A Court of Love and Devotion - Novellas

Daddy's Happy Juice

All the children had their own thing that set them apart. But everyone knew, Hazel was the funniest. Unintentionally too.

One could blame it on the fact that she was only two and a half years old and the cuteness added to the funniness.

But out of all the children, Hazel was the one that made everyone laugh the most.

Emerie truly wished she could capture every moment and replay them when she wanted a laugh.

There was this one time, her older sister, Elia, was sick. The poor child had caught a bad fever.

Everyone was at the river house, having a late summer barbecue and, when Nesta got there, she immediately put Elia to bed upstairs as the little girl had fallen asleep during flight.

So Hazel ran to the garden with her father and oldest sister and took it upon herself to explain why her sister wasn't there.

"Daddy told us," Mor had said to her in her child-like voice. "Elia is sick?"

"Yes," the little girl had replied. "Mommy said she's a fish."

This caused everyone to pause in confusion. When Nesta arrived in the garden, Emerie cocked a brow and asked her friend about the fish.

"Hazel told us you said Elia's a fish?" Emerie had angled her head, deeply confused.

Her friend had looked just as confused, until she'd opened her mouth in realization and flattened her brows as she looked at her youngest daughter. "I said your sister is feverish."

This caused Mor to spew her wine out as she laughed.

The little girl simply replied, "Yeah." As if that was what she'd said all along.

She was too young to be able to say that word properly, whenever she tried she kept saying "fish".

"You know what, you're right. This word had too many letters anyway," Nesta chuckled.

"Next time I am sick, I'll say that I'm a fish," Emerie joked.

And so it became a thing. Whenever someone got ill, they announced it saying they were a fish. Whether it was fever or a mere cold.

There were so many golden moments over the years. When Nesta had told her that "sometimes Mommy screams because she's scared you're going to get hurt". So naturally the little girl made sure she told her mother she was okay all the time. Including when she was simply going down the stairs after Nesta said "be careful and hold on to the railing".

Or when she painted her face orange and ran to her mother saying "look Mommy I'm a pumpkin." Pronouncing the last word as "poump-kin".

Or when Hazel, like the social butterfly she was, sometimes left with other families because she was in deep conversation with them or one child had a toy she liked.

But Emerie wasn't sure anything could beat this moment. The family was on a random stroll through Velaris. It was market day at the Palace of Bone and Salt. Stands of various foods and drinks and spices lined the street.

Emerie and Nesta were at a tea stand, looking at the varieties when Cassian arrived with his daughters and the empty stroller because Hazel had decided that she wanted to walk. When they reached the two females, Hazel pulled at her father's pants.

"Look, Daddy," she called. "I got your happy juice."

Everyone turned to the child who was holding a glass bottle in both of her arms and presenting it to her father proudly.

Cassian's eyes went wide. "Where did you get that?" He urged.

Hazel looked behind and pointed at one of the stands further down the street.

Cassian reached for his daughter's hand, as Nesta and Emerie bit their lip to contain their laughs.

"You have to pay for that, sweetie," he said, chuckling as he brought her back to the stand.

Then Nesta and Emerie exploded.

The little girl had swapped a bottle of Bourbon from one of the stands on her way as if that was the most normal thing in the world. At barely three years old, she'd already shoplifted.

Emerie laughed as she walked over to Nesta who was hiding in a corner, her face covered by her hands and her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"I think you've officially given birth to the youngest felon in Prythian," Emerie told her.

"Great," Nesta breathed in between laughs. "Add that to my list of accomplishments."

Cassian came back with her, looking truly embarrassed as he looked at his mate. He lifted the bottle. "The seller insisted that I keep it. He wouldn't let me pay for it."

Indeed, the people of Velaris had a bad tendency to do that. Emerie had experienced similar things after the war. With people insisting she gets free things.

Nesta put her fist on her hips. That wouldn't help teach Hazel not to do that ever again.

Cassian crouched in front of his daughter. "You can't just take things from the stands, Hazel. You have to pay if you want to keep them."

The little girl pouted and played with her fingers, her round cheeks red. But Nesta gave her mate a pointed look. He couldn't fall for the cute face, he had to be strong.

"Don't ever do that again, alright?" He added.

Hazel looked down and nodded. So Cassian was done being strong, of course. He put the bottle in the stroller and pulled his daughter into his arms and kissed her cheek hard.

Nesta walked over, shaking her head and smiling despite herself. She brushed her daughter's golden-brown hair from her face and sighed. "What are we going to do with you?"