Page 40 of Shattered Galaxies (Tears of the Siren #6)

ZANDER

Seven years after the war…

“Dad, I really don’t think we need this many stars on each table.” Altair’s frustrated voice nearly made me smile. For a seven-year-old, he really had a lot to complain about. Especially today.

“It’s not that many,” I disagreed, looking over the three long tables in our back yard with a content nod.

I hadn’t completely bought the entire neon blue, pink, and purple theme that Cormac had set out, but the yard looked pretty damn good.

It probably helped that Lorcan was standing in the center of it, bathed in the golden light of the afternoon sun.

My wife always made everything look ten times better.

I nearly shook my head in amusement, wondering how I’d gone from traveling the world in search of sirens—and avoiding the existential dread that followed me—to decorating for a kid’s birthday party in less than a decade. I loved it, but it was baffling.

“We used ten bags,” Altair murmured under his breath before throwing himself down in a chair, his brow furrowed. Our paradise-like back yard had been transformed into a mermaid- themed explosion for our daughter’s birthday party—down to the pool floats that lit up underneath the late afternoon sun.

And yes, all of us saw the humor in the theme considering she could turn into an actual mermaid.

The party didn’t start for another thirty minutes, but the back yard was already packed with guests. Altair was probably just annoyed at having to wait for his friends to arrive, but he really was in a foul mood today.

“What’s going on?” I asked, studying his pinched expression.

Altair had been serious from the moment he was born.

I wished I was joking about that, but we’d always gotten comments about how he would just stare at people in curiosity.

He never actually smiled at anyone but our family.

I didn’t mind—hell, I didn’t even want people around our kids—but it did sometimes worry me that he carried too much weight on his shoulders.

I also worried that we’d played a part in that.

Being a first-time parent was never easy, but in retrospect, three kids later, I saw where we could have done better.

Lorcan assured me constantly that wasn’t the case, that he was just a serious kid, but I still felt guilty.

Me and the others weren’t the most lighthearted people on the planet—something that had been showcased in spectacular fashion when we found out she was pregnant… four months after the war.

We’d been shocked. Of course, none of us had shied away from the concept of starting a family, but we’d never assumed it would happen that fast. Nearly as fast as her pregnancy.

I’d always heard that elven pregnancies moved on a different timeline, but four months had damn near sent me into cardiac arrest.

As soon as we could after she regained consciousness, we gave Lorcan a seven-karat moonstone diamond to wear on her finger, but she’d barely walked down the aisle when she gave birth to our first son, Altair.

“I just don’t really want to be outside today.

I’d rather be inside,” he murmured, looking up at the balcony of his room—more specifically at his violin.

It wasn’t clear what Altair would be when he grew into his powers, but I often thought that his magic contained the same note as Desmond’s, casting illusions without meaning to.

But other times—and maybe because of their similarity in looks—he reminded me of Cash.

Maybe he would even be a hybrid shifter-magic user.

What we did know? Altair was a musical prodigy.

I wasn’t simply bragging about my own child, either.

He’d already played at several large-scale venues throughout Phoenix and Los Angeles—something that, while helped by Lorcan and Cormac’s connections, was very much based on his talents. The shows had sold out.

“Why don’t you go upstairs and play for a bit. I’ll let you know when your friends are here,” I promised. He immediately stood up, but I stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

But remember, this is a party. It’s okay to relax and have fun.” He scowled in thought before nodding and going into the house. Shaking my head, I ran a hand over my face and let out a long sigh.

“No—no, no, no.” A younger voice let out a peal of laughter before sliding under the table, nearly jostling the entire thing.

I arched a brow as Dean jogged past, pretending he didn’t see our second-born’s hiding spot.

I offered him a nod of understanding as he went to go stand with his brothers and Adriel.

“Why are you hiding?” I asked our five-year-old, moving off my chair to crouch down.

Emeren’s eyes went wide as he opened his mouth to give an answer but then shut it, shrugging.

It took everything I had not to smirk. He looked exactly like Lorcan—or Cormac, in this case —but he was an absolute storm of chaos.

Not only had he already shifted into a lion, but he had the ability to star-travel like Adriel, Lorcan, and myself.

The kid took everything in stride and found it fun that he could do so many things at once. I thought it was pretty neat, but it did worry me. There was no telling when a new power would pop up, and it had been terrifying when he was first swept into the stars.

“Dad wants me to brush my hair,” he scowled. “I told him I already put stuff in it.”

I leaned forward, touching his hair and frowning at the stickiness. “Is this jelly?”

“Gel,” he corrected. “Makes my hair nice.”

I chuckled, unable to help myself, as Desmond crouched next to me. “Em, you know that jelly and gel are different, right? The first one is to eat, and the second is for your hair.”

“Oh.” He giggled as he reached up into his hair and grabbed some grape jelly to taste. Maker. Deciding to let Desmond handle this one, I stood and made my way to Draven and Lorcan, wanting to tell her about what our son was up to.

“Everything looks great!” Lorcan said. Draven nodded, but his attention was mostly over my shoulder where Desmond was wrestling Emeren out from under the table. Without a word, he handed off our daughter and jogged over there.

