“Moi?”
Raising his eyebrows, Logan grinned. “Yes, you. C’mon, fess up.”
Dropping his eyes, Kieran focused on one of Logan’s shirt buttons, twisting it in his fingers. “I think Queenie needs a mate because he’s lonely, I can tell, and I don’t want him to get so sad he doesn’t want to live anymore because I can’t help him like I helped Fionn, and if he died, then I would be very sad and so would Theo because I let his gift to me die…so I just think it would begood if Queenie had someone to keep him company when you and I can’t be with him.”
Logan glanced over at the pink parrot perched on the bookcase, chuckling when he saw the bird nodding his head at him. “Babe, did Queenie put you up to this?”
“Not really…well, maybe a little bit. Look at him,macushla, every day he sees how happy we are, and I think it’s hard for him ‘cause he’s all alone, and I want him to be as happy as we are so if we found a mate for him then he could be.”
“Uh-huh. And I guess you’ve been looking into that, huh?”
“How did you know?” Kieran grinned at Logan. “I originally thought we would have to go to Australia since I was sure there were other Queenies there but Zane suggested I go online and look up pet stores in San Francisco so I did and can you believe it, some of them have Galahs for sale. I was thinking we could go there and take Queenie with us and let him pick the one he wants for his mate.”
“That was really, really nice of Zane,” Logan said, sarcastically.
“It was, wasn’t it?” Kieran replied, grinning at his mate’s response. “He said he wanted to help you because he knows how busy you are and that reminds me, what do you want me to do first? I forgot to tell you I picked all of our squirt’s furniture so all we have to do is order it, do you know where his nursery will be? I would like him close to us so maybe he can sleep in our bedroom for the first few months, you know, just so I can hear him if he cries. Duh, of course we could use a baby monitor like Jackson does but I’d feel better if he was with us, what do you think?”
“I like him sleeping in our room for the first couple of months too, babe,” Logan agreed. “As for our squirt’s nursery, we need to know the size of the room first before ordering anything so I’ll ask Jackson today about what room we can have. Have you thought about the nursery we’re doing for Reif and Brian?”
Jumping up from his mate’s lap, Kieran ran to the new desk Logan had bought for him. “Oh my gods,macushla, I have…” Pulling out a drawer, he rifled through it before finally extracting a thick file folder. Holding it up, he said, “I found the perfect cribs for the baby nessies and this fantastic rug with all kinds of sea creatures…it’s just like you’re under water…so, so cute and let me show you the paint color I picked, it’s perfect. Good thing it’s a big room but I was wondering if they really need five changing tables since there’s just two of them, so how would they use all five tables at once, and if you agree, then we can replace three tables with these sweet, small dressers instead and that will give the baby nessies lots of room to play.” Climbing onto Logan’s lap again, Kieran gave his mate a big kiss, before opening his file.
Chapter 33
As the car came to a stop, Fionn studied the building where the first art gallery on Hunter’s list was located. The reality of what he was about to do took hold, immobilizing him with self-doubt. It would be the first time anyone saw his drawings except for his mother, teacher, and mate, and he’d discounted whatever they’d said about them for one reason or another.
“Pet, are you coming?” Hunter asked, holding the car door open.
Snapping out of his reverie, Fionn’s eyes met his mate’s as he reached up to take Hunter’s hand before sliding out of the car. Biting his lower lip in an effort to hide his nerves he said, “Mate, maybe we should look around first before asking them about my drawings.”
“Good idea,” Hunter replied, tucking Fionn’s arm under his. “C’mon, I’m going to enjoy this.”
“You are?” Surprised at his mate’s words, Fionn couldn’t figure out why.
“Yup,” Hunter replied. “I know very little so I’m going to go with my gut as to whether I like something or not.”
“That’s not a bad way of doing it,” Fionn replied, smiling. “It’s what I do. Sometimes, a piece of artwork will reach out and grab my soul…and there’s nothing I can do about it…except lose myself in the world the artist created.”
“I’m not sure that’ll happen to me since I don’t have a creative bone in my body,” grinned Hunter as he pulled open the door, guiding Fionn inside. Looking around at the large open space, he said, “Why don’t we start in this corner and work our way around?”
Nodding, Fionn approached the first painting with Hunter. Looking at it, he noticed the use of colors blending into each other, reminding him of the work of Mark Rothko. Saying nothing, he moved on to the next one and then the next. When they were half way around the gallery he came upon a watercolor that stole his breath away, filling his soul with joy.
“Oh, wow!” Hunter murmured, standing behind his mate, gazing at the same painting. Mesmerized by it, he didn’t realize someone had joined them until she spoke.
“This is one of our new artists,” the woman said.
“It’s amazing,” Hunter said.
“I quite agree,” said the woman. “We consider ourselves lucky to have his work. There are several more of his paintings on the far wall.”
“Has he been painting long?” asked Hunter.
“Yes, although I haven’t seen his early works. According to his bio, he just moved to the Bay area a short time ago.”
“Do you specialize only in watercolors and oils?” asked Hunter.
“Oh, goodness, no. When I opened this gallery, I wanted to find artists who were just beginning their careers and help them get known, regardless of their medium.”
“How would an artist go about…”
