Chapter 496
Chapter 496- First Night
My mate listens carefully as I tell him, in full detail, everything that happened when the Dark God took
me outside of time and gave our little daughter our gift. I mostly look down at her while I tell the story,
wondering how this perfect, tiny little angel being could have an ounce of darkness in her.
But even as I wonder that, I consider what the Dark God told me that not everything that is in darkness
is bad.
But is that just something he said to distract me, to make me morepliant to ept his “gift?”
Was it, as I suspected, a curse?
“And then I was back,” I say, looking up into Sinir’s face as he listens closely. “And, obviously,
distracted by the insane pain of childbirth.”
A smirk pulls at his lips then, but I can tell that my attempt at humor didn’t go very far towards
distracting him. He’s quiet for a long moment, looking towards Rafe but really staring into space as he
sorts through his thoughts.
I give him a second to work through it, but I interrupt when I can’t stand it any longer. “So?” I ask
quietly. “What do you…think?”
“Well,” Sinir sighs, turning his attention back to me and to our little girl, who eats hungrily, clearly not
having lost her appetite after such a dramatic early encounter. “I certainly wish that the Dark God had
simply sent a flower arrangement or a toy. But…I honestly don’t know. We need much more information
before we can n any sort of action.”
“Action?” I ask, a little confused.” What on earth can we do? It’s done, Dominic. Whatever the gift is,” I
say, gesturing down at her, “she’s got it.”
“Yes,” Sinir says, nodding as he sighs andys himself down a bit on the bed so that he can rest his
head against my knee, looking up at my face. “But there’s certainly more we can know. We can ask
dad to do some research, see if there’s any precedent for this, if you’re all right with him knowing? And
ask Cora to contact your mother, see if she has any insights?”
“Of course Henry can know,” I reply quietly. “And that’s a good idea, with Cora.” I sigh, frustrated with
myself for not thinking it first, but Sinir just sends a pulse of peace down the bond, encouraging me
to forgive myself for being scatter-brained on this of all days. I’ve been through a lot, and even though
I’m already healed thanks to mom’s gift, I’m still exhausted.
“We’ll work it through, though, E,” Sinir says quietly, reaching his long arm up to tuck my hair
behind my ear.
“My instinct still does tell me it’s not all wicked, Dominic,” I say sincerely, looking down into his face.
“And with these gods, gut feelings…they tend to be important.”
“I believe you,” he says, his eyebrows going up. “I’d just like all the intel we can get.”
“Me too,” I say, giving him a little smile. But then, even despite my desire to keep pushing on this, my
eyelids start to flutter. I blink hard, shaking my head, working to stay up.
“Oh, baby,” Sinir murmurs, sitting up and leaning in to kiss me on my forehead. “You’re asleep on
your feet. Or, well, your ass – but what’s the difference.”
Iugh and shake my head at him. “I need to stay awake till she’s done feeding,” I say with a yawn.
“But then, yes, after that…we’re both going to need a nap. Right baby girl?”
Ariel ignores me, of course, continuing to eat. But I grin at her, stroking a hand over her perfect tiny
head, loving the way her little fuzz of blonde hair tickles my palm.
“Well, you concentrate on that,” Sinir says, moving a te with a simple panini and a bottle of water
to the bedside table next to me. “And eat if you can, yes? While you do that, I’ll get Rafe settled.”
I nod, finally starting to feelpletely drained as the adrenaline of the day starts to slip from me. I
take azy bite of my sandwich, barely tasting it as I switch breasts and let Ariel finish up. I’m hardly
able to keep my eyes open about fifteen minutester after Sinir’s done moving around the room,
getting Rafe settled in his ypen with some quiet toys and books and pulling Ariel’s bas closet to
my side.
I give a little squeak of protest when he takes her from my arms, not wanting to let her go, but Sinir
justughs softly at me and murmurs that she’ll be right here at my side. I take onest peek at Ariel’s
face and see that she, like me, is already basically asleep.
And then I yawn, and settle down, and finallypletely pass out.
Of course, I barely sleep, because the baby gets me up every couple of hours needing to be fed again.
The next day passes pretty much in a blur, with me catching sleep when I can and attending to Ariel
when she needs it. I’m not in a total fog the whole time – I still spend time with my son and talk to my
mate and admire my baby – but most of the time? Most of the time Ariel and I sleep.
Sinir is a dream throughout that first crucial night, takingplete charge of my baby boy and
allowing Ariel and I the space we need to get used to our new patterns. He spends time with her as
well, of course, holding and talking to her while she’s awake and not eating, but I can tell that he’s
exhausted too.
Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.
Not as exhausted as me – I definitely get to keep that title. But that first night – it’s not precisely easy
on dads either, is it? Especially when you’ve got another little one, barely over a year old.
Which is why I’m surprised, frankly, when Cora, and Roger, and Jesse, and Henry alle trooping in
the evening after Ariel was born.
“Oh!” I say, blinking at them andughing, pleased. “Did – did I know you wereing?”
“Oh my god,” Sinir says, turning to me and cocking his head to the side. ” Did I did I seriously forget
to tell you?”
I burst intoughter as he ps a hand to his face, and Roger and Henry join in.
“Always a rare pleasure to see you mess up, brother,” Roger says, wrapping an arm around his
brother’s shoulders and giving him a squeeze. 66 Though I guess you’re forgiven for this one that first
night is…a lot.”
“It certainly is,” Henry says, epting a hug from his son as Coraes over to give me a kiss, a
perky Jesse sitting up in her arms and babbling with excitement as he looks around the room.
“Hey Cora,” I say, grinning at her. ” Hey, chatty!” Iugh, poking Jesse in the belly, Ariel in my arms.
Rafe totters over and wraps an arm around her leg, smiling and reaching up for her or for Jesse – it’s
not precisely clear which.
The greetings finished, I look around curiously at my family. “So, what did I miss?” I ask. “Why are we
all here?”
“To talk about your new weird God encounter,” Roger says, grinning at me. “And our kids’ weird bond.
Life’s been so fun since you joined the family, E – seriously, I don’t think I express my gratitude
enough.”
“Always happy to keep it spicy, precisely for you, Roger,” I say, giving him a wink as I pull the covers of
my nest aside, getting to my feet with Ariel cozy in my arms. Roger grins and gives me a nod. “Do we
have…new information or something?” I ask, pushing my hair back over my shoulders.
“We do,” Henry says, nodding to me. ” Shall we go into the living room, where there’s room for us all to
sit? It’s none of it bad news, but I think it would be best for us to have a chat.”
Anxiety rolls in me as I nod and gesture towards the door to the living room, looking to Sinir with my
apprehension pulsing down our bond.
“He’s not cating you,” Sinir says,ing close to kiss me on the cheek and grab Rafe off of
Cora’s leg, tossing him into the air as we make our way to the living room with our family. Rafe squeals
with joy and I can’t help grinning at him. My little boy – already such a thrill seeker.
“All right,” I sigh, holding baby Ariel close to my chest as I follow my family through the door and shut it
behind me. Then I curl up on my favorite ce on the couch, Dominic in the corner behind me, and
turn my attention to Henry.
Because he, I’ming to realize, has been up all night as well gathering information. And he wouldn’t
be here if he wasn’t ready to share.