“Yes, you both are going to grow too. You’re growing and growing.” In fact, he was kind of the size of a houseboat. He felt like he had a huge prow.
It was nice to be outside, even if he still had to have a heavy jacket on.
“What are you doing out there in the cold?”
He glanced over at the fancy shed that stood at the side of the garden, smiling at the familiar face that peered out. “Getting everything ready to plant. How are you, Yarrow?”
“Mmm, sleepy still.” Yarrow yawned wide, exposing his two big upper teeth. “But starting to wake up. Would you like to come in and have some tea and warm up? It’s still chilly out there.”
“I would.” He slowly stood up from where he was crouched down, his hips screaming at him.
Lethean, are you well?
I’m fine, worrywart. I’m going to have a cup of tea with Yarrow. It’s just a little cold to be sitting on the ground.
Very well. Call me if you need me.
I will.He thought maybe Ev was working with Hawk again, making another cradle. They would need it.
He sort of waddled to Yarrow’s shed, easing himself down onto a comfy chair. As he got in, he noticed how lovely it was in here, sort of like a TARDIS with cottagecore.
It was cozy but not tiny, and comfortable and rustic, but kind of beautiful at the same time.
“You’ve been doing a lot of work.”
“I did. I had time on my hands in the wintertime. It was too cold to venture out.” Yarrow winked at him, smiled.
“Well, it’s beautiful. Seriously.”
“Thanks. What kind of tea would you like? I have a selection.”
“Something without caffeine, please. It just makes the babies wilder.”
Yarrow chuckled and shook his head. “Leave it up to you to be the one who has multiples.”
Corbin winked at the beaver and stretched up tall, his back popping. “I am the one who grows things, right?”
Yarrow poured water into a teapot and measured tea. “You are. And there will have to be an ‘of the Third’ to take over when you retire.”
“Yes, except I think there’s only going to be one of the two.”
Yarrow blinked at him, frowned. “No. I don’t think so. I think there has to be one of the Third.”
“Have you become a seer now?” He wasn’t even being sarcastic. It could happen. He’d seen it happen.
“No. No, but the ground knows things. This is your ground. Yours and Cosmo’s and Cullen’s. You balance it out. It’s your ground. There has to be ‘one of the Third’.” Yarrow blinked at him, stared. “You know that that’s why the vampires came inbefore, don’t you? The house was here, and there were three, but they were not of three. They were not one made into three. They were just three. Hawk, Orion, and Evander cannot hold this house.”
He blew out a breath and then fanned himself. “You’re making me queasy.”
“Why? Aren’t you happy?”
“What do you mean?” Was he happy? He didn’t know. He was worried right now.
“Your children will have a place, a duty. Before they take over from you, they will have amazing lives. Flipping in and out of dimensions that I can’t even begin to imagine. One day, they’ll have mates, homes, and children, and you’ll be retired. It’ll be amazing. Isn’t that what everyone wants for their children? To have an amazing life ahead of them?”
Corbin sat with those words for a minute. He’d been so worried about the bad things that he’d sort of let it slip from his soul that his life was amazing.
He’d traveled. He had friends. He had brothers and a mate and nieces and nephews. He’d seen and done things that only he and his brothers could say that they had seen and done. His life had been amazing, and he was just beginning it. Soon he would be a father, and that was an entirely new adventure.
