Page 35 of The Devil's Ice

The boy’s eyes had barely popped open when Wolf offered him the bottle. Right away, he accepted it, sucking away with an intensity that would make a random observer think that he hadn’t been fed in days. In reality, it had been maybe an hour; not that Wolf had any real sense of time.

“So,” Wolf said at a normal speaking volume, now that there was no need to be quiet. “What’ll we do today, do you think? The zoo? A park? Go swimmin’?”

They gazed at him, their identical eyes so peaceful and calm, yet somehow watchful. He didn’t think for one second that they understood his words, of course, but hedidget the feeling that they responded to his tone. He wasn’t a warm man, not even slightly, but he didn’t think that growling at the babies was the way to go, so he’d adopted a modified way of talking to them. It wasn’t awesome, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances.

“Hey, I know what we can do.” Wolf gave them a smile, hoped that it wasn’t terrifying to them. “I ain’t got a clue what your Mom and Dads named you, but I can’t really go on callin’ you ‘hey you’ and ‘baby girl’ and ‘little boy’, right? How’s about I come up with some names for you? Just temporary names, until we get you back to where you belong, which ain’t gonna be too long now, I promise. What do you think?”

They stared at him solemnly, and he nodded as if they’d answered.

“OK, then. That’s a plan.” He picked up the baby girl, wrapped the blanket around her chubby legs, held her against his broad chest and started to pat her on the back with one hand, still feeding her brother with the other. “So… what do we callyou?”

She immediately released a massive belch, and Wolf huffed out a laugh. For such a small thing she could burp like a goddamn sailor, and Wolf actually found that kind of funny.

“Thatain’t much of a name for such a beautiful little girl,” he chided her, still patting gently. “I was thinkin’ somethin’ more like… uh…”

He paused, mentally running through the women that he knew intimately, which was pretty much the only way that he knew women besides Zoe, Jo and Elle. His mind ran through the quite lengthy list of his former bedmates: Crystal, Ginger, Brandy, Kitty, Bambi.

“Huh. Funny thing,” he told the babies. “I just realized that most of the girls I hang out with kind of have stripper names. I mean, nothin’wrongwith that, and I swear they’re nice girls, but… well… I can’t see your Mom bein’ too thrilled with callin’ you somethin’ like ‘Tawny’ or ‘Chardonnay’, even if it’s just temporary, right?”

The little boy sneezed and then farted, and Wolf grinned at him.

“I see we’re in agreement about your sister’s name, then. OK, so… maybe back to some basic names? I ain’t a traditional man, which might surprise you to hear, but it’s true, so I might struggle comin’ up with a more old-fashioned kinda name. Ummm…” He stared at her sweet little face, and a kid’s story swam up out of his hazy memory. “How do you feel about Alice?”

She burped again, gave an indignant yell.

“OK, OK, not that one.” Wolf rubbed her back. “Ummm… maybe a princess name? Elizabeth? No? Uh – Charlotte?”

She kicked him, but it felt like an approving kick.

“OK, little princess. Charlotte it is.” He carefully stroked her peach-fuzz head, amazed all over again at how small and delicate it was in his rough hands. “I might call you Charlie, when we get to know each other better.”

She yawned, and Wolf laid her down again on the thin mattress, covered her with the blanket. He picked her brother up now, repeated the patting and rubbing circles process on his back.

“Now you, big man,” Wolf said. “Who areyougonna be, even just for a little while?”

The baby frowned up at him in a way that strongly reminded Wolf of his Dads: he had the thunderous scowl down pretty well, which amused Wolf to no end.

“You say you ain’t a traditional man? OK, fair enough and just between you and me, your Dads ain’t super traditional either, so you come by it honestly, kid.”

The baby burped, not as loudly as Charlotte, but still pretty damn impressive.

“So somethin’ a bit off-beat, huh? Like a road name?” Wolf rocked the baby a bit, then had a thought. “What about Rocker?”

The baby’s frown deepened.

“OK, that wasclearlydisappointin’. My apologies.” Wolf cocked his head at the severe little face. “Ummm… maybe Judge? ‘Cause Iswearyou’re judgin’ me right now, kid.”

Those blue eyes gazed at him straight-on, just held Wolf’s own stare, and Wolf nodded.

“Yeah, Judge it is, and for damn sure.”

He put the little boy down next to his sister, and placed a hand on each of their stomachs. They lay still under his touch, just looking at him.

“Charlotte and Judge, I’m Wolf. I’m kind of your… well, I guess I’m your uncle. A bit. Like not by blood, but in all the ways that matter, I am.” He took a deep breath. “And as your uncle, I’m makin’ you a promise: I’m gonna take care of you, whatever you need, as long as we’re here together. I wouldneverbe anyone’s first choice for this job, and I know it damn good and well, and I’m gonna screw this up in too many ways to count, and I’m sure that I alreadyhave– but I’ll lay down my life protectin’ yours. You got my word on that. I’m gettin’ you back home to your Mom and Dads, whatever I have to do to make that happen.”

The babies blinked at him and waved their hands, and he felt like warmth and light had just moved around the dim little room.

“OK, good talk.” Wolf got up. “So… who needs changin’ first?”

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