Page 23

The men nodded.

"Good." Aiden slipped the gun on his back and locked the SUV.

"Let's go."

When they walked through the door, they heard a familiar voice almost instantly.

"Lord have mercy, you boys are back. I'm almost afraid to ask." Bart chuckled.

The men gather around the older man's register.

"Tonight we are after pull-ups," Colton said slowly.

Bart blinked. "Say again."

"Pull-ups," Colton repeated.

Bart frowned. "Yes, that's what I thought you said. Boy, do you know what pull-ups are?"

Colton nodded. "I think so. They're like diapers."

Bart eyed him carefully. "Why do you boys need diapers?"

Colton puffed out his chest. "I have a baby girl now. I didn't even have to use condoms to get one," he said, elbowing the older man in a conspiratorial way.

"Well, if you didn't use condoms, I guess you would end up with a baby. A girl you say?" Bart's face softened. "Baby girls are miracles from God boy; you better do right by her. How long have you been seeing her mama?"

Colton thought about it for a moment and looked around at the men. "About what, twelve hours, give or take?" The men all nodded.

"You sure that baby girl is yours?" Bart asked in a serious tone.

Colton nodded. "Yeah, she's mine. She even has my eyes."

"But you just met her mama?" Bart asked.

"Yes, sir." Colton nodded.

"Son, I don't think you understand how some things work." Bart frowned in concern.

"I'm not sure how everything is decided either, but I'm the luckiest bastard alive to have those two angels in my life." Colton smiled.

Bart shook his head. "I guess that's all that matters, though, I have to say, I worry about you boys."

Aiden clapped the older man on the shoulder. "Thank you for your concern, but we have the everything under control." He patted the gun on his back. Colton thought it was touching that Bart was worried about their safety.

Bart's eyes widened when he noticed the gun on Aiden's broad back. "You boys are staying out of trouble, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir." Keelan nodded.

"Right. Okay, well boys, pull-ups are near the aisle you found the feminine products on, time before last." Bart nodded to the center of the store.

"Many thanks, friend," Colton said, and they made their way to the aisle.

"Okay men, let's grab a box and go," Aiden ordered.

They turned and looked at the huge wall of boxes in front of them.

"Look! Tiny bottles and toys!" Keelan pointed to the display that held what looked to be baby items. "This isn't so scary."

"Aiden, which box?" Colton asked looking from floor to ceiling.

"Box? Which wall?" Darian pointed out that the diaper selection extended almost the full length of the store.

"The babies on this package look quite happy," Gavriel said pointing to a box on the left.

"Yeah, but so do these ones." Darian pointed to the one on the right.

Colton frowned. "They all look happy."

They all continued to stare.

"Okay, this one has stars on it. Rheia did say they were for nighttime," Keelan said, pointing out a purple box.

"Good job, Keelan!" Colton said reaching for the box. He stopped when he saw something he didn't understand. He read the box closely and put it back.

"What was wrong with that one?" Aiden asked.

"It has something called 'Cool Touch'. If the baby wets the diaper, there is this gel that turns cold, it's to alert the child that they went to the bathroom. It sounds uncomfortable; I don't want anything cold on Penny," Colton said shuddering.

"I think it's a miracle humans have survived this long," Darian whispered.

They all nodded.

"Okay, how about this one?" Darian said pointing to another purple box, but this one didn't have the 'Cool Touch' feature.

"Looks good." Colton went to pick up a box and noticed that some of them had different sizes.

He turned to the men. "These things come in sizes!"

"How do we know which size Penny takes?" Aiden asked.

Colton shrugged and looked at the size chart. The weights were useless because he didn't know how much she weighed; to him she seemed as light as a feather.

"Colton this one says for three and up. It should be okay right?" Keelan asked.

Colton frowned. "What if it doesn't fit? What if it's too tight and it hurts her? This thing will be covering baby girl's important parts; we can't get this wrong gentlemen!"

The men paled and turned to study the boxes again. Suddenly, Colton had a brilliant idea. He took the box that Keelan found and opened it up. He held a pull-up out to Keelan. "Put it on."

Keelan blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You're the smallest here; we can use your frame as a point of reference. Now put it on," Colton ordered.

"Hell no!" Keelan began to back away and bumped into Darian, who shrugged before securing the witch's arms.

"Sorry Kee, but this is for Penny."

Keelan began to thrash around.

Colton knelt down and undid the sticky tabs. "Quit moving Keelan, you're making this difficult."

"Damn right I am!" Keelan said turning crimson.