Page 37 of Monster's Baby

“Don’t be ridiculous.This is Professor Reynolds.”

“Because that’s not just as ridiculous.”

I laughed and closed the door, locking it behind me.“I know, right?”I fabricated a few toys; a set of stacking cups, a stuffed bat, and a more complicated sorting game.“Here you go, professor.”

“What happened to him?”Darragh asked.

I explained the situation, and he hummed in all the appropriate places.“Fascinating.What progress have you made?”

“Well, he’s not an infant any more, but I’m not sure if it’s wearing off or if something we did yesterday worked on a delayed timer.”I sat down, exasperated, and pulled out my grimoire.“You haven’t heard of anything like this happening before?”

“Definitely not.”Darragh hummed for a moment.“Nostalgia and a love spell, eh?Mayhaps he was thinking fondly of his childhood and reverted at that thought?Have you contacted his parents?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” I said, surprised.“That’s a good idea.”I deflated again.“The professors probably have thought of it, though.”

“You won’t know until you ask.”Darragh stroked his beard.“Anything useful in your grimoire?”

I flipped through the pages idly.“Nothing yet.I haven’t really been searching, though.This wasn’t an intentional curse, you know.Pages were moved accidentally.”

Professor Reynolds tugged on my skirt hem.“Up!”he demanded.

“You want to see my grimoire, too?”I said, hesitating.“It’s my family spell book.I’m not sure how much you’ll remember when you’re fully grown again.”

“Up!”he demanded again, lifting one leg to try to climb onto my lap.

He didn’t succeed in doing anything but falling on his butt.He looked surprised for a second, and then started crying.

“Oh, you poor thing,” I cooed, and then cleared my throat.“Sorry about that, professor.”I held my arms open.“I’m trying to treat you like your adult self, but sometimes little kids just want a cuddle.This is hard for me, too, in vastly different ways, obviously.”

Professor Reynolds let me pull him to his feet and pick him up.I hugged him loosely, fully expecting him to slide off my lap and back onto the floor when he got bored.

He didn’t, instead twisting and turning around until he was facing the desk.He reached out for the book, but I pushed it out of the way of his grasping baby fingers.He screwed up his face, ready to cry again.

“Oh, no you don’t,” I scolded him.“This is not for you, no matter your age.”

The toddler pouted for a moment before squirming off my lap and walking over to the sorting toy.

I watched him for a moment before returning my attention to the grimoire.I sighed.“Maybe there’s something about maturing plants or livestock that could be applied here,” I suggested to Darragh.

“That’s clever thinking!”he said encouragingly.

“Pssh, I bet you say that to all the ancestors.”

“Only if they deserve it.”

By the time dinner rolled around, I had a headache and I was no closer to an attempt than I had been before I entered the study room.I hoped Aiden had had more success with his thesis.

Thinking about his thesis made my stomach jump uncomfortably with guilt.I should have been using my study time more efficiently to start writing my own.I had enough notes to start writing the report, or at least the discoveries that we had made when the ley lines had been bottled up at the Ayers Rock nexus point.I needed to start writing them down in proper form.

I once again wished that I had access to a computer.

We reached the mess hall after most of my friends.Aiden was saving us seats, so I left the professor with him and went to get my food.He looked more relaxed.

He didn’t leave me in suspense once I sat down.He kissed my cheek.“I fixed everything Professor Reynolds had flagged.It was a simple math issue.”

“I highly doubt it was simple,” I replied.

Aiden shrugged.“It wasn’t.But it was just that, not more than that.”

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