Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 133

With each passing day, I learn to not grieve structure and predictability. Much as I try and stick to the schedule that had seemed to work so well before. For two children so used to living in limbo, they awaken with the sun and it seems the songbirds chirping with the creeping light would serve as the perfect alarm clock.

I mourn sleep and silence, in between bouts of horrendous nausea, anxiety, and rampant emotions. Disturbed by the distant rustling of children, I curse my lycan hearing as I snuggle closer to my unfortunately clothed husband. We'd learned our lesson about sleeping naked, I inhale the scent of his neck and ward off the oncoming bout of morning sickness as I press my forehead to his collarbone.

While it would be easy to default to letting him care for the children, I recall the days in the beginning, with a screaming baby and my newly shifted self. This was not so new to him, it was just the first time I'd been present for this part of our lives. Even so, he'd tended to children in his youth, and he'd half-heartedly raised Tonic, yet the fear of the unknown with his lurking temper still made me uneasy.

I could pretend that it was his body I was concerned for when truthfully, I was guarding our sweet Xaiver against the rude awakening that was, no doubt, imminent. 

 The tangle of gray hair tumbles towards his lidded eyes, sleeping so soundly, clutching me impossibly close to him as I hear the pitter-patter of little feet. 

"I need to get up." I exhaled, the lack of urgency in my voice meant it wasn't from sickness that I was trying to exit the bed and he was in no mood to release me. 

A rumbling growl exits his throat, pulling me to him as he buries his nose in my hair. "Mine." The claim over me makes me swallow, shutting my eyes and listening for any indication that I'd misheard. The depth of his voice, heavy with morning sleep, makes me shiver.

"They're awake." I remind him, hearing the giggle as the two boys peer in through the door. Verando sighs heavily, loosening his hold over me as he opts to stretch instead. 

As the small bodies climb onto the bed, Darrius etches out a playful attempt at a growl before leaping onto us as if he were a predator capturing his prey. Verando grunts as I bury myself in his chest to shield myself from the onslaught of capture attempts only to remember the poor man was still recovering and seeing the pained expression on his face. 

"Are you alright?" I manage between the pummeling of pillows, sitting up with a glare towards Darrius who flops down on the bed with a pout. 

"It's fine, it's only a liver... who needs it?" Clutching his side, grunting as Xaiver flops down over his hip.

"Stop." He proclaims, wrinkling his nose at his father before looking towards me with his large smokey eyes. "Hungry."

"You're always hungry." I remind the child, holding out my hand for the boy to crawl off my warlord and into my arms, snuggling under the blankets with a yawn. 

This seems to trigger jealousy in the older child, who wriggles his way under the comforter to wedge himself firmly into Verando's chest, gripping the man's hand to wrap the strong arm around the thinner, lean body of the unicorn child. "Me too. I want to be in Daddy's bed."

"Like old times, I suppose. You must lay quiet if you're in this bed though. Otherwise, the bear will get you." Verando clutched the child with a rumbling growl, making Darrius squeal and giggle, kicking and wriggling until he was firmly tucked. Xaiver squeaks, cuddling against me, a flurry of wild laughter as the two find their spots between us. 

It was a scene I could live in forever, the love of my life, playing so tenderly with the two beings that meant more to me than anything in this world.