Chapter Four #2
“Morning, Bella.” Jesie ruffled his face, inching as to not disturb the plate full of pancakes and bacon. Isabella beamed, pulling the apple away from her face.
“Mommy said apples good for tummy.”
“She’s correct, they’re—oh.” He stopped in the middle of his yawn as the apple was shoved in his direction. “I don’t wanna eat your food, tater tot.”
“I’m not a tater!” She giggled.
“Oh, yeah?” He chuckled, setting the plate onto his bedside table so he could sit up without tossing it. “What are you?”
Barnibus lay, judging him from the side of the bed.
“A bug.”
“Bug?” He took up a piece of the bacon and tossed it in his hungry maw. Putting his back against the wall behind his bed, he was finally able to crack his stiff joints. Oh, that feels amazing.
“Yeah, ladybug! Red, spots, fly—bug.” She shrugged before taking a hearty bite into her apple. “Mommy shower.”
“Ah!” He leaned slightly, straining his ears to hear the shower going.
While his room had a direct door into the bath, there was another in the hallway.
He hadn’t heard the shower flip on, but, then again, he was dead asleep.
One of Jessie’s worst qualities, he believed, was the deep sleep.
Gonna get me stabbed one of these times.
“Yeah,” Isabella hummed before returning to her apple. “Nik said hi.”
“That’s good. Say, bug, is Nik downstairs?”
“Yeah!”
“Why don’t you go help him in the kitchen, huh? So, I can change and eat breakfast.” He grabbed another piece of bacon off the plate.
The little girl nodded happily. “Okay. Nik’s fluffy.”
“Like a teddy bear,” Jessie snickered.
“Gonna hug him.” Isabella scooped up the platypus in one arm and marched off, apple in hand.
Barnibus watched him from the crook of her elbow, as if begging for mercy.
Poor thing. He’d won it by accident and given it to Nik absentmindedly.
They weren’t there for games, he just needed to take cover for a few minutes after some shit went down in the house of mirrors.
Barnibus stayed with them the rest of the night.
He never imagined the stoic mechanic would keep him.
But Nik’s always been full of surprises.
Jessie flipped the blanket off him the second the girl was out of eye shot then closed his bedroom door gently.
Don’t want to raise alarm. He slept in his boxers, so it wasn’t like he was naked with the child in the house.
But boxers only cover so much. Especially given his morning wood standing straight up to say hello.
Normally he’d throw himself in the shower to freshen up, but as there was a soft melody drifting out of there, he expected he would miss the pit stop. I can grab a shower after work.
Jessie was bare ass, spraying on deodorant when the door clicked open. His hooves were like dead weights as he tried to stumble into his closet or anywhere to avoid the child from seeing. In doing so, he fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
“Shit! You okay?”
Oh boy. The thud from him hitting the cheap but fluffy carpet was muffled, thankfully. Nik and the tiny terror might not have heard. But, Katarina, with her damp hair, in a fresh pair of clothes, came skittering around the corner of his bed.
“Yeah—uh,” he wheezed, embarrassment pumping through his veins as he tried to climb to his feet without thwacking her in some way, shape, or form. Be it from clumsy hands, his tail, or other anatomy. Katarina, however, got him back up on his hooves within the blink of an eye. “Thanks.”
“Well, I did sweep you off your feet,” she laughed, tossing her damp tendrils over her shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t remember what door I came through and took a 50-50 chance on what door.”
“All doors lead somewhere,” he added with a shrug before snatching one of his overalls from the clean hamper next to the closet door. He hugged it to his stomach. “I’ll lock it from this side next time.”
“I’ll try not to get turned around.” She grinned at him before her attention shifted to the plate full of food on his bedside. “Ah, I see you got breakfast in bed service.”
“Yeah, she was eating an apple and waiting very patiently for me to awake.” He rubbed the back of his head.
“Sorry about that,” Katarina cackled, trying and failing to sober the laughter bubbling out of her. It brought a wide, toothy grin to Jessie’s face. Smiles looked good on her.
“No worries, little momma. She’s cute, so she gets a pass.” Jessie leaned as cooly as he could against the closet door frame. What with being naked and all.
“What about me?” Katarina stepped toward the bedroom door. Jessie caught her ruby gaze running down his chest, then back up to his face. “I did also barge in.”
“Cutie pass for the both of you then,” he grinned, his cock bobbing against the overalls covering him up. Well, I mean, if you’re going to be a flirt… “You know—”
“Mommy!” Isabella’s yell echoed around the hallway beyond his bedroom door. “Aunt Sera!”
“Sorry,” she beamed apologetically in his direction, though he wasn’t sure she was all that sorry. “Duty calls.”
Jessie was, for the first time in his life, left reeling and watching a woman saunter away from him. It was surreal to be the one on the back foot, the one left speechless, the one clutching clothes to his naked body and a flutter in his stomach.
Oh, I’m in big trouble.