Chapter 8 #2
“She wants you because I was stern,” Nicky advised as she lifted Percy to a chair and placed some treats on a napkin.
“Meaning I shouldn’t give in.”
“No, I shouldn’t. You can hold her if you want.”
“Me?” It came out a tad shocked. “Why would she want to sit in my lap?”
“Because she likes you.” Nicky rolled her eyes as if it were the most basic thing in the world.
It wasn’t. I’d never had a child take a shine to me before.
Then again, I wasn’t usually around children.
Still, she’d not blown up or squished when I last picked her up.
I gingerly gripped her again around the armpits and lifted, wondering if I should stand her on my thighs, only her legs folded as I lowered to my lap.
She sat there and reached for the cookies.
“Dai una torta a Bruce?” Nicky said in Italian.
“Si, Mamma.” The child grabbed a slice of cake from the plate in a tight fist that squished it slightly, but I didn’t refuse it when she offered. At least her hands were clean and she’d not prechewed it.
Pretty sure I visited heaven as I ate the Italian version of a brownie. I sure as hell groaned. Loudly. Probably why everyone stared at me.
“What? It was good.” I might have sounded a tad defensive.
Nicky’s smile hit me in the chest. “Then by all means, have another slice.”
I ate four and downed a mug of hot cocoa. I would have had more but Percy gobbled the rest.
“So about this dragon thing,” I said when Percy finished snacking.
“Ask your questions later. I need a nap.” Percy wandered off to the mattress on the floor and flopped down, not alone though. A yawning Zaza lay down beside Percy and draped an arm over its back.
A girl and her dragon. It would be cute if it wasn’t so fucking crazy.
“Let me get the dishes,” I offered, grabbing the empty plate and bringing it to the sink.
“Oh, no you don’t. You already worked hard enough outside this morning.
All that shoveling and then the way you played with Zaza.
” Nicky’s smile melted my insides. “She had so much fun. You’ve done enough.
I promised we wouldn’t interfere with your work schedule.
So go.” She actually waved her hands in a shooing gesture.
I didn’t want to go. Almost said fuck it, however, my deadline wouldn’t care I had guests—or a talking dragon.
A dragon already fast asleep along with Zaza. I kind of envied them. No sleeping for me. Must write.
However, my brain didn’t agree. It kept wandering all over the place.
When I realized I lacked the focus to write, I hit the internet on my phone, which had signal again now that the storm had passed.
My connection was slow and I doubted I’d be able to browse for long with my battery at twenty percent.
I needed to make every percent I sucked up count, but did I research for my book?
Nope. My procrastinating ass hunted for baby dragon images and found crap.
Not one of the pictures I pulled up looked remotely close to Percy.
Most had big, liquid eyes, jewel-hued scales, and round, poke-me-in-the-middle bellies.
They also all had wings ranging in texture from leathery to rice paper translucent.
Appearance wasn’t the only difference from Percy.
Not one article—and I searched blogs, Wikipedia, historical papers, and more—mentioned dragons talking or ever actually existing.
Only fictional accounts had them able to converse.
Could it be the world had forgotten because they’d gone extinct?
How would Percy feel, knowing they might be the last and only one of their kind?
Since the internet seemed to lack the information my sudden curiosity needed—and my phone blinked before dying—I ditched my office and all pretense at work in search of Percy.
I had to know more. I headed downstairs and found Zaza and Percy once more playing with blocks, this time with Nicky sitting crossed-legged and playing with them.
Wait, she was teaching. I paused and listened as she spoke numbers using blocks as props.
“One.” Nikki held out one cube and drew the digit on it. “Two.” She added a second cube to the first after also labeling it with a marker.
Percy didn’t seem impressed. “I know how to count and I’ve already learned how numbers appear when written.”
“What of math? Do you know how to add and subtract?” Nicky asked. “For example, two blocks plus two blocks is—”
“Four. Too easy,” Percy boasted.
“Okay then, how about two multiplied by three?”
Again, Percy spat out the answer with ease and then complained, “Don’t tell me humanity hasn’t progressed from basic mathematics.”
“Be polite to Nicky. She has no idea what you know,” I chided as I joined the group, easing carefully to the floor with my bum leg.
“Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. I know it all. The only thing I had to learn upon hatching was the linguistical names and symbols for numbers.”
“What about algebra, geometry, calculus, trigonometry?” Nicky named off some of the branches of math that I barely remembered. I am proud to say I never had to figure out the square root of shit, never cared what X equaled, and as of yet, never had a use for figuring out the area of a circle.
“I don’t know those terms.” Percy leaned forward eagerly. “Tell me more.”
“It would be my pleasure, but I might need Bruce’s help to print out some worksheets as the more complex math stuff isn’t something I can explain with blocks.” Nicky glanced at me. “That is, if you have a printer and that’s okay?”
“Yup to both, but we’ll have to wait for the power to come back.” I’d have given her anything for the smile she bestowed. Damn, the woman was much too pretty.
And nice.
And hot.
And not for me.
“Surely there’s something you can teach me, woman. I want a proper challenge,” Percy demanded.
“Are you sure you want more lessons? Because I was about to whip together a snack,” Nicky cajoled.
“Sustenance of the body first, then the mind,” Percy declared.
“An excellent choice,” Nicky stated, rising from the floor.
“Let me give you a hand,” I offered just as Zaza threw herself at me.
I mean that literally. Before I could stand up, the toddler grabbed me in an anaconda grip and goobered my cheek while making a humming noise.
As I was being slobbered on, Nicky laughed. “You can help by keeping Zaza busy. She has a tendency of clinging to my leg and wailing when she sees me making food. It reminds her she’s hungry.”
“Does it work?” Percy asked. “Does she get fed faster?”
Nicky turned a stern look on the dragon. “No, it does not, so don’t even think of it.”
“Hmph,” Percy huffed. A noise that drew attention and led to Zaza lunging and snaring the dragon, dragging it close.
While still sitting on my lap, I should add, which might not have been so bad, only it turns out toddlers and dragons have no concept of a male’s delicate spots.
A reptile foot, a baby’s knee, and who knew what other body parts kept squishing me uncomfortably.
A good thing I was already infertile because the abuse I took—that I didn’t dare whine about lest I lose my man card—would have finished the job.
Thankfully, prep didn’t take long. Soon as Nicky said, “Snack is ready,” my lap abusers fled for the kitchen and the grilled cheese sandwiches stacked and steaming on a plate.
“I figured after all that time outside, you could use something a little more substantial than usual afternoon light merenda. Plus, I figured I should use what’s available.
” Nicky had used the premade loaf of bread I bought with thick slices of cheddar, and pan fried the sandwiches in butter.
She’d even threw together some kind of marinara sauce for dipping.
Best snack ever. My full belly led to me yawning and at Nicky’s urging, I found myself lying flat on the couch, baby tucked against me, Percy draped around my head, all of us napping.
And drooling, including me.
When we woke, Zaza and Percy raced back to their building blocks, and I headed outside to check on the road. No plow had gone by yet, but I didn’t mind. Snowy roads meant Nicky couldn’t leave. For some reason, that made me happy, even as I knew I set myself up for a disappointing fall.
The situation was temporary. Nicky would leave as soon as the roads cleared. She’d go and I’d most likely never see her again, and that bummed me more than it should have.
It also led to my soldierly brain thinking up ways I could stall her departure.
A tree felled onto the road to impede the plow. Pulled spark plug so I couldn’t drive her anywhere.
Or I could just ask her to stay.
Which was probably the craziest idea of all.