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“Bacon and waffles it is.”

He started puttering around the kitchen. He thought bacon would probably be safer in the oven just because that meant less spattering on little children.

But Elliot could sit and watch him make waffles.

“Does your father know that you’ve escaped? Does Uncle Cullen?”

“Cuncle!” Elliot roared, the foundations of the house shivering.

Oh, Orion did love how this little boy adored Cullen.

“That’s right, your Cunkle is sleeping.”

“Magic?”

“When he wakes up.” He assumed that Cullen would, at some point, wake up. He was pretty sure that he hadn’t broken Cullen in any actual practical way. Maybe round three had been a little crackly on the edges. It had been totally worth it. He was fairly certain his balls were going to fall off, of course.

He still wasn’t sure what baby and magpie were doing down here by themselves though.

Orion was honestly surprised that he was awake and up and about by himself. To be real Corbin seemed the type that would be up with the sun and asleep as soon as the sun set.

He really wasn’t sure about Cosmo, but that was pretty much the whole pregnancy thing, and Orion couldn’t blame them for that. You had to protect your own.

And Hawk, Elliot’s other dad, was still a mystery to him.

He got bacon on a sheet pan in the oven, then started a waffle batter. The waffle iron sat on a shelf in the pantry. And, oddly enough, there were oyster mushrooms in the fridge next to the eggs, so he could make himself fake-con.

The magpie watched him with those beady little black eyes never leaving him. It was clearly hungry too.

He hummed, whipping up waffle batter, not even blinking when the door flew open and Corbin rushed in, his green eyes searching the room.

“Elliot! How did you get down here?”

“I hungy. Unicorn. Bacon.”

“Ta-da.” Orion bowed deeply. “He just showed up, and he wanted bacon. I’m making waffles.”

“Oh, good. Thank you.” Corbin visibly relaxed. “Is there coffee?”

“Not yet. Were you watching him?” Are you the one in trouble?

“No.” Corbin started making coffee. “I went up to give Cosmo his tea to help with his morning sickness. It’s lasting forever. And I noticed that Cosmo was still asleep, Hawk was gone, and the baby wasn’t in his bed. And then I knew that you and Cullen were…being you and Cullen…together, and so I came to find him.”

“Good job.”

Elliot beamed, repeating, “Good job.”

“Thanks.” Corbin rolled his eyes. “You can’t just wander off, little one. You’re just little.”

“No. I beg. I hungy. Unicorn.”

Corbin nodded. “Yes, Orion is a unicorn.”

“Mine unicorn.”

Well, that was definite, and it kind of made Orion smile, although he thought that probably he was Cullen’s unicorn when it came right down to brass tacks.

“Where’s Cullen? Is he okay?”