by Michele Hauf
“I’m glad you told me about Peanut. You two are adorable together. We’re going to have fun, the three of us.”
Lars turned and waved as he got in the truck. And Mireio hugged herself and recalled that the man had given her a choice to walk away now if she wanted to.
Did she want to walk away? Could she handle dating a man with a baby? Neither option felt easy. And she needed easy right now. Because that would counter the nightmares and her wariness over performing the immortality spell.
Chapter 6
Areas of the park were overgrown with wildflowers stretching as high as Lar’s waist in some spots. They’d picnicked with egg salad sandwiches, fresh veggies and blueberry lemonade in mason jars. While Mireio packed up the basket, Lars wandered into the flowers with Peanut, pointing out the yellow sunflowers. He held out his hand and a bee buzzed closer, probably attracted to his movement. He never flinched. Bees would not sting a person unless they were given reason to do so. And he intended to teach Peanut to not fear the insect, and to also respect it.
“That’s a dragonfly.” He stood still as the insect hovered but four feet from him. Strapped to his chest in a baby sling, Peanut stretched out his arms and cooed. “Yes, you like bugs? Of course you do. But you mustn’t squish them. Insects are good. Especially the bees. Like that one. See the fat sacks of pollen on her legs? She’s going to make honey with that. And then we can eat it.”
Though he’d read not to give an infant honey in his first year. Or had the pediatrician told him that? He needed to get a guide or book on all the things a parent should do and watch out for. This whole baby thing was new to him. He was walking a tightrope with Peanut, and didn’t want to wobble off the line.
“We’ll find a book or something,” he said to Peanut.
“A book on what?” Having taken off her shoes, Mireio joined him. A camera dangled from around her neck. She took some shots of a bright purple coneflower. Bending, she plucked a few tiny white daisies.
“A baby book,” he said. “I need something that’ll tell me what I should and shouldn’t do. I was telling Peanut about honey. I know that’s a no-no for the first year.”
“Right. There are great books out there for parents. Dr. Sears or the What to Expect books. They cover a baby’s first year, telling you what changes they go through monthly and about their growth.”
“Sounds like exactly what I need. Can we stop by a bookstore on the way back into town?”
“For sure! But only if you don’t mind me checking out the books on beer. I’m looking for a new and interesting recipe.”
“Deal.” He turned and fist-bumped her. “You a photographer too?”
“Me? No. But I like to take pictures of flowers and bugs. I have a macro lenses that I usually use. Takes amazingly detailed shots, but I forgot it today. I do have one of my pictures hanging up behind my bed.”
“I’ll have to check it out sometime.” Lars wandered forward then, with a wince, realized what he’d said. Check out the picture or her bed?
Well, he’d like to do both. In good time.
Spying a thick crop of wild grass, he sat on it and laid back with Peanut snuggling up to his chest. “Ah, this is the life. The sun is high and warm and I don’t have a care.”
Mireio leaned over him and snapped a few pictures. “Do you mind? You two look adorable lying there. He really is a little peanut all curled up on his daddy’s chest.”
“Go for it.”
“Oh, wait. I forgot the daisies.” She pushed a couple daisies into his beard. “I did tell you I’d have you in daisies, didn’t I?”
“That you did.” He even managed to smile, eyes closed against the sun, as she snapped the camera above him and Peanut.
After a few shots, she sat in the grass next to them and set down the camera. Tilting her head back to allow the sun to beam across her face, her hair tickled Lars’s cheek. It was the color of overripe tomatoes, with a hint of golden sunshine within the strands. If her hair had a flavor, he decided it would be tangy cherry with a burst of lemon.
How had he gotten so lucky as to find a pretty girl who liked to spend time with him and his baby boy? While Dean Maverick had teasingly suggested that babies were chick bait, Lars had known that it wouldn’t be so simple as strolling in to catch a woman’s eye for more than a few oohs and aahs. But for some reason Mireio had stuck around after the initial reveal. So far.
He wouldn’t count his blessings too soon. This thing they were doing was new and, as she’d pointed out, they were just having fun. So he had best stop worrying and get to the enjoying part.
“How about ice cream?” he suddenly said. “I don’t think I’ve had any since I was a kid.”
“Seriously?” Her blue eyes beamed above him. “There’s a shop not far from here. And I’m pretty sure a bookstore sits a couple stores down from that. What do you think, Peanut?” She stroked his fuzzy crop of dark hair. “Aw, he’s sleeping. All tuckered out from the sunshine. We’d better get him inside so he doesn’t overheat.”
“Overheat? Do babies do that?”
“Well, he’s not going to blow his top, but yes, his tender newborn skin will burn much easier than ours does.”
“Darn it, and here I thought the sunshine was good for him.” Lars sat up and tugged the blanket over Peanut’s head.
“Don’t worry about it. He’s not going to fry. Lars, you’re a great dad. You’ve some amazing instincts about taking care of a baby. Don’t question yourself so much.”
“It’s hard not to do so. I’ve never done this before. Sometimes I feel like I’m a little bug standing in the middle of this big field, trying to keep my baby bug alive.”
