Page 122 of Monster Daddies

Long blink.

Confused expression.

“No.” He clamped his lips together to hide a yawn and his hand came up so his thumb was stroking his cheek. “Drive.”

I had a very tired little joey.

“When did you start driving today?” I thought it was a simple answer but he waved his free hand like he was tracing a rainbow in the sky. Wait. “You started driving yesterday?”

I really should’ve asked more questions about where he’d been coming from, but it’d seemed invasive until we’d actually met. The matchmaker had been adamant that we do most of our initial talking in person and not online… probably because of Alton’s ability to read auras.

When he nodded and started shuffling his feet on the floor in the slightly too tall chair, IknewI should’ve asked more questions.

“So you were driving all night? You didn’t stay somewhere last night?” I thought I’d asked it with a careful tone, but Alton scrunched his face up and lifted his free arm to sniff his underarm.

“No stink.” When he straightened and I’d managed not to laugh, he rested one elbow on the table and put his head in his hand. “I had… the truck men… I got clean.”

He’d taken a shower at a truck stop?

“I’m glad you were able to get clean, and you’re right, you don’t stink.” He was, however, exhausted and running on fumes. “Did you take a nap at the truck stop?”

His shrug said he didn’t seem to remember the details which to me said he hadn’t slept in entirely too long.

“Alright, that’s okay.” No, it was not. “Do you want to keep playing and have some fun?”

Alton nodded but another yawn tried to break out. “Yes… I’m…”

That was not quite as much information as he seemed to think it was, but it proved my point about how tired he was correct. “Then you need a nap before we can play.”

As he tried to find a reason to explain why he wasn’t tired, I cut him off. “I like taking care of you, little Roo. It’s what Daddies like to do. But right now, I’m not doing a very good job of it.”

That seemed to stop him in his exhausted tracks and his expression made it obvious he couldn’t decide how to respond. “You’re tired and I would like to help you take a nap.”

Just the word had him yawning again.

“I… I tink… yes… tink…”

No, he was nottinkingin any way.

“How about milk in the glider rocking chair?” Oh, that was tempting… especially for a Little who seemed to like being carried as much as I liked carrying him. “It’s a nice big chair and I can snuggle you while you have your milk.”

His low whine said how much he wanted it and his thumb inched closer to his lips. “Bottle?”

I hadn’t planned on mentioning it unless he’d asked but I was glad I could nod. “Yes, I bought a bottle just for my little Roo. Let’s go cuddle.”

Because he was about to fall asleep on the last bites of his sandwich if I wasn’t careful.

He was so tired he barely put up any kind of fuss as I got the new bottle out and filled it with milk. Part of that might’ve been how relieved he was to see a bottle, though. “Mine?”

“Yes, little Roo.” Not wanting him to think it was just lying around, I nodded as I put the milk carton back in the fridge. “Thematchmaker hinted that you might need it, so I picked out one just in case.”

“Sneaky.” Whatever else he was going to say was lost as he gave up fighting his thumb and it got sucked into his mouth.

“I agree.” Anyone who fell under the broader mage umbrella was generally sneaky in some way, but whatever flavor she was made it even stronger. “But she’s helpful.”

She had a nearly one hundred percent success rate as long as the parties in question were completely honest about what they were looking for. Unfortunately, lying to ourselves was not strictly a human trait and it caused chaos even with the most incredible magic.

Alton mumbled something around his thumb, but it wasn’t clear enough for me to decipher. He leaned into me when I reached under his arms to pick him up, though, so I decided it was just him chiming in on the matchmaker again.