\[William’s POV\]
I stare down at the infant in my arms while Elise stares at me in amusement.
“Famous last words.” She chuckles, beginning to move. “Since you’ve so graciously offered to care for her, let’s go and get her some diapers and formula. I’m sure she would prefer titty milk, but that just isn’t an option right now.”
Nodding, I allow Elise to lead me out into the hall once more so we can make our way to Denali and Rosco’s room, but when we reach it, I stare at the door hesitantly.
“Think it’s alright for us to go in there?” I ask, turning my gaze to Elise. “I mean, they’re not there and…”
“And I was given the task of taking care of their princess.” She shrugs. “Don’t tell me that you’re afraid of breaking and entering.”
Letting out a laugh, Elise heads into the room but stops in the center of the room while a hiss of shock escapes her.
“What is it?” I ask, coming to join her. “What hap…”
The rest of my words get lost in my throat as I take in the bloody scene. Fuck, it looked like a murder took place here. What the hell happened?
“The illness.” Elise murmurs, reading my thoughts. “It’s because Rosco was infected, but damn, this is...”
“Something.” I finish for her. “Try not to look too hard at it. We came here for one reason. Just get what we need and get out of here.”
“Right,” she whispers, though it is easy to tell that she is still shaken by the scene. “Diapers and formula.”
I watch as she unsteadily begins to move. When she reaches out a shaky hand and touches the dresser, I consider helping but don’t. I was sure that even if I offered to get the things she needed, she would simply shake me off.
Fighting everything in me that screams to move, I wait until Elise gathers the things she needs, and then together we head back to her room, where Marty is snoozing on the couch.
“Should we wake him?” I ask, not minding yanking him out of his sleep. “If so, allow me.”
“Nah,” Elise responds. “We can use my room.”
Her room. Well, I wasn’t necessarily opposed to that, but I knew that nothing would be happening, not after that scene we had to witness. However, a small hope remains in me.
When we reach, Elise takes a seat on her bed and watches as I stand in the middle of the room.
“Well?” She says, lifting a brow. “Aren’t you going to show me how good you are at taking care of a baby?”
Right. I was acting pretty cocky before, but in all honesty, I was never exposed to something so tiny.
“Go on,” Elise urges me. “Or was all that talk just bullshit? What was it you said? Oh right! How hard can it be?”
Regretting my previous words, I take a seat on the floor and lay Serenity out in front of me, then begin to examine her.
What should I do first? Change her, and then feed her? Or feed and change in case she dirties her diaper more from eating?
As I sit, Serenity begins to whine, and a giggle escapes Elise.
“That’s a nice sound.” I murmur before I realize what I’m saying.
“What?” Elise asks, but I simply shake my head and begin making a bottle.
After a quick feed and change, I watch as Serenity happily babbles in front of me. Shouldn’t she be going to sleep or something so I can have some alone time with Elise? Or was she doing this to spite me?
“If you keep glaring, you’re going to scare her.” Elise warns, drawing my attention to her. “Babies like cute things.”
“Are you saying I’m not cute?” I challenge.
“Not cute.” Elise confirms, eyeing me. “Cute makes me think of rainbows and butterflies. I can’t imagine using that word for a man.”
“Then what would you consider me?” I ask, getting up and making my way over to where she sits. “Hm?”
When I reach the bed, I pounce, pinning Elise beneath me while she calmly watches me.
“Are you planning on attacking me while a baby watches?” She asks, ruining the moment entirely.
“We really should take her to her mother or her grandmother.” I grumble.
“Grandmother?” Elise repeats. “Rosco’s mother is here?”
“And father.” I confirm.
Growing quiet, I debate whether or not I should warn her that my father is here as well. I knew that would just ruin the moment even more, but I didn’t want her to be taken by surprise if they happened to meet before she left the following morning.
“That bastard is here too, huh?” She asks, drawing me out of my head.
“Yeah,” I sigh, collapsing on top of her. “He is.”
“Why?” She pushes, clearly not trusting him at all. “Did he come to rub salt in Denali’s wound?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But whatever it is, I’m not going to let him succeed.”
“Mmmm.”
Sighing, I find myself wishing that Elise and I could just stay like this, but I know that there is too much to do.
“Promise me.” I say, feeling my heart squeeze as I imagine what it will be that Elise and the others find on their expedition. “No matter what, you’ll return to me.”
“Return to you?” She repeats, raising a brow as I lift enough to stare into the deep blue sea of her eyes. “Shouldn’t that be when I return?”
“No,” I respond seriously. “I meant what I said.”
“Promise me that you won’t get yourself into trouble or killed, and you’ll return to me in one piece so that we can head back to Crystal Fang together.”
For a moment, Elise doesn’t speak as she continues to just stare at me, and when her mouth twitches into a smile and she nods, I know that she is agreeing.
“Alright,” she sighs, pushing me off of her. “I promise that I’ll return in one piece and then help you clean out your ranks. But after that, you too have to promise me that you’ll allow me to leave.”
Allow her to leave. Even now, she is still keeping her wall in place.
“Don’t forget our bet.” I counter. “You may not want to leave by the time we are done.”
“We’ll see.” She shrugs. “Now, you should really get off of me so that we can take Serenity back to her mom. I’m tired and want to get some sleep before we head out in the morning.”
“We’ll return Serenity, but I can’t promise you that I’m going to let you sleep.” I chuckle, pressing my lips against hers. “You’re going to leave me with something to hold me over until you return.”
“Like what?” Elise challenges me. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
"Oh, you will.”