“Not in the way you mean.” Aleki grinned.
Huh? Oh. Wait. It suddenly occurred to her what he meant and she froze. “Oh. Sorry.”
“We’re supposed to be relaxing,” Caleb warned them both.
Wolfe drew off the wrapping, throwing it onto the ground. Which was unusual for him. Generally, he liked everything put away. But she guessed he didn’t want to get out of the bath. He handed the bath bomb to her.
“I won’t see it fizzing.” She bit her lip.
Aleki and Caleb pushed some bubbles away from the center and she placed the bomb down. It immediately started fizzing and the scent of sugar filled the air.
“Yay!” she cried, moving off Wolfe onto her knees. She reached out and ran her fingers through the pink water. “It’s pink and sugary. I love it! Is there more?”
“Only one at a time,” Caleb told her.
She pouted.
“Meanie,” Aleki whispered.
She grinned at him. Oh, he was bad. She glanced over to see if Caleb was upset but he just rolled his eyes.
“Look.” Aleki pulled out a packet. “Bath slime. It’s glittery.”
“Aw, hell,” Wolfe sighed.
“Let her use it,” Aleki warned. “She wants to.”
She glanced back at Wolfe with a pout.
“Fine,” he relented.
They poured out the powder. For a moment she didn’t think it would do anything. Then the water started to turn into glittery, pink slime.
“This is so much fun!” she squealed, using her good hand to run her fingers through the slime. She scooped some up. She eyed Aleki and threw it right at him.
Plop! It landed on his chest.
He froze. “Little girl. Did you just throw slime at me?”
Oops. Had she made a mistake? But then she saw the way his eyes shone.
“Uh-huh. What you going to do about it?” she challenged him.
“Oh, baby girl. You should know better than to dare me. Slime fight!”
37
“I’ve got glitter in places that glitter should never go,” Wolfe grumbled.
“Shh.” Aleki held his finger to his lips as he lay next to Vivi on the bed, watching her sleep. After the slime fight, which had made a huge mess in the bathroom, they’d gotten her cleaned off in the shower and tucked her into bed.
She’d tiredly told them everything that had happened in the marketplace. Aleki was still furious about taking his eyes off her. Why did she keep getting hurt? It was killing him.
“Family meeting. Living room,” Caleb stated.
Aleki frowned. “She might have a nightmare. I don’t want to leave her.”
“Short meeting.”