Mama and the Alien Warrior (Treasured By The Alien #1) - Honey Phillips Page 0,4
“I am Kwaret.” Behind him, the two others made a clearly derogatory noise. He flinched but didn’t respond.
“Thank you, Kwaret. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I have to try.”
Chapter Three
As soon as she stepped back into the room and the panel closed behind her, Lucie came rushing over. Abby gave her a quick hug and lifted her up onto her hip. Molly and Amber rocked the two strange babies, both still whimpering, their cries tugging at Abby’s heart.
“What are we going to do, Miss Abby?” Amber looked stricken. “They’re hungry.”
“About that…” She studied the other three girls. Mikie was already half-asleep at Elaina’s breast and TeShawna held Vanessa up on her shoulder. Cassie still nursed Angel. “Have you girls ever heard of wet nurses?”
“What’s that?” Amber asked.
“They’re women who will nurse another woman’s child if that woman isn’t capable of feeding her baby herself.”
TeShawna, of course, caught on first and her eyes narrowed. “You wanting me to feed one of them strange babies?”
“Yes. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if we can’t find a way to feed them, they’ll die,” she said gently. “You saw what happened when the aliens tried.”
“Die?” Lucie asked, her eyes big. “You can’t let the babies die.”
“Don’t worry, Lucie girl,” Elaina said quickly. “We’ll feed them.”
“Speak for yourself,” Cassie said bitterly. “I don’t even have enough milk for one.”
Abby shot her a worried look. It was true that Cassie was having difficulty nursing. They had been preparing to put Angel on formula because the baby hadn’t been gaining weight.
“I’ll do it,” TeShawna said. “But Vanessa goes first.”
“Thank you, girls.”
Mikie gave a loud burp, as if in agreement, and they all laughed. There was a slightly hysterical edge to it, but Abby would rather have the laughter than have the girls worrying about their situation. She really didn’t want to explain to them that the aliens had referred to them as breeders.
“Don’t they have any diapers around this place?” Elaina asked. “Mikie usually has a big poop after he eats.”
“I’ll ask.” Abby returned to the front wall, Lucie still on her hip. Kwaret was nowhere in sight but the other two aliens were still there.
“Excuse me.”
Just like before, they ignored her.
“We need diapers for the children.”
Still no response.
“Look, if we don’t get some type of um, sanitary supplies, it’s going to get awfully messy in here.”
One of them finally turned to her, touching a button so that his voice sounded inside the room.
“We no longer use your primitive methods,” he sneered. “The incubators are equipped to handle bodily waste.”
Knowing that Lucie watched everything with wide eyes, Abby bit back her retort and forced out a thank you.
“Mama, I gotta pee too.” Lucie’s urgent whisper reminded her that the babies weren’t the only ones in need of sanitary arrangements.
With a muffled sigh, she addressed the aliens again. “What about us? You don’t expect us to use the incubators as well, do you?”
The alien had started to turn away but he stopped at her words. A condescending smile spread across his stark white face and she wondered if he would actually tell her that exact thing, but after a brief pause, he gestured at the rear of their room.
“Standard facilities are provided. Any civilized being would recognize that.”
He turned his back on her and she bit her tongue once more.
“What’d he say, Mama?” Lucie squirmed anxiously in her arms.
“He said it’s back there. Let’s go see if we can find it.”
Fortunately, they discovered that one of the panels opened to reveal a small bathroom. The facilities were oddly shaped but similar enough to an Earth bathroom to be self-explanatory. Lucie giggled when the toilet first washed her, then dried her with a blast of warm air.
Their immediate needs resolved, they returned to the main room. TeShawna and Elaina now nursed the two new babies while Cassie rocked Angel.
“The alien said the cribs would work like diapers,” she told them.
Molly made a face. “Vanessa already peed on me.”
“That’s my girl,” TeShawna said with a grin.
“Well, I don’t want to be pooped on,” Amber said firmly and laid Mikie in one of the cribs. He almost immediately fulfilled his mother’s prophecy and they all watched in fascination as the pad absorbed the results and followed it with a fine mist and a spray of warm air.
“Yucky!” Lucie said, her face scrunched up.
“Are you kidding?” Amber picked up Mikie and examined his spotless bottom. “That’s magic, baby girl.”