Page 54

Ezra

“How much longer until our cousins emerge?” asked Starr from Jude’s arms, snuggled up with his dad in Ezra’s beanbag chair. “This is taking many, many increments of time.”

What he actually said was a series of meows, because at the moment he was disguised as Buttons, if Buttons had Mr. Leon’s handlebar mustache, but Ezra understood him anyway, due to his life being absolute fucking nonsense.

“Perhaps if you were to go to your unconsciousness quarters and partake in unconsciousness with your siblings, you would not feel impatience so strongly,” Al suggested, looking down at Starr with a stern “dad” eyebrow raised.

“The increments of time between then and now would pass at the same rate regardless of my relative consciousness.”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t feel like it took as long,” Ezra said from his place on the bed. “That’s what’s cool about sleeping—it makes time go all wonky.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, can you understand this kid?” Jude asked Ezra, aghast.

Shrugging, Ezra cast his friend a sheepish grin .

Jude shook his head in faux disgust and muttered something along the lines of, “You think you know a guy…”

And honestly, he wasn’t wrong.

All of this was clown shoes.

But if these were the clowns he was sharing the big top with, he couldn’t have asked for a better circus.

It was an hour or so before sunrise, and Ezra was exhausted, having been up with Titan the whole night watching and waiting as their babies tried their best to bust out of their shells.

When it had become clear that the process would take a while, Ezra had encouraged everyone else to go get some rest and had promised he’d come get them if it looked like something was about to happen, but there had been no need.

The eggs were in no hurry. And so it was, slowly but surely, that the room began to fill back up with friends and family.

Kyle had been the first to join them. As a Darvrokian, he needed fewer hours of sleep. Since the eggs were taking their sweet time, he’d entertained himself by being their gofer, popping in and out regularly with comfort items, snacks, and drinks.

Not long after that, Al wandered in, curiosity and anticipation pulling him from Jude’s side—which was fine, as Jude followed not long after, hauling a grumpy, fussy Starr who’d woken up terrified from a bad dream.

Corbin made it, too. When he’d been told that the babies would likely arrive by morning, he’d accepted the offer to stay in one of the many guest bedrooms, but had been woken by the commotion.

He now lay dozing on the floor, wrapped up in a throw blanket and a couple pillows he’d stolen from the bed.

Mrs. Leon was also there, although she seemed to be trying her hardest to avoid bringing attention to herself.

She was sitting primly in an armchair someone had brought in from the living room, wearing a long Victorian nightgown and rainbow toe socks.

She still had a mustache. Admittedly, Ezra had been distracted and therefore not terribly observant toward anything that wasn’t his eggs, but he was pretty sure she hadn’t said a word since she had joined them half an hour ago.

Titan—who had been all but glued to Ezra’s side this whole time—had not spared his mother so much as a glance, at least insofar as Ezra had seen.

Mr. Leon’s absence had not gone unnoticed, but no one seemed particularly eager to ask after him, or track him down. Ezra certainly had more important concerns at hand.

“These two are quite close to exiting their enclosure,” Titan mused, pointing at the middle egg, which was unnecessary, because Ezra had hardly stopped looking at it since he’d caught a glimpse of tiny fingers pushing through the shell a little while ago.

“Oh goodness, did I miss it? Oh, I hope I didn’t miss it!”

The sound of his mother’s voice surprised Ezra enough that he actually turned away from the eggs to glance at the door where, sure enough, his mother was fussing with her hair, her clunky purse dropped haphazardly on the ground by her feet.

Kyle trailed in behind her, suggesting that she had rung the doorbell and he’d gone and answered it without Ezra even noticing.

“I didn’t expect you to drive all the way out here this early, Mom,” Ezra said bashfully, turning back to the clutch in part to hide his embarrassment. “I figured you’d get my text when you woke up later.”

“Oh don’t be ridiculous. It’s not every day you get to meet grandchildren!” She hurried over and planted a kiss on Ezra’s cheek, then did the same for Titan, whose eyes went wide.

“Well, you haven’t missed it. That one right there is ready to go at any second, though. Where, um…” Ezra did a brief debate and landed on, “Where’s Joe?” because even though he had accepted his true heritage, he still wasn’t quite comfortable with the word “dad” just yet.

If she was disappointed by Ezra’s use of Joe’s name—or, well, his Earth name, at any rate—she didn’t show it.

