“Nox Belladonna, you turn him back right now!” Moira shouted at her four-year-old son. He turned around from where he was playing in the wading pool with a guilty look on his face and a struggling toad in his hand.
Sunday laughed as her son appeared where the toad had been, his little face scrunched in an angry scowl.
“He took my ball!” Nox wailed.
“You took it fwom me fiwst!”
“Boys, don’t make us separate you,” Sunday called.
Kingston bounded over with Eden perched on his shoulders. “What’s all this shouting about?”
“We need a little distraction, babe,” Sunday said.
The wolf shifter winked and scooped their little boy up as Eden squealed and held on for dear life. “Time to play launch the rocket!”
“He’s so good with them,” Dahlia said from her place on the lounger. She was the only one of us currently in the shade, afloppy beach hat on her head and her youngest baby happily feeding at her breast.
“He was born to be a dad,” Sunday said with a soft smile.
Dahlia’s other two sons raced toward Kingston, shouting that they wanted to play too.
“I swear they’re growing like weeds,” I said with a slight shake of my head. Her oldest was the same technical age as mine, and her middle son was only a year or two younger, but both boys already looked closer to eight-and nine-year-olds.
Dahlia chuckled. “It’s all the realm hopping. Time moves faster in Faerie and Novasgard. We’ve decided that until they’re all fully grown, none of them gets to go without the other. It’s too confusing otherwise.”
Hades appeared from around the corner, handing Dahlia a big glass of lemonade. “Here you go, babydoll. You need anything else?”
“No, I’m good. But I think Kingston might need some help.”
“I thought Cas was playing with them.”
I laughed and pointed at the pirate who was in an inflatable boat with my son, Grayson, and Sunday’s youngest little girl. She was all of two years old but already feistier than her brother and sister combined.
“Fastew!” she shouted.
“Avast, me hearties! Yo ho!” Cas crowed, using some of his power to create a fake breeze and make the little one believe they were speeding along.
We all laughed as the kids played together.
“This was a great idea,” I said, looking around at the beautiful resort Lucifer had created for us based on one of his favorites on Maui.
“I know, right?” he said, swanning over as if I’d summoned him. Unlike Grim, who looked so uncomfortably out of place in the sunshine, Lucifer was my golden god. His blond hair wasnearly bleached white, and he rocked that Speedo like he’d been painted into it.
“What’s that in your hand, you handsome devil?” I teased, knowing he’d brought me a lava flow.
“You looked a little parched. Have you been careful with your suncream?”
“Yes, Dad,” I teased.
“I’m pretty sure I told you to call me Daddy.”
Moira made a gagging noise. “I thought we all agreed, no more daddy talk now that you’re all dads for real.”
“Pretty sure you’re the only one who agreed to that, babe,” Sunday said, blowing her bestie a kiss.
Sudden splashing had all of us turning back toward the pool and Caspian.
“What foul creature is this?” he cried, pointing at an obscenely large inflatable crocodile. From my seat, I could just make out the Nordson twins pushing it along under the water.
