Chapter 23 #2
Qylar watched them for a second, just in case Kenji completely freaked. The second he relaxed a bit and sat back in his chair, Qylar sensed they were good. “I’ll be right back.” He stacked a few plates together and peeked at the pair before taking them into the kitchen.
The view of Kenji cradling a newborn caused his chest to ache, his lungs burning. Shaking himself, he lifted the stack and walked into the kitchen. “Go sit, Alex. I got this.”
“I’m fine,” Alex said, loading dishes into the dishwasher.
“If you want to take the baby, I can help Qylar,” Kenji offered.
“Nah,” Alex said, rinsing another plate. “I agree with Qylar. You need some practice time.”
Qylar winked at Alex. “You really can go sit.”
“Do you really think sitting on the hole that he just came out of is all that comfortable? In case you have doubts, let me tell you. It’s not. Trust me, walking around is necessary.”
“If you say so,” Qylar said.
“Remember this after your mate gives birth,” Alex said.
Qylar peeked out at Kenji again. A smile came to his face. They were going to be parents.
He… the one who’d thought it would never happen… was going to have a mate and children.
Krythar appeared, carrying two platters from the table. “Where do you need these?”
Qylar was stunned the king was clearing dishes. He’d half expected the man to call in for reinforcements the second he realized there weren’t any servants around.
“You don’t need to help, Pop.”
“Well, I’m not going to let my son do all the hard work,” Krythar said. “And since he refuses to hire assistance, I suppose I need to pitch in.”
Qylar rolled his eyes. As if he wasn’t right there.
“Really, guys,” Kenji called. “If someone wants to sit down, I will help with the dishes.”
Both Qylar and Alex said, “No,” at the same time.
“Best to make him sure-sure he’s ready,” Alex whispered.
Qylar scrubbed the food off the plate, watching Kenji with a grin.
Once they left the dining room, Kenji seemed resigned to his fate. As Kenji stared down at Xan, a smile grew on his face. His mate started whispering things to the baby, and he wished he could be closer to hear.
The second Kenji leaned down to brush a kiss on Xan’s forehead, Qylar’s stomach clenched.
He’s ready.
“Earth to Qylar?”
Qylar glanced over at Alex. “Huh?”
Krythar and Alex looked at one another.
“He’s a smitten fool,” Krythar said to his son.
Alex chuckled. “He’s going to be wrapped around Kenji’s fingers.”
“Already am,” Qylar murmured, his gaze going back to Kenji and Xan. “Alllready am.”
Kenji was never so happy for dishes to be done in his life, and he wasn’t even the one doing them.
While he’d gotten a bit more comfortable, especially after their conversation about not wriggling, not crying, and not pooping, he didn’t like not having a spotter close by.
The three men rejoined the table, and Qylar collected baby Xan from his arms.
He could suddenly breathe again.
“See, you did fine,” Qylar said, grinning at him.
“For a few minutes, sure.”
“We’ll bump you up to an hour next,” Alex said, winking at him.
Kenji winced. “As long as I’m not left completely alone again.”
“You weren’t completely alone,” Qylar said. “We were right in the next room.”
“Exactly. Next room. As in, not in this one,” Kenji said. “I have zero experience with babies.”
“Not anymore,” Alex said. “Now you’ve got, didn’t shit his pants checkmark.”
Kenji chuckled. “How do you know if he didn’t shit his pants from all the way over there?”
“I meant you,” Alex said, chuckling. “I’m assuming we have dry briefs around the table.”
“Who says I wear briefs?” King Krythar asked.
Alex eyed his father. “TMI.”
“We rarely wear them due to shifting on Nefyria, so why would I here?”
“TEEEE-EMMM-EYEEE,” Alex repeated.
Kenji chuckled watching the pair together.
He peeked at Qylar and smiled, seeing how comfortable his mate was with a newborn.
It helped ease his nerves a tiny bit. Just a tiny bit.
The pitter-patter of four little feet came bounding their way.
