6. Alan
6
ALAN
“ Y ou’re a natural,” Cherry said encouragingly to Alan when lunch started a few days later and they had a brief break at last.
Alan suspected it was empty kindness, because he didn’t feel very natural about any of it yet. It was astonishing how random the children were. He could predict what an adult would do and what they might say, but the kids were living in left field, constantly trying to stand on their head or asking questions about magnets and mold that Alan didn’t actually have answers for. He understood only about half of what he was told in their little lisps and shrill demands, but managed to guess correctly enough times to get them to the potty in time or take the appropriate part in their pretend.
And oh, did they pretend.
Throughout the day, he would be a doctor, a teacher, a policeman, a patient, a monster (of several kinds), a piece of paper, and a bicycle.
He was surprised how much energy they took, and how they challenged him at every turn. It was like trying to learn a new language, one that each of them spoke with a strong accent, while juggling, and trying to keep an eye out for things he’d never even thought of as hazards, like socks slipping off of feet.
There was a quiet woman, Shea, whose primary job was infant care, but all of the tasks throughout the day care were on an as-needed basis, and Alan spent plenty of time rocking fussy babies.
Unexpectedly, his favorite age was the toddler stage. They didn’t expect him to understand what they were saying like the older kids did, they were absolutely fearless and full of curiosity. They wanted cuddles and hugs and weren’t ashamed to ask for them.
He didn’t think this preference came only from the fact that one of the toddlers was Amy and Alan was still smiling foolishly every time he thought about Kendra. He was pretty sure that he would have fallen helplessly in love with Amy’s curly blonde cuteness even without meeting her mother, and he read several books with her tucked in one elbow as she gazed up at him in wonder and played with his hair, now neatly braided.
Cherry smiled at him sympathetically as he stuffed a sandwich in his mouth when he finally could. “I’ll need your signature on some more paperwork. I know this is mostly a formality, but I need to keep everything above board. The state doesn’t mess around with child care centers and the last thing anyone wants is more attention on Tiny Paws.”
Alan followed her back into a tidy little office and filled out the forms she gave him as he finished his lunch. “You know that I’m only here out of an abundance of caution,” Alan told her, hoping he sounded reassuring. “We don’t know for sure that the day care is a target at this point.”
“But it’s a real risk,” Cherry said grimly. “It wouldn’t take a lot of sleuthing to figure out that Jackson is one of our kids, and he’s already been kidnapped once. Some pretty unsavory people have solid clues about our secrets, and we know that gene company in Las Vegas knows entirely too much about shifters.”
Alan felt his hackles rise. That gene company— Stork, Inc.—was starting to be a serious thorn in the the agency side, and he was reminded of why he was here, reading books to toddlers. It wasn’t for the exercise, though he was rather surprised how much they gave him. He’d been working a desk job entirely too long if he was being winded by a bunch of diapered hobgoblins.
Dangerous , his raven hissed. Bad birds. Alan didn’t need instinct to tell him Stork was deeply corrupt and risked exposing shifter secrets that had been protected for centuries. He knew how dangerous they were.
“We’re not going to let anything happen to these kids,” Alan promised Cherry. “My agency is about keeping shifters secret, but kids are especially vulnerable, and we’ll pull out all the stops to keep them safe.”
Cherry gave a knowing nod as she gathered his last signature.
“What made you decide to start a day care for shifters?” Alan was still surprised that she wasn’t a shifter herself, and knew by now that none of the kids were her own.
“There was a need,” Cherry said evasively. “And it’s powerful to be able to shape the future.”
Alan knew he wasn’t getting the whole story, but he also knew better than to pry. Cherry was probably twenty years his senior, old enough that he had an innate respect for her authority.
“I can’t leave Addison alone with the kids too long,” Cherry said, tapping his papers into a pile. “I’m grateful to have you here to keep an eye out for trouble, but I’ll be honest, I’m even more grateful to have an extra set of hands. Addison has insisted on staying on board longer than she should because I don’t have anyone else available, but I feel bad for keeping her on her feet so much. She’ll need to take some time off when her new little one makes an appearance. We’ve been lucky to have her this long.”
Addison was not on her feet when they came out of the office, but was sitting in a pillow-padded chair with a costume crown on her head, directing the older kids in helping the younger ones clear up their lunches, and get ready to play outside.
Alan took this part of his job the most seriously: wear out the little kids in the back yard so they’d be tired enough for a nap. Not all of the kids would sleep, but many of them did, like boneless little dolls, and all of them were required to stay quietly on their mats for the designated nap time.
The downside of this, of course, was that wearing out was impossible to discern from winding up , and he frequently did the latter instead of the former. He remembered his hat, at least, and had learned a few of the shifting games that everyone could play.
“Time to go in!” he called, when some of the littlest were starting to stagger in exhaustion. There was a chorus of protest, but they obediently trooped back into the day care and shed their coats and boots.
Many of them chose animal form for sleeping, and Alan found himself stroking a drowsing bear with one hand while he cuddled a fussy puppy. Cherry quietly set up the craft for after naptime, and Alan was able to put the dozing puppy on a mat after a short time, just as his phone buzzed from across the room.
Alan missed Juliette’s call, but dialed back immediately, stepping into Cherry’s office at her nod of approval.
“How’s it going, Edgar?”
Alan chuckled. Being a raven meant all the Poe jokes. “Never better,” he said, affecting a deep voice. “I’m officially employed now and Cherry will have to cut me checks to keep it all legal. I’ve met most of the parents, and none of them are giving me red flags.” Kendra was all green flags, but Alan didn’t mention that. “Any news at your end?”
Juliette sighed. “We’re running out of grace with the feds about keeping Owen in custody this long. I don’t want to put him back on the streets with as much as he knows, but I don’t have a lot of options. And Clancy’s lawyer was unexpectedly savvy and got the case thrown out. They’re probably both going to walk by the end of the week.”
Alan frowned. “Well, that’s why I’m here,” he reminded her. “It’s too bad we don’t have the memory zapper from Men in Black.”
“Wouldn’t that be useful?” Juliette sounded sour, but she often did. Her voice softened. “How’s…Jackson?”
“Fluffy and adorable,” Alan said honestly. “He tries to eat my hair every single day.”
Juliette was silent for a moment, and Alan had a pang of sympathy. He suspected that Juliette had not wanted to give up custody and still regretted it, even if it was the safest option for everyone involved. She felt responsible for his subsequent abduction, and guilty for not being a better mom. It must make her feel angry and helpless to be releasing the person directly responsible for it.
“I’ll let you get back to work,” Juliette finally said, just as there was a shriek loud enough to penetrate Cherry’s door.
“We’ll stop them,” Alan promised. “Your kids—all of these kids!—we’ll keep them safe and secret.”
He only hoped he could keep that promise.