Page 30 of Kiss of Fury

“Can I ride her, too?”

“When she’s trained, and you’re older,” he replied and then realized he should have consulted with Verity before making any commitments.

Brody grinned, the gap in his teeth making him appear mischievous. “I thought you’d say no.”

Probably he should have. He had no idea how to parent a kid; he was flying by the seat of his pants. He let Brody pet and talk to the animal for a little while longer, and then he had him wash his hands in the barn sink and announced they had to go. Brody skipping along beside him on the way to the mess hall.

Kuadra, the cashier, grinned when she spotted the boy. “We have a special kid’s menu tonight—horniger dogs and moon rocks.”

“What’s a horniger dog?”

“It’s as close to a hot dog as you’re going to get,” he said. He and Verity had talked to Phibious who’d talked to the head cook at the mess hall who’d concocted a horniger sausage.

“Cool,” he said.

“One for him—and can I have the kid’s meal, too?” He handed over his pay card. Under Solutions’ control, he’d consumed nutri-slop all of his life. He’d never eaten a frank. He had no idea how this would compare, but he was eager to try it.

Kuadra shrugged. “Sure.”

“Better give me four of them.” One for Brody, three for him. If he normally ate two adult meals, he’d need more of the kid-sized meal.

They collected their trays. “Oh.” Brody frowned at his plate.

“You don’t like the horniger dog?” They had hoped to surprise him.

“The horn dog looks good, but I thought the moon rocks would be…moon rocks. They’re Tater Tots!”

“Maybe they taste like moon rocks,” Fury suggested.

“You think so?” His voice rose on a hopeful note. This was the same kid who rejected the food as too strange the first night.

He shrugged. “Maybe! We’ll see. Let’s get a seat.”

They joined a group of aliens at a table for ten with two spots open. “You’d prefer rocks to Tater Tots?”

“I can have Tater Tots any time.” He poked one with his fork.

“Not anymore,” he replied in a quiet voice.

The implication rippled across Brody’s face. “Mom and I can’t ever go back to Earth, can we?”

“No.” Once he was an adult, he’d be safe, but the Dorns might trump up some fake charges againstVerity. “But that’s good for me because then you can stay with me.” He bit into his horniger dog. Meaty, a little spicy.

Brody did the same.

“Well?” Fury asked.

“Good.”

“It is good,” he agreed and tried a moon rock. Fried starch of some sort. Rather tasty.

“Is it like a Tater Tot?” Brody asked.

“I’ve never had Tater Tots.”

“You haven’t?”

“No.”

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