“Well…” Lucia sighed. “It’s been nice meeting you, Raze. But I’m afraid we need to get the kids to bed. Since my car is broken down, I’m going to have to get up really early and take my mom to work before I can drop the kids off at school and then get the car back to her and take the bus to my own job.” She rubbed her forehead as though just thinking of all that made her tired.
Raze frowned.
“That seems like a lot of trouble. Why don’t I just give you a ride tomorrow? I need to go to your work anyway, to see what’s wrong with your vehicle and I don’t mind taking your young ones to their places of education first.”
“Oh, I don’t know…” Lucia bit her lip uncertainly. She looked like she wanted to accept his offer but wasn’t quite sure she should, Raze thought.
Her mother also seemed uncertain about the arrangement.
“Lucia,” she said urgently and then followed it up in rapid Spanish.
It was one of the languages that Raze had studied before taking his leave on Earth. As a Kindred with a natural aptitude for foreign tongues, he had picked up all the Earth languages he had studied with relative ease. But he had found Spanish considerably easier than English to learn because everything sounded like it was spelled.
“Look, my darling,” Lucia’s mother said to her in Spanish. “I don’t think this is safe. You barely know this man and he is so big! He could break you in half with his little finger!”
“He could but he’s not going to,” Lucia argued, also in Spanish. “Look at how gentle he is with the kittens! And Lady likes him. You know she can always tell when a man is bad or good. Besides, he’s Kindred. They don’t hurt women.”
“I have heard good things about the Kindred and how they treat their women like queens,” her mother admitted, grudgingly, Raze thought. “But you only just met him!”
“I know but I have a good feeling about him,” Lucia told her.
“A good feeling?” Her mother frowned and put a hand on her hip. “Like the good feelings you had about Tony?”
“Mom, that’s not fair.” Lucia frowned. “I was young and stupid. You tried to warn me but I didn’t listen.”
“Like I’m trying to warn you now!” her mother insisted. “This man is too big, Lucia! And you’re so small. Plus, he’s offering to take the babies to school—I don’t know how I feel about that! What if he has a wreck? You know he’s probably not used to driving down here—especially in Tampa traffic during rush hour!”
“I have driven on Edoris Prime without any problems,” Raze informed them, also speaking in Spanish. He ignored their wide eyes and went on. “On that planet, there is air traffic and ground traffic to contend with, as well as underground tracks for shuttle-trams that occasionally surface at intersections. So the traffic is coming at you from all directions at once. But I never had a ‘wreck,’ as you call it,” he finished, speaking to Lucia’s mother.
“Dios,” she whispered.
“I’m so sorry!” Lucia said quickly, in English. “We didn’t know you spoke Spanish. We didn’t mean to be rude—my mom is just worried about me, that’s all.”
“Of course she is,” Raze said, smiling to let them know he wasn’t offended. “I know I’m big—like all Kindred are—and I might look ‘scary’ to you,” he said to Lucia’s mother. “But I will give you my oath as a Warrior before the Goddess that I will never hurt your daughter or her little ones. Female life is sacred to us because women are scarce in my society.”
The older woman frowned at him and put a hand on her hip.
“And how do we know if your word is good?” she demanded. “My daughter just met you!”
“Mami!” Lucia exclaimed but Raze shook his head.
“No, it’s all right. I understand why you’d be scared. I’ve heard some of the things males do to females on your planet.” He frowned, thinking hard. “What if you brought your dog with you?” he asked at last, nodding at Lady, who was sprawled on the ground at his feet, looking perfectly relaxed. “I can tell she’s very protective of you all. She would certainly never let anyone hurt you—right?”
“Well…” Lucia’s mother’s frown softened a bit. “That might be an idea,” she said to Lucia. “Though I still don’t mind lending you my car, mija,” she added.
“Yes, but if I take your car I have to bring it back to you and then ride the bus all the way to work and back again,” Lucia pointed out. “That’s a long trip and I’ll probably be late in the morning.” She looked at Raze. “Speaking of which, you’ll have to get up pretty early if you really don’t mind taking the kids to school and me to work.”
He shrugged.
“Won’t I be up early anyway, feeding the kittens?”
“Yes, you will,” Lucia admitted. “Well, I guess if you really don’t mind…”
“I don’t,” Raze said firmly. “Will I see you in the morning then, Lucia?”
She smiled at him tentatively.
“Thank you, Raze. Yes—we’ll meet you in the lobby.” She nodded at her three children and Lady, the dog. “All five of us.”
“Six,” her mother said, frowning. “If you’re going in a car with a strange man, I’m following right behind you, mija.” She pointed a finger at Raze. “And I’ll have my cell phone set to 911 just in case, so don’t get any funny ideas.”
“Mami!” Lucia exclaimed, looking embarrassed. She looked at Raze. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. Your mother is just being protective of you and your children,” he told her gravely. “I don’t blame her. Until you get to know me, I’m still just a stranger who accosted you in the middle of the night with a handful of cattens—kittens, I mean.”
He grinned and Lucia laughed—a warm, feminine sound Raze liked at once. Gods, she was lovely.
“All right then—see you in the morning,” she told him. “At six thirty sharp.”
“No problem.” Raze made certain all the kittens were secure in the small cardboard box Lucia had fixed for them and gathered the supplies she’d given him. He said his goodbyes to her mother, who still seemed suspicious and her children as well. The twin boys hid bashfully behind Lucia’s legs but Frannie, the little girl, spoke to him boldly.
“Be sure you feed the kittens at the right time,” she said, pointing to the box. “If they get too hungry they could get sick. So promise to be good to them!”
“Frannie!” Lucia looked horrified but Raze only smiled. He liked the little girl’s spirit and the fact that she was so protective of the little creatures.
“I promise,” he said gravely, bending down to look at her. “And you can hold their box while we drive to your place of education tomorrow. How would that be?”
She broke into a shy smile.
“I’d like that.”
“I thought so.” Raze nodded. “Then I’ll see you in the morning.”
Lucia walked him to the door of her small apartment and smiled up at him as her mother hustled the children off to a bath and bed.