Raven’s Instinct (A Day Care for Shifters #6)

34. Alan

34

ALAN

A lan hadn’t really appreciated the house the agency had set him up with until he had a use for both bathtubs at once.

After dinner had been eaten (and spread in a generous radius around Amy), Alan disappeared to set everything up while Kendra got the worst of the mess off of her daughter. And the chair. And the floor.

“I have a surprise for you!” he said eagerly, when he got back to the kitchen.

“Is it better than the surprises Amy has for me in her diapers?”

“You tell me!” Alan led her back to the master bedroom suite.

“You drew me a bath?” Kendra stared into the bathroom. It was dimly lit with candles, and Alan had just topped it off with steaming water. Two fluffy towels were waiting beside the tub, and a few books. There was a Bluetooth speaker in the bedroom playing light jazz.

“I’ll get one ready for Amy, but I thought you’d appreciate the privacy of your own while I did that. Sorry about the books. One is a grim alternate history and one is a manual on contract negotiations. I didn’t have any smutty romances lying around. I did buy some bubble bath, if you need foam. It’s in Amy’s bathroom.”

“This is absolutely perfect,” Kendra said gratefully. “I can’t believe it.”

“You’ve had a hard, unsettling day,” Alan said sympathetically. “Maybe this can start to make up for it.”

Kendra kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” she said simply, and it was all that Alan needed in return. He would have enjoyed lingering and watching her undress and step into it, but Amy, who had been toddling up and down the hallway as fast as she could, suddenly fell down with a thump and gave an angry wail.

“I’ll get her,” Alan said, before Kendra could step in. “It’s bath time for both of you.”

Amy had gotten back to her feet by the time Alan came out of the bedroom, and she shrieked and fled from Alan like she knew what was coming. “Bath time!” Alan hollered. “Owl bath with bubbles!”

He caught her easily and tossed her into the air. She giggled and wiggled and kicked until Alan reminded her not to. “I got you some bath toys,” Alan said coaxingly.

She played with them on the bathmat while Alan filled the tub halfway and corrected the temperature, then let him help her get undressed and lift her in. She sat right down this time, happy to kick and splash in the water. All of the shiny new boats and octopus toys were completely ignored in favor of the original washcloths and plastic cups. Alan had to remind her seven times not to dump water over the edge, not sure if she forgot each time, or if she was just too fascinated by the splashing water to obey.

When the water started to cool and Amy’s motions were starting to get slow and clumsy, Alan pulled the plug. Amy was alarmed at first, then enraptured, then outraged because the water was all gone. She pitched a tired fit as Alan lifted her out, and was less inclined to giggle and play when he toweled her off. By the time he got her dressed again, she was rubbing her eyes and yawning. He carried her into the back bathroom to make sure Kendra hadn’t drowned, and found her floating with a wet washrag over her face.

“Mama?” Amy was very confused. “Mama sleepy?”

Kendra sat up with a jerk and pulled the washrag off her face. “Oh goodness, that was so comfortable. How long was I in here? Are you done already?”

“Enjoy yourself a little longer,” Alan insisted. “Put some more hot water in if you need to. We’re going to go read a book on the couch. Stay in as long as you want.”

Kendra sighed and slipped back down into the water. “Fine. Tempt me.”

Amy cried when Alan carried her out and he worried that it would distress Kendra. “We have to let Mama have some relax time,” he told her. “She’ll still tuck you in.”

Amy put a few fingers in her mouth and seemed to relax. Alan found the board book that Kendra had left on the couch and read it to her three times. She was asleep halfway through the second time, but Alan wasn’t taking chances.

He looked up to find Kendra at the end of the hall, leaning against the wall wrapped in a towel, her face tender and full of wonder.

“I told her you would tuck her in,” Alan whispered.

Kendra’s towel slipped as she went to gather up the sleeping Amy, and Alan wasn’t sorry. He might have helped it a little by holding onto the corner.

He followed her to the guest bedroom and watched her tuck Amy into the play pen that was still set up there, then handed her the towel.

“Baths really are magical,” Kendra murmured, stepping naked into his embrace.