She hums, letting her head flop dramatically against my chest. “I know. I’m excellent.”
I chuckle. “Modest, too.”
“I get that from Mata.”
We sit there for a long minute, just breathing. Her tendrils twitch faintly against my side, unconsciously syncing with mine. It’s the sort of instinctive closeness I thought I’d miss forever when Shahar and I separated. But Solvi, for all her precocious commentary and absurdly high emotional IQ, is still just a kid. She still wants to curl up next to me and be held.
“If you don’t like Lyn,” I say suddenly. “If there’s ever anyone in my life you don’t like…you can tell me. You know that, right?”
“But I do like Lyn,” Solvi says. “She talks to me like I’m a person.”
“I would hope most people talk to you like you’re a person, given that you are one.”
“Wulfric doesn’t.”
I look over at her and she slaps a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.
“Don’t tell Mata,” she breathes behind her fingers.
I frown, suddenly terrified that I’m not the one who’s brought someone dangerous into Solvi’s life. “Is Wulfric…has he said or done something to hurt you?”
“No, no.” She shakes her head vigorously. “Wulfric just acts like I have to be protected all the time and it’sreeeeallyannoying.”
I nod slowly. “I understand. He’s...overzealous.”
“I’m not saying I don’t like him,” she adds. “I just think he’s not as cool as Mata thinks he is.”
“Well, that makes two of us,” I mutter.
Solvi perks up. “You don’t like him either?”
“I tolerate him.”
“You think Lyn’s cooler?”
“Infinitely.”
“Good.” She nestles in closer. “I want you to have someone cool.”
“I want that for you, too,” I murmur. “One day.”
A few heartbeats pass in silence. Then?—
“Is Lyn gonna be my stepmom?”
I almost choke on my own tongue.
“That isnot—that’s not a title I think she’d like.”
“But is she?”
I sigh, rubbing my eyes. “She is someone I care about. Deeply. Someone I want to keep in our lives.”
Solvi considers that. “Okay,” she says at last. “But I’m still gonna make her prove she’s cool.”
“That seems fair.”
“And if she’s not…you’re dumping her, right?”
