Page 47 of Gator

“You take care of this sweet boy and his mama,” she winked. “I’m badass enough to kick your ass if I need to.”

She left them alone, and Ian stared at the baby in his arms. His eyes were wide, staring up at him, and he let out a little giggle.

“It’s just you and me, little man. Mama is sleeping off a chocolate overdose,” he grinned. He opened the pantry, staring at the baby food jars. “What will it be? Green bean puree? Succotash? How about carrots?”

Joey made a funny sound, and Ian looked down as he stuck out his tongue and gave him a raspberry, spitting in his direction.

“Yea, I can’t say that I blame you. This stuff can’t taste good.” He opened the jar and stuck the tip of his pinkie in, tasting the green mess. “Damn. It tastes about how it looks. There has to be something better.”

He searched the pantry and found two jars of baby food that were fruits. Anything was better than the baby puke green shit. When Joey gobbled up the peach puree and an eight-ounce bottle, Gator burped him, gave him a bath, and rocked him to sleep.

Checking on Dylan, he couldn’t help but laugh. She was spread across the bed, still dressed, her lips covered in chocolate.

Eating one of the many frozen dinners from his great-grandmother in his freezer, he sprawled out on the sofa to watch a movie. When the wind and rain began hitting the metal roof, he knew that he would sleep like a log, and hopefully, Joey and Dylan would as well.

Waking to the sounds of a baby babbling away in his crib, Ian could only smile, staring up at the ceiling. He changed Joey’s diaper, then got his bottle ready and turned the television on to his favorite program, Baby Einstein.

When Dylan finally made her appearance, her hair was sticking up in every direction, her eyes bloodshot, and she shook her head slowly.

“Gabi is the devil,” she murmured.

“I take it she sucked you into a drinking game?” he chuckled. Dylan held up her hand.

“Don’t. Please don’t laugh or speak above a whisper. I’m going to take a handful of aspirin, shower, and hopefully, I’ll feel at least like opening my eyes.”

“Baby, your eyes are open,” smirked Gator.

“Ugh,” she groaned. It would take Dylan nearly two hours to feel human again. Even then, it was a bad human. When Gabi waved at her from across the cafeteria, she shot daggers at the other woman.

“It’s really not her fault,” smiled Gator. “A lot of the girls have been caught up with her before. She’s got an unbelievable ability to handle liquor.”

“She knew I was not only an inexperienced drinker but that I didn’t have a lot of experience with men. She had this list of sexual positions, and for every one you hadn’t done, you had to take a shot.”

“Hmm. I see,” smirked Gator. “So, maybe I need to get that list from Gabi.” Dylan looked at him, then realized exactly what Gabi had done. She’d piqued her interest in things she never thought she’d be interested in.

“I should also tell you that I ordered quite a bit of lingerie from Charlie’s books and some winter clothes for Joey and myself. Your mom said we put them on a corporate card, and they get delivered to the General Store.”

“That’s right,” he nodded. “Everything is divided up after that.”

“Well, someone is going to need a moving truck for everything we ordered. I don’t think anyone, except Gabi, was sober last night. By the way, what did you feed Joey last night? His diaper was not the same.”

“Oh, shit. Did I screw up? I gave him fruit.”

“No,” she chuckled, “you didn’t screw up. I’ve been trying to get him to eat all the vegetables before getting to the sweet stuff of the fruit. He wasn’t happy with formula and oats this morning.”

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t force the little man to eat that baby shit,” he frowned.

Dylan looked up to see everyone moving around the cafeteria, Kate and Ajei waving the women toward the doors.

“What’s going on?” asked Dylan.

“If I had to guess, you all are going out to the Sugar Lodge. That means Hanz is on his way downriver, and I need to get out to G.R.I.P.”

“What about the kids?” asked Dylan.

“They’ll all be brought up with Tailor and Alec,” said Gator, kissing her sweetly. “Don’t worry. We’ve done this before. It’s just a precaution. You’ll be hidden out there, and there’s plenty to do. Even a full chef’s kitchen.” She nodded, gripping his forearm.

“Come back to us.” He smiled, hugging her fiercely.

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