Chapter 11
Iflop down onto the sofa, with Kean joining me.
“I’m exhausted,” he says, kicking his shoes off and then lying down, his head resting on my lap.
“Me too, but a good kind of exhausted,” I reply, stroking his hair, my other hand resting on his thigh.
“Yeah. I’m glad we bought some toys earlier.”
While we were shopping this morning, we bought some building blocks, a play mat and a stacking rings thing, and we used them all. Apparently, these are all good toys to help with developmental skills.
“Who was having more fun, you or Lyric?” I ask, grinning down at him.
“Pretty sure you were having fun as well.”
“I really was.”
We settled Lyric down a few minutes ago. I magicked up a cot which fits in my bedroom. It’s silly, but I wanted both boys with us tonight. Then tidied the flat. Who knew a few toys could make such a mess?
“Bed routine can be started at home,” I say.
“It can. How about we head home the day after tomorrow?”
“I like the sound of that,” I break out in a big yawn. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise, honey. Neither of us got much sleep last night, and today we’ve not really stopped. We should think about going to bed.”
“Thought about it, too tired to move,” I say, still stroking his hair.
Kean rolls off the sofa and kneels on the floor. “Come on, honey, the bed is calling,” he holds out his hand and stands up.
I sigh and take the offered hand and let Kean pull me up. Except now we’re chest to chest, and his lips are right there. I lean forward and kiss him, putting one hand around his waist, the other I tangle in his hair.
Kean groans as he wraps his arms around me and kisses me back, and suddenly, I’m not so tired. I start stripping Kean, and soon I’m touching glorious naked skin.
I move around and push Kean back down on the sofa, and after thinking my clothes out of existence, I straddle his lap.
“Need you handsome,” I mutter.
“You have me, but we need lube.”
I click my fingers, and a tube appears in my hand. “Your wish is my command,” I say, handing it over, before ravishing his mouth. I hear the click of the tube cap and then groan, before Kean makes love to me.
The next morning, Kean and I are drowning in coffee. River woke twice and Lyric once, wanting his parents. It took a while to get him back to sleep, and he’s grumpy today, which doesn’t help our tired feeling, and his favourite word of the morning is ‘no’.
We had a message from Monica last night suggesting we meet up at the Lees’ house at eleven. The perfect time, I thought, but Lyric isn’t cooperating and is currently hiding from me.
“The two baby bags are packed. We should see if we can condense them down into one bag,” Kean says.
“Yeah, we can do that. We don’t have time for that now. I’m trying to find Lyric so I can put his shoes on, but he’s hiding.”
Kean nods. “Good job, I’m a wolf shifter and can sniff him out then.”
I follow as he walks into the third bedroom and around the side of the bed, where Lyric is sat, crossed-legged on the floor, arms folded over his chest, and a scowl on his face.
“Hey, little man. We’re nearly ready to go. Let’s get your shoes on, shall we?” I ask.
“No,” Lyric shouts.
“That wasn’t really a question that needed an answer. We’re going out and you need your shoes on.”
“No,” he shouts again and looks away.
“Sorry, Lyric, but the answer is yes, and indoor voice, please,” Kean bends down and picks Lyric up, holding him so I can put his shoes on.
Thank goodness for Kean as Lyric has turned into a limp, wriggly thing. After about five minutes of struggles, Kean growls at Lyric.
While Lyric looks at him in surprise, I get his shoes on. “So that worked,” I say.
“It did. I’ll remember that for next time.”
“Good thinking. You keep hold of Lyric I’ll get River.”
We walk into the lounge and I collect the baby carrier, complete with the baby inside, and pick up his bag, with Kean taking Lyric’s. I hand Lyric his teddy, and we finally leave the house.
We’re going to be late, and I hate that. I don’t think I’ve ever been late in my life, but for future trips, I think we need to factor in an extra Lyric hour.
