Caitlyn and the Alien Protector (Intergalactic Brides 7) Read Free Page B

she?”
    “I think the letter said she’s three.”
    Katy held her arms out to Ari, who was holding the hand of a little girl who looked remarkably like Bane except for her mother’s green eyes. Ari smiled and reached for Katy. Cosmir was happy to relinquish the little girl, still feeling completely out of his depth.
    They entered the store and Bane grabbed a shopping cart. “You’ll want one too. I have a feeling that as much as you’re going to need, it will take two baskets to hold everything. And even that might not be enough.”
    Good thing there’s plenty of money in the bank. No one had ever warned him how expensive children were, but as the baskets filled up, he realized his wee daughter could very well empty his bank account given time. He arranged for a toddler bed and mattress, along with a matching dresser to be delivered later that night, which had cost quite a bit. The store had tried to schedule the delivery for the following week, but Cosmir was determined his daughter would have a bed to sleep in tonight.
    He’d never realized how many clothes someone so little would need. Katy now had more clothes than he owned, by at least triple the amount, and Ari told him he’d probably still need to buy a few things later on. Just how much stuff did one tiny little girl need? It wasn’t until they reached the toy aisle that Katy’s little eyes lit up and she squirmed to get down.
    “Let her pick out what she wants,” Cosmir said as Ari reached for the little girl again. “At least that way I’ll know she likes it.”
    Of course, when he’d said that, he hadn’t realized that Katy was going to pick up a soft, white bunny with satin-lined ears and then ignore everything else in the store. He’d planned to buy enough toys to fill a room, but she seemed hesitant. Bane and Ari picked out a few more things, and Cosmir even asked their daughter to pick out a few things for Katy. In the end, it took both his SUV and Bane’s to get everything loaded and back to his house.
    As the last of the things were brought into the house, Bane rubbed his hands together. “What else do you need? You’ll need a place for her bedroom furniture. Is there a place for it already or do we need to move things around?”
    “I have an empty room. It’s the furthest from my bedroom, but I think it will be fine.”
    “Just remember to put the baby gate across her bedroom door at night so she won’t wander the house if she wakes up before you. And she’ll need to be changed right before bed and right after.”
    “Now that I have a car seat, I can take her to the grocery store with me. Thanks for the list of toddler approved foods.”
    Bane smiled. “We’re in town for a few days if you have any questions, and there’s a chance we may move here. Ari misses being on Earth around other humans, and I think it would be good for our daughter to experience a bit of her mother’s heritage. I’ve been in negotiations with your council to allow the Tourmaline males to have access to the bridal candidates. I’m not sure if they’ll approve it or not, but your race isn’t the only one that will die out without an infusion of alien females. Humans are the most compatible with the Tourmaline, Zelthranites, and Drelthenes.”
    “It would be good for all of us to work together to repopulate our planets. This world has so many single females that it wouldn’t bother me to share with other races. Hopefully, my council will feel the same way. I would hate for females to be abducted from this world because we can’t all get along.”
    Bane snorted. “Abductions already happen. Between pirates, the Vaadens, and my own people, women go missing from this world all the time. The key is not to take so many that it stands out, just one or two here and there, spread out throughout the year. Now that aliens have made themselves known to the humans, it’s not as easy to take off with a woman. For one, they’ve lost the element of