Tessi fights to get her bruised body to move. “Fucking hell.”
I stop her. “Tell me what you need. I’ll take care of it.”
“There’s a clear bottle and a bag with white powder tied to it.”
I grab the bottle of water and the packet.
“Mix the powder into the water,” she says. “Shake it good. Then tip it nipple down and tap it a few times to get the air to the top. They didn’t have the ones with the air separators at the spaceport.”
“It smells like milk.”
She nods as she eases back on the furs. “Basically. But it has extra fortified nutrients. It’s an optimal formula for bottle feeding. It’s never as good as the real deal. But it’s close. Radar was bottle fed. And he turned out pretty good, I think.”
Radar’s tail flops on the blankets where he lies beside her.
She tries to smile as she scratches his head. “Did you hear your name, buddy?”
I do as she’s instructed and collect Rhysan. “How…uh…do I feed him?”
Tessi pushes herself up and rests her back against the cave wall, then weakly motions for me to hand over Rhysan and the bottle.
I don’t want to let go of him but I’m out of my element.
She repositions him in her lap and tips the bottle up. “Just make sure the bottom of the bottle stays above the nipple so he doesn’t get a bunch of air. Think you can do that?”
I’m enticed by the sight of her caring for my son in a way I’m not ready for. As I gently take him back, our hands brush, and I realize just how cold she still is.
“I’ve got it. You should rest.”
She slumps over and doesn’t even bother crawling back to the blankets. “Radar,guard.”
Radar gets up, walks to her, circles, and sits down watching the cave entrance, his back to her.
Feeding Rhysan makes me feel like maybe thereishope that we could be a family again. But I’m concerned about how Rhysan managed to end up in the woods with Tessi. “What were you doing so far away from camp?”
Rhysan grows sleepy as the bottle empties. I finally set it down and curl him against my chest, letting him sleep, clinging to the feeling of his little warm body against mine and his tiny breaths against my neck. But Tessi’s lying on the rock, asleep like the hard ground is no bother. It breaks my heart that she’s endured so much yet can still risk her life for a pup she doesn’t even know.
She’s perfect for Zorin.
And I’m growing jealous.
The sky fills with clouds, and rain falls hard.
Tessi is my responsibility until Zorin finds us. I can’t stand letting her rest like she is. So I set Rhysan by Radar and collectTessi. I nestle her back into the furs, cover her with another, then move Rhysan into the pile with her. For an hour, I just sit and stare at the two of them sleeping together in my bed, fighting any urge to lie with them for fear of pretending she is Jezza.
She’s not. But when Radar lies down by her feet, watching the opening of the cave, something in me starts looking at our situation differently.
It doesn’t mean anything. I just have to keep her safe, and that means warm. We have to stick together out here.
Radar gets it.
I scoot closer and lie down with them, stroking Rhysan’s back. He yawns and stretches.
Tessi giggles a soft note and kisses his head.
Affection for her washes over me. She loves him and she doesn’t even know who he is or that he’s mine. She just slips into the role like it’s no big deal.
Maybe on Earth, this is how they treat pups?
