back in their service days, which was what made it so incongruous seeing him draped in little kids.
The baby was in a pink onesie and looked very young. The toddler had a sparkly unicorn shirt half on and half off, and a winged pony toy clutched in one fist. There was a box of crackers scattered around her feet; it looked like they had been attempted as a bribe and then rejected.
"Honey," Derek was saying, while trying to juggle the bottle and the baby, "you're going to have to put down Rainbow Sparkle Magic so I can put your shirt on."
"No!" the little girl sobbed, clutching the toy to her chest protectively, as if he'd suggested stuffing the pony down the garbage disposal.
"Honey, your arm won't fit through the sleeve like that. It's not physically possible."
"You need a hand there?" Ben asked, trying to choke off a laugh. "Hang on, let me get Short and Scaly settled—no, sweetheart, not up there," he added, catching Skye as she tried to leap for the top of the refrigerator, tiny wings churning.
Dan cleared his throat. "I'm pretty good with kids. Can I try?"
"Be my guest," Derek said, and then did a double-take. "Whoa, Dan! Man, it's great to see you! What are you doing here? You never called me back. I wasn't even sure if I had the right number."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Guess I had my own stuff going on for a while there." Dan went down to one knee and smiled at the little girl. "Hi, kid. I'm your dad's friend Dan. What's her name?" he asked, glancing up at Derek.
"Mina," Derek said. "Short for Jimena." He swiveled his leg so that Mina was facing Dan. "Honey, say hi to Dan."
Mina squeaked and buried her face in Derek's leg. The half-on, twisted-around sweatshirt dangled from her arm like a butterfly's partly shed chrysalis.
"Hi there," Dan said. "Are you shy? Me too." He covered his eyes with his good hand. The other—the metal clamp hand—was still half hidden in the sleeve of his coat. "Where's Mina? Oh no, I guess she's gone. I can't see her at all."
There was a tiny giggle. Dan jerked his hand down.
"Oh, there she is!"
Mina shrieked and hid behind Derek's leg.
"Is this your pony friend?" Dan asked, and Mina gave a little nod. She was an utterly adorable kid, maybe two or three, with huge dark eyes. "I love ponies. Can I see him?"
Mina hesitated and then lurched away from Derek's leg and held him out.
"Wow, what a beautiful pony," Dan said, cupping his hand under the pony without trying to take it. "What's his name?"
Mina mumbled something that sounded like "mmmmsparklymagic."
"Wow. Here, let me give you a hand with your shirt, okay? Turn," Dan said, and she obediently swiveled and presented an arm. "I'll just hold your pony friend for a minute to keep him safe, and then give him back."
"Holy shit," Derek said from above him. "Cow, I mean. Holy cow."
"Dan's always been kind of a kid whisperer, hasn't he?" Ben said. Dan glanced up while pulling Mina's shirt onto her other arm. Ben had Skye wound around his arm like some kind of sparkly ornament, holding her wings down with one hand while she tried to scrabble free. "Remember how kids were always all over him? Village kids, orphanage kids, it didn't seem to matter if he spoke the language or not."
"It's not magic or anything," Dan said, embarrassed. "It's not that hard." He tugged down the shirt and gave Mina back the pony, which she snatched out of his grasp. "There, that's better, huh?"
"I've been trying to get that shirt on her for an hour," Derek said.
"Well," Ben said, "if it makes you feel any better, she'll probably be out of it in a few minutes. At least if she's anything like Skye." He rubbed the top of the baby dragon's head with his thumb.
"Can't dragons take their clothes into a shift?" Derek asked.
"They can, sure. If they're wearing clothes to begin with."
"Ah."
Mina had now decided that Dan was her new favorite person. She offered him a soggy cracker.
"Uh, thanks, sweetheart."
"Sorry for the reception, but now you know what it's like around here," Derek said. He had the baby tucked in the crook of his muscular arm with the bottle in her mouth. "This is Lulu, and you already met Mina. Damn, it's been a long time, man! We've got a heck of a lot to catch up on. Coat hook's by the