Page 7 of How to Rescue Your Surprise Baby

“I don’t need chest hair in my food,” Telos grumbled, getting up to stuff his second pot pie into the microwave.

While his food was heating, he paced, keeping his eyes on his phone. He could feel Mav watching him. He pulled out his third frozen meal—roast beef, green beans, and fried potatoes—and used a plastic spoon to make himself a PB&J sandwich.

He’d eaten two sandwiches by the time his remaining frozen meals were heated through. Telos piled another sandwich on his pot pie, stacked them on his roast beef tray, and grabbed a bottle of soda.

“Heading out?” Mav asked.

“Sitting outside for a while.” Telos stole the car key and left the hotel room.

He took a deep breath when the room door shut behind him. Space away from Mav was a good thing; he could hear himself think. Telos got into the passenger seat of the rental car and pushed it all the way back, stretching his legs. Then he rolled down the windows for a cross breeze, eating without paying attention to his food.

Somewhere out there, he had a baby. A baby with his nose and his abilities. She was starting to shapeshift, and... did it make her laugh? What did she sound like when she giggled?

Telos realized suddenly that he’d gonesix monthswithout knowing of her existence. Without seeing her first milestones.

Then he grew mad at Samantha for hiding his baby from him. But Samantha didn’t want to be Estie’s parent anymore—Telos would get Estie for the rest of his life. He’d get the rest of Estie’s milestones.

That was, if he found her, instead of letting the kidnappers train her into a soldier. The kidnappers wanted to deprive her of a fun and loving dad, deprive her of her entire childhood, and they’d punish her for the smallest things.

Without thinking, Telos crushed the pot pie in his fists. He only realized what he’d done when warm gravy oozed all over his fingers. “Damn it.”

He licked the gravy off his hands and turned the ruined pie upside down, so it fell into his roast beef and fried potatoes. Then he shoveled it all into his mouth and chewed with a vengeance.

I’m going to get you out of there, Estie, and make sure you have a safe home with me.

Not that he was ready for a baby in any way.

With a sigh, Telos pulled out his phone and dialed.

Hilly-Billy answered almost immediately. Most days, he pretended to be a young guy working in IT—square glasses, button-down shirt, complete with a bow tie. “Brother Master! What can I do for you?”

The knot in Telos’ chest loosened a little. He breathed out. “Butler Brother, Minion. I need you to acquire a full collection ofbaby accessories. Crib, clothes, toys, the works. And I need it all fireproofed.”

Hilly-Billy gasped. “You have a baby on the way?”

“Apparently I have a six-month-old. Her name is Estie. And she’s been kidnapped.”

Hilly-Billy swore. “Let me get on that immediately.” There came typing sounds from a keyboard. “Huh.”

“What is it?”

“Looks like all the fireproofed cribs in Cartfalls are backordered. There’s been a surge of people buying cribs.”

Telos didn’t know if it was his friends buying them up, or the kidnappers. “Damn it. Surely we can just buy a regular one, and have someone fireproof it.”

“That’ll take a while.” Hilly-Billy continued to type into his computer. “The very best spell casters are booked up, too—”

“You can borrow mine,” Mav said from inside the hotel room.

Telos swiveled his head to stare at the closed door. “Wait. Did I just hear Mav—stuck-up, holier-than-thou, dino-hating Mav—offer to lend me his crib?”

Hilly-Billy gasped. “Are you serious? Did you wriggle your majestic dino butt—”

“No!” Telos said before Hilly-Billy could divulge anything more incriminating. “I was probably hearing things.”

“You’re not,” came Mav’s reply.

Telos’ heart skipped a beat. “You’reeavesdroppingon me,” he hissed, embarrassed. His chest grew warm anyway. “Why do you even have a crib?”

---