07-01-2017, 05:41 PM
I snort and grin. “Yeah, that’s true enough, your family’s good like that. All about the cuddles and shit.” I look down at Kali, and my grin softens as I brush my lips against her forehead. “I get that a whole lot better now.” Bright side, she doesn’t seem weirded out by the odd iron blanket trick, so I relax and nod.
“Yeah, she loves it. All curled up and cozy and warm, ‘cause it’s not like we live in a nice warm jungle or anything. I think she just likes the feeling of being close, being wrapped up in love. She’d much rather sleep snuggled in between two or three or four people she loves than all by herself.”
Huh. Maybe she’ll go kind of like Roma’s parents, then. When she’s older. So much love to go around, she falls for a few. Loves a bit more freely than your average person, but just as fully. Or maybe she’s just a happy, cuddly kid and there’s no point reading more than that into things this early.
Still, the thought makes me smile, and I can’t help but share it. “Maybe someday she’ll be as lucky as your parents, huh? But yeah, it’s really handy, especially when she’s sad or way too tired. She loves a wing draped over her too, anything to make her feel nice and snug.”
I brush the hair off her forehead and breathe in her scent; she still smells like baby, and how she smells like jungle and saltwater and sea breeze and home. My baby girl.
“Honestly? This, mostly. I came back here to try to make things right with her mom. Which is how she happened, so I guess that goes to show you what me trying to fix things looks like. I thought it worked at first, but...well. Lacey’s still so quiet. Sometimes I wonder if maybe coming back just made things worse for her. But what’s done is done, and I’ve got my kids to take care of now, regardless of...well. So anyhow. I met the twins, Kharon and Kylin. Fell crazy in love with them, they look so damn much like me minus the shiny, and they’re amazing kids. Reilly’s been around for Lacey since...well. Since I fucked things up for her the first time, before Ty. Before...before I knew what it meant to be a decent person.”
I shrug, breathing through the wave of regret that that lesson in particular didn’t come sooner. Still, if it had, I wouldn’t have my gorgeous kids. Or hell, maybe I would, but--ugh, too many what ifs, no way to sort through them all, and it’s all nonsense anyhow. No way to change things, no way to tell what would be if I’d been a different person. If I’d been a better man.
“Anyhow. My dad showed up and took over the island, and I carted my little family off to this lake in the mountains, I mentioned, right? Brought ‘em back once Ischia was deserted, because the ocean’s home. This island’s home. Never thought I’d have that, but here we are. The previous queen left me and Reilly in charge so she could spend more time with her family or something, which seems fair, and I’ve been doing my best to take care of the place and its residents since. What about you?”
“Yeah, she loves it. All curled up and cozy and warm, ‘cause it’s not like we live in a nice warm jungle or anything. I think she just likes the feeling of being close, being wrapped up in love. She’d much rather sleep snuggled in between two or three or four people she loves than all by herself.”
Huh. Maybe she’ll go kind of like Roma’s parents, then. When she’s older. So much love to go around, she falls for a few. Loves a bit more freely than your average person, but just as fully. Or maybe she’s just a happy, cuddly kid and there’s no point reading more than that into things this early.
Still, the thought makes me smile, and I can’t help but share it. “Maybe someday she’ll be as lucky as your parents, huh? But yeah, it’s really handy, especially when she’s sad or way too tired. She loves a wing draped over her too, anything to make her feel nice and snug.”
I brush the hair off her forehead and breathe in her scent; she still smells like baby, and how she smells like jungle and saltwater and sea breeze and home. My baby girl.
“Honestly? This, mostly. I came back here to try to make things right with her mom. Which is how she happened, so I guess that goes to show you what me trying to fix things looks like. I thought it worked at first, but...well. Lacey’s still so quiet. Sometimes I wonder if maybe coming back just made things worse for her. But what’s done is done, and I’ve got my kids to take care of now, regardless of...well. So anyhow. I met the twins, Kharon and Kylin. Fell crazy in love with them, they look so damn much like me minus the shiny, and they’re amazing kids. Reilly’s been around for Lacey since...well. Since I fucked things up for her the first time, before Ty. Before...before I knew what it meant to be a decent person.”
I shrug, breathing through the wave of regret that that lesson in particular didn’t come sooner. Still, if it had, I wouldn’t have my gorgeous kids. Or hell, maybe I would, but--ugh, too many what ifs, no way to sort through them all, and it’s all nonsense anyhow. No way to change things, no way to tell what would be if I’d been a different person. If I’d been a better man.
“Anyhow. My dad showed up and took over the island, and I carted my little family off to this lake in the mountains, I mentioned, right? Brought ‘em back once Ischia was deserted, because the ocean’s home. This island’s home. Never thought I’d have that, but here we are. The previous queen left me and Reilly in charge so she could spend more time with her family or something, which seems fair, and I’ve been doing my best to take care of the place and its residents since. What about you?”