Page 20 of His Little Garnet

“You won’t have the strength to even speak for the first few days. I don’t want you to wake up scared. It will seem like no time has passed for you. In a few hours, we’ll be on the transport vessel, and when you wake up, it will seem like we were just sitting here talking to each other.”

She swallows but doesn’t look away.

“Those first few weeks will be an adjustment for both of us, but I want you to know you will always be safe and secure. I will make sure you’re fed and changed. I won’t leave you unattended unless you’re safely in your crib.”

She gasps.

I bring her fingers to my lips and kiss them again, this time pricking her pinky. Her heart is beating too fast.

She tries to jerk her hand away, but I grasp onto her small fingers and hold them to my lips, kissing and pricking every one, my gaze locked on her face.

Her pulse slows as I soothe her with my serum.

“That’s not fair,” she informs me.

I lift a brow and smile. “But it works.”

She sighs. “I’m not sure I like this plan of yours, Chadka.”

I flinch. “Ah, so now I’m no longer Papi?” I tease, reminding myself not to let my feelings get injured here. She’s going to be argumentative for a while. It’s natural and expected.

She sighs dramatically, and her stomach growls.

“You need another bottle, Baby girl.” I rise, holding her in my arms. I’m not about to put her down. Not for a moment. I can’t stand the idea of releasing her. I need her skin against mine perhaps more than she needs mine against hers.

“I don’t want to drink from a bottle,” she argues, bucking her small frame in my arms.

I hold her hand firmly against her chest. Her other hand is tucked carefully across her belly. “The formula in your bottles is designed specifically for you, Baby girl. You need every drop of it. When I feed you, I’ll expect you to finish every drop.” I lift a brow, hoping she understands the importance.

As I reach into the fridge to pull out a bottle and shake it, she watches me closely. “You can’t make me.”

I grin and kiss her forehead. “I can, Baby girl. I’d rather not, but I certainly can,” I warn her. “Remember earlier I told you there will be consequences for naughty behavior.”

“If you care about me so much, why do you want to punish me?” She wiggles hard in my grasp.

Even though I want her to behave, I also love her spunk and how feisty she is. I know the answer to this argument. “Same reason parents on Earth discipline their children. Because they love them unconditionally and want them to be safe.”

“Taking a bottle doesn’t make me safe,” she protests.

“It definitely does, Baby girl. For one thing, it has exactly what you need for the next six months, like I told you. For another thing, it keeps your bowels moving regularly. That’s very important. When we arrive, I’ll still bottle feed you all the time until you have all your strength back, and then I’ll slowly introduce new foods to you, same as human parents do on Earth.”

Her brow is furrowed. “Do you have different foods?”

“Yes. All of our foods are different. We are a plant-based society. You will get to try so many new things and figure out which ones are your favorites over time. I promise you’ll love them.”

Finally, she relaxes in my arms. “Okay, but I don’t like it,” she adds, as if she needs me to record that fact.

I chuckle. “There will be things you don’t like, Baby girl, but you’ll follow Papi’s rules at all times. Rules are for your safety and protection. For the rest of my life, you will be my top priority. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I will always keep you close and safe.”

“You can’t always be there, Papi,” she insists. At least she hasn’t called me by my name again.

“Most of the time, Little one. Sometimes you’ll be secure in your crib. Sometimes I’ll need to leave you with another male if I have to be separated from you for some reason. But it won’t happen often.”

Her nose scrunches up. “Like a babysitter?”

“Yep.” I’ve also learned this term in my studies. Thank goodness for my in-depth education of practices on Earth.

She rolls her eyes. “I don’t need a babysitter, Papi. That’s silly. I’m a grown adult.”

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