Chapter 29
It’s nearly dinner time, and Kean is still walking around the garden with a crying River. How can a baby cry for so long? It’s literally been hours.
Lyric hasn’t moved from my lap, after telling me he loved me and giving me a big hug. He sat on my lap and refused to move.
Finally, I pull my phone out of my pocket and research how to stop a baby crying.
“Hey, little man, can you stay here while I go outside and help Kean?”
“Ver stop cry?” he asks, looking up at me.
I nod. “I’m going to try.”
He nods. “Down Tus.”
I put him down and watch him walk over to Ben. “Up Unk En.”
Ben laughs and picks him up as I walk outside.
Kean sees me and walks over. “Should we take him to see Justice?”
“Not yet. I’ve been googling to see what can be done. Can I try something?”
“Sure,” he says, handing River over.
I gently cradle him and then use my finger to gently stroke his forehead and down his nose. It takes a few minutes, but River’s crying starts to lessen, until finally he stops and falls asleep.
We both give a sigh of relief.
Kean puts his arm around me and kisses the side of my head. “Well done, honey.”
I lean into him. “When you left the room, Lyric came and cheered me up. He told me he loved me.”
Kean grins widely. “That’s amazing.”
“I can’t wait until he says it to you.”
“Me either. Shall we go and have dinner?”
“Yep. I left Lyric with Ben looking after him.”
We both walk into the kitchen, and everyone is putting food on the table except Ben, who is still sat with Lyric. Lyric spies us first and smiles. “Clean,” he says happily, holding out his arms.
Kean goes and swoops him up. “Hey, little man. Did you have fun with Uncle Ben?”
“Unk En fun,” he says.
“Thanks, little man,” Ben says to him.
Lyric grins at him, then turns to look at Kean. “Ver sleep?”
“Yeah, Lyric, Titus got River to sleep.”
He nods. “Luv Ver, luv Tus, luv Clean.”
Kean smiles a large, happy smile. “I love you too, Lyric. How about sitting in your highchair for dinner?”
Lyric should have had dinner and been in bed hours ago, but today has been emotional for all of us, and just this once won’t hurt.
Kean puts Lyric into his highchair and moves it so it’s between the two of us.
Ernest and Alfred are both at the table, but Justice isn’t here, nor is Molly.
“Is Justice still working?” I ask Alfred.
“Yeah, he and Molly are trying to get Earl to go to the hospital. He has a nephew who’s come to stay, so hopefully he can help persuade Earl to go,” Alfred replies.
Food is passed around, and I put a little of everything onto Lyric’s plate, and I one-handedly cut it all up for him. “Blow on it first, as it might still be a bit hot,” I tell him, putting the plate in front of him, with his little spoon and fork.
There is general chat around the table as everyone catches up on their day. We’ll talk about the funerals and Septamus once we’ve finished eating.
“After the wedding, we’re having a film night at Sly and Ebby’s and watching A Company of Wolves as Tie's never seen it,” Temp announces, picking up his drink.
“I can’t believe we’ve not made you watch that yet,” Cam says, shaking his head.
“Sly was suitably shocked and invited us all around to watch it,” Ben adds.
“That should be a fun evening,” Ernest says, scooping up some peas. “We could watch An American Werewolf in London as well.”
“That’s a blast from the past, I’ve not seen either one in years,” Jude comments.
“I don’t think I’ve seen either of them,” Sal adds, before eating a carrot.
“Wait Sal, you’ve never seen An American Werewolf in London?” Alfred suddenly asks, looking surprised.
Sal shakes his head. “No, it passed me by somehow.”
Emily puts her drink down. “I’ll babysit Connie so you can both go and see them.”
“Thanks, Emily,” Sal says, smiling at her.
“I see?” Lyric asks.
“No, little man. Those are grown-up films, but I’m sure we can find something fun for you to watch,” Kean says to him.
“Hon Fu Finka,” Lyric replies.
There is silence around the table, and I’m not the only one who looks confused.
“Hon Fu Finka?” I ask.
He nods.
“Does anyone know what that is?” Nix asks, picking up his drink.
The others shake their heads.
“Not a clue,” Temp says.
“Hon Fu Finka, Hon Fu Finka,” Nora mutters and then smiles. “Kung Fu Panda.”
Lyric nods. “Hon Fu Finka.”
“We have that,” Jude tells us. “I’ll put it in the children’s playroom.”
