Kessie leaned on her with a smile, and Aluhara started crying.Hedoreth got up and came around, walking his wife to the other side of the table, rubbing her arms, and kissing her temple.
Sorooth moved into the vacated spot and swapped the desserts.He cozied up to Keska and sighed.“I had forgotten that.”
She looked at Kessie.“That is why she had to go with you.I wasn’t sure how to love.I felt it but didn’t know how to express it, so she was better off because you were always very good at that kind of thing.”
He hugged her.“You got there.”
“Took me a decade.”
“So, for some things, you are a slow learner.”
“Yup.Emotional intelligence is my big stumbling block.”
“But you have managed it.Kessie doesn’t doubt for a moment that both of us love her.”
Kessie was leaning on her.Kes asked, “Do you mind moving to Askalla and starting school here?”
“No.The kids at the stronghold are starting to be divided into omegas, humans, and alphas.If I go here, I don’t get sorted.”
Understanding hit her like a thunderclap, and she looked at Sorooth.“You know?”
“All of Nelith’s offspring are omegas.Whether they show outward signs or not.”
Aluhara lifted her head and sniffled.“Really?”
“Well, as much fun as his rut was, if I hadn’t been able to meet him halfway, it would have been a very different scenario.”
She kissed Kessie on the head as Kessie played with her family statue.
Aluhara asked softly, “So, Keska, would you have other children?”
“You mean like randomly or Sorooth’s?”She smirked.The one-armed squeeze made her laugh.
Kessie smiled.“Daddy says he wants them to be his.”
Keska smiled.“So, she’s already a minder.”
Sorooth sighed.“And that is why we needed to head to Aksalla.The stronghold is rather mean to its minders.I don’t want that for her.Plus, she has an excellent instructor at home.”
“Well, you are good at brainy things.”
“I meant you.You have the hardest head I have ever met.”
She laughed.
“So, what are you working on now?”
“Oh, this is me.I thought you should see the preview before the party.”She held it out, and he looked at it with shock.
“You have wings.”
“Yup.And two bandoliers full of gadgets, and three belts with gadgets, and apparently a miniskirt and boots.”
He smiled softly.“You have butterfly wings.”
“Yeah, big ones.”
Kessie crawled over her and looked at the statue.“Can we see?”
