Page 86 of The Accidental Dragon Baby

“They’re old computer manuals.” Ace scratched his head sheepishly. “Most of these operating systems are no longer in use.”

Ivo stared. “And you... collect them?”

“Most people have thrown these manuals away,” Ace said, puffing out his chest. “These books are nowrare.”

“And obsolete,” came Harvey’s voice from elsewhere in the mansion.

“Shut up,” Ace muttered. He ushered Ivo deeper into the hoard, past several bookcases that he occasionally came in to admire. “I love computers. I’m terrible at understanding them, but every time a new operating system was invented, I would buy the manual in the hopes that it would be the one that spoke to me.”

“Did any of them speak to you?” Ivo asked, wide-eyed.

Ace shook his head. “At this point, if any of these manuals spoke to me, I’d think it was possessed.”

Ivo stifled a giggle. “But you use a computer for work.”

“The most idiot-proof one,” Ace said dryly. As a CFO, all he used were the same old finance programs. Until they self-installedtheir horrible updates. “Twice a week, I call tech support for help.”

“I might be able to help,” Ivo said slowly. “I took some computer classes in school.”

Ace’s heart swelled. “Oh, yes. I would love it if you could help. In fact, you could help me from my lap.”

Ivo coughed lightly. “I don’t know. We might get... distracted.”

“You’d be helping me with my... hard drive.”

Ivo groaned into his hands.

“I know! I could build you a nest here,” Ace said, ideas springing into his mind. “Surrounded by a low wall of computer manuals. And we could have a nest in my office, made with cushions, and a nest in the kitchen, made with your favorite food!”

Ivo laughed, his cheeks turning pink. “I don’t know, wasn’t I supposed to stay put in one nest?”

“If all the nests have everything you need, I don’t see why you can’t hop from one to the other. In fact, my desk could be on the edge of the office nest.” Ace rubbed Ivo’s belly; it seemed rounder every time he saw it. And... maybe there were more heartbeats than he had expected. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

At his serious tone, Ivo looked up. “What is it?”

“We tracked down Watsonator’s various operations,” Ace said solemnly. “We found a few mink coats.”

Ivo breathed in sharply.

“What do you think we should do with them?” Ace asked.

Ivo swallowed hard. “I think... I think you could donate them to animal shelters. The baby animals are cold a lot of the time, and mink coats are good at keeping them warm.”

Ace’s heart swelled. He hugged Ivo close and nuzzled his hair. “We’ll do that.”

Ivo’s smile wobbled. “Thanks.”

Faintly, Ace heard Mary calling out for her dad. He scooped Ivo into his arms and brought him upstairs, to the nursery. Mary was using the bars of her crib to pull herself to her feet.

“Do you think she wants to see my hoard?” Ace asked.

Ivo looked pensive. “I don’t know. Do you have children’s books in there?”

“Not yet. But I’ll find something that she might like. C’mon.” Ace waited for Ivo to scoop Mary into his arms. He brought the two of them back into his hoard, where Mary eyed the shelves crammed with books.

Ace loved her so much, his heart could burst. He sat Ivo on a comfy couch and gave him the most colorful computer manual he could find. “Do you think she would like that?”

He held his breath as Ivo opened the book in front of Mary. It was filled with dense lines of text, but when they got to a page filled with colorful rectangles, Mary tried to grab them.

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