“Thanks, Bro,” Kean says, picking up a carrot and handing it to Lyric.
Lyric eats the carrot, then, grinning at Kean, opens his mouth wide.
Kean laughs. “Not sure I need to see your chewed-up food, little man.”
Lyric laughs and carries on eating. Although looking at him, his face is enjoying the food as well, plus his hair. Seriously, how can one child make such a mess?
I finish one hand eating, and the table is cleared off, and coffee and cake are brought over.
Kean cleans Lyric up and then sits him on his lap, and I shift River to my other arm.
“How did today go?” Adhan asks us.
“Heart-breaking,” Kean replies, as Lyric settles against his chest with a contented sigh. “Lyric got scared when they were buried, and there were lots of tears.”
“And then when everyone had left, Septamus arrived,” I say.
I heard gasps from around the table.
“Did you or Sly blow him up?” Nix asks.
I shake my head. “No, he spouted a lot of nonsense and pulled out a vial of something he was going to throw at me.”
“Sly called the vial to him and then threw it at the nutty brother,” Temp says, with a shudder.
“What was in the vial?” Alfred asks.
“A potion to create large, exploding, repulsive boils,” I answer.
“Really?” Ernest asks.
I nod.
“It was totally gross; they erupted all over his face, but judging by his clothes, they were appearing everywhere. All exploding blood and pus. According to Sly, the boils will never heal.” Temp tells them. “Thankfully, we sent him home before I threw up.”
“While that was happening, Ben and I took the boys back to the church and walked around the grounds,” Kean says. “So they couldn’t see or hear anything.”
“Does that mean we won’t have any more issues with Septamus now?” Adhan asks.
“Hopefully. I mean, if his boils will never heal, I can’t see him leaving the house ever again. The worst he can do is send us more pictures, but we can delete them,” I say. “And if he buys a spell off the dark web, the town protection wards should stop anything he sends.”
“Good,” Adhan says. “When the wards are next updated, we’ll make sure it stays that way.”
Just then, Justice walked into the kitchen. “Evening, family,” he says, walking over to Alfred, leaning down and kissing him hello.
Emily stands up and gets Justice a fresh mug of coffee.
“Thanks, Emily,” he says, pulling away from Alfred and sitting down.
“Do you want something to eat?” Alfred asks him.
Justice shakes his head. “No, I’m not very hungry, love, a coffee is just what I need.”
“How’s Earl?” I ask him.
“Stubborn,” Justice says with a sigh. “But we did a three-pronged approach and Earl is now safely in the hospital.”
“What about Earl’s shop?” Emily asks, putting a large mug of coffee down in front of Justice.
Justice smiles at her. “Thanks. His nephew, Gordon, is going to be running it for now, long term, who knows,” Justice replies. He looks at me and Kean. “You need to bring River into the surgery so he can be weighed.”
“We can do that tomorrow, if you have time,” Kean says.
“Yep, pop in tomorrow morning and I’ll fit you in,” he says. “We’re only open half day tomorrow.”
I’m surprised the surgery is open at all, considering it’s a bank holiday, but then I guess sickness and injuries can happen any time.
“Will do, thanks, Justice,” I say. “But for now, we need to get the boys down for the night.”
“Lyric’s already asleep, hopefully he’ll stay that way,” Kean adds.
“Doobs, it’s time you went to bed as well,” Nix says.
“Okay. Thank you for dinner, Nana,” she jumps up and moves to stand next to Jude and touches his arm. “Jude, will you read me my story?”
I try not to laugh as she pulls out her ‘I’m too cute to say no to’ look.
Jude, however, does laugh. “Sure, Sweetpea. You get ready for bed, and I’ll check on Connie, then come and read to you.”
She gives him a quick hug. “Thank you, Jude.” And with that, she happily skips off to bed.
“Sucker,” Cam says, as he passes his brother on the way out of the kitchen, Nix at his side, who just laughs.
“Like you can say no to her either,” Jude gripes at him, standing up.
“Pretty sure I’ve managed to say no, once or twice,” Cam replies.
I’m not the only one who laughs as they leave the room.
“Pretty sure he hasn’t,” Alfred said, grinning.
“Is it me, or does the word no not exist when Nora asks something?” Sal asks.
“I’m sure I’ve said no to her once or twice,” Emily says. “Pretty sure I have anyway.”
Again, we laugh at that.