Page 54 of Conan
“What sort of things?” I hear asked from the doorway.
“For fuck’s sake!” I mumble, hands on my hips and head tossed up toward the ceiling. “What are you two doing here, Demi?”
“Saw your bikes parked out front, wanted to stop by and show off my waxed face,” she says, which has me twisting on my feet and marching over to her.
“Why’d you do something like that?” I ask, rubbing my thumb across her lip where I can see red bumps.
“Apparently, I had a lot of hair on my face that needed removing. Who are they?” Demi questions, glancing around me. “Where are their parents and why does that baby have a towel around her butt?” Upon seeing the women, the guys once again take a protective stance around the girls.
“What’s going on, Marcum?” Luna asks, stepping up and taking a stance beside Demi. “These kids need clothes and food. Like, right now!”
“Jordan, Landon, Austin, and Tate, these are our old ladies, Demi and Luna. Ladies, Auto found these boys yesterday and they were in need of our help so he put them here to keep safe until we could figure out what their situation was so we could do something about it,” I announce.
They share pleasantries and our women gravitate toward the little ones, the boys must know they mean no harm so they shift sideways so they can get through their huddle. “Oh my God! She’s tiny,” Demi says, running a finger along Brooklynn’s cheek. “How old is she?”
“That’s Brooklynn,” Jordan tells her. “She’s my niece and she’s four months old.”
“You think or you know?” I ask for clarification.
“I know!” Jordan snaps, glaring at me. “She’s important so I remember.” I hold my hands up so he knows I meant no harm by my question. “Sorry, but she’s the only reason I fight as hard as I do to keep us all safe.”
Demi strides up to me, furiously announcing, “They’re coming with us. Today. Right now.” She stomps her foot for emphasis which has me grinning.
“That was the plan, baby. Put Demoness away,” I tease her.
“It’s a good thing y’all passed by in the Suburban. It’ll give us enough seats to get everyone back to the clubhouse. We’ll take it from there and figure out where they’ll be staying,” Marcum states.
“We stay together,” Jordan insists.
Getting that this is essential to having them come along with us, I nod my head and say, “We’ll see what we can do, I swear. For now, let’s get y’all to the club and get you fed.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
DEMI
Lunaand I headed straight to the mall after getting the kids bunkered down at the clubhouse. For now, they’ll be sharing one of the larger rooms, one that’s kept empty for visitors.
As a matter of fact, the room is bare bones, it hasn’t been outfitted since they haven’t had any guests since purchasing the property.
We have a long list of things to buy and most of them will have to be delivered. We grabbed Stixx, Roscoe, Risk, and Midas to help us haul things back and forth.
They brought two trucks with attached closed trailers to haul the bulkier things in case we get lucky enough to not need to have the furniture delivered by the store. We’re aiming for two sets of bunk beds, a toddler bed, and a crib. We’ll need other things such as dressers too, but the beds are our top priority during this outing other than clothes and hygiene products.
As Luna drives us to our destination, I pull up the internet on my phone and my eyes bug out when I realize how much a toddler and baby need.
It’s overwhelming.
I send a text to Xavier to verify their diaper sizes and ask if there are certain ones I need to avoid after noticing that there are a variety to choose from—some are for sensitive skin, whether or not they’re moving a lot, and absorbent levels.
Then I begin to wonder if Hadley is in the midst of potty training, already trained, or if she needs a set of pullups that are for sleep time.
So I begin rapidly texting out questions. I don’t even give him a chance to reply to one before another concern forms in my head and I ask about that. This continues as we look for bottles, formula, and toys. I get confused as I see there are age ranges on things, not just sizes.
Brooklynn is four months old, does that mean I shouldn’t be getting things that are only up to a six month age range? My dilemma is the sizes are really all over the place! Zero to three, three to six, six to nine, nine to twelve; with her being four months old, should we get some of the bigger ones in case she has a growth spurt? She’s so tiny, but I suspect that’s because they haven’t been able to feed her properly, which is definitely going to change for all of the kids.
Hadley is three, so I notice that it’s easier to buy things for her. Everything is clearly marked for her age group. As we go through the baby aisle, we grab a plethora of things. Teething rings. Bottle brushes. Bottles with natural shaped nipples. Diapers and wipes as well as a trash can to help keep the odor to a minimum,liners for it, and we stock up on meltable treats, plastic tubs of baby food, juice, and anything else we spot that we think she’ll like.
