I watch as Rune is making enough food to feed half an army, not just our little family. Although, ‘little’ is not the right word anymore... I’m not sure we can call it ‘little’ with the number of people sitting at the table right now. Apart from us six and the three kids, of which Rune and I are the only ones not at the table, Aideen and Topaz have joined in too, just like Aura. It’s like every time I look away, more people join the table and I’m almost scared there won’t be a place for me to sit anymore.
The table is already stacked high with food and people are animatedly talking to each other as they stuff their faces. As I look back, Rune is bringing in more food, even more food. When he passes me, he smirks and winks.
I have no idea why, until he returns from the table and pulls me with him into the kitchen, sitting me on the counter behind him, out of the way but still nearby, as he likes it best.
“This way I can make sure you get fed too.” He plays his fingers over my thighs before he turns back to the stove, giving me a great view of his back, and especially his ass in those tight jeans. Hmmm, I’m getting hungry for something that isn’t food from this spot.
“Are you sure you need to make more? I think they’re going to die of over-feeding if you keep going like that.” I grin, but when he stills, my smile falters. “Rune?” I slide down the counter, standing next to him and put my hand on his arm. “What’s wrong?” I feel his pain and his heartache so clearly that it brings tears to my eyes. “Rune?” I blink, trying to keep my voice steady, and not let the people at the table know what’s going on.
He blinks fast and takes me in his arms, pulling me close, love flooding through him as his grip tightens even more.
I’m starting to get confused, and worried, about him now. “Rune?” Can’t he give me some clue? Something bad is going on in his head and it’s hurting him deeply.
“Sorry.” His voice is rough. “It’s just... Do you really think we can do this? Become a family? Take care of little ones? Become a real family? All of us? We’ve got so much on our plate already, with classes and the kingdoms and everything, can we take on even more responsibility?”
I almost laugh at his words. He was the one who told us that we were his family like it was fact, his dragon told us that we’d become a family. But now he’s the one worrying about it? “Of course. There’s no other option.” I wrap my arms around him, letting him feel my confidence that we’re going to make this work, and then glance back at the big pot of what looks like pasta with some sauce. “You may want to keep an eye on that, though.”
He smiles softly and nods, stirring the pot with one hand as he still holds me to him with the other. “You’re right.”
“Did Finn say something about the kids’ parents? Something he didn’t tell the rest of us? Is that why you’re worried?” I know that Finn told us that their parents had died, over a year ago, and they didn’t have any other family anymore. Their mother’s line was one of water dragons, very rare, so the fae loved them for experiments, and their father’s family line was one of fire dragons, not rare at all, but the fae had used a lot of fire dragons to harvest their scales for their army’s armour. The parents had died within weeks of each other, only months after being taken. I still can’t believe that anyone can be so callous about ruining lives like that, like they don’t matter at all.
Rune shakes his head, but the way his eyes go sad tells me that I’m on the right track, it’s about the kids.
“Then what is it?”
“How are we supposed to care for them when we can barely take care of ourselves? What happens when we have to go back to classes and they have to go to school too. Fuck.” His eyes go wide, panic flashing through him. “They’ll have to go to school. Would they let them into the primary school here? Even though they’re not really from a royal family? What about where they’ll sleep? Who is going to get them to school? And clothes? Things they need for school?”
I quickly turn the fire down under whatever he’s making, making sure he won’t burn it, before I burst out laughing and I wrap my arms around him tightly. My love. My big dragon who always worries about everything, even the smallest things. Who has so much love for everyone, and he uses it to worry about all of us before he even considers worrying about himself.
“Don’t laugh,” he grumbles as he wraps his arms around me again, hiding his face in my neck and it’s like I feel his cheeks burn against my skin. “This is serious.”
“It is.” I give him a soft kiss. “But they’re the worries of every parent, as far as I know, so you’re doing great already.”
He flashes me a smile, his eyes still watery, as he pinches my ass, making me squeak. “Cheeky. You’re not supposed to laugh at me like that.”
“Why is he not supposed to laugh at you like that?” When I turn around, I catch Litha leaning against the counter, her warm eyes on us as she smiles softly.
“Our big dragon is being a worried parent.” I quickly slip out of his embrace before he can do more than just pinch my ass. We’ve got company, so we can’t really sneak off for some fun if this gets out of hand... And with the way things are going, they’re getting out of hand fast.
“Really?” She cocks her head to the side and steps closer. “Good. Because that makes six of us.” She smirks my way and I roll my eyes at her. Really? That’s what she’s going with? Make him worry more by telling him that we all worry about the little ones?
Rune takes her in his arms. “Are you sure? Are you okay with this? This whole family? Everyone?”
