love or affection or friendship, dear, but you do. Don't ever forget what it's like to love and be loved, Edward. Species doesn't matter. It's what's on the inside that counts. So if you like this girl, and if she likes you, I don't see anything wrong with the two of you being together. Don't let your brother get in the way of your happiness, you hear me?"

E. wiped a small tear from his eye and smiled a small smile.

"Yes ma'am," he said, and the added, "I love you, Gran."

"Now," she said, "let's bake some cookies."

When the other wolf brothers arrived in the home, they were instantly greeted by the scents of Granny's delicious home cooked meal.

"I'm hungry!" Dakota bellowed obnoxiously. "All that exercise! " He made a show of stretching out his arms and then tightening his biceps while pretending to yawn.

"When's time to eat?" asked Benjamin, stomach growling hungrily.

"As soon as you boys help me to set the table," was Granny's reply. The four older wolves set about the kitchen collecting plates, cups, silverware, and chairs, while E. took a small sample of ham.

"Hey, Eddie, get your paws out of my food!" Collin complained. "Wait 'til you get your own."

E. pulled off one more chunk of meat and shoved it into his mouth before pulling up his own chair and taking a seat. Once all the others had been seated, Benjamin was asked to say grace, and then they all dug in. Polite compliments came from mostly all sides of the table.

"Meat's a bit dry," commented Al. "Other than that, though, I'd say it's great." He took another carnivorous bite and swallowed.

Collin tried to start idle conversation and asked, "So Eddie, what've you been doin' all day?"

"Eh, this and that," his younger brother replied. "Went to the park, helped Gran in the kitchen... ya know."

"So who was the girl?" asked the second youngest, completely oblivious. Edward's heart started to pound, and his face got hot, but he tried to hide his nervousness and continued without missing a beat.

"Oh, just some chic from school. She saw me sittin' there and came over to see what I was doin'."

He looked up, directly into Al's piercing cold blue eyes just as he said, "E., don't go getting into trouble. Don't take this too far," and he went back to his food. Everyone else just ignored the exchange, not wanting to spoil a good dinner with an awkward situation.

A few moments later, Granny announced that it was time for dessert.

"We have a special treat tonight," she said, pulling a covered basket out of the microwave where she had stored it. She set the basket on the table and removed the cloth to reveal the still-warm, moist, chocolate chip cookies. Four paws immediately reached in for a cookie, followed by the fifth, black one. Luckily, they had baked three batches. Otherwise there wouldn't have been enough to go around.