Page 24 of My Eternal Light
Aiden’s expression turned tragic. “Oh, baby.”
“Anywho! I’m seriously craving them.”
Aiden looked to Kincaid. “If you see them.”
Kincaid nodded. “Of course. Which flavor Meryn?”
“If you find them, buy all of them. All the flavors.”
“I have to admit, I am curious to see what my niece ate for breakfast growing up,” Brennus said, looking sad at her situation, but intrigued.
Meryn rubbed her belly. “It was mostly sugar.”
“Of course it was,” Ryuu remarked dryly.
“Right, so kid stuff and toasties for Meryn. Anything else?” Kincaid tucked the card in his wallet.
“Toast’Ems,” she corrected.
“Also, could you see if you can find any educational supplies for them. Maybe, desks and books?” The queen suggested. “They need to learn basically everything, so structure will be important.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh! Can you see if you can grab some winter clothing for Ame and Yuki?” Zoe begged her hands folded in front of her chest. “I swear they have both grown since coming here.”
“You got it. Anything else?” He looked around and everyone was shaking their heads.
“Be back soon!” To keep warm, he began to jog toward the main portal.
He hated to admit it, but he was curious about those damn toasties too.
Chapter Four
Zadie Williams stared down at her resignation letter and sighed. She kept it in her desk for evenings like this one. She’d take it out, play the entire scenario in her mind where she threw it at her boss, then, because she had bills, she’d put it back in her desk underneath the bag of emergency chocolate.
She popped a piece of said chocolate in her mouth and got her backpack ready to go. Today’s frustration inducing moments? Two parent teacher meetings. Two instances where her boss sided with the parents, making her look bad.
This political crap wasn’t why she became an educator. Growing up, the only people she had been able to count on were her teachers. She wanted to help children as she had been helped.
She did not want to be blamed for little Jimmy Anderson’s inability to read, when his parents did nothing at home to help. She could only do so much in the classroom, especially given the ever-growing child count. She couldn’t give any one child the attention they deserved.
“I just wanted to make a difference,” she whispered to herself.
Seconds later she heard what she thought was the sound of a desk getting moved.
“These things are so little,” a male voice mused.
She grabbed her backpack, slung it on backwards so she could reach into the front pocket to grab her phone and pepper spray.
She followed the sounds of objects being moved until she came up to Ms. O’Malley’s classroom. From the two open doors further down the hall, this was not the man’s first stop.
She peeked into the room and saw a tall dark-haired man in a barn jacket eyeing the bookcase. “What ages are these for?” he pulled one out and skimmed the contents. He snort laughed and nodded. “They’ll like the baby penguins.” He shoved the book in his small pouch like bag.
How in the hell had that fit?
When he picked up another book and made the animal sounds for the characters on the cover Zadie melted, which made her hesitate in calling the police. This man was obviously looking for things for a child. “Can I help you?” she asked, keeping her pepper spray in hand and behind her back.
The man turned and she felt her mouth go dry. He was stunning. Slightly curly hair, strong nose, and a trimmed beard that was giving lumberjack vibes. But, it was his eyes that drew her in. They were welcoming and kind.