Sold! To the Grizzly Don
Chapter 191
Epilogue: 11 months later
Alcee was laying on her stomach, praying the people whispering at her door would go away if she
continued to pretend to be sleeping.
“Dad, I think she’s faking.”
“Maybe but if she’s faking maybe she needs more sleep.”
“But baby Aya is hungry. She can’t suck on your finger forever.”
Alcee groaned, “I’m up.”
“I told you she was faking.”
“I wasn’t faking. I was hoping.” She corrected as she rolled over and sat up in the bed.
Her husband and son were grinning widely at her, and Avalanche was sitting at their feet. The baby,
which was only three weeks old, was laying cradled in Torq’s massive forearm and his finger was jammed in her mouth.
“Your hair is a mess,” Antero laughed at her as he crawled up the bed. “It looks crazy.”
“I think it’s because she was pulling the pillow over her head trying to pretend she didn’t hear Aya screaming.” Torq laughed as he moved to shift beside her on the bed.
Alcee wanted to get mad when Avalanche jumped on the bed too but instead sighed loudly. It turned out Avalanche was fiercely protective of the baby. From roughly three months into her pregnancy,
Avalanche would follow Alcee everywhere, crying when Alcee left a room without her. The dog even
started–losing her hair when Alcee went to work without her and she ended up having to start taking
the dog with her to the office. When Alcee went into labour and was in the hospital, Raniero and
Bastiano stayed home with Antero and Avalanche. They sent her multiple videos of Avalanche
howling at the front door and Antero sitting solemnly beside her.
Then when they got home, Avalanche shifted from wanting Alcee to the baby and wasn’t content to
be anywhere Aya wasn’t. It suited Antero fine because he was as overprotective as the dog. The
minute Aya began to cry, Antero was in anguish over her unhappiness. What it boiled down to, Alcee was sure of it, was a baby girl who at three weeks old knew she was running this household and laughed about it maniacally from her bassinet when they weren’t looking.
“You ready?” Torq laughed as he held the baby sideways ready to take his finger out of her mouth.
“I hope you washed your hands.”
Chapter 191
“I cleaned off my finger by sucking on it.”
She looked at him in horror and he was laughing.
“I’m kidding Alcee. As if my mother would permit such a thing. She’d beat me with the cast iron pan, and she was the one out there bouncing her and signing to her in the hopes you could get a few more minutes of sleep.”
“I’d kick you in the kneecap,” Antero grimaced as he rubbed the baby’s head. “She’s too cute to be putting dirty fingers in her mouth. She’s so little.”
“She’s not little. She was the biggest baby in the nursery at nearly ten pounds, and she’s not lost an ounce since we’ve been home. Nursed babies almost always lose weight. Not this little glutton.” She huffed with annoyance as the screeching started the minute the finger was removed from her mouth. She took the baby in her arms and shoved her nipple into the wailing mouth. She watched as the infant ferociously attacked her, glaring at her behind an ever–darkening eyebrow which seemed to constantly meet in the middle.
“It’s really neat how your body makes milk for her, Mama.” Antero poked her breast with his finger, and she closed her eyes at the violation of her personal space. “It’s better than cows for sure.”
His curiosity was boundless. He wanted to know everything about it all. They’d talked at length to the therapist about what questions they should answer and how truthfully to answer them. They’d found age–appropriate books to explain how Alcee got pregnant, how the baby was growing and what happened when babies were born. There wasn’t a day which went by he wasn’t asking for new facts
or additional information.
He made wide eyes as the baby passed gas rather loudly and then he giggled, “she’s going to have another dirty diaper. When you were sleeping she did one and it went up her back and Dad gagged. I thought it was funny. Nonna helped us clean her up.” He was staring excitedly at his sister, “I bet she does it again.”
“We don’t actually want it happen again and again.” Torq made a face. “She stinks.”
“It’s only baby poops, Dad.” Antero rolled her eyes. “Even her poops are cute.” He was still rubbing
her fuzzy head.
Alcee watched for a moment as he snuggled his sister, uncaring she was eating and knew she was incredibly lucky. One of the women she’d met whose son attended the same therapist as Antero did, told them horror stories while they’d waited one day in the waiting room for the appointment. It seemed some children on the spectrum were not as welcoming with noisy intruders who disrupted schedules and process.
She used her other arm to pull him up to sit beside her, in between her and Torq and he snuggled right into her side, his fingers playing with Aya’s bare feet. He looked up suddenly, “I’ll get her burping cloth. I don’t see one here. Also, I think I’ll get her diaper and wipes and,” he was
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Chapter 191
scrambling off the bed and then he ran back to kiss the baby one more time. He made wide eyes at the way she flailed her arm as if pushing him away from bothering her while she ate and wrapped it around Alcee, “she’s really hungry.”
“She’s not even a month old. She isn’t doing any of this intentionally.” Alcee called after Antero who shrugged as if unbothered.
“Maybe she’s gifted like him.”
“Not at three months,” she corrected Torq as she watched Avalanche trying to sneak into the space Antero vacated. “Amal and Tito are coming over soon. I think they’re bringing Susana.” Alcee commented as she stroked the dark brow of the child in her arms.
“I can’t believe Susana is pregnant before Amal,” Torq snickered. “Amal was showing up to work the minute they said their vows demanding a baby. I saw more of Amal than I ever needed to when I went to his office the day of our board meeting.”
“I can. Jesus is worse than you for not letting his wife out of sight. He won’t even let Susana work now she’s pregnant, though I don’t think she truly minds because she’s been puking like she’s the possessed girl in The Exorcist. Susana told me he was bringing a small army with him solely to protect her while they’re here and he gave her a list of acceptable activities while she’s here.”
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