Page 19

Lyric

L eer squealed and jumped naked out of the bath, dripping water all over the place. He was three years old now, entering what many called the defiant mode. He didn't understand yet that there were proper times to shift and proper times to stay a little boy. Right now he was headed for the backyard.

“I got him,” I called to Jinn from the hallway as our son ran by me, giggling.

I chased after him and he shifted before I could catch him, his wings unfurling to scrape the hallway walls, his little square butt bobbing up and down.

Leeran chirped and bounced his way down the stairway. Little imp.

I finally caught up to him and grabbed him around his teensy armored body. When I pulled him up into the air his dragon legs and arms wiggled, his wings tried to pump. But it was no use.

“Caught ya now.”

He shifted back to human, squirming and crying out. “Da Da! No. Go fly now.”

“It's not time to fly yet, sweetie.”

He was still learning. He had maintained about a two-second flight, falling more than succeeding. But that didn’t make him stop trying.

“Wanna go.”

“Nope. It's bedtime now.”

He wailed in protest for about five seconds, then went limp as I brought him to my chest for a big Da Da hug.

“Da Da, bedtime story?” he asked.

It was great how easily he could be distracted.

“Only good boys get bedtime stories. What do you think? Have you been bad or good?”

He peered up at me with wide blue eyes. “I shifted but I not bad.”

“Are you sure?”

“I good boy. Love you, Da Da.”

Jinn met us downstairs with a towel in hand and took the toddler from my arms. “Let's get this naughty boy dry so we can get him into his jammies.”

He stuck out his chin and pouted. “I not bad.”

“Well, let's see,” Jinn began. “You got water all over the floor. You made your Da Da chase you. You shifted when you didn't have permission.”

He shook his dark wet head. “I not do that.”

I looked at Jinn, trying to hold back my laughter. “Now we can add lying to that list.”

He rolled his eyes at me.

“Here, give him back to me. I’ll dress him for bed and get him to sleep.”

Jinn let out a long sigh of relief. “You do have a magical way with him.”

I held our baby boy, now wrapped in a towel, close to my chest. I never imagined having a child would make me feel so full inside, so crazy with my love for him.

I cradled him, kissing his forehead as I took him back up the stairs to his room. There, we put on his favorite bunny pajamas. I wrestled the towel over his head to dry his hair as much as I could before putting his squirmy body down on the sheets and pillows.

Leer looked so much like Jinn, but he was an alpha like me. We weren't disappointed at all. We loved him with all our hearts. But we did want to try for an omega. As if one child wasn't enough to handle. But there were no complaints from us. And we'd agreed. We had one more child, at least, in our future.

I settled our son and drew the covers over his little body. When he was all nestled and somewhat calmer, I brought out his favorite picture book of pink bunnies who lived in elaborate underground houses complete with plumbing and electricity.

I sat next to him on his bed and leaned against his headboard with the book in my lap tilted just right so he could see every single page. He rubbed his face against my shoulder and pointed to the book.

“Read, Da Da.”

He loved looking at the pictures. Their stories were simple. Day-to-day chores. Baby bunnies hopping around and playing together on warm rugs by orange fires. There was even a Christmas page where the bunnies had an elaborate tree with colorful gifts beneath. That was his favorite one, and he would point to all the details of the drawings from the ornaments on the tree to the specially wrapped packages below. And he clapped and laughed every time I turned to the page where the bunnies went out into the snow wearing parkas and caps and scarves and mittens.

When I finished and closed the book, Leer looked up at me and said, “Again?”

“Time for sleepy boys to go to sleep. We have all day tomorrow to play, right?”

Slowly, he nodded. His eyes closed.

I stayed seated beside him, feeling the warmth of him sink into me. He was so precious, so perfect.

When I was sure he was asleep, I got up, dimmed the light, and closed his door halfway.

I found Jinn in the living room, his whole body lying across the couch, half asleep and watching TV. No one ever told us having a child would wear us out so much. But it was a good feeling. Like we'd accomplished something grand.

I moved his feet up, sat down, then placed them in my lap. They were bare, and I began rubbing them in just the way he loved.

Later, we went upstairs hand in hand. After checking on Leer, we made our way to the bedroom.

When I came out of the bathroom, Jinn was already in bed. I lifted the covers and saw he was naked.

“Ohh, I see. Not too tired after all?”

“Never. I want you, Lyric, all the time. It never goes away, not even when I'm tired.”

I pulled off my shorts, then got into bed and snuggled up against him. He was already wet for me.

“My sweet omega. I love you so much.” I nuzzled his neck and kissed the claiming mark.

He spread his legs wide and tugged me over on top of him.

It seemed like our love grew with every day. Both wild and sacred at the same time. I wanted him with a madness that seemed to take me over from deep inside, and yet I also wanted to protect him and hold him and gently show him the most tender sides of me, as well.

“Why aren't you moving?” Jinn asked.

I kissed him on the lips. “Just thinking.”

“Lyrican is always telling you, you think too much.”

“I was thinking about how much I love you.”

He laughed. “Ohh, well, then that's okay.”

“Good. Because I can't help it. I'll always be thinking about how much I love you. Every single day.”

“I feel so lucky.”

“Well, it didn't start off too lucky. But now here we are.”

That nightmare of four years ago was over. We rarely talked about it. Our lives together had brought us so much happiness that it reduced the memory to a mere annoying blip in our lives.

I squeezed my arms under Jinn's back and brought him up to me so I could hug him close as I entered him.

He bent his knees to spread himself wider for me, and I slid all the way into him.

“Yes,” he moaned. “All the way in. Show me how you do it. Show me.”

“I'll show you, all right. It's my favorite thing to do,” I replied.

THE END