Page 53 of Buckle Up, Buttercup

“Good morning, little witch,” I whisper. “Was last night a dream?”

Her beautiful blush makes an appearance. “Which part? The part by the fire or the part where you have a little sister?”

My smile grows bigger. “All of it, honestly.”

Bluebell’s eyes drift to the open door behind me. “She still asleep?”

I nod, sliding my hand down her arm to slip my fingers through hers. “Yeah. I was just lying there thinking about how I have no idea what to feed a kid or do with a kid, and⁠—”

“Let me help,” she says softly.

I shake my head. “I don’t want to pile another thing on your plate, Bluebell. If you’ll remember, just yesterday, I promised to take a few things off there.”

She smiles. “Yeah, and I’m gonna let you, too. Why don’t y’all help us with decorating downtown later? There are a few things I like to do manually before the sheriff glamours Main Street to look more festive. And it could be a good way to introduce Petra around, assuming you want to?”

“Will do.” I wrap my tail around her waist, cocking an ear to make sure Petra’s not up and observing. “I have a late practice, and she can come with me, but we can help until about six, if that works?”

She nods. Just then, my comm watch rings. When I lift my wrist, Jasper’s name hovers over the band.

“Hey, bro,” he says when I answer. “You figure out what to feed a kid yet? I’m coming over with groceries.”

Bluebell’s dark brows lift. She looks impressed.

“I was just talking to your sister about that,” I say with a smile. “C’mon over.”

“Already there,” he quips before clicking off.

Bluebell steps backward, and I unfurl my tail from around her waist as I slip toward my doorway. Moments later, the downstairs door opens. Jasper’s a loud, exuberant presence as he shoves through the doorway and bounds up the stairs. When he joins us with a huge smile, I take two bags of groceries from him.

“Morning, sis,” he says with a big smile, reaching over to noogie the top of Bluebell’s head.

She rolls her eyes and swats him away.

He waves at her pajamas. “You might wanna put more clothes on, girl, ‘cause none of us want a view of those itty-bitty titties first thing in the morning.”

Bluebell barks out a laugh, then disappears into her apartment, padding toward her bedroom in the back.

Jasper jerks his head toward my door. “Shall we?”

I lead him back into my apartment, and we set the groceries down on the small wooden island in the kitchen. Jasper glances over at my nest, then back at me.

“Dude, this is crazy, right? How are you feeling this morning?” Wide green eyes focus on me as he pulls groceries out of their bags.

I shake my head as I do the same. “Shocked. It’s gonna take some time for this to sink in, you know?”

Petra yawns and rises from the bed, stretching her wings out wide. When she sees Jasper standing with me, she beams. “Hi, Uncle Jasper! How come you’re here so early?”

He waves at her. “Hey, kiddo. I was worried your brother would have no idea what to feed a little girl, so I brought pancake mix, syrup, a bunch of fruit, and then these little sponge cake cup things your brother loves.”

Petra bounds across the room and slips onto one of the barstools, smiling at the groceries. “This is awesome! Can I help put it away?”

“Sure,” I say with a smile. The apartment door opens, and Bluebell comes in wearing tight jeans, brown leather work boots and a hot pink V-neck tee. It highlights every inch of her muscular figure. Her hair’s up in the typical space buns, long tendrils framing her face.

She stops next to Jasper, bumping him with her hip as she smiles at Petra. “Morning, kiddo. How’d you sleep?”

Petra beams. “So good. Hadrian’s nest is the best; it’s so soft. Have you ever tried it?”

Bluebell barks out a cough, and Jasper laughs. “They ain’t that kinda neighbors, sweetheart.”