They stare at each other wide eyed, now both standing on opposite sides of the bed.
Severo broke first. Rubbing his face, the man began to chuckle. “Well…”
“She… We…” Seri giggled softly, face heating more. “We could…put her in my room. She should be fine, as long as we use the baby monitor.”
It would be their first time using it…as one of them always either napped with Skya, or they kept her right next to them as she slept.
“I’ll go do that…” Severo said. The Dweller turned to leave, but suddenly stopped. Severo spun back around and asked, “Where is the monitor?”
Seri laughed. “In my closet, still in its box.”
“Right!”
Seri watched as the man went over to Skya and ruffled her curls, before pulling her and her crib away, out of the room.
Taking a deep breath, Seri got back on the bed, patting his chest. “Calm… Calm…” He took another deep breath, this time through his mouth and out of his gills.
Calm?! Who the hell was he kidding? Severo just kissed him! How could he be calm?! And they…were they going to…
Oh Goddess…they weren’t going to have sex, were they? Or were they? Could he even handle sex?
It was… He… He bunched his hands in his lap, pressing down on his erection, trying to will it away. Seri couldn’t do this… He couldn’t…
But…maybe…they could just kiss a little. Would it be okay to just do that, after having the man drag Skya away? What even was this? What were they doing…?
He sagged on the bed with a groan.
Severo pushedSkya and her crib back into Seri’s room.
“Oh-Oh!” Skya huffed as she was placed right next to Seri’s bed.
He scooped her up and nuzzled his nose into hers. “Ahh, my little gummy bear. I know you have decided now was the time to be wide awake and nosy, but now is not the time.” He kissed her forehead before laying her back down. “Please, go to sleep.”
Severo went to the closet, praying to the void that the monitor came with power cells, so it wasn’t one more thing that he had to find. Opening the door, his brow rose at how organized everything was. Well, as organized as a stack of boxes could be. On spotting the baby monitor box on top of a stack, he grabbed it and looked it over, sighing in relief at seeingPower Cell Included.
Quickly opening it, he speed-read the instructions before tossing the box back inside the closet. Popping the power cells into the small perfectly round devices, he moved to Skya’s side and set one monitor on the bed.
Clearing his throat, with the monitor for their room in his hand, he said, “Hello.”
He relaxed when, while no sound came out of the one on the bed, he heard himself from the one he was holding. Satisfied that they weren’t about to scar Skya, he glanced at her.
She was standing there glaring at him. Probably not knowing what he was up to, but not liking that she’d been brought in here alone. “Oh-Oh,” Skya accused.
Severo winced. “Look…if you go to sleep, I’ll give you all the cookies you want tomorrow.”
Her face pinched, before she flopped back into bed and didn’t make another peep.
Ahh, smart, adorable baby that he loved so much… Oh void, he did love her, didn’t he? And it wasn’t…just her… When had that happened…
Mind lost in thoughts, he backed up out of the room, and slowly closed the door.
The truth was…Severo couldn’t imagine waking up and not finding Seri and Skya there.
Which made what was happening even more…serious. Because, he needed to make whatever was about to happen work. Severo needed to not fuck this up. He wasn’t sure he’d survive letting them go. The idea made his stomach churn, and his heart race in fear.
He shook his head, realizing he’d just been standing there staring at the closed door. It was not the time to freak out and think about the future. Things were too unresolved right now to have those thoughts… He spun on his heel and headed back to his room.
Seri looked up when Severo walked back in and closed the door behind him. He had a smile on his face, but it was tense.
