This is Delilah. Yes… the Delilah featured in the series. She looks all sweet and innocent, right? Not so much. Today was exciting. This morning we were all sitting in the kitchen when Annie came racing in with Delilah right on her heels. She was shrieking happily (as only an 8 year old can), and wiggling a red laser pointer on the ground which is what had De-li all excited. “Watch this!” She ran the bright red dot in circles around herself, and the little cat chased it at warp speed then seemed to stop in mid air and execute a perfect 180 as Annie reversed the direction.
“You’re going to make her dizzy, little one, not to mention yourself.” Ren smiled down at the diminutive girl and she nodded excitedly.
“She likes it… see.” Annie ran the light over the kitchen floor then up the side of one of the islands and we all laughed as the little cat leap upward and then slipped across the counter-top and plunged off the other side, totally consumed with killing the evasive red dot.
“Be careful not to shine the light in anyone’s eyes, Annie. You could hurt them.” Pete’s serious tone wouldn’t deter the child who nodded but continued to torment the ferocious feline.
Annie shone the laser pointer all around the room and the cat gave chase, running at full tilt, claws extended for maximum purchase. (Not that it helped her much on the smooth wood floor.) And that’s when it happened.
Dean let the baby slip off his lap and held her hands as she stood giggling, watching the antics of her favorite fuzzball race in circles around us all. Unfortunately Aura was barefoot and Annie ran the light too near her little toes. De-li couldn’t stop, not that she tried, I doubt she even saw the baby. Those claws slashed across Aura’s unprotected foot and all up her calf leaving deep crimson gouges that spurted blood all over the place.
For a second Aura just stood there in shock, then her face scrunched up and she began balling so loudly I thought my head was going to split open. Everyone moved at once. Dean fell to the floor beside her but then hardly moved. His face went white and he seemed at a complete loss as to what to do next. I pulled the baby up and sat her on the table. She continued to wail, not just vocally but mentally. Everyone was cringing as if we could duck under the pain of her cries but the wails continued unabated.
I grabbed a kitchen towel off the counter and wrapped it tightly around her shredded little leg. Fabian yanked out the whole drawer where we keep the band-aids, tape, and gauze and put it on the table next to me. “Let me Cal.” He pulled out the hydrogen peroxide and antibiotic ointment and was about to apply them when Pete stepped in.
“Let me check it first Fabe.” Pete ran his hand over the wound not really touching it but feeling if an infection ran through her system. He frowned and lightly grasped the skin beside the scratches. A moment later the blood oozing out of the wound looked more gelatinous and then ran clean as the infection left by Delilah’s cut was eradicated. I wiped it away as Fabian poured the H2O2 over her calf. Her shriek nearly drove us all to our knees, and then Pete was helping to bind it.
Annie shuffled from foot to foot her face a mask of grief and regret, not to mention the splitting headache we were all feeling. “I’m so sorry! Is she going to be okay?”
Pete turned to her with a severe look on his face. “You will not play with that thing in the house again, understood?” His voice could be so imposing when he was angry, but that’s true of all of the Riders.
Annie nodded and began to cry. Laura took her aside and though I couldn’t hear what she was saying, she was somehow both scolding and consoling the child at the same time. Laura is an awesome mother.
Dean took the baby in his arms as his energy flared softly around him. The light and more importantly the feeling of his love calmed the baby tremendously. “I’m sorry. I’ve never reacted to blood like that before.” He looked embarrassed which is understandable what with being the leader of the Riders.
I smiled and put my arm around his waist. “It’s different when it’s your baby who’s doing the bleeding.” He nodded and cuddled Aura that much closer then kissed her curly little head.
“What do we do with this little critter?” Ren was holding Delilah up by the scruff of the neck. Her tail curled upward around her belly and her her whole demeanor screamed that she would like to be anywhere else. Ren looked at her disapprovingly and I could tell he was considering giving her to Fenris.
“Just let her go. It’s not her fault. Besides, you know she can hold her own against that werewolf.”
Ren reluctantly dropped the little cat who scurried from the room like a gray streak of lightning.
“Bad Di’ah.” Aura still has trouble pronouncing the cat’s name but it’s so damn cute nobody minds.
The rest of the day was much quieter though all of the Riders kept very careful watch over the baby. The way they passed her around I don’t think she walked another step until bedtime.
No one saw Delilah for the rest of the day, but when I went to check on Aura a little after midnight, she was curled up in the babies crib as she usually is. She raised her head and purred at me when I ran my hand over her soft fur. “You’re lucky Aura doesn’t hold grudges.”
She smiled at me as only a cat can and tucked her nose back under her tail before going to sleep.
I know you’re not supposed to let animals sleep in the crib, hell, you’re not even supposed to have stuffed animals in there as they could smother the child; but Delilah has been protective of the baby since the first night we put her in the crib. I always believed there were monsters under my bed (still do) but in this case, Aura has a monster IN her bed… but luckily it’s on her side.
Home Of The Riders 