Instead, she made herself comfortable, without invitation, on the bed next to him, then pulled a compact mirror from her pocket to examine her lipstick.

“He’ll be along. He wanted to make a stop first.”

Ezra was about to ask where the fuck his father could possibly have needed to stop at this time of day, but before he could, several little arms burst out of the middle egg, stealing away his attention entirely.

“They’re almost out,” he said, unintentionally breathless, before scrambling off the bed and launching himself at the bassinet.

Titan was beside him in an instant, and the others began crowding around shortly after that.

Ezra was too transfixed by what was happening to take stock of who was where, but he knew by feel whose hand found his and squeezed.

Titan.

The asshole who’d agreed to a one-night stand, then refused to leave.

He stood by Ezra’s side changed not only by fatherhood, but by love.

Love for Ezra.

It was hard to believe, but it was true.

Someone had seen enough value in him to want to be there?—

Ezra’s heart gave a little pang, and he glanced to his mother, who stood alone.

—Enough for now, at least.

One of the existing cracks on the middle egg spread rapidly, causing Ezra to bury the thought as he zeroed in on what was happening before him.

The crack met a hairline fissure, and when the egg next wiggled, the whole chunk of shell fell off, making it easy work for the little aliens within to break through what remained.

They tumbled into the bassinet together and lay there on their backs, staring up at everyone with big eyes.

“Holy shit, man,” Ezra whispered, practically speechless, as they emerged.

They were perfect—or at least, they looked to be.

Admittedly, he wasn’t overly familiar with how true Darvrokian babies should look, and they were well and truly little Darvrokians, not a single hint of anything human about them, from their sandy scales down to their four little arms.

Moving almost involuntarily, he plucked one twin out of the bassinet, while Titan grabbed the other.

He brought the baby close to his chest and peered down at them.

They were three quarters Darvrokian, so it made sense that they closely resembled Titan, but Ezra thought that their forehead ridge was the same shape as his own strong brow line, even if no hairs grew from it.

They blinked their giant eyes up at him, their irises immediately turning a rosy pink, and through their direct contact, Ezra felt an outpouring of affection being funneled into him.

He was certain the baby could feel the same in reverse.

“Their birth sex is female,” Titan announced, his eyes the same shade of pink.

“Yes, but what of the symbol? I do not recognize it.”

After she spoke, everyone turned to look at Mrs. Leon, who was hovering behind the group, standing as far back as she could while still being able to see the show. She was looking at the first set of twins with affection, but also mild concern.

Ezra looked back at the twins to see what had her so baffled, and noticed the markings immediately.

“I also do not recognize this symbol,” Titan muttered, brow furrowing as he looked from one twin to the other.

“That’s because it’s not Darvrokian,” Ezra said with a little laugh. “It’s an Earth symbol.”

The twins, who were otherwise completely identical, each had a matching marking so dark, it was almost black, on opposite sides of their chests. It resembled a sideways figure eight.

“Oh my god,” Corbin whispered in awe. “Your kids have basic bitch tattoos.”

If looks could kill, Ezra’s glare would have sliced Corbin right in h alf.

Titan was slower on the uptake. He frowned and said, “I do not understand.”

“?.Λ.yz’Ο, those words are strange to hear from you. I do not believe I have heard you voice a lack of knowledge before,” Mrs. Leon said softly, tilting her head and regarding her son with an inquisitive look.

Titan, clearly still not ready to let his parents into his good graces, even if his mother had, somewhat, come to his defense during dinner, did not even spare her a glance as he said, “I have come to learn that there is more value in accepting a lack of knowledge with grace than pretending to have answers to all things for the sake of seeming intelligent.”

Mrs. Leon was quiet for a tense moment, then murmured, “This is wise.”

Uninterested in continuing the conversation, Titan set his sights on Ezra. “What meaning does this ‘basic bitch’ symbol embody?”

“Okay, it’s not a—you know what, never mind. Not important. It means infinity.”

“Infinity,” Titan muttered, like he was trying the word on for size. “As if to suggest… infinite possibilities.”

A wide, unbidden grin spread across Ezra’s face. “Yeah. Exactly. The world’s… or, I guess, the universe is their oyster.”

Titan blinked. “The universe is not a mollusk?—”

“You know it was a turn of phrase, man. It’s okay to be knowledgeable about some things, damn.”