“Of course.” She leans against him. “The more the merrier, and it’s not like we don’t have enough space... We’ve got a lot of rooms here which are barely used.” She winks as she looks up at him with a wicked smile.
I shake my head, smiling too. Like that’s supposedly the issue, having enough space. I understand why Rune is worried, but I think that after everything went down, we’re not the same people we used to be, we’re definitely no longer the kids we used to be, and I don’t think we’d ever be able to go back to our old lives or the way things used to be.
It’s too late for that. And I don’t mind it at all, because I think we’re much better together now.
I look at Mum and Dad on the other side of the table. This time it’s just the three of us, not her whole court with us, so this is personal, very personal, and I don’t know what to think of it. It could be good, or it could be bad...
Mum leans forward. “We’re going home soon. It’s time. We have to start rebuilding the kingdom, the things that the fae destroyed in the attack, get everything back to normal.”
I nod. I knew they’d have to leave again soon, but I’d hoped to have a couple more days with them, I kind of like having them around.
“Before we leave, I wanted to give you something.” Mum looks at Dad, who picks up a box he’s been trying to hide under the table since I came in.
When he puts it on the table between us, I realise how huge it is, positively massive, and I’m totally lost on what could be in it. So I just look at them to help me out.
Dad laughs, opening the top and then he sits back down. “Check it out. We thought it appropriate for you to get these now.”
I stand up, looking inside the box and even though it shouldn’t, the contents of it colour my cheeks a dark red, a very dark red.
From just glancing inside, I can see another one of the boxes Mum gave Litha, and four smaller boxes in metal, the stones inlaid in each of them tells me enough about what they are. The other wooden box has red stones on it, just like Litha’s, and the four metal ones are inlaid with purple, green, blue and clear stones. Beyond the boxes are folded pieces of fabric, thick fabric, like the stuff I wore when we met Mum at the plaza, but the colours of these are much more vibrant, again with the different colours on them too.
This is a family set. Mum, Dad and the others at my mum’s court all have clothes like this. They show that they all belong to the same family. It usually starts with just two sets as two people get married or otherwise officiate their relationship, and then they grow their family, adding more members to it. But this is a whole set already...
When I look back at them, my eyes are all watery and I can’t find my voice. Of course, I knew that they were aware of our relationship and they’ve been nothing but supportive of it, but to get something so precious. This is a much bigger deal than I even want to consider right now.
Dad gets up, walking around the table and he takes me in his arms, I feel him look at Mum. “Told you he was going to cry.” But there’s a tease in his voice, a laugh.
“I knew that.” Mum’s arms surround the both of us, their love for each other and me so warm and comforting. “But that doesn’t stop me from giving it. Especially when it will become very important next summer.”
Next summer? I glance up at her, and she’s grinning down at me, an almost evil glint in her eyes. Uh-oh.
“At your crowning, of course. Your partners will need appropriate clothes during your crowning. We’ve got it all planned out with Alarick and Meadow, Bane’s crowning will be the week before, and then the week after you can do your whole ‘we’re a big royal family’ party.” She’s smiling like she didn’t just totally decide the rest of my life for me, or at least the next year...
“And maybe your wedding. I think that would be sweet.” Dad’s voice goes all dreamy. “Summer wedding... Maybe at our place? Although, maybe a beach wedding would be a better idea, at the full moon or something. Maybe midsummer.” Midsummer, Litha’s birthday...
“Mum... Dad...” I stare at both of them. “We’ve not even talked about any of that.” Hell, I’ve not wanted to think about something big like that at all, just enjoying the calm right now.
Dad shrugs, still smiling. “Seems like the perfect time, then. When you show them the box, you can all discuss it.”
I groan. Then it hits me. Not the wedding, but the crowning. I’ll be crowned next summer. I’d hoped that Bane and I would be able to stay out of it for at least a couple more years, until after we finish our education or something, but it seems that our parents and other family members have other plans...
Maybe, just maybe, when that crowning happens, we’ll finally have control over our own lives, though I don’t really expect it... Not until we’re very old, and even then our parents will try to control everything we do. I guess I better get used to it...
Then I glance back at the box, my heart overflowing with strong emotions. Family clothes, the most precious set of clothes a succubus or incubus owns, together with the jewellery that comes with it. And I just got my set from my parents, for us, for our little family.
Dad leans closer. “I’ve ordered a kiddy set for the little dragons, but they aren’t ready yet, that was a little too last-minute. So they should arrive in the next week or so.”
My heart nearly bursts out of my chest at that, and I wrap my arms around my parents. “Thank you, thank you so much.”
We’ll make this work, no matter what, we’re going to make this work. Our family.