Chapter 26
We manage to finally get the boys into some semblance of a routine. I absolutely love having them.
For the past two nights, Lyric has slept through the night. I think he’s finally realising he’s safe here and neither Kean nor I are going anywhere.
River has been a little fussy, though, indeed, after his night feed last night, he cried whenever I tried to lay him down. In the end, I held him for hours before he finally fell into such a deep sleep, I could lay him back into his cot and crawl back into bed with Kean.
At the moment, we’re sat in the garden on a blanket.
River in a little bouncy chair, and Lyric sat next to Connie playing with bricks.
Nora, Xander and Enoch are playing with them, while Kean, Jude, Adhan and Sly put together the massive climbing frame, swing set I ordered.
I think this is the biggest playset I’ve ever seen.
It has swings, monkey bars, slides, a climbing net, a fireman's pole and tunnels.
I watch as the brothers and Sly try and follow the instructions to put that thing together.
“Why don’t they just use magic?” Enoch asks, as we hear Jude swear again.
“It’s a bonding thing,” I reply.
“Aunt Molly talks about bonding all the time,” Nora says.
“She does. Working with others creates good bonds,” I tell them. “Plus, once they have finished putting this together, then they can look it over with pride.”
Lyric stands up and toddles over to Kean, watching him for a moment.
“Yes!” Jude shouts as whatever he was having issues with worked.
Lyric runs over to him and holds his little hand up. “Five Unk Ood.”
Jude laughs and high-fives him, then picks him up and spins him around with Lyric laughing his head off.
“Gain Unk Ood,” Lyric shouts happily when Jude stops.
“I’m going to miss these names when Lyric learns to say them properly,” Enoch comments.
“I think we all are,” I reply. I really will miss being called Tus, but hopefully it will mean he’s calling me papa.
Connie keeps rubbing her cheeks, and she sniffs.
“Is your mouth sore, Connie?” Xander asks, picking her up and settling her on his lap.
She nods.
I look in her bag, which Jude brought outside and dumped next to me, and see the potion Molly made. “Here, Xander, put a little of this on your finger and rub it over her gums,” I say, passing the bottle to him.
“Thanks,” he says, taking it. “Let me rub this on your gums, Connie.”
Connie opens her mouth and lets Xander help her.
“A tooth is nearly broken through,” he says, handing the bottle back to me.
“Poor thing,” Enoch says, stroking her hand.
I watch as Connie snuggles into Xander and closes her eyes.
“It’s nice having a large family,” Enoch says softly.
“It is,” Nora agrees. “For most of my life, it was just Nix and me, and now there is family everywhere.”
“Yeah, our family is great,” Xander adds.
I hear Lyric laugh and look over and see him running around with Kean and Jude chasing him.
I watch as Lyric falls onto the grass. Jude and Kean reach him at the same time.
“Bad grass,” Jude says, pointing at the grass as Kean stands Lyric back on his feet and brushes him down.
“Bad ass,” Lyric said, pointing at the grass.
I laugh at that.
“Did he just say ‘Bad ass’?” Enoch asks.
“Oh yeah. Grass is now ass,” I confirm, and the children laugh.
Sly and Adhan walk over and join us.
“Time for a break,” Sly says, flopping down.
“That’s what I thought,” Emily comments from behind me.
“Let me take that, Mum,” Adhan says, and then walks around me and puts a large tray on the ground in front of us. There are jugs of cool drinks, glasses, cakes and two pots of fruit and carrots for Lyric and Connie.
I smile at her. “Thanks, Emily.”
Emily sits down with us, looking over towards the play set. “I thought you would have been finished by now.”
“The instructions don’t make any sense,” Sly gripes, swiping a biscuit. “And apparently I’m not allowed to use magic.”
“Poor Dark One,” Enoch says, patting his arm.
I laugh at that. Molly nicknamed Sly Dark One when they first met, as Darkling was already taken by Sal. “Just think of all that bonding you guys are having.”
“Too much bonding is a bad thing,” Adhan says, grinning, before looking at Sly. “Magic away.”
“Yes!” Sly practically shouts.
