Chapter 28
We arrive home early in the evening. We had a lovely pub lunch. We tried to put Lyric in a highchair, but he cried when we tried, so he sat on Kean’s lap, eating his chicken nuggets and whatever else we all fed him.
Sly fed River his bottle, and then I changed his nappy before we left to come home.
Lyric fell asleep not long into the journey and was still asleep when we reached the manor. River fell asleep just as we reached the manor.
We carry both sleeping boys inside and take Lyric’s jacket and shoes off, and settle them both in their day cribs as we walk into the kitchen.
“Coffee?” Kean asks, walking to the pot.
“Please,” I say, taking my jacket off, putting it over the back of my chair and sitting down just as Temp and Ben walk in.
“Coffee?” Kean asks them.
“Please, thanks, Bro,” Ben answers for the two of them, sitting down.
“Are the boys asleep?” Temp asks, throwing his suit jacket over the back of his chair, then sitting down next to Ben.
“Yeah, neither stirred. Sly get home alright?”
“Yeah, we dropped him off, waved to the boys and came on back,” Ben replies. “What a day.”
“Yeah,” I reply.
“I’m glad we were with you today and that your nutty brother is taken care of,” Temp says
“Your brother as well,” I remind him.
“You saw Septamus?” Cassie asks, walking into the kitchen with Sion.
“Yeah, he turned up at the church and jumped out at us from behind a parked car when everyone had left,” I tell him as they sit down.
“What happened to him?” Sion asked.
“He pulled out a vial of something to throw at Tie, but before he could, Sly called the vial to him and then threw it at the nutty brother,” Temp said.
“What did it do?” Cassie asks.
“Covered him in large exploding boils, from which he will never recover,” I reply.
“Gross,” Cassie says, shivering obviously at the thought.
“Very,” Temp and I say at the same time.
“What about the boys?” Sion asked.
“Ben and I took them back to the church yard, well out of harm's way,” Kean replies.
“So, it really is over with Septamus then?” Cassie asks, with a hopeful smile.
“Seeing him, very probably, but I still expect him to blow up my phone, but I can just keep blocking whatever number he uses. You do the same, Cass.”
My brother nods. “I can do that. I’ll delete all those pictures as well.”
“Good,” I reply.
Just then, I heard the patter of tiny feet and Lyric comes toddling in.
Kean is up before I can move and picks him up. “Hey, little man. You climbing again?”
Lyric nods and snuggles into Kean’s chest and sighs, popping his thumb in his mouth.
“Do you want a drink, little man?” I ask him.
He nods. “Duce pees,”
I get up and get him some watered-down orange, and bring the tub of biscuits over, putting it in the middle of the table. As I do, I’m wondering if we should change his day cot into a bed, I mean, it’s not as if the crib is keeping him safe. I’ll chat to Kean about it and see what he thinks.
Lyric is sat on Kean’s lap, and I pass him his sippy cup, when I hear crying.
“River’s awake,” I say, walking into the children’s lounge. I pick River up and rub his back. “Hey, Baba, shall we change your nappy?” As I talk, I walk over to the changing table and make quick work of cleaning him up and redressing him.
I cheat and wave my hand to tidy up and pick River back up. He’s still crying.
“What’s wrong, Baba?” I ask, swaying backwards and forwards. “It’s too early for food, and you have a clean nappy. Sometimes you just need a good cry, don’t you, Baba?” I rub my hand up and down his back, making a gentle shushing sound.
He’s been crying for ages. I try to give him his dummy, but that doesn’t help; he just keeps crying and crying and crying.
I know I said about having a good cry, but I didn’t mean for this long.
What if he’s crying from a delayed injury?
Maybe I should take him to see Justice. I look at the time and realise Justice should be home soon, so I can have him check River out then.
“Come on, Baba, you’re too young to be this upset,” I say, but he doesn’t stop crying, and it’s breaking my heart. I don’t want to use magic to try and make him stop crying because if something is wrong, it could cause more harm.
“Look at this, Baba,” I say and using magic, I make bubbles appear, but he ignores them and keeps crying. Then I remember his eyesight isn’t that great at the moment, so that was a silly thing to do.
I press my cheek to his little head. Maybe it’s me, and I’m doing something wrong and making him cry. That must be it, I mean, I don’t really have much experience with babies, only Connie and she hardly ever cries.
I hurry into the kitchen and look at Kean. “I think I’ve broken River. I can’t get him to stop crying. What have I done wrong?”
Kean stands up, and it’s then I realise Lyric is sitting on Cassie’s lap.
“I knew I would be a terrible parent,” I confess. “Who was I kidding, thinking I could be a good father?” I feel my eyes fill with tears.
“Hey, hey, honey, stop that,” Kean says, pulling me into his arms, being careful of the baby. “You’re a wonderful father. Sometimes babies just cry. Let me hold him.”
I pass River over, fully expecting him to stop crying as soon as he’s in Kean’s arms, but he doesn’t.
“Kean is right, Titus,” Emily says, walking into the kitchen. “Sometimes babies just cry for no reason,” she pulls me into a hug. “You are a wonderful father, just as I knew you would be. Never doubt that.”
I hug her and then pull back. “Thanks, Emily. I thought he was crying because of something I’d done. I was sure when Kean took him, he’d stop crying.”
“As you can hear, you were wrong,” Emily says, patting my arm.
“How about a walk around the garden, Baba. I’m sure everyone wants some peace and quiet for a few minutes,” Kean says, walking out of the kitchen.
I slump down onto a chair, lean my elbows on the table, and drop my head into my hands for a moment, taking a breath. I feel a hand on my lap and look down and see Lyric standing next to me, looking concerned. He holds his arms up. “Tus,” he says softly.
I smile as I pick him up. “Hey, little man,” I say, standing him on my lap.
“Tus sad,” he says, patting my cheek.
“I’m alright now, little man, I was just having a moment,” I tell him gently.
Lyric smiles. “Luv Tus,” he says, falling onto my chest and hugging me. I feel tears come to my eyes for another reason now, happiness.
“I love you too, Lyric,” I look up and see my brothers, Ben, Sion and Emily smiling broadly.