Epilogue 2
Henry
“Why is Mommy learning how to drive?” Isabella asked me, her dark brows dipped in confusion.
I smiled at her question because it was one that probably baffled most of the household right now.
But that didn’t faze Maya. No, instead the queen of our growing kingdom was learning how to drive around our circular driveway in a half-a-million dollar McLaren. I fucking loved it.
I could see Croy talking to her from the passenger seat, coaching her patiently.
She nodded and eased off the brake before quickly slamming it back on, looking more than a bit freaked out.
I knew she would get it eventually, and I was proud of her that even after all this time she wanted to learn things that she could’ve gone her entire life without bothering with.
“Well, Mommy didn’t get to learn how to drive when most people do,” I explained to our daughter as she played with the end of her long chocolate-colored braid.
She looked so much like Maya it sometimes baffled me, but her eyes were all mine, their gray, stormy nature making her look like the most serious five-year-old in the world.
I continued before she could ask why she hadn’t learned like normal. “So because of that, in between being Queen and your mom, she learns how to do stuff like this.”
Meeting my gaze, Isabella seemed to process my words before nodding astutely and leaning back against my arm, refocusing on her mother.
I kissed the top of her head, wondering how someone so young could be so serious.
Sometimes I worried she was too serious for her age, but then other times, especially when she was baking with Maya or swimming out back with one of us, that pensive nature slipped away.
I knew that the older she got, the more attention she would command, especially since she was the destined heir to both the Dreki realm and this kingdom, in theory.
Suddenly, I tilted my head, hearing distant arguing.
I relaxed when I realized it was Kace and Riccardo debating something about sailing.
It was an activity they had recently taken up, and not one that was shared by Faxon, whose footsteps I could hear accompanying theirs.
I honestly didn’t understand the appeal of sailing, especially since it was essentially the opposite of flying, but I was nearly positive they felt the same about my interest, and now Faxon’s interest, in investing.
It didn’t surprise me that Faxon was being quiet—he was a quiet kid overall.
I had assumed Kace would be the quieter one, but once he had gotten comfortable being part of our family, he had become extremely outspoken.
Although he did have a bit of a temper, something I partly blamed Sai for, because when the two of them got into a debate about something, it would often get fairly heated.
It was all in good sport, but I did worry his temperament would get the better of him in the future.
But because of that it was unsurprising that he was arguing with Riccardo about something.
Despite the occasional disagreement and slight age difference, the three of the boys were thick as thieves and truly brothers.
When Riccardo had been born ten years ago, Kace and Faxon had been six and seven, respectively.
Old enough to understand there was a change, but young enough to not fully understand how it would affect them.
It had been a little less than a year between them joining our family and Riccardo coming along, and they had expressed the fear that when we had our ‘own kids’ we would forget about them.
What they hadn’t realized—but we had happily informed them of—was that they were as much our kids as any we’d conceived ourselves.
While they may have looked a bit different from our younger two, their personalities had taken on so many of our own traits in the past eleven years that you would never think they were adopted.
Luckily, by the time Maya was pregnant with Isabella, they hadn’t felt insecure at all and aided a five-year-old Riccardo in adjusting to the idea of having a little sister.
A little sister who we were all surprised by, not because we hadn’t been trying to get Maya pregnant—we had been, so much so that we made sure to travel elsewhere for the week of Maya’s mating heat cycle so that we were completely alone—but because most phoenixes had several sons before they had a daughter.
At least that was what had happened for Maya’s mother, the only other Blue Phoenix we knew.
Finding out we were going to have a daughter after raising three boys was both terrifying and amazing.
Add to it the fact that she was a Blue Phoenix, and Isabella’s birth had been celebrated across two realms, both in the Dreki realm and in the Incendie Kingdom.
Now that Isabella was almost five, I could tell Maya was ready to possibly have another kid.
She hadn’t said so specifically, but she kept going to the nursery attached to her bedroom and looking around, talking about how she wanted to decorate it next.
It was something that I was completely fine with, as long as that was what she wanted.
Obviously, we were in no rush, but I did know Maya wanted a massive family. I just wasn’t positive how our daughter would react to that since she wasn’t nearly as relaxed as our boys.
To say that our daughter commanded attention was an understatement.
Even now she was watching over everything with a critical eye, her chin tilted up like a little queen overlooking her kingdom.
I had a feeling that she would have opinions on us having more kids, especially since she already took mental responsibility for every animal that lived underneath our roof.
