Chapter5

#Chapter5

/"Goddess of the moon,/" I whispered as I forcefully shoved Lumen's head back against the pillow. /"Watch over thy young and take them under your watchful eye. Keep them from all harm, from this day, until their last day. Maketh —/"

/"Daddddddy,/" came the slurred moan of protest. /"More Tommy an Timmy./"

If hopes and prayers were enough to mirror a ring of protection or banish all the evil from the world, graveyards would have been empty and even the greyest sky would seem blue. As it was, prayers accounted for shit. They were a fool's desperate bid of bargaining, a last resort when all else failed. It was like reaching out to an imaginary friend and hoping they were real enough to reply.

But Jonathan believed in it. He respected the customs that dated back through our pack for generations, and he adhered by tradition where possible. I didn't believe in the power of prayer, but I believed in Jonathan.

When he'd started whispering the old, almost forgotten mantra to our boy every night, roughly around the time the nightmares began getting out of hand, I'd respected it enough to keep from mocking it. Mostly. Who was I to mock when I still wore a silly chain around my neck because Lumen thought it would keep the monsters away? And at some point, I'd even fallen into the habit myself.

Just on the off chance that the Goddess we pledged ourselves to actually did care. Just on the slim motion that just once, she'd take pity on us.

We'd been through enough.

/"Lie down, rat,/" I said, curling my fingers around his face and slam dunking it against the feathered head-holder. Giggled erupted and he popped up again like a spring daisy.

/"Gen, daddy./"

The nursery was ablaze. Every single one of Lumen's night lights, which was somewhere around the twenty mark, illuminated their own patch of room, drawing shadows against the ass-ugly yellow walls. Fairy lights twinkled from around his window, and Jonathan, the sap, had even invested in the bunk bed that had built in LED's.

The room was an eyesore, if I'd ever seen one, but Lumen adored it and Jonathan adored Lou. It led to an unhealthy pattern of Lumen getting exactly what he wanted.

/"Shut up, sprog./"

Ember was a grade A pussy. He didn't like raised voices. He didn't like aggressive teasing. He didn't even like the switching of tones. Even he giggled at that, so either he was slowly getting used to how I spoke to Lou, or I needed to quit my day job and join the circus.

The theory behind the bunk beds was so the boys had their own beds when Ember came to stay; they insisted on sleeping in the same bed. They lay side by side, Tigger and Pooh snuggled between them. I was perched at the end of the bed, bent out of shape so I didn't smash my head against the higher platform, and already regretting my decision to let them have ice cream before bed.

/"Daddy,/" Lou whined, his feet kicking beneath the Winnie The Pooh duvet. /"I wan sleep with mommy./"

/"Too bad. He doesn't want to sleep with you./"

/"Does./"

/"Doesn't./"

/"Does!/"

/"Does not. He said you stink so bad you broke his nose./"

/"Liar!/" Lou screeched, choking off on an avalanche of infectious giggles. /"Mommy say 'daddy so nastee he just a puglit./"

/"A piglet? Yeah, because I'm the one who rolls around in my own filth. Oh, no, wait, that's the disgusting, most despicable Lou-king./"

/"I'm a-spicabul,/" Lou said with a proud grin, turning to his brother. /"Burr! I'm a-spicabul./"

Ember was the half of the duo who'd managed to stay clean after his bath. His pyjamas were the same as Lou's, a matching birthday gift from Cyrus, and his hair had been brushed back out of his face. Lou's hadn't been brushed at all and lingered on the wild side.

His head lifted from his pillow, a frown marring the innocence of his face. /"Is dus-spitting-bul good?/"

/"No,/" I whispered, covering my mouth so Lou could't see, but raising my tone to make sure he heard. /"It's the worst. It means if he doesn't close his eyes and go to sleep, I'll throw him in the lake for the fish-pandas to eat./"

Lumen squealed happily, kicking his legs. Ember's frown constricted into a deeper-set outline. /"There no real fish-panda, Starley./"

/"Of course there is. I'll feed you both to them tommorow. Now shut up, lie down and leave me alone./"

Ember flinched and lay down. Lou sat right back up. /"Daddy seep wiv us?/"

/"Nope. I'ma go sleep with mommy and give him all the snuggles that he would have given you./"

/"Daddy!/" Lou said, somewhat appalled. /"I mommy's sunny-shine. He need Lou nuzzlies./"

/"He prefers daddy's nuzzlies./"

/"Nuh-huh.'

/"Huh-huh./"

/"Nuh-huh./"

/"Shut it, rat./" Grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt, I yanked him forward, ripping him from the covers, and crushed him in a hug. He chittered happily, nuzzling his face against mine. /"Seriously, Lou. It's late. You need to go to sleep./"

/"I no tired./"

/"Don't care./" Placing a kiss on the top of his head, I put him back in bed, yanking the covers up to his chin, then pulling it taunt against his body so he couldn't move, mummifying him. Then when his grin of anticipation sprang to the surface, I bounded my hands up and down on the mattress so he wobbled all over the place.

/"Daddy,/" Lou called after me as I turned to leave. His birthday toys, which had been more than either Johno and I had expected, had been dumped into a pile, ready for sorting, and Ember's had been placed on the opposite side of the room so they didn't get mixed up. Not that they kept them in the right piles. Or in piles at all. I squished some kind of farm animal as my foot came down upon it. Rather than fess up, a well-aimed kick had it scuttling under the bed.

/"Yeah, Lou?/"

/"Love you lotsely./"

/"Love you lots too, rat,/" I said, pausing by the door. He'd sat up again, his bright eyes glistening. /"Did you have a nice birthday?/"

Lou nodded so hard, his hair whipped around like a dancing muppet. He'd tried to go to bed in his crown. Had insisted and near-damn thrown a tantrum over it, but we'd compromised and it had been placed on his nightstand, ready to be put on as soon as he woke up in the morning.

/"Clarke buyed muh wabbit toys, daddy./"

/"Clarke buyed me a Tigger hat,/" Ember said around a yawn. /"It haves ears on it./"

/"Goodnight boys,/" I said, rolling my eyes. /"Whoever sleeps the bestest and longest gets doughnuts for breakfast./"

That had Lou's eyes snapping closed real quick. A series of overly fake snores followed. The facade managed to last a good three seconds before Lumen broke it by asking for more milk. Then more nuzzlies. Then for water. Then for cake. Then kisses. Mommy. Another birthday. Silver treasure. A piglet.

The list went on and on. Tired of humouring him, I ordered him to lie back down and slipped out. The hallway was bathed in a sinister glow. The lights had been cut and the walls seemed to breathe, swelling beneath the attention. The wing had been redecorated, but even still, Malcolm Asher's ghost still wept through the halls like a little bitch.

Or maybe I just didn't like the dark anymore.

Our room was down the hall from Lumen's. It wasn't an overly long journey, but after a few steps, my shoulder fell against the wall, taking a moment to unwind my thoughts. I didn't want to carry them into our mated chambers so they could burden Jonathan. We had enough stress as it was.

It was still Lou's birthday. It was bedtime, but it was still his birthday, and Jonathan had made it explicitly clear that he wanted nothing regarding official business to go down tonight. As his mate, as the strength of our pack, it was my job to make sure he was content. And satisfied. Very satisfied. So very, body-limp kinda satisfied.

I'd been slacking lately. Lou's bed hogging ways and nightmares had turned into a neon-lit cock-block. But now Ember was here and he wasn't alone, it opened up the possibility that he'd stay in his own bed, or console himself if he woke up during the night.