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“Do you understand, Brady?” Lachesis asked softly.
I nodded, the goddess smiling happily as she returned to her weaving. “Good. Then go and live the happy life I have woven for you. We shall call on you when we have need of your voice again.”
Their field disappeared into another blinding light, the void swallowing me back up before spitting me back into the dimly lit library once again.
Cries came from the monitor at the desk, my head jerking towards the sound as I watched Aurora fuss in her crib before Madie rolled from our bed and comforted the child in a voice filled with exhaustion.
I found myself filled with guilt as I watched my mate care for our child alone. Just as she had been doing for countless nights now as I obsessed over a mystery I now knew I would never solve. Not because the answers weren’t out there, but because it was not my mystery to uncover.
I grabbed the monitor and turned away from the desk filled with my research. I left everything behind as I raced from the library and down the hall to my room.
As I burst through the door, I winced to find Madie jumping with surprise at my appearance. Aurora nestled in her arms, feeding as Madie’s surprised expression melted back to one of exhaustion.
“Is everything okay?” she asked with a yawn.
I nodded and walked over to her to sit and watch my daughter. “Yes, everything is just fine. Does she need changing?”
Madie pursed her lips and sniffed towards our daughter before nodding. “Yes, but I’ll do it after she’s done eating.”
“No,” I shook my head. “I’ll do it. You get some rest. It’s my turn to take care of her.”
Madie smiled and tilted her head. “Are you done with your research? I wasn’t expecting you to come to bed for another hour or two.”
She gently unlatched our daughter from her breast before handing the sleeping child over to me. I held our daughter close to my chest and admired the peaceful smile on her little face.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m done.”
I felt the finality of the statement deep within me. The Fates’ lesson remained stark in my mind.
Madie smiled as I stood and walked to the changing table with our daughter. I could hear the mattress shift as she crawled back into bed and settled beneath the covers to return to sleep.
As I glanced back at her, I couldn’t help but smile when I noticed her watching me intently. “Get some rest, Tinkerbell. Tomorrow we are going home.”
“Home?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, there isn’t anything more I need in the library here. It’s time we kept our residence in the coven house.”
“Are you sure?”
I smiled, turning to look at Aurora as she cooed up at me while I changed her diaper. “Yeah. It’s for the best. This isn’t our home anymore. The packhouse should only be for special occasions and pack events that you can’t miss. Aurora needs to be in the Coven House. After all, she’s going to run it someday.”
“I guess you have a point,” Madie yawned. “I’m happy, actually. We finally get to use that nursery your mom made for Rory.”
I smiled and nodded as I picked up Aurora. It didn’t take long for Madie to drift back into sleep, though Aurora showed no signs of returning to her own rest. Making my way to the rocking chair that Mom had brought in for Madie to rock our daughter, I settled into its comforting embrace and began rocking.
“Your mommy doesn’t know it, Rory, but you are going to be a big sister. Now, I don’t know much about being the oldest, but I can tell you what it’s like to have a good big sister. It’s like having a forever best friend. Someone who will always look out for you no matter what. So, I hope that you take that job seriously. Because it will reward you with a loyal younger sibling who will always have your back in return. Just ask Auntie Lib. I’ve saved her butt plenty of times.”
Aurora cooed back at me, her blue eyes bright even in the dimly lit bedroom. Her tiny hands wrapped around my finger tightly and I felt a pull at my heart as I watched her stare back at me with more love than I’d ever felt anyone fill towards me in all my life.
The guilt I felt in the library returned as I watched my daughter, and I wondered just how many of these looks I had missed with my nose in a book instead of staring back at her. How many milestones in her life would I have lost out on had The Fates not pulled me to my senses?
I hugged her close to me and fought back the tears of regret and grief at the moments and times I had lost out with my daughter in her first months of life.
“I promise,” I whispered to her, her tiny hands pulling at my hair and patting against my cheek. “I promise that I’ll be a better father to you and your sibling. I won’t miss any more moments with you, Rory. You will know the joys of a present father, just as I had. I’m so sorry that it took me even this long to realize what I was missing out on.”
As my tears streamed down my cheeks, I hastily brushed them away, careful not to let a single one land on my daughter. She smiled up at me, then let out a yawn as her eyes slowly began to drift with each rock of the chair. I continued to rock well past the moment that sleep took her back to her dreamworld. All I wanted to do in that moment was capture every moment I had with her. I didn’t want to miss a single breath that she took.
As I rocked her, I sent up a silent prayer of thanks to The Fates. If not for them, I wouldn’t have this moment now.
