Page 37 of How to Rescue Your Surprise Baby

Telos pretended not to notice, but his heart warmed.

At the dining table, Hilly-Billy and Hadley were playing with Estie. They held a colorful stuffed rabbit above her head, throwing it to each other until Estie grew frustrated.

She screeched suddenly, lengthening her body and arms so she could grab the rabbit.

The butler brothers stared at her, then at each other, and burst into identical smiles.

“That’s it,” Hilly-Billy said proudly. “You’re learning!”

That wasTelos’ daughter.He couldn’t believe she’d just figured it out, all on her own. Well, with some heckling from his brothers.

Telos stepped forward, scooping Estie into his arms. “You’re a smart lil cookie, aren’t ya?” He gave her a noisy kiss on the forehead, only for her to whack him in the face with her prize rabbit. “Oof.”

Estie giggled brightly.

“I can’t stay mad at you.” He swooped her into the air, his heart near-exploding when she kicked and laughed in his arms. Telos gave her another kiss.

He sneaked a look at Mav, and found Mav watching him.

His heart thumpedagain.

In a fit of insanity, Telos blurted, “Would you like to hold her?”

Mav blinked. His eyebrows went up. “Are you sure?”

“I’m not going to ask twice.”

Mav was in front of him faster than he expected, peering down at Estie. Estie babbled and thumped the rabbit against Telos’ chest, so Telos turned her around. “This is Grumpy Mav. Remember him?”

“Goo wah ah,” Estie said, smacking Mav with the rabbit, too.

Mav twitched, biting down a smile. He kept watching Estie, leaning toward her like... maybe he really wanted to hold her.

Telos swallowed hard. Then he held her out, meeting Mav’s eyes. “You can hold her for two minutes.”

Something flickered through Mav’s face. Disbelief, at the back of Telos’ mind.

And gratitude.

Like before, Mav took Estie carefully into his arms. His entire face softened when he looked at her, and it turned Telos’ insides into goop. Especially when Mav’s warmth came through their connection.

Mav didn’t even feel that way about Telos, but... he definitely did with Estie.

“Hi,” Mav said quietly to Estie, cracking a smile. “I’m happy to meet you again.”

Maybe... Maybe Telos could offer Mav time with Estie. Maybe that would be enough incentive for Mav to want to hang out with him.

He ignored his pounding heart, watching as Mav flashed his red eyes at Estie. Then Mav blew a small plume of orange flames into the air, and Estie’s entire body caught on fire.

“Estie,” Telos yelped.

“It’s fine,” Mav said. He held her more securely in his arms—the spelled clothing didn’t burn. Estie was a baby made of fire now—a firewalker—and her eyes glowed white, the outline of her body disappearing into the flames.

It unnerved Telos. If Estie had been in his arms when that happened, he might’ve dropped her in shock.

Suddenly, he didn’t feel prepared to be her dad at all.

“You’ll learn to deal with it,” Mav said, glancing at him. “You just need to keep a layer of spelled fabric between your body and hers at all times.”

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