Zaadi and Ael came running out in their Christmas pajamas with more energy than Kenji thought he’d had his entire life.
After the cookies, milk, and carrot were put out, Ael tested two of the cookies, Zaadi snuck a cookie for herself, a second round of goodnight kisses, and hugs from Ael, the children were put to bed for all that sugar plum nonsense.
Once all the adults sat at the table again, King Krythar eyed Alex. “I think you should give him his gift early.”
“It’s technically from you,” Alex said. “You should give it to him.”
“No, you and Cryss are the ones who pushed for this to happen, so it should come from you.”
“But it would be more meaningful from you, since your name is on it,” Alex argued.
“For fuck’s sake,” Cryss said, rising. “I’ll give it to him.”
Kenji snuck a peek at Qylar, who wore a frown.
He could be the only other him they could mean.
Cryss crossed to the tree, picked up a thick envelope, and returned to the table.
Cryss handed the gift to Qylar and lifted baby Xan to free him to open it.
“From King Krythar with an assist from Alex and I. Merry Christmas.”
“What is this?” Qylar asked.
“Just open it and you’ll see,” Alex said, an excited grin growing on his face.
Qylar eyed Kenji and then the others at the table before opening the envelope. Kenji tried to read it over Qylar’s shoulder, but after a few seconds, his mate leapt to his feet, still reading whatever it was.
“I’m a bit old for this,” Qylar said.
“The law doesn’t state that a ward has to be under the age of majority,” King Krythar said.
“A ward? Like a ward of the state?” Kenji asked.
“Kind of,” Alex replied.
Qylar shoved a hand through his hair. “You… um… this…” He shut his mouth and paced the length of the table and back, still reading the document over. “Are you sure? Because this is going to cause a lot of shit and there might be backlash.”
King Krythar leaned back in his seat. “Read the second page.”
Qylar whipped over to the second and read it over. “No… this isn’t real. You’re fucking with me.”
“I’m not. It was tested three times and verified,” King Krythar said. “I’m quite confident those results are correct.”
“But my father,” Qylar said.
“Was a cuckold,” King Krythar said. “And not your father. But since your real father can’t claim you publicly at this point, the only way out for you is through Qlr.”
“And you’re really willing to take this on when you can barely look at me most of the time?”
“My son and son-in-law have vouched for you repeatedly. I respect them, so I will hope they’re right about doing this.” King Krythar turned to Kenji for a moment before turning back to Qylar. “Now you can mark your mate without worry about having no name and no house.”
Qylar collapsed into the seat beside Kenji. He looked completely dazed. He panted, trembling ever so slightly. Suddenly, his gaze whipped to Cryss. “If he was my real father…”
“That’s right,” Cryss said. “Uncle Q.”
Kenji had never felt so confused in his life and wanted to know what was going on, but all he could do was sit back and hope someone would clue him in.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked Qylar.
“I don’t know,” Qylar said, his voice barely over a whisper as he stared at the table. “I’m still processing.”
Alex’s gaze met Kenji’s. “Your mate just found out his father wasn’t his true father. Cryss’s grandfather was.”
“Oh shit,” Kenji said before slapping a hand over his mouth. “Sorry, Your Majesty.”
“I think that news deserves an oh shit,” King Krythar said.
“Since Cryss’s grandfather has passed, he can’t claim Qylar as his and elevate him back to court,” Alex said to Kenji. “After we found a loophole in the law that doesn’t exactly list an age range a ward has to be, we asked my dad to make Qylar his ward. Legally, he’s basically my brother now.”
“I can’t believe you did this,” Qylar said to Alex and Cryss. “How did you find this out?”
“I had some men look into your case two years ago,” King Krythar said. “At the behest of Alex and Cryss. They were hoping they could find something to spring you from the trap you were in. It took a while, but they did it.”
“No wonder my grandfather loved it when you came to visit him with me,” Cryss said. “I think he might’ve known. Why he never came forward, I don’t know.”