Kean insists on driving today, so I pull up Monica’s message with the address and tap it into the car’s satnav and then message Monica saying we’ll be a bit late, but that we are on our way.
I laugh when I see her reply.
I thought you might be. You forgot to factor in two children. See you when you get here.
I laugh and read Kean the message. “And one of them being a grumpy Gus.”
“Indeed.”
It doesn’t take us long to get to the Lees’ house, but now I’m worried about how Lyric will cope.
I’m worried too, honey. All we can do is help him over his heartbreak.
I love our mind link. It comes in handy, like now, when I don’t want Lyric hearing that we’re worried about him.
We can. I reply, then, plastering on a smile, I say, “Right then, let’s go.”
Kean has Lyric, and I have River, and we walk to the front door.
The house is lovely, it has a large bay window, a double garage and a large front garden, filled with colourful flower borders.
I ring the bell, and the next moment Monica is there, opening the door, a welcome smile on her face. It seems strange to see her in casual clothes and not a work suit and heels. She looks so chilled like this.
“Come on in,” she says, moving out of the way.
We walk in, and Lyric is beaming. “Down Clean,” he demands, wriggling.
Kean sets him on the floor, and Lyric toddles off, suddenly shouting for his parents. River is awake, so I take him out of the carrier and hold him close. He sighs and snuggles in.
“Mama, dada,” the little boy calls, going around the whole of the downstairs, looking for and calling out for them.
We follow, ready to catch him when he realises, they aren’t there.
“This is heart breaking,” Monica whispers.
Lyric stops in the kitchen and starts loudly crying.
Kean reaches him first, picks him up and hugs him close. “I’m so sorry, Lyric,” he says softly, sounding choked; Lyric is crying into his neck.
I feel my eyes fill, and look at Monica, who is wiping hers. “We were worried about how being here would affect him, but it’s worse than I thought,” I say quietly. I rest my head on River’s for a moment, taking comfort from the baby.
“It really is. I’m sorry to say that this will stop in time as he forgets them.”
“We won’t let him forget them. That’s why we want some pictures. We’d also like you to write down what you know about Doris. I’m going to create a book so he and River will know their birth parents. I never met Doris, but you knew her well.”
Monica nods. “That’s lovely. Yes, I can do that. Are you bringing the boys to the funerals?”
“Probably not River. We’re still undecided about Lyric.”
She rubs a hand over River’s back. “If you want some advice, that you are of course free to ignore, I would bring Lyric; it will again be heart breaking, but it could help.”
We both look towards Kean and Lyric, he’s now quietly crying into Kean’s shirt.
“My husband is upstairs packing the boys' clothes. River’s clothes are all multi coloured, they didn’t hold with pink is only for girls and blue for boys. If they saw something they liked, they brought it.”
“We thought we’d hire a van and take all the baby furniture. Hopefully, having familiar things will help Lyric settle.”
“It should do. We’re just concentrating on the children’s things at the moment. Once we pack the house up, we’ll give you any special items, like Doris’ jewellery and all the pictures. If you see something when walking around that you and Kean would like to keep, let me know.”
“Thanks.”
Monica goes back upstairs, taking River with her, and I walk over and join Kean and Lyric. Kean looks devastated. Pretty sure I’m looking the same.
I touch Lyric’s back, and he looks at me. “Tus,” he hiccups.
“I know, little man. Kean and I promise to always love and look after you.”
“Baby?”
“And your brother,” I assure him.
He moves and holds his arms out. I take him out of Kean’s arms and hug him close, kissing his head. He sighs against my chest, his eyes closing.
“I literally thought my heart was going to break,” Kean says softly, wiping his eyes.
“Me too. All we can do is be there for him and offer him lots of love and support.”
“Yeah.”
I pull Kean into my side, one arm hug him and kiss his temple.
Kean leans against me for a moment before pulling back and kissing me. “Stay here with Lyric, and I’ll go upstairs and help pack.”
I nod. “Okay, handsome.”