Epilogue 2 #2
“I think you should try out for the team, even if it’s just the juniors,” I heard Arabella say to Bax in an understanding voice. “Worst case, it’s not a good fit.”
“Worst case they tell me no,” Bax grumbled.
The minute I stepped into the kitchen, Arabella arched a brow at the expression on my face. Bax turned sharply and frowned. “Did she go back to sleep?”
“Nope.” I popped the ‘p’ and went to grab a cup of coffee. “In fact, she shifted into her night terror form.”
“What?!” Arabella’s voice was an excited squeak, and I watched as she sprinted out of the room like some fairy, Bax in tow.
I poured myself the coffee and wondered if there was anything I could do to help—hadn't Razar said something about balloons?
I had wrapped the gifts yesterday, but maybe I could do that…
“Why is it so loud?” Amun asked as he came from upstairs.
“Liana shifted.”
Amun’s eyes widened.
“Into what?” Ashur asked, appearing on the stairs behind him. “Night terror? I have a feeling she’s a night terror.”
Fucking creationist know-it-all.
“Yeah, she’s a night terror,” I said, annoyed I didn’t get to tell them. I had gotten to tell pretty much everyone else…maybe I would find Cy and tell him. Just then, the back doors opened and I groaned, realizing that our ‘guests’ were already arriving.
Although you could hardly call Eve and her mates guests—they were our kids’ aunts and uncles.
My sister pushed through the doors with a ton of gifts in hand, the room exploding into chaos as her little spawns rushed to the nursery, her mates following after.
I offered a nod of greeting as Eve groaned and dropped her presents.
“It is so early,” she complained.
“It doesn’t start for five hours. Why are you here?” I asked, pouring her a cup of coffee.
“This house won’t decorate itself. I’m Arabella’s party planner,” she said with her chin tilted up proudly.
“Assistant party planner,” I corrected, handing her the mug. She scowled, but then she seemed to clue into what was going on, her eyes darting to the nursery. “Liana shifted?”
“Yep,” I said, my chest swelling with pride.
“What happened?” Cy asked as he walked inside, carrying some extra bags. He had clearly been on a walk and got looped into helping Eve.
I smiled, happy I got to tell at least one more person—
“Liana shifted.”
“Damnit.” I scowled at Eve as Cy flashed a smile and walked towards the nursery. They literally wouldn’t be able to fit anyone else in there—hell, I was pretty sure some of them were already in the hallway.
“A night terror,” Eve mused. “Things are about to get interesting for you.”
Oh, they were already interesting, but she wasn’t wrong. Young night terrors could cause a lot of trouble, but I would be more than happy to deal with that—in my eyes, my kids couldn’t do anything wrong. I knew it was a heavy bias, but…I didn’t care.
“Oh, Eve! Hi!” Arabella appeared seemingly out of nowhere and went into the pantry to grab cookies before disappearing again.
“She’s going to lure our child back down with cookies.” I chuckled. “I have to see this.”
Eve nodded and followed along with me, and when we reached the doors of the nursery, I was happy to see the other two were down on the ground. Liana was still up there, though she stared longingly at the cookie in Arabella’s hand. Walking forward, I figured I would try to help out.
“Liana,” I called, “want to go swimming?”
It would result in a complete mess since the riverbank was muddy…but it was the kid’s birthday. Instantly her eyes moved to mine, staring at me for a long moment as her brain seemed to work extra fast.
“I know you love swimming,” I said, repeating the word. Her power sparked as the black tendrils coming off of her shrank slightly. “I bet Elce and Rose will even come with us.”
Plus, it would allow everyone space and time to get ready for this party. I was being so damn helpful it was unreal.
“Swimming!” Rose exclaimed. “Come on, Liana!”
Standing right underneath her, I saw her make the decision to shift back.
I grunted as she threw herself into my arms, dropping like dead weight without any fear.
I chuckled as I pulled her against my chest and she wrapped her arms around me.
The room took a collective breath of relief and broke into conversation about how exciting the moment was.
Arabella appeared in front of me with a big smile. “So swimming is better than cookies?”
“I mean, I would argue that.” I winked at her, and she went up on her toes as I leaned down to kiss her.
When a small little hand pressed against both of our faces, Arabella burst into laughter, and I turned to find Liana scowling at us. “Sorry, sorry. I know, swimming.”
“Love you.” I dropped another kiss to Arabella’s head and strode from the room, planning to keep my promise. I had no idea how I had gone from being Death itself, feared by many, to being ordered around by a toddler to go swimming…but I loved it.
Actually, I knew how it happened. It was all because of Arabella and the love she had for her nightmares.
The End