I am happy to have someone to share this with.
I am glad they are here.
“You okay?” Dante asks as he drives us back home.
“Yesss.” I wet my lips and tap my tail against my thigh. “Can you teeeech me how to kneeet?”
He furrows his brow and then gasps. “Knit? Of course. I mean, my mom can! Why? Do you want to make your brothers something?”
I nod and add, “Socks.”
“Oh my god. Yes. She would love that. I’ll text her right now.” He places his knee under the steering wheel and uses that to maneuver the car through traffic, his fingers flying over the phone screen. When he’s done, he grabs back onto the wheel and beams.
“She’s going to come over tonight, I bet. She’s going to be so fucking happy.”
I hope so. I wish to make her as happy as she and her family have made me.
Especially the one she birthed.
He has made me the happiest of all.
My only regret is not having Zynath and Alvayn here with me as the small apartment fills up with people. Dante’s family is big, and they are loud, but they are full of what humans call love. A sensation I am only just starting to understand, though I believe I have felt it for some time now.
But I know this would overwhelm them. Quilliyn has asked me to come by the gym tomorrow so we can discuss the portal key, and he promised he would ensure my brothers would have plenty of cum, nutrition, and rest so they may heal and adjust.
It comforts me now as I greet Dante’s mother, who has learned the Vyastil way. She is very small but stretches high on her feet in an attempt to press her forehead to mine.
When I greet her this way, she laughs and pats my cheek with a thin, soft hand. “Amore. You look better.”
I have not seen her for some time, and when she was here last, I was still consuming the white liquid from Dante’s nonna. I nod and greet the wise female before they are swept into the kitchen by Gia and Amara, and Dante curls an arm around my waist.
“I love that you love them,” he murmurs.
“Yes.” I press my nose to his temple and breathe deeply, taking in his scent. I wish to tell him what he means to me, but it must wait. There is too much we must do, and I fear it would make us both lose focus.
There’s another knock, and Dante answers, smiling when Everest and Rathyn appear. Luca’s close behind them, looking as tired as he did before, and more worried.
I do not understand why, but he greets me with a smile and a nod before walking into the kitchen and yanking the glass of wine from Gia that she was drinking from.
On Erethar, that would be just cause to lose an appendage, but Gia simply shouts in outrage though it does not stop Luca from consuming her red liquid.
“So, Cielo,” Dante’s mother says to me. I turn to look at her. “You wish to learn to knit?”
I very much love the way she speaks. Her accent is different from Dante’s, but very comforting. I nod my fist. Signing with her is easier. ‘Yes, thank you. I want to make my brothers socks.’
She grins and beckons me to follow her to the sofa. It is comfortable sitting beside her. It makes me feel like a youngling for a moment—my head still so empty, waiting to be filled with information and skill.
I watch with narrowed eyes as she shows me how to what she calls, “cast on,” and then she twists the needles in between the little lumps in the thread.
“You have a different shape to your feet. It took me a little while to get the pattern right, but I wrote it all down.” She sets the paper on the table. I will study it eventually. For now, I am content to watch her as she goes. “These will be for Rathyn.”
He is leaning against the wall with one shoulder, arms folded, his tail wrapped around Everest’s thigh. He was looking disinterested, but now he perks up and leans over toward her.
“I like orange,” he says.
“Ah, yes, cucciolo. I have several different shades of orange, just as you requested.” She opens her floral bag to show him, and he gives a low, happy trill.
“I will wear them often.”
