Page 29 of My Demon Manny

Smiling, I sat back on the couch and waited for him to look up again. He already looked a little lighter, as if my assurance was all he'd needed.

"Now that that's settled...Lux, would you like to go out to dinner with me sometime?"

Lux's brows furrowed. "What about Gunner? Couldn't we just eat at home? I can magic up any food you want to eat."

I blinked, then laughed softly as I realized he'd taken my question literally.

Smiling fondly at him, I reached out and placed my hand over his on Gunner's chest, waiting until he glanced back up and met my eyes.

"What I was trying to say is—would you go on a date with me, Lux?"

Lux blinked, his lips parted, and he sucked in a sharp breath, his hand twitching under mine.

"Really?"

I nodded, and he exhaled in a soft, shuddery breath. Then, he smiled the most brilliant smile I'd ever seen and said the word I'd been hoping to hear. "Yes!"

Thirteen

Lux

Archer and I decidedto have our date at home so we wouldn't have to ask his friends to babysit again. I also liked the idea of having Gunner with us, because he was and would be an important part of whatever relationship we built together.

After all, Gunner was the whole reason we'd met. Who knew how much longer it would've taken our paths to cross if not for the little one?

Humming to myself, I walked around the living room with Gunner wrapped against my chest with the baby wrap cloth. Humans could be so ingenious sometimes. They made up for alot of their weakness through science and technology, and I was always a little in awe of all they'd managed to do without magic. It was probably one of the reasons why magic was kept a secret from humans. If they could do all this without magic, lord knew what they'd come up with if they got their hands on it.

Gunner babbled at me, and I glanced down at him with a raised brow, offering him my tail to play with since he seemed to love it so much.

Having Gunner wrapped around my human form hadn't felt secure for some reason, so I'd shifted into my true form, and he felt much safer. It didn't hurt that I'd looped my tail around him too, just in case the wrap accidentally came loose or something.

"What's that, Gungun? You're wondering what your dad has planned for our evening?" I asked as I started stacking his toys into the basket. They'd inevitably be on the floor again in a few hours, but I liked the routine of my tasks, and it was the only thing keeping me from worrying myself into a spiral about our date tonight.

I wasn't sure exactly what was making me so nervous. Maybe it was because everything had happened so fast, or the fact that I hadn't really expected Archer to return my feelings, much less want to go out with me, especially after he knew what I was.

Archer's acceptance of our mate bond had been a surprise, but I supposed even if humans couldn't sense their mates, they must have some kind of instinct that told them their mate was a good match for them. I knew humans sometimes did find their fated mates. That was how the concept of soulmates was created in their world. Still, the number of humans who ended up with their mates was laughably small, despite their large population compared to the supes.

If both people were clueless about the bond they shared, they were so much less likely to fight for each other.

I, on the other hand, would've readily stuck around as Gunner's manny—a term Jerry had introduced me to—if Archer hadn't returned my feelings, simply because I knew that sooner or later, he would. It was fated to be, and all I would've needed was a little bit of patience.

"Okay, Gungun. We really need to stop getting caught up in these thoughts," I told the baby, who giggled at my troubles. Smiling and tweaking his nose, I walked over to his nursery, realizing the little mister was ready for a diaper change.

I had to shift back after I'd placed him on the changing table since I couldn't exactly change him when I had claws instead of fingers. Once I was back in my human form, I quickly changed Gunner while telling him about the first time I'd visited the human realm after Underworld closed down.

"It was so beautiful, Gungun. There were trees everywhere; the lakes were pristine and clear. There was no plastic, no garbage everywhere, no tall buildings blocking out the sky. Everything was just...wonderful."

Gunner gazed up at me with wide blue eyes, as if he could understand everything I was saying. Shaking my head, I smiled at him as I stuck on the last tab of the diaper, then slid him back into his onesie, zipping it up.

"There. You're back to your handsome self."

Putting away the wipes and powder, I picked him up and carried him back into the living room, wondering again at how easygoing Gunner was sometimes.

Recently, we'd started leaving him at night when he woke up. Archer hadn't been able to do it when it was just him, so it'd taken until I arrived to teach Gunner to self-soothe. (Not that it was any easier for me, but with the two of us, we held each other accountable in an 'if I have to suffer, so do you' way.)

Even so, Gunner rarely cried for long, even at night. I wasn't sure if we just excelled at taking care of him, or if he was justan especially easy-going child, but either way, we were grateful. Not that I wouldn't have adored him just as much if he was a screaming hellion, but I was glad he wasn't.

"Oh, Gungun, look at the time! Your dad will be here any minute!" Archer had gone out to get us some food, since the place he wanted to get it from didn't offer delivery. It was where he would've taken me if we'd gone out, and I was looking forward to the meal. I loved trying new human foods.

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