Page 30 of My Demon Manny

I glanced down at myself and wrinkled my nose at the spit-up and various other unidentifiable stains. With a bit of magic, I changed my clothes, sending the dirty ones into the laundry basket, then took Gunner over to his crib, placing him inside.

"Are you hungry? Let me grab you a bottle, and then maybe you could take a nap, hmm?"

I bustled around the kitchen, readying his bottle, and I'd just started feeding him when I heard the garage gate open.

"Your dad's here!" I murmured, my voice undeniably excited.

Since Archer was bringing the food, I wanted to contribute something to our date too. I had the image all set in my mind, so it took just a snap of my fingers to transform the living room just the way I'd imagined. I hoped Archer would like it. Gunner certainly did, if the way his eyes flicked around as he drank his formula was anything to go by.

The garage gate slid closed, and I took a deep breath, holding it in as I waited for Archer to step through the door.

Archer

Clutching the bag of food in my left hand, I pushed open the garage door with my right, stepping into the house and closing it behind me.

When I walked into the living room, I stopped short, surprised.

Lux was placing Gunner in his crib, and he glanced up at me the moment I stepped inside, a smile lighting up his face.

"Hey!" he greeted as he straightened up, and I headed over to him.

"Lux..." I trailed off, glancing around us once again. "Did you do all of this?"

"Um, yeah. But don't worry—I did it with my magic, and it's not dangerous at all."

I hadn't been worried, not at all. Mostly, I was just in awe.

Scattered all over the room were more than fifty candles, filling the room with a warm, yellow light. Lux had turned off the overhead lamp, instead stringing golden fairy lights around. Soft music played in the background, and the couch, armchairs, and coffee table had been moved to the side so the rarely used dining table could sit in the place of pride, a tablecloth I most definitely didn't own covering its surface, along with a small glass vase with a single red rose inside.

"Lux, this is beautiful." I was stunned at all the effort he'd put into this. Sure, he probably did most of it with his magic since he must've been busy taking care of Gunner, but he'd still put a lot of thought into it. No one had ever done anything like this for me before.

"You like it then? I was worried it would be too much." He tugged at his hair, a bundle of nerves, and I grabbed his hand with my free one, bringing it between us and giving it a squeeze.

"I love it. Give me five minutes to change, and then we can get started on our date."

"Okay! I'll keep the food warm." Taking the bag of takeout from me, he shooed me off, and I hurried into my bedroom.

I hadn't wanted to go pick up the food all dressed up, but now I changed into some nice dress slacks, and a pale pink button-down that Jerry had told me showed off all my best features, whatever that meant.

Lux had transferred all the food from the cartons to bowls, and the aroma of warm, spicy food filled the air. Lux wanted to try out various cuisines, and we'd already had Japanese, Mexican, Greek, and Thai so I'd picked up food from my favorite Korean restaurant for our date.

Smiling at Lux, I walked over to the crib and peeked in first, smiling at Gunner's sleeping face. His post-meal naps in the evening only lasted for an hour or so now, and then he needed one final playtime and diaper change before he was ready for bed. I didn't think he'd wake up for the duration of our meal since Lux had just put him down.

Walking back to Lux, I smiled, my eyes roaming over his form. He wasn't dressed in his usual brightly colored clothes tonight. Instead, he wore a form-fitting blue button-down that brought out the blue of his eyes, and slim-fit dark jeans that wrapped around his thighs oh-so-well.

His blond hair hung across his forehead, looking the perfect mix of styled and mussed. God, he made quite the sight. How had I lucked into finding someone like him?

I supposed I owed some thanks to Fate for crossing our paths and bringing us together.

Pulling a chair out, I gestured for Lux to take a seat, and he did so with a pleased little smile.

Walking around the table, I took my own seat, and then we spent a few moments just gazing at each other. We'd already spent so much time together, and gotten to know each other so well that now I couldn't find a topic of conversation. What were we supposed to talk about?

"Okay, this is a little awkward," Lux said with a small laugh, and I grinned.

"Yeah. It is. It's okay, though. We'll figure it out. How about we eat this delicious meal and then see where things take us?"

Lux nodded quickly, and I smiled as I uncovered one of the bowls, breathing in the scent of kimchi chigae. The spicy stew was right up Lux's alley, and I scooped him a big helping of it before taking some for myself.

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