“Why would they do that?” he asked.
“They said it was cultural,” she told him. “Something about a sacred book from the baby’s homeland that says your mother greets you with a purple robe.”
Noxx laughed in spite of himself.
“What?” she asked.
“The text says your mother greets you with a purple ROPE,” he explained, still chuckling. “I believe on Terran worlds the thing it’s referring to is called an umbilical cord?”
“Oh my God,” Luna realized out loud, an expression of horror on her face. “I was dressed like a giant placenta.”
He laughed again and this time Sol laughed with him.
“You won’t remember that, will you?” she asked the baby, smiling at him.
Noxx glanced down at the whelp. On the one hand, it would be good for him not to be frightened of the woman who was actually going to be his family.
On the other, Noxx couldn’t help but be secretly pleased that the youngling preferred him.
“Bah,” Sol decided, waving an arm at Luna.
“Oh, wow,” she said, her face all melty, like she was going to cry.
He thrust the whelp at her and she took it.
It fussed a little, but when she bounced up and down it settled.
“Thank you,” Luna said, looking up at Noxx. “For everything.”
She seemed sincere.
And she also seemed like she was trying to say something else. She was looking at him expectantly, but he had no idea what she was expecting.
He frowned at her.
“Oh,” she said. “I get it. Hang on.”
She held the whelp on one hip and grabbed her bag, digging through the contents.
“Look,” she said, coming back to him with a small package in her hand. “I don’t really have many credits. But where I come from, this is a delicacy. Thank you for the time and care you’ve spent helping us.”
She held out the paper wrapped package.
The realization dawned on him.
“Are you… tipping me?” he asked in horror.
“Well, I don’t have credits, but yes,” she said miserably. “I’m trying. At least it will be a little treat you can enjoy on your journey.”
“What journey?” he asked, completed flummoxed.
“Well, you’re going back to your ship,” she said. “Or maybe to another one?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he retorted. “I told you, it’s my job to watch over the baby.”
“Until we got here safely,” she added.
He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.
“Permanently?” she asked, looking stunned.
“Someone has to protect him,” Noxx said.
“From what?” she asked.
“Terrans,” he muttered sarcastically to himself, marching away with the little package.
He knew he should give it back, but he deserved a treat for putting up with such nonsense.
“Excuse me?” she called after him.
“There’s plenty to be cautious about up here,” he said, turning back to her. “This is frontier country. And I doubt you know how to take care of yourself any better than the whelp.”
She frowned, but didn’t argue.
“Let’s go get some firewood,” he suggested. “And I’m going to activate the transmitter.”
8
Luna
Luna followed Noxx out of the treehouse.
The baby’s cradle was heavy in her arms, but she clung to it in trepidation. At this dizzying height, the idea of dropping him was all she could think about.
Well, maybe not all. There was also the idea that this big blue warrior was planning to stay with them forever.
The thought was both annoying and intoxicating.
“What?” Noxx said, looking her up and down.
“Nothing, I just don’t want to drop him,” she said.
Noxx shook his head and smiled, as though she’d said something preposterous.
“Here,” he said, reaching for the cradle.
She eased it over to him, not letting go until it was clear he had a firm hold on it.
“Bahbah,” the baby said, spotting the big blue alien.
Noxx extended his arm over the empty space, and then released the cradle.
Luna instinctively flung herself after it.
Noxx’s strong arm went around her waist, holding her back.
The cradle hovered in the air beside them.
“Are you trying to fall out of this tree?” he demanded.
“Y-you dropped him,” she stammered.
“Did you really think I would come out all this way just to murder him?” Noxx asked. “It’s a top-of-the-line cradle. I was just showing you that you don’t have to fuss about it. You didn’t have to go flinging yourself into the air.”
“What if your special floaty cradle hadn’t worked?” she demanded, wiggling out of his hold.
“I would have caught him,” he said with a causal confidence that made her want to slap him. “Now stop fooling around. We only have a few hours of daylight. We have to make them count.”
She stepped onto the disk. “What do I say?”
“Down,” he said, raising one eyebrow.
The world shot out from under her before she had the chance to scowl back at him.
She stepped off on the branch below, breathless, before the disc had a chance to go back up and embarrass her again.
Noxx landed beside her a moment later, the cradle floating easily beside him.
It was hard not to notice that the baby had traveled with him, and not with her.
“Is that thing set to follow you?” she asked, indicating the cradle.
“Yes, for now,” he said. “But when we get to the ground, he’ll be trailing you. I’ve got other stuff to do.”
She nodded and moved as if to begin climbing down the tree.
“No,” he said quickly. “I’ll go first.”
She watched as he peered down the trunk with his sighting instrument.
Seemingly satisfied with what he had seen, he pulled his sword out and held it in one hand as he swung himself down with the other and began climbing swiftly toward the ground.
She sighed and lowered herself to the floor, feeling for the first hold with her foot.
Maybe one day she would clatter up and down the tree like a monkey, but for now, she had a lot of things to get used to.
By the time she reached the bottom, she was a little breathless, but feeling triumphant.
“Take your time,” Noxx said, one eyebrow arched.
She opened her mouth and closed it again.
She wasn’t going to argue with him, not in front of the baby.
And not while she was grappling with the inconceivable news that he was staying.
“Where’s the firewood?” she heard herself ask coolly.
“Hang on,” he said.
He bent over the cradle and placed his fingertip to a small square.
“Come here,” he said. “Put your finger on the sensor.”
She did as she was told.
“There, he’ll follow you now,” Noxx said.
Luna smiled down at Sol.
But he only had eyes for Noxx.
As soon as he spotted the big warrior, he let out a string of happy syllables.