Santa Soldier Bear - Meg Ripley Page 0,19

arms. “You worry too much.”

“Maybe so,” she said with a flick of her fingers in the air as she tried to remember what else she was supposed to get for the day. “It’s just that every day I wake up and think I must have missed something when it comes to Ruby’s health. I just feel like there should be something wrong with her if someone was going to leave her here, you know?”

“I do,” Melody admitted. She’d thought about it several times herself, but every time she looked at or took care of Ruby, the little girl seemed completely fine. “It’s all really strange. I guess I see this as just a different kind of babysitting job. I’ll take care of her until her parents come for her, whenever that may be.”

Emersyn paused in her frenzy and looked Melody in the eye. “Mel, you know it’s probably not going to be the kind of thing where we get to keep her, right? I mean, even if we discover that her parents are dead, there’s probably a relative who’ll want her.”

“Oh, I know that. Of course.” Melody shifted Ruby in her arms. She hadn’t admitted it to anyone, and she’d hardly been able to admit it to herself, but she would’ve gladly raised Ruby as her own. She didn’t care if she shared blood with her or not.

“And you’re sure you’re going to be okay watching both Lucas and Ruby today? The two of them are going to be a handful.”

Melody shook her head, setting her red curls bouncing over the shoulders of her light sweater. Several of the other women had helped out since Ruby arrived, giving Melody time to take care of her other duties, but she was looking forward to having both of the little ones to herself. After all, that’s probably how things would be from now on until they figured out what to do with Ruby. “It won’t be a problem at all. I’ve got a big day of activities planned, including heading over to the L.A. Zoo Lights.

Emersyn lifted an eyebrow as she stowed an extra pack of syringes in her medical bag. “You’re a braver woman than I am. Maybe Amar ought to have you out running missions instead of running the homestead.”

“No way,” Melody replied as she lightly tapped the tip of her finger against Ruby’s nose. “Then I’d miss out on all the fun.”

When Emersyn had gone and the rest of the Force was going about their day, Melody launched into the endless series of events revolving around caring for two little ones. She fed snacks and cleaned up after them. She mixed formula and washed bottles. The small layette she’d ordered for Ruby was delivered, and Melody delighted in washing up all the dear little outfits so she could play dress-up with the new baby. She taught Lucas to be gentle with their houseguest, and she answered his questions about her as patiently as she could. It was difficult when she knew so few of the answers, but fortunately, he was far more interested in their evening plans.

“Zoo?” he asked as he spun a wooden block in his hands, examining the colorful sides.

“No, it’s not quite time to go to the zoo yet. We have to wait until it gets closer to dark.” Melody stood up from the floor and stretched, wondering when she’d gotten old enough that her knees felt so terrible after sitting cross-legged on the carpet.

“Dark?” He ran to the sliding glass door and peered out.

“Yeah. How else are we going to see all the pretty Christmas lights? I think Ruby will have fun, too. Don’t you?”

Lucas marched over to where Ruby sat peacefully in the bouncy seat Melody had dug out of the attic, playing with an oversized set of plastic keys. He twisted his mouth and tipped his head from side to side. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been to the zoo, but this will be a bit different. We won’t see the same kinds of animals we normally do. They’ll all be asleep.”

Roman happened to walk into the room just then. “You’re going to the zoo at night?”

Her heart lifted as soon as she saw him. Melody didn’t want to have that reaction. She wanted to feel the same way about him as she did any other man in this household, like she was seeing someone familiar and kind but nothing more than a friend. Her body, and especially