Oron chuckled. "It's stew." He placed the piece of beef on the edge of his bowl. Creelee picked it up and in two seconds flat it was gone. "Whoa," Oron said, his eyes wide. He looked very impressed.
"He's a great eater," she said proudly.
Oron was grinning and looked like he was having the time of his life as he fished pieces of beef out for Creelee and watched him devour them.
As the dinner continued, Oron offered Creelee everything that was served. As Izzy guessed, Creelee tended to like meat the best, but had surprised her when he discovered he loved pasta and pickles. By dessert, her tiny man was laid out under a napkin with an engorged belly. He had a smile on his face as he rubbed his tummy.
"I hope he doesn't get sick," she fretted.
"Nah, he can handle it," Oron said like a proud papa.
Izzy looked across the table and nearly laughed out loud. Meryn reclining back in her chair with her pregnancy belly looked like Creelee. "Eat too much?" she asked.
Meryn just smiled. "I'm so full."
"I made chocolate pies for dessert," Cord said, as he entered the room with the serving cart full of pies and after dinner drinks.
Meryn struggled to sit up. "I have room for pie," she clarified.
Creelee heard Meryn's declaration, rolled to one side and sat up. "Room for pie," he repeated, causing everyone to chuckle at his antics.
When Cord set the pie down in front of them, Izzy's mouth started watering. She could smell the sweet aroma of chocolate.
"Mud?" Creelee asked Oron, tugging on his sleeve.
"No, Creelee, this is chocolate. It's sweet and tastes good. Try a little bit, then see if you want more," he suggested.
"Cord, did you have to give him a whole piece? It's almost bigger than he is," Izzy said, watching worriedly.
Cord just smiled as he walked around with the coffee.
Creelee stuck one tiny finger in and licked it. Before she could stop him, he literally dove into his piece of pie. "Creelee!"
She could barely see him in the thick layers of chocolate and cream. Oron looked at her and she shrugged. Was this normal? Seconds later, the piece looked smaller. In fact, it kept shrinking until all that was left was bits of cream and crust.
Cord walked over and instead of handing her a cup of coffee, there were two large cups of warm water, a bar of soap and a fresh tea towel. "Thank you, Cord."
"Creelee, in the cup."
Swaying on his feet, he made his way over to the cup. She gently lifted him up and dunked him in like a tea bag.
"Warm," Creelee said.
"Wash off all that sticky mess," she ordered.
Creelee ducked under the water and when he popped back up, most of the chocolate had come off. "Rub your hands on the soap." She held up the bar. He rubbed his hands on the bar until bubbles started to form. Giggling, he began playing with the bubbles. She didn't mind because he was basically washing himself.
"Okay, Creelee, let's rinse you off." She held out her finger and he held on. She lifted him up and into the fresh water. She had to hide a smile when she saw that he was now buck naked. His loincloth was probably somewhere on the pie plate. Once he was rinsed, she helped him out of the warm water and wrapped him up in the fluffy tea towel. She gently ran the towel's edge over his head, drying his hair. When he yawned, Felix flew over and held out his arms. "I can take him."
"Creelee, Felix is going to put you to bed. Is that okay?" she asked, not wanting him upset.
Creelee rubbed at his eyes and nodded. She passed him, towel and all to Felix, who flew off with the newest member of her family.
"You're going to be an amazing mother," Oron said softly. She could plainly see the love in his eyes. "Let's get Creelee to the stage where he doesn't eat pie by jumping into it, then we'll talk about kids."
"Whatever you say, love," he replied, lifting her hand to kiss it.
"Meryn, what's wrong?" Aiden asked.