“You’re doing great.” She kissed him then. A soft, slow kiss that tasted his mouth and dipped her tongue across his bottom lip. It was a sweet connection that promised more. When she pulled away, she plucked the flowers from his beard and tucked them into her hair over one ear. “Let’s get ice cream.”
* * *
When they stopped by the bookstore, Peanut was fussing, so Lars stayed in the truck to change him while Mireio dashed in for the baby book and then skipped a few stores down to grab ice cream to go. They headed to her house, and by the time they arrived, Peanut was giggling and blowing bubbles every time she shook her bright hair before him.
“You must have grown up with brothers and sisters,” Lars commented as they strolled into her house.
“Nope. I was an only child. I started babysitting when I was ten. Every penny I made went toward spell stuff and crystals. And a really cool mermaid tail that I still have tucked away somewhere.”
“A mermaid tail?” He dropped Peanut’s bag of accoutrements on the floor near the sofa.
“Yes, it was rubber or something. I could pull it up like pants and there was room in the fin for my feet. It sparkled,” she said, adding jazz hands because that was what one did when one talked about all things glittery. “I’d swim out in the backyard pool for hours wearing it. But it only fit me for about a year. I was so bummed. I think I expected it to grow with me. So you are going to stay for supper, yes? I make a mean zucchini parmesan.”
“I’m not even sure what that is, but I’m in.”
“Great! Let me get it put together. It’ll take about twenty minutes, and then I’ll pop it in the oven.”
“Me and Peanut will take a look through the book you got for us.”
He headed into the living room. Mireio called out that he could take the yarn afghan off the back of the couch and lay it on the floor for Peanut to crawl around on. “Will do!”
Utterly pleased after an afternoon well spent, she floated about the kitchen, gathering and slicing zucchini and onions, grating parmesan, while on the stove top she stirred a tomato sauce with basil and shallots.
Around the corner in the livi
ng room she heard Lars reading the What to Expect the First Year book out loud. In a very dramatic tone. She peeked around the corner and spied the big werewolf lying on the violet-and-blue afghan on his back—he held the book overhead while he pointed out the pictures to Peanut. The baby, lying on his back beside his daddy, followed his gestures with burbling fascination.
“Did you know a four-month-old is supposed to get his first tooth?” Lars called as she slipped back into the kitchen. “Peanut has had a tooth for two months. Heh. You’re ahead of your time, my boy. Also, he might start to roll over. Is that so? You want to give it a go, Peanut?”
Whispering thanks to Demeter, the goddess of harvest, and snapping her fingers over the sauce, Mireio imbued it with a touch of love and confidence. It was difficult not to create something to eat without adding a spell. She’d been doing it forever. Nothing intrusive. But Lars could probably use the boost to his confidence. Goddess knows he must have been going through heck these past few months. But to judge from the infant giggles in the next room he was managing remarkably well.
Peanut, eh? That was a horrible name for a child to grow up with. She’d have to work on Lars, help him come up with something before the kid got too attached to the name.
Assembling the dish with layers of zucchini, cheese and sauce, she then put the glass baking dish in the stove and set the timer. Pouring two goblets of honey IPA from the growler she always kept stocked in the fridge, she then strolled into the living room.
Lars lay on his side facing Peanut; the baby was sleeping. “Sometimes I can’t get over how much I like staring at him.” Wonder touched his tone as Lars said, “I made this little guy.”
“That you did. Or at least, you helped. I’m pretty sure the woman had a lot to do with it too. Brewing the little tyke for nine months and all.” She handed him a beer as he sat up and leaned against the couch. The open book lay near his leg. “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”
“I already told you how me and Peanut’s mom got together.”
“Right, but do you think she might come back for her boy? I mean, after a few years? What if she has a change of heart? Or if her biological clock starts ticking? Wouldn’t that crush you?”
Lars ran his fingers back through his hair, pulling it into a ponytail behind him, then releasing it with a growl. “It would annihilate me.”
The alpha wolf lived inside him. And she had felt his protective instincts in that growl.
“I’m already so attached to him I couldn’t imagine not having him around,” he said. “But Peanut’s mom won’t come back. She had stars in her eyes. No desire to spend her days in a tiny cabin in the woods. She was pretty adamant about starting a new life in Africa.”
“Did you offer to marry her?”
“Didn’t have a chance. To be honest? I’m not sure I would have. We only knew each other two days. And we didn’t share a lot of conversation in that time, if you know what I mean. But had she decided to give motherhood a go, I would have never backed down on my obligation to raise my son. I’m relieved, actually, that she thought to give me a chance to raise him instead of going the adoption route.”
Mireio stroked the hair that spilled down his shoulders, then realized what she was doing and tugged her hand to her lap. He turned to look over his shoulder at her. “Whatever you’re making, it smells great.”
“Half an hour and you can test it. I hope you like oregano and garlic. How’s the IPA?”
“Awesome. I can taste the honey.”
“Got it from Valor’s hives. So you’ve worked with her and her bees?”
He waggled his hand before him in an indecisive gesture. “I sold her some queens and suggested some good places to order equipment. Her honey is distinctively different from field honey. She lives in a city and has hives on the top of her building. That forces the bees to forage for flowers far and wide and they visit a greater variety of flowers, which makes for a robust honey.”
