"Men. Not a word," Aiden growled.
"Do we look stupid?" Sascha asked incredulously.
The women walked up, frowning. Penny ran up to her mother bouncing up and down happily. Rheia's face transformed from worry to sheer joy at the sight of her daughter exuberance.
"What did you do while we were gone?" Rheia asked Penny. Penny stopped bouncing and looked over her shoulder to the men. Meryn, Beth, Rheia and Ryuu stared at them. Colton knew that the men looked wrecked. Penny looked at the ground, then shrugged.
"Bless that baby's heart," Quinn whispered. Around him, the men all nodded.
Rheia eyed them all carefully. "You know what? I don't want to know. Come, on Pumpkin Dumpling, I think I have some Teddy Grahams leftover in my purse, let's go in for a snack." Rheia took Penny's hand and the women headed for the house.
Rheia stopped at the door, allowing Ryuu to open it. She picked Penny up and kissed her on the head, then frowned. "It's so strange; you've never been so clean after playing outside. You even smell clean. How did you stay so clean?"
Colton held his breath. The ladies walked in and Ryuu turned to them, smiling slyly. "Must be magic," he said simply and went in after them, closing the door.
Colton, Aiden, Keelan and the rest of the men lay on the ground breathing hard.
"How old is she?" Graham asked.
"Four. She's four," Colton answered.
"Ninety-six more years until she's considered an adult and you don't have to worry about her," he said.
Colton turned his head. "Do you really think I'll ever stop worrying about her?
Graham shook his head. "I probably won't stop either. You have one hell of a kid Colton."
"Yeah, yeah I do."
"Hey Aiden, you weren't really serious about babysitting right?" Quinn asked nervously.
Aiden just smiled.
"Aiden? Uhh, sir?" Quinn pleaded.
"We're so fucked," Sascha said sounding depressed. All around the field the men groaned.
Penny, one. Beta, Delta and Gamma Units, zero.
Colton chuckled and stared up at the blue sky.
"What a wonderful day!" He sat up and looked at Aiden. "I feel like some Teddy Grahams."
Aiden waved him on.
He got to his feet and headed towards the front door whistling. He opened the door and then went looking for his family.
CHAPTER FIVE
Rheia watched as Colton and Penny played at the table.
"See this teddy? This is Sascha; he is outflanking that group of teddies, which are the Beta Unit. He's moving in." Colton set up a mock battle on their paper plate.
"And we captured this one," he said handing the small snack to Penny. She popped it in her mouth.
"We're not taking prisoners, ehh? Good. Oh no! He tripped. Silly Sascha!" Colton said making one teddy spin on the paper plate. Penny covered her mouth, her eyes laughing.
"Okay, he's back up. Look he's tricked them all, he's captured all of the Beta Unit. Hurray!" Colton made the teddy dance. Penny bounced around in her seat.
Rheia was shocked at the dramatic difference between the solemn little girl she'd known living in Jefferson to this happy child.
"Okay mom, all the teddies have been eaten," Colton announced.
Rheia smiled and picked up Penny's learning backpack. "Okay, Penny, quiet time." Penny hopped down and took her hand. Rheia led her to the family room and sat down next to the coffee table. She laid out all of Penny's favorite books along with her tracing paper and letter book.
"Practice your letters until the big hand is pointed down," Rheia said pointing to the clock over the fireplace. "When you're done with your letters you can watch Doctor Who until dinner time. Meryn's set up the TV in here so that when you turn it on, it's already on Netflix." Penny nodded. Rheia stood and watched as the little girl pulled out her favorite pencil and began to meticulously trace her letters.
"I'll be in the dining room if you need me baby, okay?" Rheia asked, almost wishing she was needed.
Penny simply nodded, without even looking up.
Sighing, Rheia turned and walked back with Colton to the dining room. Colton shut the door.
"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. He wasn't being pushy or trying for sex; if he had she could have easily shot him down. The look of concern on his face was genuine and his arms comforting.
"A couple months ago Radek asked if I was still comfortable raising Penny. He knew how hard it was being a single mother. He offered to bring her here to Lycaonia to be adopted by shifter parents. I told him she was mine, and I didn't want to give her up. But seeing her here, with you, in this environment, she's getting better by the hour. I can't help but think I was being selfish keeping her with me," Rheia said admitting her fear.
Colton pulled her close and she rested her head on his broad chest. It had been so long since she had felt like it was okay to let go, that if she fell apart, someone would be there to not only watch Penny, but to help pick up the pieces.
"There's no way to prove Penny getting better is linked to coming to Lycaonia. It's probably all your months of working with her paying off and you just happen to be here. It could be that she feels safe. She knows she's living with unit warriors. All shifters teach their children from a young age that unit warriors are to be trusted, and if they are ever in trouble to seek us out. She may not remember her parents teaching her this, but I bet they did. Wanting to keep her with you isn't being selfish; it's being a good mother. If it makes you feel any better, I have asked Aiden to be Penny's Athair, she has another layer of protection in our world," Colton said and pulled back to she could see the sincerity in his eyes.