Enzo (The Wolves Den: New #1)

24. Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-three

"Is everything all right?" Jessie's voice came out a little shaky.

"Everything's fine. Those guys are like big pussycats. Don't let them bother you." If you like your pussycats as big as saber-toothed tigers, but they'd deal with that later.

"Have a seat. I'll show you around in a minute, besides I've been waiting to see Mia."

Jessie sat down and unwrapped her daughter. She was so small; she didn't look over nine months. The biggest blue eyes Deja had ever seen peeked at her as her bow-shaped mouth opened on a yawn.

"Normally she'd be asleep, but it was noisy coming up the street."

Deja's eyes went to the bruise on Jessie's arm. It was fresh, but she didn't say a word.

"Hi Mia, I'm Deja, and your mom is going to be working with me."

The little girl gave her a smile that would break hearts one day. Deja stood and walked to the fridge.

"I was wondering if you were thirsty." She took out a bottle with milk in it and a sippy cup and handed both to Mia. The child reached for the bottle, and Deja put the sippy cup back in the fridge.

The way Mia drank made her hunger apparent.

"I wasn't sure what children ate, so I cut up some fruit, bought a couple of the children’s dinners they have in the frozen section. Is this one, okay? It has chicken tenders."

Jessie nodded and wiped her eyes. Deja placed the dinner in the microwave, and before long Mia was feeding herself, making a mess in the highchair Deja picked up earlier. The highchair was extra cute because she thought maybe she could reuse it in a year or two.

While Mia fed herself, Deja made Jessie a couple of sandwiches. "My first day at work, Enzo brought me back here and fed me. Then he told me that if I didn't eat, I couldn't work here. I didn't know what I was going to do. I was down to less than fifty dollars. I knew my friend would help me, but I didn't want to put a strain on her. The next day Ven showed up at my door with a bag of food. I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found The Wolves' Den or Enzo and Ven.

"I serve dinner at six o'clock. I expect to see you and Mia at my table tomorrow and every day after until you're on your feet. Hey, baby girl, you didn't eat all your food. Are you full?"

Mia opened her mouth, showing her small row of teeth in a pleasing smile.

"She doesn't eat a lot," Jessie said defensively.

"Why?" Deja was curt.

Are we going to do this to her? Make her the blame for everything that has gone wrong in her life?

Maybe we're above her now that we've overcome our problems.

Stop. I'm not blaming Jessie. I'm just worried about her daughter.

Look into her eyes and tell me that we're more worried than Jessie.

Deja looked at Jessie. The stress and strain of trying to take care of her child were evident. The fact that she was willing to do whatever it took was also evident.

"Jessie, what happened to the food I gave you yesterday?" Deja picked up Mia and began to clean her face with a baby wipe. "Can I hold her?"

She nodded as Deja placed Mia in her arms and gave her a bottle, gently rocking her to sleep.

"My mother sold the food. She said we needed money more than we needed food. I'm too fat, she says, not that it matters. I have all this extra cushion so I can live for years without eating, but she didn't leave any of it for Mia. She needs to eat; the doctor said she was too little." The horror of Jessie's life was written plainly on her face, but Deja wasn't going to pry. Not yet maybe not ever.

"Ven, you met him yesterday. He’s my son. I've adopted him. So I have a boy, but I don't have a girl, so when I was shopping today, I saw these outfits and these pajamas. They're so cute. I was wondering if maybe you want to change her clothes and put these on her?"

"They're beautiful. I'll pay you back when I get paid."

"I've got a better idea," Deja said, transferring a sleeping Mia to her mother. "You do all the running so I can stand behind the bar, pour drinks, and look pretty, and I'll consider myself paid back in full."

Jessie's head popped up, and she looked at the smile on Deja's face and smiled back at her.

"Deja, I like you."

"I like you too."

Jessie laid Mia down in her little princess bed. Deja showed her around and gave her what looked like an earpiece.

"What's this?" Jessie took it and stuck it in her ear.

"Ven likes to tinker, so I bought a baby monitor and told him I needed a piece you could place in your ear so that if Mia woke up or cried, you would know. He made this; we tested it out, and it works well."

"I don't know how to thank you or Ven or anyone else."

"Take care of this beautiful little girl; that will be thanks enough. Let's get you working."

They walked out, closing the door softly behind them. Deja could feel all the eyes on them, but this is what it felt like the first day she came to work here.

"Jessie, this is Cole. He's the bartender and keeps these guys in line. Cole, this is Jessie. She's our new waitress."

"Nice to meet you, Jessie," Cole held out his hand, taking hers when she offered it.

"This is Declyn, one of the owners, and this is his partner Enzo. Enzo is also my male. You've already met Ven, my son, who is sitting next to him."

Ven turned surprised eyes on her. She hadn't had time to declare that he was hers, but it shouldn't come as a shock.

