What if I lived? ✔️

Babysitting

The week went by in a blink. The nightmares continued to haunt me, but spending time with Elain turned out to be a formidable distraction. The female had a knack for when to talk and when to best leave me to my silence, her favorite subject by far her little daughter, who became one of our most interested afternoon-tea-companions.

Rhysand and Feyre were both very occupied, no surprise there, the world wouldn't just stop turning because the dead had started to rise and they had a Court to run.

Falballa, Mor and Cassian joined us for Tea more than once too, a sight for sore eyes, since Cassian handled the tea mug like a champ despite his prank like plate hands. Surprisingly, he didn't appreciate being told so.

The only time when everyone found themselves together were dinners. I met the charming Nesta at one of those occasions, Cassian's mate. Though the two of them made a perfect match, I wasn't particularly fond of the female. Too mean to Feyre as well as Elain, picked a fight with everyone at that table too, a typical bully, so just not my type of person. Fortunately, the rude bitch didn't come to the riverfront house too often. She also seemed to hate me as well, which made avoiding her a lot easier.

Amren regarded me with suspicion at first, but got over it much faster than I had thought. She even laughed at my obvious confusion about her and that Water-Court-Prince. By Friday, exactly one week after I had arrived, a routine had cemented itself in me. Routines were good, healthy. They made me look forward to the next day instead of dreading all the horrible scenarios unfolding in my head.

Dinner on Friday had been earlier than normally because Elain's and Lucien's anniversary fell on that day. The male would take her to a show in the rainbow, but they didn't want to leave their little one without supervision, so Elain asked me to watch her. Canna seemed to like me, or so Elain said when we were gardening on Thursday morning, so she'd be very thankful if I could babysit her that evening.

If I had known it would take about an hour of chasing her around the house to make her tired, I would've considered the question more thoroughly.

"So, the fierce warrior-princess rode into the sunrise on her dragon, the evil prince all tied up in the dark cave. The end" I slapped the book shut.

In the dimly lit children's room Canna giggled: "That's not the end!"

I rolled onto my side on her fluffy bed, plopping the book onto the floor next to the bed. I had expected a very pink room, with pillows and crowns all over the place and I hadn't been disappointed. To be fair in between were a lot of colorfully bloody drawings, wooden weapons and all sorts of Books lying around. Her toys were, of course, scattered all around the house, Amren hadn't shut up about stepping on some tiny brick of wood for hours. Her bed however, was all fairytale green with a big blue canopy enchanted to resemble the Night sky.

Canna looked so happy. With her Mother's kind eyes as well as her Father's long, red hair, a tiny button nose. She'd grow up to be very beautiful, though I suspected that the girl wouldn't care. Her focus set on getting strong, Canna had no qualms about getting her hands dirty, she'd fit right in with the Illyrians.

"Well then enlighten me, how does it end?" I propped my head up on my hand.

"The princess and the dragon go on to fight the evilest people, making the whole world really happy" she grinned at me.

"Hm, then we'll have to read about her adventures tomorrow, won't we?" I ruffled her hair, "But for now, go to sleep."

Taking that as my que to leave I sat up, but Canna grabbed my hand irritatedly: "Where's my kiss goodnight?"

I bowed down to kiss her brow, stroking her hair: "Your Mother will come up later, alright?"

She thought about it for a moment, then noded: "Good night uncle Cassian, goodnight auntie Addy."