Page 9 of My Demon Manny

Lux smiled as he spotted me, then shot to his feet to take a plate from me. Glancing over at the still-sleeping baby, I settled on the other end of the couch as Lux took his first bite and smiled widely.

"This pasta is amazing!"

Laughing, I gave him a slight tilt of my head as I got comfortable. "Thanks. It's my mom's recipe." It'd been long enough since her death that just talking about her didn't cause me pain, but I wished she'd gotten to meet her grandson. She'd have adored him.

"Well, it's absolutely delicious."

We ate in relative silence, neither of us with any intention to break it.

When you lived with a baby, you learned to treasure every second of quiet you got, because you knew it could all disappear at any moment.

After dinner, Lux offered to clean up while I gave Gunner a bath, and I carried Gunner into his nursery, grabbing fresh clothes before taking him into the ensuite. I didn't give him a bath every day just yet, instead doing an alternate day schedule.

Gunner loved baths, and like every single time, he enjoyed splashing me with water as I cleaned him up, and I laughed as I avoided getting sprayed in the face with soapy water.

Once Gunner was clean and smelling like strawberries, I quickly dried him, put on a fresh diaper, and slid on his pajama onesie. It had closed sleeves and legs so he wouldn't tug at his hair or toes at night—Gunnerreallyloved pulling at things—and a cute unicorn print.

When Lux appeared in the nursery, I was just settling into the rocking chair. He blinked, then smiled, taking a step back.

"Would you like me to leave?"

I should've probably let him go. He'd been working all day since he showed up, and he needed his rest too. But I felt like I hadn't spent time with an adult in so long, and I didn't want him to go just yet.

"Or I could read Gunner a story while you rock him?" he offered, and I nodded instantly.

Smiling, Lux walked over to the tiny bookshelf and pulled out a book about a lost rabbit. I'd read almost all of them to Gunner at least once, and I remembered he'd cheered especially loud for this one, probably because of the brightly colored pictures inside.

Grabbing a chair from the corner of the room, he slid it beside the armchair, then settled in. Our arms brushed as he reached over to tweak Gunner's nose, who peered up at him as if he was his new favorite person.

Leaning back into his chair, Lux started reading, making faces as the story went, changing his voices with the characters, and just having fun with it.

As I watched Gunner and Lux, I couldn't decide which one of them was enjoying it more.

Lux must've read the story three times before Gunner dozed off, and when he did, Lux gave me a cheesy little thumbs up that almost made me laugh.

Slowly rising to my feet, I placed Gunner in his crib. For a moment, I just gazed down at him, running the pad of my finger over his chubby cheek. This little kid was the most precious person to me now. He'd only been in my life for a little over six months, and yet I was ready to throw everything away for him.

Exhaling softly, I leaned down and pressed a kiss to Gunner's forehead before taking a step back. Turning around, I switched on the baby camera, then handed Lux one of the monitors while I kept the other.

"Um, good night," I said, and he smiled. Even though he'd worked all day, his smile hadn't dimmed in the slightest. I was a little bit in awe of him as we left the room, and I found myself wanting to say something so he'd know his work was appreciated. "Hey, Lux?'

"Yeah?" he asked, pausing at his door to glance at me.

"You did a great job today. Thanks for all your help."

Impossibly, his smile brightened. "My pleasure, Archer. Actually, it didn't feel like a job at all."

Before I could say anything in reply, he gave me a little finger wave and ducked into his room, softly shutting the door behind him.

Shaking my head, I walked across the hallway to my own bedroom.

As soon as I'd cleaned up and fallen into bed, I was asleep.

Five

Lux

I glanced down atthe list in my hand, then searched the shelves. Where the hell were the fancy brands?

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