Crossbred Son Read Online Free Page A

Even when I didn’t believe it was possible, he insisted it was.”
    Gabe stared at her, his expressions shifting and his ridge plates extending halfway and retracting again. She’d clearly said the wrong thing, but Abby couldn’t fathom what it might be. She opened her mouth to ask.
    He beat her to the punch. “Steven Rayn was your doctor?”
    “They said he was the best there was with crossbred babies. How was I supposed to know—?”
    Abby swallowed hard at his bland look. A look that seemed to proclaim: “You could have known if you’d just asked me.” That went without saying.
    “Well, isn’t he?” she squeaked.
    “Yes. Rayn is the best at saving the unsavable.” He grumbled something she didn’t catch.
    And I’m not going to rock the boat.
    Again, the silence grew into an oppressive cloud that even Michael seemed to perceive. Their son started to wiggle and fuss. Abby’s hands itched to pick him up and cuddle him. She fisted them in her lap. If she did that, Gabe would think she didn’t trust him with Michael, she was sure.
    As it was, Gabe was monopolizing time with Michael. He’s making up for lost time. I have to let him...bond with Michael, or whatever the Xxan call it. Knowing them, it likely had another word, considering what binding meant to them.
    Or maybe not. Binding was binding.
    But what if their parent-child binding is unbreakable the way mate binding is.
    Abby came to her senses, her hands halfway onto the tabletop. She forced them back to her lap. I don’t know what Xxanian fathers are supposed to do. I have to let him bond and hope it’s not too late for them to form one.
    Gabe started cleaning Michael’s face, and he didn’t look at her. “If you have a spare blanket and a pillow, I can sleep on Michael’s floor tonight.”
    Her heart aching, Abby forced herself to answer. “If that’s what you want. Sure.”
    What? He’s supposed to fall in bed with me after everything we’ve been through? Part of her wished he would. The rest knew that era of their lives was over.
    Abby fled the table. By the time Gabe had Michael out of the highchair, the blanket and pillow were in Michael’s nursery, and she was closed into her bedroom.
     
    ****
     
    Gabe looked down at the pile of linens on Michael’s floor, swallowing down a roar, his ridge plates coming halfway erect. Michael looked up at him sharply, his ridge plates stirred, and his eye slits narrowed. Gabe forced his back and rumbled out a calming sound in Xxan. One fist went into his son’s mouth, and he started teething on the knuckles.
    He’d hoped Abby would argue with him, offer him somewhere else to sleep. When she’d sounded so hesitant, he’d been sure Abby would act on her continuing attraction to him and invite Gabe to her bed.
    I’m dreaming. It’s over. She’s offering me a place in our son’s life, but she’s not interested in us as a couple anymore.
    He looked down at Michael, offered a weak smile, then collected a fresh sleeper from the bureau and a diaper from the changing table.
    Soft. Spice Industries made the softest, most absorbent diapers around, and they sold them at a discount to Xxanian families, calling it a ‘medial need’ to have such diapers for crossbred infants. With SLAL aiding Abby, it was clear they’d arranged for Spice diapers for Michael. Only the best for my son.
    “It’s time for a bath, little man.” It was long past time for a seir’s first bathing of his son. Gabe pulled the bottle of clove bath gel out of his bag and carried baby and supplies to the bathroom.
    He set Michael on the plush bath rug, and the baby clapped his hands on his thighs.
    Gabe smiled widely. “Like your bath, do you? Well, that is normal for our breed.”
    His son cocked his head to one side and lost his balance. Gabe reached out and scooped him up. Michael squealed in delight and bounced in his seir’s arms, seemingly speeding Gabe toward the bath.
    “Just a minute, Michael. We have to undress you