Chapter 17
Kenji pulled Qylar far enough away from the kids’ room to have some privacy and turned to face him. He opened his mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out. Qylar leaned in closer, silently waiting for whatever Kenji was going to say.
“Can I say something first?” Qylar asked. “Before you tell me whatever it is you want to tell me?”
Kenji nodded.
Qylar led him to their guest room and shut the door. He drew Kenji to the bed, and they sat down face-to-face. From the look on Qylar’s face, Kenji wasn’t sure he wanted to hear whatever news was coming.
“I fucked up again,” Qylar said. “I didn’t consider your needs above my own, and I think I’ve really messed with your head. I swear I didn’t mean to.”
Kenji tensed. “What did you do?”
“When planning the trip here, I knew I wouldn’t be welcome anywhere but this apartment. It was a light in the dark and somewhere safe for us. In my mind, it was the obvious choice.”
“Okay,” Kenji said, not yet sensing the problem.
Qylar winced. “But I didn’t consider how spending time with two little ones running about might blur the lines and make you second guess your decision.
And I don’t want you to think I was attempting to coerce you by submerging you into this idyllic slice of family life, either.
It honestly never occurred to me until you asked me if you were making the right decision.
I could see the doubt in your eyes, and I fear I’ve put it there. It wasn’t intentional.”
Kenji knew that Qylar’s admission should make him rethink everything, but for some reason it only made him feel more confident. “I don’t want to go to the appointment tomorrow.”
“I think we should reschedule the appointment, find you some peace and quiet away from the kids, and give you time to think more clearly.”
Kenji frowned.
“You’re not thinking clearly right now, and I don’t want you to resent me later because I twisted things in your mind,” Qylar said. “We actually have more time than I understood. According to the doctor Alex found for us, you have up to six more weeks before they won’t be able to help you.”
Kenji had already started to reconsider his choice on the trip there, before meeting the children, but he had to agree that seeing Qylar play father figure to Ael and Zaadi had made an impact. The man was going to make an incredible father someday.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do need time to clear my head so I can be sure what I want.”
“Cryss and Alex have a vacation house in Aspen. They go every year and spend Thanksgiving through New Year there. Because of their due date, they’re not doing their big celebration like they usually do, but Alex would really like the kids to open presents there on Christmas morning if they can make it in time. It’s become a family tradition.”
“Family traditions are important for kids.”
Qylar smiled. “Before they’d left, Cryss asked me to go around the middle of December and put up a small tree and minimal decorations in case they got there at the last minute. He wanted the kids to have something festive when they arrived.”
Kenji nodded. “And with a new baby in tow, they won’t have the energy to do a lot.”
“Right,” Qylar said. “We discussed it during the kids’ bath. I’m going to head over early and spend most of December there.”
Pain lanced Kenji’s chest. He struggled to draw in his next breath.
“When you said you wanted to give me peace and quiet, I didn’t realize you meant that much peace and quiet.” Kenji hated the idea of being apart through the holidays. “But it’s probably for the best that I stay at the townhouse alone to make this decision. Without distraction.”
“The townhouse?” Qylar asked, frowning. He blinked a few times. “I mean, if that’s what you need, then absolutely. I’ll support your decision and make sure you have what you need there before I go.”
“Wait… if not the townhouse, where were you suggesting I go?”
“I’d hoped you’d want to come to Aspen with me,” Qylar said.
Kenji’s eyes widened. “Oh! You said you were going. Not we, so I assumed you meant you wanted to go alone, and I didn’t want to assume I was invited.”
“Kenji… you’re my mate. You can go with me wherever you wish.”
He smiled.
“I want to spend the holiday with you. Just the two of us,” Qylar said, smiling. “We can decorate the house, spend our evenings in front of a big, warm fireplace, drink all the mugs of hot cocoa you want, shop for a few gifts, and play in the snow. How’s that sound?”
Kenji grinned. “You had me at just the two of us but sealed the deal with hot cocoa—although you missed a couple of my favorite winter activities on that list.”
“Oh?”
“Cuddle in bed together and sleep in late after a wild night of sex.”
Qylar chuckled. “Well, those are a given. Always assume they’re on any list.”
Kenji snickered.
Qylar leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kenji’s.
“I promise plenty of downtime, too. It won’t all be on the run.
