Mama and the Alien Warrior (Treasured By The Alien #1) - Honey Phillips Page 0,10
She shot a nervous glance over her shoulder at the big alien.
“Why don’t you wish the child to understand?” he asked.
“I don’t want her hurt.”
“I would never hurt a child.” His outrage seemed genuine, but what if he didn’t understand how easily a human child could be hurt?
TeShawna shrugged and stepped forward. “I’ll try it out. I managed to push out a nine-pound baby. I ain’t worried about a little pinprick.”
Abby wouldn’t have called the blazing agony of the injection a pinprick, but if TeShawna volunteered, she wouldn’t try and stop her.
“You are a brave female,” Hrebec told TeShawna gravely, and Abby had the oddest sense of… surely it wasn’t jealousy? “Mekoi is our chief medical officer. He will perform the procedure.”
“Yeah.” TeShawna rolled her eyes. “Like I understood any of that.”
A second alien stepped forward. He wasn’t as big as Hrebec, or as heavily marked, but he was still an imposing figure. TeShawna gulped but she hid it behind her usual bravado.
Turning to Cassie, she passed her daughter over. “Hold Vanessa,” she murmured. “Don’t let nothing happen to her.”
“Never,” Cassie said quietly.
Dropping a kiss on her daughter’s forehead, TeShawna stepped forward. “Okay, big guy. Let’s see if you’re lying.”
The medic stepped forward. TeShawna wasn’t a small girl by any means, but the alien dwarfed her sturdy figure. Abby noticed that his tail lashed anxiously as it kept trying to reach for TeShawna.
“Why’s that thing trying to touch me?” TeShawna demanded.
Abby looked at Hrebec.
“It’s an… instinct,” he said reluctantly. “It is trying to offer comfort.”
“He says it’s trying to comfort you.”
“Oh yeah? Not sure why a tail would be comforting,” TeShawna muttered. “Unless it’s like biting down on a bullet or something, like in one of those old movies you like.”
Before Abby could respond, TeShawna reached out and grabbed hold of the tail that was once again flickering in her direction. The medic groaned and there was a shocked silence from the other aliens. Abby suddenly suspected that there was a lot more to the tail business than Hrebec had revealed.
The medic took a step closer and held up a syringe. TeShawna’s skin went ashy but she jutted out her lip defiantly and took a firmer grasp on the tail. The alien’s eyes fluttered but he shook his head, brushed a cloth behind TeShawna’s ear, and then pressed the syringe against it before stepping back.
“Are you going to do it or what?” she demanded.
“It’s already done,” he said.
“It is? Oh. Oh! I understood you. You were right, big guy. That didn’t hurt at all.”
In her excitement, TeShawna pumped the medic’s tail up and down, and from the look on his face, Abby didn’t think he shared her relief.
“I think you should let go of his tail, TeShawna,” she said quietly.
“His tail?” The girl looked down, and a hint of color actually darkened her cheeks as she hastily released him. “Sorry, big guy.”
“It was my honor,” he said with a deep bow and stepped back, his tail still trying to reach for TeShawna.
TeShawna hesitated for just a second, then turned to the other girls. “Nothing to it. Who’s next?”
Cassie looked grim, but she handed both babies to TeShawna. “I’ll do it. Better to know what they’re saying.”
When she stepped forward, Abby noticed that the medic’s tail stayed firmly behind his back. Even as she decided to keep her mouth shut, she felt a gentle brush against her hip and looked down to see Hrebec’s tail lightly touching her. Before she could react, he’d snatched it away, the same appalled look on his face.
“Comfort, huh?” she said skeptically. He didn’t respond but the jade color of his cheeks darkened to emerald.
Within a few minutes, all of the girls except Molly had received the translator. The medic’s tail had never reappeared.
“Me, Mama. Me next.” Lucie was practically dancing with impatience.
Abby bit her lip and turned to Hrebec. “You promise it won’t hurt her?”
“I vow on Granthar’s Hammer,” he said solemnly.
When Abby gave a reluctant agreement, he gestured to the medic. As he approached with the syringe, Lucie’s excitement suddenly died.
“It’s going to be an owwie, isn’t it?”
“No, baby. The captain promised.”
Big brown eyes looked up at Hrebec anxiously. “I wanna hold your tail.”
“Lucie—”
“Of course,” Hrebec interrupted, his tail already flicking in front of Lucie. She grabbed it with both hands before Abby could prevent her and cradled it to her chest. Despite her reservations, Hrebec’s hard face only softened. Mekoi stepped behind Lucie while she was still exploring the tail and touched the