“There had been rumors about Qylar’s papa and your grandfather having an affair for years. I wasn’t sure if it was true, but once the genetics were compared, there is no doubt,” King Krythar said. “Qylar is his son. And now he has a new family.”
“He always had us as family,” Cryss said. “Now we just have proof it’s in our blood.”
Qylar met Cryss’s stare. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you would be nice,” King Krythar said. “I am putting my neck out a bit here.”
“Thank you,” Qylar said. “I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Oh, no worries. I’ve anonymously sent a copy of the genetic results to the Duke. I’m gleefully waiting for reports of his meltdown. I’ve offered a bonus for photographs.”
Qylar chuckled. “That asshole is my brother.”
“Half brother,” the king corrected. “But yes. I don’t know if he knew that you were related, but I suspect he might. That may be why he agreed to make you Cryss’s steward. He could keep you under his thumb.”
“Are you saying I wasn’t a master negotiator at eight?” Cryss asked, shaking his head.
The king chuckled. “I bet you were a force to be reckoned with, even back then.”
Qylar scrubbed both his hands over his face. “This feels surreal.” He lifted his gaze to Cryss and Alex and chuckled. “I’m at a loss of what to say besides fuck. A whole lot of fucks.”
“Well, after all the fucks are said and done, let’s ensure we do one thing,” King Krythar rose. “On your feet, boy.”
Qylar rose unsteadily.
“Qylar of House Qlr, welcome to the family.” The king smiled before walking closer to Qylar and giving him a hug. “And Merry Christmas.”
Qylar hugged the man back. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” The king eyed him. “And don’t make me regret this.”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“I’ll take my leave,” King Krythar said. He eyed Kenji again. “By morning, I’ll have a ward and his mate in the family. House of Qlr grows by the day.”
Qylar’s shining gaze whipped to Kenji’s. He walked closer and pulled Kenji out of his seat, giving him a massive bear hug. Qylar yelped and lifted Kenji off the floor, spinning them around. When he let Kenji slide down his body and back to the floor, he stole a kiss.
“Give me a second,” Qylar whispered in his ear.
He walked to the opposite side of the table and gave both Alex and Cryss massive hugs.
“How long have you two known this was happening?”
“We had an inkling when you came to Nefyria,” Cryss said. “But nothing was finalized, and we didn’t want to get your hopes up and it fall through.”
“It’s been driving us nuts holding it in,” Alex said.
“For two years,” Kenji added.
“Well, there was nothing for so long that it wasn’t so hard to keep a lid on it. It’s only been in the last few months that the pieces fell together,” Cryss said. “The last six days were hell. That’s when Krythar signed the finalized petition.”
“And now we really are a family,” Alex said, yawning. “Though we always were. We just couldn’t get you to believe it, Q.”
“I think that’s my cue to get my husband to bed,” Cryss said. He grinned at Qylar. “Are you going to wait until midnight still?” He checked his watch. “Three hours to go, my friend.”
“That’s Uncle Q to you, young man.”
Cryss burst out laughing before hugging Qylar again. “Night, Uncle Q.” He turned and grinned at Kenji. “Night, Uncle Kenji.”
Kenji laughed.
“Night, you two. See you in the morning,” Alex said before Cryss walked him and their newborn to the back bedroom.
Qylar turned to Kenji, a soft smile on his face. “Well…?”
“Are you taking me to bed, Qylar of House Qlr?”
Qylar slowly made his way over and stood almost touching Kenji. “At least now I don’t have to worry about my imprint causing you harm.”
“I told you everything was going to be fine,” Kenji said.
“Did you know about this?” Qylar asked, incredulous.
“No!”
“Then how did you know everything would be fine?”
“To borrow a line from your niece— I just knew.”
Qylar smiled down at him.
“Now you’re a man with a house, a name, and honor. There’s nothing to hold us back, right?”
“Not one fucking thing,” Qylar said before scooping Kenji into his arms and carrying him to bed.