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I catch her around the waist.

“Careful, little flower. I am still capable of summoning thunder.”

She slides her arms around my neck.

“And yet you spent twenty minutes negotiating a peace treaty with ants.”

“They were formidable opponents.”

She laughs.

I kiss her.

Five years together, and this woman still makes me forget every thought in my head.

Including the fact that we have an audience.

“EWWWW!”

Our daughter stands beside the magnolia tree.

“Papa! Stop kissing Mama!”

“Impossible.”

“Why?!”

“Because I love her.”

She considers this, then marches over and wraps her arms around our legs.

“I love Mama too!”

I lift her into my arms.

“A wise decision.”

That evening, I sit beneath the stars, rocking our sleeping daughter against my chest.

Wren joins us, wearing a pale pink nightdress that immediately captures my attention.

She kisses my cheek.

“Look at you. The terrifying God of Wrath.”

I smile.

“I remain terrifying.”

“Of course you do.”

She settles into my lap.

I wrap my arms around both of them.

Our daughter sighs in her sleep, her tiny fingers curling around my shirt.

For three thousand years, I believed vengeance was the only thing worth living for.