“Uncle Q!”
“Hiya, princess,” Qylar said, forcing a big smile. It wasn’t that he wasn’t pleased to see her, but it was hard to manufacture happiness considering. She looked around, wonder in her eyes. “It’s so pretty.”
Ael wrapped himself around Qylar’s leg before noticing the tree and presents—which he quickly barreled towards. Kenji caught Ael before he crash landed into the tree and walked closer to Qylar.
Qylar turned back to Cryss and Alex—who weren’t alone. King Krythar was with them.
Great.
All three walked into the living room.
“I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow?” Qylar asked.
“That’s some welcome,” Alex said with a grin as he wrapped an arm around Qylar and hugged him. He looked past Qylar and smiled. “Hi, Kenji.”
“Hi, Kenji,” Cryss added.
Kenji smiled, but it wasn’t as bright as usual. “Hi, Alex. Cryss. Welcome home.”
“Pop,” Alex said, eyeing Krythar. “This is Kenji. Qylar’s mate.”
Qylar glared at Alex. He’d asked both of them not to share they were mates.
Alex continued, narrowing his eyes at Qylar. “Kenji, this is my father, King Krythar.”
“Nice to meet you, King Krythar.” Kenji glanced at Alex and asked under his breath. “Do I need to bow or anything?”
“No bowing,” Krythar said to Kenji. “It’s not necessary. You can just call me Krythar while I’m here. I’m not a king on Earth.”
Alex eyed Qylar. “You not happy to see us?”
“Of course I’m glad to see you,” Qylar said. “I just wasn’t expecting you yet.”
“We sent a message, but you obviously didn’t get it. We decided to leave a day early. Alex was restless. The kids were restless. They missed you. They wanted to see the house and the decorations,” Cryss said, moving closer with a baby carrier in hand. “And I wanted to show my best friend my new little man.”
Qylar took one look at Xandor and smiled widely. “He looks just like newborn Ael.”
“I said the same thing,” Alex said. “Ready to hold your nephew?”
“I am,” Qylar said. He looked at Zaadi. “Do you want to go check out the tree while I get introduced to Xandor?”
Zaadi put her head on Qylar’s shoulder, squeezing him tighter.“No.”
“You don’t want to check where I put your ballerina ornaments and make sure they’re in the right spots?” Qylar asked.
Zaadi’s head popped up, and she considered that a moment before saying, “No.”
“Sweetheart, Uncle Q can’t hold you forever,” Alex told Zaadi.
Zaadi wrapped her arms around Qylar’s neck.“MyUncle Q. Not Xandor’s.”
Qylar shared a look with Cryss and Alex that made him think they were having a bit of an issue.
“You know you’ll always be my favorite little princess, right?” Qylar said to her.
“I’m the only little princess in the whole house.” The corners of her mouth curved down. “I wanted a sister. Ihatestinky boys.”
“I’ma stinky boy,” Qylar said.