We’ve got nearly an entire month, so plenty of lazy days where you can rest.” He cupped Kenji’s cheek.
“By the end of it, hopefully you’ll have a better idea of what you want to do and gives us time to get back here and make that appointment. ”
“That sounds really, really good. When do we leave?”
“Before we leave the planet, I think we should arrange for a checkup to ensure you’re in good health and that there are no unforeseen medical issues we need to be concerned with while we’re away.”
“Agreed,” Kenji said.
“We can leave as soon as that’s complete and the ship is prepared. With Alex’s help, we may be able to get you an appointment as early as tomorrow and be able to leave the following day.”
“Late the following day,” Kenji said.
Qylar waggled his eyebrows. “Are we sleeping in after a night of wild sex?”
“No wild sex. We already crossed the line and you made me yell louder than I’d intended. There’s a family out there, you know. I don’t want to scar the little ones.”
Qylar sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”
“We’ll just have to work extra hard to have quiet sex.”
Qylar laughed.
“Also—I keep hearing about these pristine waters on Nefyria, yet no one has offered me a chance to experience them for myself.”
Qylar gasped. “I can’t believe I suggested leaving without you going for a swim first. What was I thinking?”
Kenji grinned. “Can we go for a nice long swim before we go, just you and me?”
“Of course. The water’s one of the only good things about this planet. I can’t let you leave without experiencing a clean ocean.”
After landing the ship in a small clearing of trees not far outside Aspen, Qylar backed his loaded truck out of the cargo bay.
Once they’d made it out, he used the small remote he had to close up the back end and lock down the craft.
Another press of a button and the ship’s outer hull mirrored to reflect the surrounding trees.
“It’s safe to just leave it out here in the woods?” Kenji asked.
“Cryss bought this parcel as a landing pad right after he bought the house. We’ve equipped it with plenty of security and stealth tech.
A plane flying right overhead would see nothing.
No one’s getting past the outer gates, either.
If they managed to—which they wouldn’t—I’d know instantly.
I could remote start the ship to take it out of Earth airspace before they reached it. They’d find nothing.”
“Ah,” Kenji said, shaking his head.
“Do you not appreciate my preparation, mate? It protects us, you know.”
“It’s just so much you have to do to hide here.”
“Once we have the tech in place, it’s not really that hard,” Qylar said, pulling onto the paved road they’d had placed before erecting the sonic fences and gate.
They only had a twenty-minute drive before they finally pulled in front of the Aspen house.
He smiled when he heard Kenji’s gasp. The place was huge and way over the top, especially for a home that was typically only used three or four months out of the year, but it’s where Alex and Cryss had fallen in love.
That first trip, Cryss had borrowed it from his cousin, Queen Qalani, who’d built it for her family, but after their magical holiday spent there, Cryss had wasted no time convincing her to sell.
Since, it had become a family tradition to spend the holiday season there, year after year.
It’s also where both Zaadi and Aeloran had been conceived. Qylar wasn’t sure about their new child, but they had stayed past Valentine’s their last trip, so it was possible.
“You said it was a vacation house. This is a vacation mansion,” Kenji said, an accusing tone to his voice.
Qylar shrugged. “Sorry?”
Kenji shook his head. “I guess I need to start getting used to being rich-adjacent. Considering I’ve spent most of my life barely-making-it-adjacent, that’s a big swing to make.”
“Well, if anyone deserves to live a lifestyle of the rich-adjacent, it’s you.” Qylar smiled. “Before we unpack the truck, wanna take a tour?”
“Hell yes,” Kenji said, reaching for the handle.
They climbed out. Qylar stretched his arms and legs after their long drive and then headed for the door, searching his ring for the key. Kenji was nearly bouncing with excitement when he approached and unlocked the door.
The front door was a massive fifteen-footer that swung from a central post. As soon as Kenji had enough room to squeeze through, he was gone, racing ahead of Qylar.
“Wait up,” Qylar called.
The house had been locked up and secured before they’d returned to San Francisco—and there was an agency that walked the property monthly, to ensure damage that didn’t register with the security system’s monitoring capabilities hadn’t occurred.
That didn’t mean it wasn’t impossible for someone to have bypassed the system and gotten inside, either.
No human, of course, but someone from Nefyria might be able to, if they wanted to badly enough.