“Do your bees produce a lot of honey?”
“Oh, yeah. I have to give most of it away because I’d never be able to go through it all. You want some?”
“I can always use honey, especially for baking. How do you do all that processing of honey in your little place? I didn’t see any equipment.”
“I keep it in storage at the pack compound over the winter. I’m hoping to build a room for storing my apiary and honey equipment with the addition. And an extra room for Peanut’s bedroom.”
“Do you know how lucky Peanut is to have a dad like you?”
He toggled the toe end of Peanut’s sleeper. “You didn’t see me that first month I had him. I was pretty crazed. And a walking zombie from lack of sleep. Wasn’t sure which end was up on the poor kid and was pretty damn surprised how much stuff tends to come out of both ends. For the first time I truly believed a dirty diaper could kill a man.”
She laughed and tucked her legs up onto the couch. Lars turned and she patted the cushion beside her so he moved up to sit beside her, making sure not to step on the sleeping baby.
“But by the end of the second month I’d gotten into a routine. I actually have one of those planner apps on my phone. I don’t know how all the moms do it without a calendar and a personal secretary. Just call me Mr. Mom now.”
“Mr. Dad more like it. You rock the single dad role. It’s good for a kid to have a dad or mom.”
“Or? You don’t believe they need both?”
Mireio shrugged. “Not necessarily. I never knew my dad. And my mom...” She sighed, memories unexpectedly rushing to the fore. Though she’d long ago shed all the tears. A glance to the mantel over the hearth landed on the photo of her and her mom. Jessica Malory had auburn hair that hung to her waist and a smile that could have stopped wars. “She died when I was eight. I was raised by my grandma.”
“Really? That’s tough. Or was it?”
“Sometimes. I mean, it’s been twenty years. But at the time, I was old enough to miss my mom, and her death was very traumatic.” And she’d avoid telling him about that for fear of being reduced to blubbering tears. “But grandma was awesome. And you know with witches, if we’ve performed an immortality spell, we can look young for a very long time. Grandma looks like a fashion model from the sixties with her long brown hair and she seriously still wears bell-bottoms.”
“You mentioned something about focusing on a spell. Does that mean you’ve performed the immortality spell I’ve heard about? Or are planning to?”
“That means I’m at this very moment prepared to do it. I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the past few years, and I’m ready.”
“I think I know that spell requires a vampire, right?”
“You got it. It’s never pretty for the vampire. We witches call them a source.”
Lars lifted a brow. “Yes, but the vamps call those vampires ash.”
“There is that result. And before you think I intend to destroy another soul to extend my own life, I’ll have you know that I’ve hired a witch to track down one of the meanest and vilest vampires. One who has killed and is a danger to society.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me. I mean, if you take out a bad one. Vamps who kill to get blood when they only need a little to survive? That’s unconscionable. I had no idea there was an actual person, though, that tracks down vamps specifically for you witches and your spells.”
“It’s Raven Crosse. She used to be a vampire hunter until she married a vampire. Now she does the search on the side for a very select clientele. And she costs a fortune.”
“How much?”
Mireio pressed the glass rim to her lips, then shook her head. “I’d rather not say. Suffice it to say, it’s something I want. Desperately. So it was worth the price.”
“The idea of one lifetime doesn’t sit well with you?”
�
�Nope.” And could they change the subject please? If she had to tell him how traumatized she’d actually been by her mother’s death she’d burst out in tears, and that was so not sexy or romantic. “I should check on supper. Be right back.”
* * *
Lars followed Mireio into the kitchen, where the scents of oregano and roasted tomatoes made him hunger for a home-cooked meal. She’d sprung up from the couch to retreat so abruptly, he suspected he’d said something wrong.
“I’m sorry,” he said to her as she bent before the open oven and tested the dish with a fork. “I think I went too far in there.”
“No, you didn’t.” She popped up and set the fork aside. “I don’t want to get into all the details about my mom. It’ll make me cry. Okay?”
“Deal.” At least she was honest. He could respect that. “How much longer? I could eat that whole pan if you let me.”
“Let me have a little corner and you can go right ahead and attack the rest. Ten minutes. You want more beer?”
“No, I’m good. Gotta drive Peanut home later.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a lightweight?”
“With beer? No. Takes a lot to get us wolves drunk. But I’m trying to do the responsible thing now. You know?”
“I get that. But if you ever want to not be responsible for a little while?” She pointed at her chest where her low-cut blousy shirt revealed ample cleavage. “You know where to find me.”
“We do have a few minutes. Why don’t you come on over and show me a little irresponsibility?”
She spun around the end of the kitchen counter and leaned toward him where he sat on a barstool. With him sitting, they came face-to-face, and he was thankful for that when he saw the kiss coming. Pushing his fingers up through her soft, bright hair, Lars accepted her sweet offering and smiled against her mouth. “You taste like tomato sauce.”
“That’s a preview for supper. You like?”
“I do.” He kissed her again and this time delved in deeper with his tongue, tasting her tomato sweetness and dashing the tip of his tongue along her teeth.
