“It’s not a problem, Private. And it’s not late. But you’ll have to wait your turn. He’s already busy in the other room with a female, and I strongly suspect she’s undressed,” Mahrree said gravely.
The private’s eyes flashed in shock and his mouth began to open.
Mahrree winked at him.
Perrin called loudly from the kitchen, “I’m just giving Jaytsy a bath. Don’t listen to her, Zenos! Haven’t I told you that before?”
The private broke into a wide grin and said, “Yes, sir! That’s why I keep finding excuses to come here. It reminds me of home.”
Mahrree laughed. Private Zenos was not only Perrin’s favorite soldier, but hers too. If ever she had a little brother, she imagined he would have been exactly like Zenos.
Perrin emerged from the kitchen with Jaytsy wrapped in a thick cloth. His tan shirt was nearly as wet as her wild hair. “And cat warfare? While I’d like to believe that, since I hate cats, I have to tell you—I never read about that in any of the history books, Zenos.”
“The best things never are remembered, sir,” Zenos declared earnestly.
Perrin chuckled. “I suspect that’s true. Peto’s turn for a bath,” he said to Mahrree. “There’s still a corner of the basin clean enough for him.”
On cue Peto began to roll from his playing area. Mahrree caught him and walked with him towards the kitchen.
“Mahrree, where are Jaytsy’s bed clothes?” Perrin called to her.
Mahrree stopped. “Oh, I forgot. They must still be upstairs on our bed.”
Private Zenos held out his arms to Mahrree. “I’ve been meaning to ask for a while, and now seems the right time: Can I hold Peto while you find the clothes?”
Mahrree’s eyebrows rose at his offer. Maybe it was because he was from the southernmost areas, but Private Zenos was so unlike the men of the village. The last several weeks he had been happily serving as their messenger demonstrated that.
He always first delivered Perrin’s message, then added an outlandish story or joke to make Mahrree laugh. She looked forward to his visits, and if Perrin hadn’t sent a message for three or four days, she told him in the morning he needed to, because she thought of something new to say to the young private to tease or embarrass him. Half of the time she succeeded. The other half he would startle her instead. He must be always thinking up ways to get her back, just as she planned on ways to get him first.
Whenever he dropped by, the children usually stopped whatever they were doing when they heard his voice and hooted eagerly at him. Zenos always took a moment to tickle Jaytsy or make faces at Peto.
And now Zenos was offering to hold Peto. Mahrree had met only one other baby-snatching man in her life: her husband. Now there seemed to be another in the world, and he was only twenty years old.
Mahrree said to Perrin a couple of weeks ago that she thought Zenos was the sweetest soldier she had ever met.
Perrin had glared at that and said to never, ever call a soldier “sweet” again.
Or adorable.
Mahrree evaluated the sincerity of Zenos’s offer. His blue eyes were completely honest. “Peto’s a little sticky,” she warned him.
“That’s how babies should be, ma’am.” Zenos smiled and took Peto confidently.
Peto stared at him with big eyes and reached up to grab his nose.
Perrin looked at Mahrree. “Better run and get the clothes before Peto claws his face. We don’t want to ruin a good thing here.”
Mahrree nodded and went upstairs leaving Perrin to watch his young recruit who sat down on a chair and easily bounced laughter out of his son. She soon came down the stairs in time to see Zenos tipping Peto upside down and flipping him back up again. Alarmed she asked, “Is that safe?”
“None of the babies in our family have had permanent damage yet, ma’am!” he assured her and flipped Peto yet again, to his giggling delight.
Perrin held his gaze for a moment, then sat down on the stuffed chair near the hearth and started to put a changing cloth on Jaytsy by the warmth of the fire.
“Perrin!” Mahrree exclaimed. “Not in front of the private!”
The soldier grinned. “I promise I won’t peek, Mrs. Shin. But it’s really nothing new to me. I have a sister who has two little girls, and I was always the one who stayed with them and even changed their cloths when she needed to go to the market. They loved their Uncle Shem.” He nuzzled Peto’s neck as only someone who was completely comfortable with babies knew how to do. “Yes they did!” he crooned as Peto giggled and grabbed clumps of his short light brown hair in his chubby fists.