"Let's walk around the club. You'll be responsible for cleaning up any spills, wiping down the tables, and bringing the guys their drinks. They will let you know when they want you. Other than that, I would like you to walk around, engage in small talk, and get to know them. It can get pretty lonely here at times."

"Nothing else?" Jessie's voice shook as she looked at the males.

"There is no side job here. This club is all above board. No one will put his hands on you if he wants to keep them."

She nodded. "Deja, is there a wild animal around here?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"No reason, it's just that I thought I heard a growl," Jessie said.

She definitely heard a growl, but Deja still didn't know who it came from, but she was beginning to understand what it meant. Someone was claiming Jessie and sending hands-off warnings. Life was bound to be interesting.

Xander called out. "If the pretty waitress could do her job, I'd like something to drink."

"You're up, and I'm going back behind the bar." She knew that they would keep Jessie busy all night.

She walked over to see Enzo and Declyn still sitting at the bar.

"Who claimed Jessie?"

They both gave her innocent looks.

"Don't try it. My Kur'ik is new, but I'm learning, and someone sent out a definite don't-touch warning."

"You're right, but let's wait until he's ready to declare himself publicly."

She agreed and went to work pouring drinks and talking to her friends. The door to the club opened around one am, and she saw something that surprised her: a female walked into the club with a male standing behind her, a small child held in her arms.

The club went silent. The last time that happened, Deja knew there was about to be violence.

"Amira," Declyn called the female's name while a low hiss of fury went up in the room.

The male behind her stepped in front and crouched, ready to defend his mate.

Deja came from behind the bar. Two babies in one night, things were changing fast around here. She walked until the growl Enzo emitted told her to stop.

"Hi, I haven't met you. I'm Deja, the new bartender, although maybe I'm old news by now. I'm also Enzo's mate and Ven's mother. I was wondering if I could see that cute little girl you have there. I assume she's a girl based on the pink blanket."

"The healer went to ground. I had to deliver my baby on my own," Amira said, looking at her daughter.

"Enzo, we're going to need a midwife and a doctor. Think about how we can get one of them. I have a feeling we're going to have more children in this community soon. Can I see her?"

Amira touched her male's back, and he moved aside so Deja could look at the child. The little girl cried, stuffing her hands in her mouth.

"Did you feed her?"

"What am I supposed to feed her?"

Deja felt her heart break. All the Kur'iks knew was war; even after hundreds of years here, they were still primed to fight a war that meant nothing to them now.

"Is this the first baby?"

"I'm Lazaro, Amira's mate. We're not allowed to procreate. The child may not make it through the night, and if she does, our battalion will kill her."

"Oh hell no. No one's touching this child. Enzo, I think it's time for everyone to know your secret."

He stood up and came to stand next to Deja before he called Ven over to his side.

"Take a good look at Ven and ask yourselves why he looks like me. Ven is more than the son of my heart; he is my son. I didn't know I could get an infertile pregnant, but I did. Each of you can have children. It may have to be with your mates, Ven being the exception. What matters here is that you can have children. We won't be killing babies or making parents suffer for loving each other so much that they want children to love too."

"Amira, come with me. Jessie, you come also. Jessie had a child a year ago, so she would be the authority on children and breastfeeding. We're about to find out if Kur'iks can breastfeed."

Oh, happy day!

Stop being sarcastic.

You have to find this funny. Not one child but two and a mother who doesn't know how to feed her child.

I think it's sad.

Here's what I think is sad. There are battalions full of Kur'iks living and dying to fight someone else's war.

All the voices in her head were correct; she could see both the humor and the sadness in this situation.

"That's Mia sleeping in the bed, Jessie's daughter."

Deja motioned them all to sit down. "Well, we are all about to get super friendly with each other. I want to see boobs." She popped hers out while Jessie and Amira looked at her. "This is how you're going to feed your daughter. On Earth, it's nature's way of making sure the child gets fed."

They all went through a series of techniques she found on Google to prime your breasts for feeding. Then she used the warm compress to make sure Amira wasn't clogged, and the milk would start running, and then she taught her how to put her baby on her breast. Thank you, internet. Before long, they had a very happy baby sucking as fast as she could. A little milk dribbled down her cheek, and Amira watched her with bright eyes. The child didn't have a name. Amira and Lazaro would name her after she made it through a full twenty-four hours of life.

Deja stretched as she waited for Enzo to come out of the office so they could walk home. They had made it to closing. Ven was walking Jessie home. They were going to have to do something about that situation. Amira and Lazaro had left after they picked up as many baby tips as they could absorb in one night. The males in the club had acted terrified of the infant as if she were a monster. They finally warmed up and touched her tiny hands and feet. That little girl owned each of them now.

"Ready?" Enzo came out of the office smiling at her.

"I'm ready." They walked out, but Deja couldn't shake the sense that the Thalians were going to be a threat.