Page 37 of Spirit Island

Jane felt arush of gratitude. “Please. Where can I take him?”

He stood withthem both in his arms and walked to a room with light and prettycolours. It also had a huge rocking chair in one corner. He set herin the chair, propped her up with pillows, and then left.

She settledinto the rocking chair and got Terro calmed down in twentyminutes.

She exhaled,got them both presentable, and walked out to the living room again.Andreux smiled. “I got your baby bag from your hotel room,including milk for the bottles. Also, your clothing and computersand things, but you can use my rig if you like.”

“So, you wouldlike us to move in with you?” Jane raised her brows.

“I would liketo have one of those ceremonies that Ligo, Iro, and Orla had.”

Jane blinked.“Oh. That would be nice, I think. Do you think you can deal with usaround the clock?”

“I think thatyou work behind your screen, and my parents are loving the idea ofhaving a grandson around to teach the family business.”

Jane smiled.“You are offering to be a house husband with your family asnannies?”

He shrugged.“To start. I stay at home most days anyway when not working on thetea harvest.”

“Well, then, Iam going to need my own office, or I will drive you nuts. I hum, Iwhistle, and I blast music while I work.”

“I can get usedto it.” He smiled. “If not, one of us can use the guesthouse as ouroffice.”

“You are usinga lot ofours.”

“Call mehopeful.” He grinned.

She changedTerro in the traditional way but disposed of the diaper in the samevolcano that she had been sending them since he was born. Othersassumed that they went to a landfill, but for her, it was a volcanoall the way.

She washed herhands as Terro sprinted around, laughing.

Andreuxmurmured, “Does he need toys?”

“Do you havecoconuts around?”

“Yeah.”

“Husk him acoconut army. He loves them.”

“A coconut...army?”

“More thanfour.”

“Oh. Right.Give me a few minutes.”

They heard“ooooooo,” from around the corner.

Jane bolted.“That’s his technology pitch.”

Andreux lungedinto the room, and then, there was giggling before she made itaround the corner. Terro was clutching a mouse being held high andclapping to click the buttons.

Jane pluckedthe mouse from his hands. He looked at her, his lip came out, andhe wailed.

Andreux lookedat her. “How long does this last?”

“Hours, days?Maybe five minutes?” She shrugged. “This is just for theatrics. Youcan tell by the lower lip, and he keeps checking yourexpression.”

“Whoa.”

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