“Za Za!” Skya growled.
Seri snorted. “None for you.”
“ZA ZA!” Skya demanded.
He turned a sharp look Severo’s way. “Don’t even think about it, Severo. She is too young for pizza. It’s too hard. You are lucky I let you sneak her those cookies you’ve gotten her addicted to. She has like four teeth.”
“I mean, two more are almost in. I think she’s finally catching up to the other babies her age.”
Seri glared.
“I won’t feed her pizza,” Severo quickly promised. “Why don’t you order it, and while I head out to pick it up, feed the little gummy bear here.”
“Can’t we just have it delivered?” Seri asked with a sigh, not wanting the man to go.
He kind of just wanted to feed Skya and set her down for her nap, so he could cuddle with Severo on the couch as they started the next movie. The closest pizza place wasn’t nearby, so the man likely wouldn’t be back before he finished, and he just wanted to be held after that one sad scene. Seri hated sad scenes in movies.
“Less people coming here the better. You know that. Unless you want me to ask Ender’s people to deliver a pizza?”
“Ugh, fine. You go get it. Though, you might as well order it on the way there, or it’ll be cold before you get back.”
“We should get one of those food warmers for the car.”
He snorted. “That’s such a waste of money.”
“It’s not that expensive. And that way all our pick-up orders will be nice and hot for us to eat, instead of lukewarm. Because what the drive doesn’t do, the cold outside does.”
“If this place wasn’t so far out from the rest of the city, our stuff would be warmer.”
“Yes…but it's less crowded out here.”
“Which is better. Go go.” Seri waved him on. “I’ll think about the food warmer.”
Severo smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. “I’ll be back soon enough.”
He shooed him away again with his hands, even as his cheeks flushed a bit.
Standing with Skya in his arms, he went to the kitchen table. Seri sat her down in her high chair, snagged her sippy cup and handed it to her as he went to fetch the mashed sweet potatoes from the fridge. She picked up the juice bottle and started to drink happily. It was watered down blueberry juice and strawberry juice with some scoops of powdered phosphorus in it. A recipe he found online that she seemed to love.
“Ready for some mashed sweet potatoes, dewdrop?”
She tossed her sippy cup with a giggle and squealed. “Tato tato!”
“Skya,” he admonished. “We do not throw things.”
“Tato tato!” she demanded loudly.
He rolled his eyes. “You are going to be such a handful once you are older, aren’t you?”
She blew a raspberry at him.
He snorted as he opened the jar and began to feed her.
She happily, and messily, ate, babbling the whole time up until she finished. That’s when she began to yawn.
“Ahh, perfect! Time for your nap,” he said with a grin as he wiped the excess food off her face.
She wrinkled her nose and glared, but didn’t say anything when he picked her up.