Which was a sizable quantity after Bella had kittens with Ollie.
Ollie, who had walked into our estate with all the swag in the world and curled up with Bella around three years ago and never left.
Apparently they’d had a one-time tryst and he had sought her out after realizing she was pregnant.
Yes, I realized that I was grossly romanticizing the situation, but I was going to blame my beautiful wife for that because I’d heard her tell the story to people over fifty times now, and the way her face lit up with affection each time made me ridiculously happy.
Then again, everything Maya did made me smile.
I had no idea how the woman managed to balance running a small kingdom, being a mate to eight men, and being a mother of four, all while keeping a smile on her face, but she did so easily. I hoped we were of some aid, but it never felt like enough compared to everything she did.
Although, I would say that each of us had found our spot in the Incendie Kingdom, a place to truly help it grow.
Something it had done successfully, considering its economic independence and the vast development that had taken place due to its growing population of people who’d immigrated from the Dreki realm.
It was still small in comparison, but growing every year.
I had taken up what I was familiar with, and that was money. I created the financial institutions and plans for our kingdom moving forward, as well as established trade with neighboring communities. I’d also had a hand in making sure the medical institutions here were up to date.
Croy had helped develop all of the technology for the kingdom, alongside Atlas, who was more focused on the security aspect.
Sai worked with students and the population as a whole in basic combat and defensive measures, making sure everyone was well-equipped to protect themselves.
He also took all of the young ones on their first flights.
Marco handled most of the diplomacy duties with Maya, as well as dealing with some of the more pesky human institutions that could interfere with our kingdom’s growth.
Anani and Ledger were mainly focused on developing the academy and making sure that the kids there felt comfortable, that none of them ever felt alone.
They had developed an adoption system for young dragons that came from the Dreki realm to escape the harsh culture there, for them to be placed with a loving and caring family–if that was what they wanted.
If that wasn’t something they wanted, then they stayed at the academy and had a massive supportive community there.
The person who had surprised me the most, though, was Az.
It had taken me a period of time to warm up to the man, but once I realized how committed he was to Maya and the kingdom—as well as our growing family—I’d made an effort to get to know him.
It was then I realized just how far he’d come to get to not only having a mate but any type of family structure.
I wouldn’t lie, what he’d been through had been bullshit, and every day I saw him trying to replace those memories with new ones of our family.
The part that surprised me though was him becoming a teacher, specifically of history, at the academy.
I suppose it shouldn’t have with his extensive knowledge base and years of experience, but when he had first decided to do so, I’d been curious how it would play out.
Of course he ended up being one of the most loved teachers there…
Although the bastard had a bit of advantage since all the kids thought his wings were cool.
My lips pressed up as I thought about the conversation we had recently, wondering if any of our kids would end up wolves or angels—and if not fully, having some qualities of those species.
Yeah, Maya had totally been the one to bring that up, which had gotten us into the discussion of kids once again.
I would bet her next mating heat cycle was coming up. A groan nearly caught in my throat, and only the screech of brakes had me snapping my head up, forgetting where my train of thought had nearly gone.
“Oh no!” Isabella suddenly looked panicked, lurching to her feet and running forward as Maya offered me a contrite look through the windshield.
The car was slightly dented on the right side from where she had turned into the fountain.
Instantly, I could hear everyone rushing to the driveway, and my wife’s cheeks turned bright pink.
I followed Isabella as she ran around the car, bouncing on her toes anxiously as Maya got out. “Mommy, you have to be careful!”
“I’m totally fine, honey. It’s part of the learning curve,” she promised as Isabella put her hands on either side of her mom’s face, looking over her with concern. It was exactly what Maya did when one of them got injured.
“You okay?” I asked softly. She nodded, and I relaxed, but Isabella shook her head in frustration.
“No, what if you got hurt?! Daddy.” She looked at me. “Tell her she can’t.”
I smirked as Maya offered our daughter an amused look. “I can’t tell your mother what to do, Izzy.” Well, unless we were in bed, but that was a different situation.
Isabella huffed and squirmed out of her mom’s arms before storming towards Croy on the other side of the car, undoubtedly pleading her case with him. Maya tucked herself under my arm as I brushed my lips against her temple.
“She’s going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Maya whispered, sounding thrilled.
“Already is,” I agreed.
I also had a feeling she was going to light up the world around her…or set it on fire.
One of those.