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Skarr’s jaw drops. He shoots me another panicked look and then glances back at Steph. “You have to change her diapers for twenty years?”
I can’t help it. I burst into giggles.
“Not twenty years,” Steph reassures him. “Only until she’s old enough to figure out how to tell me when she needs to relieve herself. It’s different for a lot of children, but some learn in less than two years. It’s hard to say because Jethani is a hybrid of myself, a human, and my mate, who is an Islander. If you don’t mind holding her for a bit longer, I’m happy to answer as many questions as you like. Babies must be new to you.”
“Very new. And I do not mind holding her,” Skarr says. Jethani jerks on his hair and giggles, and his face breaks into a grin. “She likes me best out of all the warriors here. I can tell already. She knows she is in the arms of a champion.”
Steph, to her credit, does not blink an eye at the self-aggrandizing. She just calmly puts a burp cloth on his shoulder and pats it in place. “You’re going to want that.”
The baby wriggles, her legs dancing and bouncing on his strong one. He holds her carefully, watching her moves with fascination. “Is she trying to spar?”
“No, I’m pretty sure she’s going to puke.”
I lean away, and sure enough, the baby lets loose. Skarr looks horrified. “Did I do that to her?”
Steph continues her lesson in her soothing voice. “Nope. She just got excited. Let’s clean her up and I’ll show you how to play peek-a-boo with her. She loves that.”
* * *
We stayby the fire all day, holding children of various ages and teaching Skarr about babies. Steph stays all morning, until Jethani is tired and cranky and she puts her down for a nap. She sends Pak out to sit with us when he returns from fishing with his father, and Skarr gets into a mock-fight with the little boy, complete with fake punches. He sprawls on the ground when Pak lands one, groaning dramatically. “I have been felled!”
I hide my smile against Aayla’s hair as she plays with a leather doll in my lap.
“Excellent work, warrior,” Skarr tells the boy. “You will be one to fear soon enough.”
Pak’s rabbit-like tail flutters happily.
“Now fight me,” Z’hren says, bounding forward and putting up his fists in a boxing pose.
“I do not know if I dare,” Skarr tells him, all seriousness. “You have so many fists I am certain to lose.”
Gail shoots me an amused look. She’s sewing a fur ruff onto a hood, seated next to me by the fire. There have been people coming and going all day, but Gail seems to do a lot of her work by the fire. She says she likes to help out if anyone needs it. I suspect she just likes being in the thick of things, unlike me. She’s really nice, though. She makes a stitch in the fur and then leans towards me. “For someone that’s never been around children, he’s good with them.”
“He is.” There’s a sincerity to children that meshes well with Skarr’s loud personality. He tells them he’s an incredible fighter and they believe him, because children believe adults. And so when he solemnly tells them that they have real promise as warriors, they preen with delight.
“Show me how to throw a punch,” Liz’s oldest daughter Raashel demands, racing up to join the sparring group.
He nods at her, gesturing for her to come forward, and demonstrates how to position her fist, and how to hold her thumb.
“Is this the first time he’s been around the kids?” Gail asks me. “You guys have been here for a few days now.”
“I think this is the first time he’s truly noticed them.” He’s been caught up in resonance. We both have.
“Well, he’s going to be popular with them, I can tell. You’re going to have a lot of little faces at your hut each morning, wanting to play.” She smiles, shaking her head as she sews. “Just warning you now.”
“It’s fine.” And surprisingly, I realize that it is. I don’t mind children showing up on our doorstep wanting to spend time with Skarr. Children don’t make me uneasy.
“Did you see my doll’s hair?” Aayla asks, lifting her doll to show me. “It’s in two buns because her name is Princess Leia.”
“Very pretty,” I agree, and wonder how a child born on this planet knows anything aboutStar Wars.
* * *
Later that night,Skarr curls his big body around mine in bed. He presses his mouth to the crook of my neck, his favorite spot, and kisses me. “I think I like children.”
“I think I do, too,” I whisper back.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
