Rex, the small boy who saved the lives of so many, has aged five years to be an eleven-year-old visionary with a heart of gold and a love for our daughter to prove she’s his sister despite the untied bloodlines.
“Should be fine. For now, come, sit, hang out with us old ones,” I tease.
He smiles very large, and he plops down beside Hale who wraps an arm around his shoulders.
“I knew you were going to say that,” he laughs out.
“I knew you knew.” I laugh back.
“Are you going to adopt anymore?” Brazen asks while Aralia leans back into his chest, enjoying the sunny day and windless sky leaving the puffy clouds still over us.
“That’s the plan. Araya wants a houseful,” Hale murmurs while kissing my forehead.
I smile affectionately at my beautiful hybrid, and then I turn to face Brazen.
“I think it would be great to bring in some we suspect will be gifted. I think Hale and I could help them understand control early on so they don’t have to endure the struggle by themselves,” I quickly add.
“I agree,” Clay says with a growing smile. “You two have always been damn good trainers.”
Brazen muffs my daughter’s ears with his hands while giving a disapproving glance to Clay for his use of inappropriate language. I laugh lightly when Symphony elbows him in the stomach, and he shrugs innocently.
“I suppose we’ve got some work to do before our child is born,” she playfully scolds.
Everyone chuckles as Clay’s face reddens, and Rex just shakes his head with a smile. He sees the words before they come out, so there’s not much sense in trying to shield his ears. He has lived the life of a forgotten though. Even though it has been five years since we adopted him, he spent six years as a child of the ward and has heard far worse than damn.
“What about you, Brazen? Any kids on the horizon?” Angelica asks very suggestively.
“One day. I’m sure I will one day,” he says softly with a secretive smirk, his eyes careful not to find mine.
Hale grumbles under his breath, but I lean into him to remind him I’m still his… just his… for now. My counter, my love, he’s all I need. I’m free from the indecisiveness that once burdened me, and I refuse to think of the future despite the visions Rex occasionally sends my way - visions of me and Brazen in each other’s arms, picking up where we left off in so many ways. There are some visions such a young kid shouldn’t have privy too, and I’m mortified he has pried so far into the future.
“I need to make a few calls,” Brazen says while standing to his feet. “I’ll be back before the food is ready.”
I smile as he gives me that Brazen wink, and Aralia moves over to her father’s lap, curling into him like the daddy’s girl she is. I kiss her head when she leans against me, and her peaceful eyes smile. Rex comes to lay his head in my lap, and I stroke his hair as Grayson fires up the grill, sending the fragrance of charcoal and woodchips our way to stir the growling bellies.
“Rex will be one heck of an officer one day. The control he has over his gift is surreal. How have you been teaching him?” Clay muses.
“It’s not hard to teach someone control when they’re as good of a student as Rex,” I say adoringly, and he smiles up at me with eyes full of gratitude and appreciation.
“She’s patient. It makes it easy to learn when someone is patient and not barking,” he says as he shrugs. “I can pretty much see whatever I want to now. I even help mom out on some of her interrogations when she lets me. I tell her what questions to ask.”
Clay smiles and gives me a wink. A forgotten with hope. He seems to think that’s my legacy.
“And Aralia? I hear her gifts have started showing themselves. Her blood is far more complex than yours, and she has the same immortality as you,” Clay says with a smile.
“She’s not quite as studios, but we’ve kept her from tearing down the house when she has a tantrum,” Hale laughs out, and Aralia blushes.
“Mom always stops things from flying through the air, so that helps,” Rex adds with a devious smirk.
She sticks her tongue out at him, and he blows her a kiss which just makes her smile.
“I can only imagine the things she’ll be able to do when she’s older. Do you worry at all?” Clay whispers, keeping his voice below the range of the children’s ears.
“Not really. She’s a lot like Araya,” Hale says with a smirk. “Her heart is too big to hurt anyone who doesn’t need to be hurt. I’m actually a little excited to see what she’ll bring to the world.”
I smile at him, my eyes thanking him for his words, and then he kisses me sweetly on the head as a comfortable silence falls over our happy group. The wind finally stirs, sweeping the top of the high grass and making it dance against our bodies in a relaxing tickling sort of way. Until the past two years, grass was just a ghost of a memory for anyone outside the wetlands.
“I love your house. I’ve never seen one outside a compound before,” Angelica murmurs while staring at the home meant for a family of ten rather than four.
