Emon chuckled, "Nay, it is not your fault."
Releasing her lip she grinned widely, relief shining in her eyes, "Yes please, I want that story!”
I grinned, finding I too desperately wanted to know this story. Penina had teased that I should ask him sometime…and now that time was finally here. I only wish I could share my reaction with her in hearing it, she would likely laugh at every expression crossing my face.
Emon lifted up the covers that had fallen off of Riella. "Snuggle in my cub."
Instantly diving in with her overly large nightshirt, Riella curled her small body into his large frame. Laying down alongside her once again, Emon and I faced each other with our heads propped on our hands while our daughter’s rapt attention never left Emon's face.
Brushing her hair back from her sweet innocent face, Emon's voice rumbled as he quietly began his tale. "This story starts, how all stories start. With a curious little faeling…"
Riellapurred, "Like me?"
Emon smirked, "Just like you because that faeling was me." He tapped her nose and then continued to stroke her hair away from her face, his eyes taking on a distant look, lost in the memories of his tale. "When I was young, I would run wild in the wilderness of The West Isles, dreaming of the days I would become a true shifter and roam my country just like my father did before me. I wanted to know everything about it, just like the back of my own hand." Emon held up his hand in front of him and frowned. "Huh, what are these things, I wonder?"
Riella giggled, "Silly father! That is your hand!"
I shook my head, my shifter soulmate was in his element…he was meant for this. Not only for the way he strung his words, commanding a room with just a tone of his voice both in jest and in importance but also he was meant to be a father. Just like his role as my mate, he slid into fatherhood with ease while I? I struggled to see past my fear.
Deirdre's haunting voice echoed in my mind. "Do you honestly think you can be her mother? You who does nothing but destroy everyone and everything around you? You are death and you'll never be more than that."
“Where have you gone, my little umbra. Stay here, stay present.”Emon’s voice called out to me, shattering the hold Deridre’s hauntings had ensnared me in all while continuing his story. "Oh, yes of course." Emon continued, narrowing his eyes at this hand, "I almost forgot what my own hand looked like." Winking at her, he laid it softly on her shoulder. "One day during my travels I lost track of time and was not home in time for our mandatory family dinner. My father was furious—"
"Papa Asher," Riella interrupted.
Emon smiled patiently. "Yes, Papa Asher was not happy with me. I think that I had scared him. This was not the first time I had disappeared for days and so they thought of the most heinous unthinkable punishment. Can you guess what that was?"
Riella bit at her lip, whispering, "What did Papa Asher do?"
Emon gave her a serious look, "I was sent to bed without any dinner."
"No!" Riella gasped and I snorted, the drama demonstrated by both of them was too much, but also if there was one thing that our child inherited from both of us it was an appreciation of food.
After she had returned from sightseeing and joined us again at the table, Riella had begged Kade to tell her about every pieceof food and made a point to sample it all. There was not a single thing she did not like, and the rest of our entertainment for the evening was watching our daughter explore. Everything was new to her above the surface and to watch her live our world in a way we had long forgotten was beautiful and humbling.
"My thoughts exactly, my cub. Fortunately for me, I was a skilled climber and escaped my prison in search of food…and there was only one place that I knew would be close enough to home for me to sneak in and out unnoticed before my parents missed me, and it had the best baked desserts for its morning customers when the sun would rise."
"Were there chocolate cakes?" Riella's eyes glazed over.
Emon hummed, "Oh yes. The best cakes, but also cookies, ice cream, and your mother’s favorite...pastries."
Riella pouted, "I haven't had pastries yet."
Reaching out I entwined her fingers with my own. "When we return to Finlandia, I will take you to Griffins Gateau. Drake the baker there will likely make a very special pastry in honor of you."
Riella rolled over to smile up at me. "Really?"
I kissed her sweet little hand, knowing it had the makings of a future pastry pincher. "I don't see why not."
Emon watched us, his gold eyes brightening in the dim light and I was suddenly ensnared by the pure beauty of him.
"What happened next, father?"
Realizing he had become just as ensnared, he shook his head. "Where was I? Oh yes. Pastries." He shot me a heated look before continuing. "I was resolved that if I could not have my dinner then I would take matters into my own hands and have dessert instead. So I snuck out and broke into the bakery where I knew the desserts were there waiting for me."
"That is bad right?" Riella looked between us both, “It's notgood to break into things and steal."
My soulmate snorted and tapped her nose again. "It is very naughty but it also depends on why you are breaking in. That is the hard part about learning right from wrong, my cub, sometimes they look exactly the same and are, at times, just as sweet." Chuckling at the way she pondered his words, he continued, "unfortunately, I did not know that earlier that day the baker had asked a powerful warder to protect his shop against rodents that were stealing his baked goods nightly."