I watch as he throws his magic out, and moments later, the play set is completed and ready to use and big, really big.
“Hey, that’s cheating,” Kean calls out.
“Don’t care,” Sly shouts back, eating more of his biscuit.
“Come on, Nora, let’s check it out,” Enoch jumps up and runs over to the play set, Nora hot on his heels.
“Do you want me to take Connie, so you can join them?” Emily asks Xander.
“I’m good,” he replies, snagging a biscuit.
I look at River, who is just waking up. I pick him up and drop a kiss on his head. “Hey, Baba, did you have good dreams?” I ask softly.
River grabs my finger.
I hold him in the crook of my arms, so he can see everyone.
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Adhan asks me.
I sigh. “Probably not emotionally. River will be fine, but Lyric? I need to remember to take lots of tissues for him. Kean found something online called a Memory Bear.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Xander says. “They use clothes to make keepsake bears.”
“That’s them. We want to have two made out of Doris and Reggie’s clothes so the boys have one each.”
“That’s lovely,” Emily says.
“Yeah. We still need to put their photos up in the boys’ rooms at some point and start creating memory books for them. Both about Doris and Reggie and about their lives with us.”
“There’s time enough for that; you don’t need to get everything done now. Take this time to keep bonding with your boys and do the other bits when you can,” Adhan suggests, picking up a drink.
“Plus, if you want any of us to do the night feeds so the two of you can have some uninterrupted sleep, let us know,” Emily tells me.
“Do we look that tired?” I ask. I mean, I know both Kean and I feel it, especially me after last night, but do we look that bad?
“Yes,” they all pretty much say.
“We will do, thanks, Emily.” I hear Lyric and the children laughing and look at River. “Shall we go and see your brother and daddy?” I stand up and walk over to the play set.
Enoch and Nora are trying the monkey swing and Lyric is crawling through a tube that has holes cut into it.
He sees me. “Tus,” he calls, sticking his head and most of his body through the hole and smiling at me.
“Careful, little man, don’t get stuck,” I caution, pretty sure he’s about to realise that he is actually stuck.
He tries to move backwards but can’t. “Tus,” he says, looking at me, his bottom lip going.
“Hold on, little man,” I say. I call on my magic to release Lyric, and it does. Now Lyric is standing in front of me.
Lyric looks around and then laughs. “Five Tus,” he says, holding his hand up to me.
I high-five him and then, with one arm, pick him up. “Snack time.”
“Tus,” he says, snuggling into my chest.
“Here, honey, let me take River,” Kean says, swooping in and taking the baby from me. “Hey, Baba,” Kean says, kissing his head.
I drop a kiss on Lyric’s head as I walk back to the others and sit back down on the blanket. I pick up Lyric’s sippy cup and hand it to him. He takes a drink without lifting his head from my chest.
“You tired, little man?” I ask him.
He nods and sticks his thumb in his mouth, handing me his cup.
“Shall I take you inside, so you can sleep in your day cot?”
He shakes his head, so I make sure he’s comfortable and wait for him to fall asleep.
Kean settles down next to me, River having his bottle.
“You two make wonderful parents,” Adhan says to us.
“Thanks, bro,” Kean says, smiling.
“Thanks. I’m not sure I do, but I’m trying my best,” I say.
“That’s all anyone can do,” Emily replies, picking up a biscuit. “It’s what I did with my boys.”
“And what I’m doing with Connie,” Jude says, sitting down and stroking his sleeping daughter’s hand. “All any of us can do is try our best and hope we don’t mess up.”
Emily pats his arm. “You’re doing a wonderful job as well, darling.”
“I think Titus and I are winning at the best parents, though, as we are bringing up two children,” Kean says, grinning.
“Hey, Ebby and I brought up two as well,” Sly protests.
“But we weren’t babies,” Xander points out.
Sly shrugs. “We’re still the best, though.”
“You are all doing wonderfully,” Emily says diplomatically.
“We are,” Jude agrees.
Kean holds River up to his ear and pretends to gasp. “You think we’re the best? Thank you, Baba.”
I shake my head at him. “Nutter.”
Kean just laughs.