Chapter Seven
A baby crying woke Brexton the next morning. First he noticed the soft, curvy body pressed to his, then realized he was really damn hard. A glance at the woman sleeping on his shoulder proved that he hadn’t been dreaming. He really did have a family, a mate to call his own. And that was his sweet daughter crying. Brexton eased out from under Blossom and pulled on a loose pair of pajama pants from his dresser drawer, then went to check on RaeLynn.
The little girl was clutching the bars of her crib, tears streaming down her cheeks. Brexton didn’t know a lot about children. Well, really he didn’t know anything about them, but he had played the role of a dad before and remembered changing the diapers of the baby on set for one of the scenes. He remembered Blossom had bought diapers for RaeLynn, so he picked her up and cuddled her close as he rummaged through her new belongings to find everything he would need to change and dress her.
As he laid her down on the padded changing table, she hiccupped and started to quiet. Brexton removed her footy pajamas and her diaper, then cleaned her up. He saw the baby powder and dusted her with it before putting a fresh diaper on her. It seemed to be enough to make her happy because she smiled and him. He’d grabbed a blue dress and managed to put it on her without too much fuss, then slipped some socks onto her feet in case she was cold, despite the fact it was summer. Did human children get cold easily?
When he was finished, he picked her up and cradled her against his chest again.
“Good morning, sweet girl,” he murmured. “Shall we see if your brother is awake yet?”
“Daddy?” a small voice called from the doorway.
Brexton’s heart stuttered in his chest as he turned to see Drew watching them, rubbing sleeping from his eyes. He’d already gotten dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, and Brexton was amazed that someone so young already knew how to dress themselves. Maybe he needed to get some of those parenting books so he would be more prepared for fatherhood.
“Good morning, Drew,” Brexton said.
Drew came closer and grabbed onto his pants. “Daddy, up.”
Brexton wasn’t sure if the boy meant that they were both awake, or if he wanted to be held, but the way Drew was eyeing RaeLynn, Brexton thought he likely wanted to be held. He leaned down and scooped the toddler up into other arm, then went back down the hall to the boy’s room. There were wet training pants in the middle of the floor, as well as some pajamas.
Brexton set Drew down long enough to throw the training pants in the trash and put the pajamas in the hamper. He’d have to remember to come back and tie off that trash sack and carry it out later. Right now, he wanted to get the children downstairs before they woke up Blossom. She’d dozed off after the first time they’d made love, then she’d woken him a while later to do it all over again. He’d claimed her three times before they’d both fallen asleep for the remainder of the night, though it had technically been early morning by then.
He now understood why some of the families on his world had five or six children, considering how pleasurable it was to be intimate with his mate. He might not have had sex before, but he still knew where babies came from and wasn’t completely stupid. Some of his people had watched the human sex movies, but he’d refrained. From what his human costars had said, those movies weren’t lifelike and were blown out of proportion.
Most human birth control wouldn’t work to prevent his mate from getting pregnant. He’d offered to use one of those human condoms if that’s what she’d wanted, but he’d heard of others like him getting a female pregnant even while wearing one of those. And the little pills or shots the females took to keep from conceiving didn’t usually work against a Zelthranite’s sperm either. The only sure way he knew of for birth control would be for her to undergo an operation to remove part of her female reproductive system, and Brexton really didn’t want her to go through that. He hoped she was serious about wanting a large family.
“Breakfast isn’t quite ready yet,” Mrs. Connors said as she bustled around the kitchen. She stopped long enough to smile at him. “Well don’t you look good holding those sweet babies. I have Drew’s booster seat and RaeLynn’s high chair already set up, if you want to fasten them in. I’ll mix your daughter’s cereal in a minute.”
“Mix cereal?” he asked. Didn’t you just pour milk over it?
“It’s baby cereal. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Blossom in depth yet about what she’s been feeding her, but I saw the baby cereal in the things you brought home. I’ll fix her a bowl of that and then I can go over what the kids do and don’t eat whenever your mate has time.”
Brexton probably needed to hear that conversation too.
“Are you working today?” Mrs. Connors asked.
“I’m not due on set until this afternoon. The movie is mostly finished, but they wanted to reshoot a scene to see if we could do it better.”
Mrs. Connors nodded. “Well, if you want to take Blossom with you, show her around the studio, I’ll be happy to keep the kids here with me.”
He hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Mrs. Connors, but he knew if Blossom went with him then the guard out front would have to make a decision. Either remain behind with the children, or go with them to the studio. He didn’t like the thought of his family being unprotected, even behind the coded gate that stood at the front of his driveway. He knew those things weren’t foolproof and someone could get past it.
“There’s only one guard,” he said, glancing at the kids to make sure they weren’t listening. “It wouldn’t be safe to split up the children and Blossom.”
“Then call and ask for another guard. A movie set is no place for small children,” Mrs. Connors said. “They won’t understand to remain quiet when you’re filming and your director would probably not appreciate the interruptions.”
He nodded. “I’ll check with the Terran station and see if they can spare someone else. Blossom would be safe enough with me, but since I’ll be working I won’t be able to focus on her completely.”
“You can leave the kids here, if you want to go wake up your mate,” Mrs. Connors said.
He glanced at the children, but something puzzled him. Drew had called him Daddy, but the children had been asleep last night. Why had Drew called him that? Did he refer to every male in Blossom’s life as his daddy? He didn’t know if the child was old enough to give him an explanation, so he decided to ask Blossom. Brushing a kiss against the top of both kids’ heads, he went upstairs to check on his mate.
The bed was empty when he stepped into their bedroom, but light spilled from the partially open bathroom door. He pushed it open more and saw Blossom brushing her teeth. He stepped up to the other sink and did the same, liking the feel of something so domestic as sharing the bathroom with his mate in the morning. He hoped they had more days like this one.
“Mrs. Connors is watching the children and making breakfast. She offered to watch them today when I’m due at the studio, if you’d like to go with me,” he said.
“Is that safe?” she asked.
