Page 68 of Dreams Do Come True

“No, Lyric, we’re not going anywhere,” I promise.

Kean kisses the top of his head. “You’re stuck with Tus and me, little man.”

Lyric sniffs and moves over to sit on me, snuggling in.

I wrap my arms around him and hold him close. Kean wraps both of us up in his arms, and we sit like that until Lyric falls asleep.

We move and stand up. Kean and I kiss Lyric’s head, and I lay him in his cot. Kean puts his teddy next to him and pulls a little blanket up.

I mutter a listening spell as Kean switches on the night light and the main lights off.

We walk out of his room, pulling the door nearly closed and shutting the newly installed baby gate.

Kean takes my hand and leads me downstairs, closing the top stairgate behind us. “I found something online the other day. I dismissed it because I didn’t think we’d ever need it. But you can have teddies made out of clothing. They are called memorial bears. I thought we could see if Monica could give us some of Doris and Reggie’s clothes, and we could have bears made for the boys.”

“I like the sound of that. I’m sure the boys will as well,” I say softly. “I’ll message Monica later asking for some clothes.”

“I’ll dig out the details tomorrow,” he promises, opening the bottom gate so we can walk through.

I grin at Kean. “Just think, you can’t mad dash up the stairs now.”

Kean rudely snorts. “I’ll just jump the gates.”

I shake my head at him. “I was reading up on sixteen-month-olds’ development, and Lyric says way more proper words than he should at this age,” I say.

Kean grins. “That’s because our son is a genius.”

“Or it could be a shifter thing,” I point out.

“Genius, I tell you.”

I laugh as we walk into the kitchen, and everyone is already sat and eating. “Sorry, we’re late,” Kean says.

“You’re not. Is Lyric asleep in his own room?” Emily asks.

“He is,” I reply as we sit down. “Hopefully, he’ll make it through the night. Plus, the gates are all closed.”

Everyone hands us dishes, and we fill our plates.

“Lyric is starting to realise his parents aren’t coming back. He needed reassurance that Titus and I wouldn’t leave him,” Kean says, putting some carrots on his plate and passing the bowl to me.

“That’s understandable,” Emily says, cutting into a roast potato. “How much paternity leave do you both have?”

“Three months, but as we both work from home, we can be near the boys during the day as well,” Kean replied.

“What happens when you’re needed in the office?” Ben asks me before taking a bite of lamb.

I look at Kean. “We could all go and stay in the flat while I’m at the office, or I can be up and back in a day. We’ll have to play it by ear. But I plan on getting as many meetings online as I can.”

Ernest grins and picks up his drink. “Pretty sure the other ministers will prefer that, to face-to-face meetings.”

I laugh. “True.”

“Hopefully Lyric will be more settled by then as well,” Kean adds.

Just then, two phone pings are heard. I pull my phone out and look, just as Cass does the same.

I click on the unknown message.