Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband novel Chapter 211

Chapter 211: The Babysitting Operation

Babysitting a two-year-old is a challenge. Babysitting a two-year-old Duck-kin with a full squad of apex predator beast-cubs is a highly disorganized extreme sport.

It had been three days since the glowing magical incident on the patio. Pip was now officially a toddler, complete with a mop of fluffy yellow hair, chubby cheeks, and a pair of soft, downy duck wings on his back. Lucien was currently inside the manor, being forced by Caspian to take a nap because the Panther Warlord hadn’t blinked or stepped away from his new son for seventy-two hours.

That left the cubs in charge of entertainment.

I sat on a lounge chair on the patio, a cup of tea in my hands, ready to intervene if things got out of hand. But honestly, I just wanted to see what they would do. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Down on the soft grass, the "operation" had begun.

"Stand at attention, recruit!" Arjun barked.

The nine-year-old tiger-cub was pacing back and forth in front of Pip. Arjun had his hands behind his back, looking like a tiny, extremely serious drill sergeant.

Pip was wearing a pair of tiny blue overalls that Luna had rush-ordered from the capital. He blinked his large, dark eyes at Arjun. Then, he squatted down and poked a dandelion.

"Recruit!" Arjun sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You cannot break formation to inspect the flora! A soldier must maintain the perimeter! Now, march! Left, right, left!"

Arjun demonstrated a perfect, disciplined march.

Pip watched him intently. Then, the toddler stood up and began to waddle. It wasn’t a march. It was an aggressive, side-to-side duck waddle, complete with his little yellow wings flapping for balance.

"Honk!" Pip announced happily, waddling directly into Arjun’s legs and hugging the tiger-cub’s knees.

Arjun stiffened, his ears turning entirely red. He looked down at the chubby toddler hugging him. "Um. The... the recruit is engaging in unauthorized affection. I do not have a protocol for this."

"You are using the wrong training method," Jasper interrupted, adjusting his round glasses as he stepped forward with a stack of wooden blocks. "His cognitive development requires visual stimulation, not military drills. Allow the scholar to work."

Jasper sat down on the grass, crossing his legs. He placed a red wooden square on the ground. Then, he placed a blue triangle next to it.

"Observe, Pip," Jasper said in his best professor voice. "This is a square. It has four equal sides. Can you point to the square?"

Pip waddled over to Jasper. He looked at the red square. He looked at the blue triangle. Then, he picked up the blue triangle, opened his mouth, and bit it.

*Clack.*

"Prim!" Jasper gasped, looking thoroughly scandalized. "The avian is attempting to consume the educational materials! Wood is entirely indigestible! He will ruin his gastric lining!"

"He’s teething, Jasper," I laughed from the patio. "Just trade him the block for a snack."

Before Jasper could negotiate a trade, Vali bounded over, his tail wagging a mile a minute. The wolf-cub pushed his way to the front of the group, puffing out his chest.

"You guys are boring!" Vali declared loudly, making sure to glance over his shoulder to see if Clover was watching. She was sitting on a picnic blanket nearby, organizing a tiny tea party. "Wolves know how to play! I am going to teach him how to hunt!"

Vali dropped to his hands and knees. He looked at Pip, who had dropped the wooden block and was now watching the wolf-cub with wide eyes.

"Okay, Pip! Watch the Alpha!" Vali barked softly. He pointed a finger at a small, harmless green beetle crawling through the grass. "That is prey! We have to sneak up on it!"

Vali flattened himself against the grass, demonstrating a perfect, stealthy predator crawl. He crept closer to the beetle.

Pip let out an excited squeal. He dropped to his hands and knees and copied Vali. But instead of being stealthy, Pip just army-crawled as fast as he could, his little wings buzzing, giggling the entire way.

"No, shh! You have to be quiet!" Vali whispered loudly.

Pip reached the beetle first. He didn’t pounce on it. He simply picked it up with two chubby fingers, looked at it, and then held it out proudly toward Clover.

"Bug!" Pip chirped.

Clover wrinkled her bunny nose, standing up and marching over. She smoothed down her pastel pink dress and put her hands on her hips, giving Vali a very stern look.

"Vali," Clover scolded, her long ears twitching. "You cannot teach a baby to touch dirty bugs. What if it bites him? A good provider protects the pack from gross things."

Vali panicked. His grand attempt to look cool had backfired. He immediately scrambled up, gently swatting the beetle out of Pip’s hand and standing protectively in front of the toddler.

"I was protecting him!" Vali backpedaled instantly, his tail tucking. "I was going to eat the bug so it wouldn’t get him! I am a very good provider, Clover! I promise!"

Clover sighed heavily, shaking her head. "You lack refinement, wolf. Move over. Babies need accessories, not hunting lessons."

Clover reached into her bag and pulled out a tiny, woven straw sun hat. She carefully placed it on Pip’s head. It had a little hole in the back so it didn’t mess up his fluffy yellow hair.

Pip reached up, touching the brim of the hat. He looked at Clover, a massive, gummy smile spreading across his face. "Hat!"

"See?" Clover smiled, looking very proud of herself. "Now he is fashionable. Market value increased by twenty percent."

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