Serelune. The now three-year-old gave me a toothy grin before resting her head against my shoulder as Lorcan smoothed a hand over her back. “She’s already exhausted.”

“Well, she’s been swimming all day,” I pointed out.

The novelty of having a three-year-old who could spend all day in the pool without concern because she turned into a literal mermaid still hadn’t faded.

She wasn’t a siren, though, because I hadn’t lost my powers, and she also had adorable pink wings that sprouted from her back whenever she wanted.

Our family may have been a bit chaotic, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“And flying. Draven took her flying,” Lorcan mused, shaking her head. “How’s Altair doing? I saw him going inside.”

“Moody.” I sighed. “The boy is far too serious.”

“He is.” She frowned in thought. “Maybe we should take a vacation. They’re almost done with school; maybe he could use a break away from all his friends. He’s had a crazy busy year.”

“I like that idea. Maybe we could go to the ocean?—”

“Water?” Serelune flung her head up in excitement, making both of us laugh. Our youngest was a sensitive soul, but her passion and excitement for things was unmatched.

“Yes, water. Beach, maybe?” Lorcan said.

Serelune nodded in excitement before wiggling out of my arms and going to the pool.

I watched her nervously as she sat by herself by the pool, kicking her feet in the water.

Just because she could swim without need for concern didn’t mean I didn’t worry anyway, so I relaxed when I saw her Aunt Elliot go and sit by her.

“Thank you for doing so much for the party,” Lorcan said, melting into my chest as I brushed my lips over the top of her head.

“I could hardly deny our kid a mermaid party,” I mused. “Besides, I have a feeling her cousins will enjoy it even more than she will.”

Lorcan laughed as the tornado of cousins broke into the yard, Cormac following behind. Four kids, all within a year of each other, filled the air with cheers of excitement as they jumped into the pool.

“This looks great!” Cormac said after giving us hugs in greeting. “I’m so damn glad we came early. These kids were losing their shit in the house.”

“It doesn’t help that they’re so similar in age.

It’s like having a classroom,” Lorcan teased.

Elliot and Quinn had gotten pregnant within six months of one another, and both had twins.

Although that shouldn’t have been terribly surprising since they were both twins and Cormac was a twin.

If anything, I was surprised we hadn’t had twins yet.

“Yeah, why do you think we’ve held off on expanding our family any more.” He chuckled. “At least until they’re in school next year.”

The kids were mini-maestros of chaos. I had no idea how school would go over, especially since they were the same age as Emeren. It was possible we’d be dealing with an expulsion of quintuplet terrors. But even with all that, I had to admit they were fun.

“Jeanie and Nelson have offered to hire tutors if that doesn’t work out,” Lorcan said, looking up at me. “Maybe that would be better for Emeren…”

“They should go to school.” I sighed. “We need to at least give it a chance. But if they start exposing their magic, the tutor could be a better solution.”

Although Jeanie and Nelson would absolutely love nothing more than to build a homeschool facility on the pride compound.

I wasn’t sure what had changed, but after the war—and their conversation with Cormac and Lorcan—they’d become extremely active in the pride.

More so, in our lives, to the point that Nelson had cried when Lorcan had told Altair to call them Grandma and Grandpa. I didn’t think they expected that.

Desmond’s parents were less surprised but equally as thrilled. My gaze moved to where the four individuals in question sat drinking sangria as Cormac walked away, leaving just the two of us.

“I still can’t believe they got married,” Lorcan said. I smirked, following her gaze to the patio, where Ella and Apep sat with their firstborn. The six-month-old giggled as Apep created a wave of bubbles out of thin air for her entertainment.

“Or had a kid.” I agreed, shaking my head. “I mean, I guess I shouldn’t be that shocked—odder things have happened—but he’s been around nearly as long as the Cosmos god!”

Lorcan hummed in amusement, but then a puff of purple smoke filled the air, drawing our attention.

Hayden, an old friend from Los Angeles, stepped out of the smoke with his husband, Chris, and their daughter.

I stepped back as they did their full greeting, Hayden already in full party mode with a party hat and everything.

I listened to them talk as I looked around the yard, feeling a sense of community and family.

Even those that couldn’t be here—like Lorcan’s friends Nova, Vegas, Gray, and Maize, all of whom we’d met on a trip to the Horde—had sent gifts.

Not only gifts, but realm-jumping cupcakes that now sat out on a table, much to the kids’ delight.

Never in a million years would I have expected to find this sense of family in my life.

I’d thought I’d been destined to be alone.

“Hey.” Lorcan tugged my attention, and I looked down at where she melted back into my arms. “What are you thinking about?”

“How lucky I am.” I tilted her chin up, brushing my nose with hers. “I never expected to have any of this—this love or family—and it’s all because of you.”

Lorcan’s face filled with soft surprise, and her eyes colored with emotion. “You deserve all of it. We all do. I love you so much, Zander.”

“And I hope we get thousands more of these celebrations.” I said, pressing my lips to hers. “I love you, starlight.”