“You want me to live with you?” they asked, and even Dex could hear the hope in their voice.
The Avia chirped nervously, his crest fluttering. “It’s not much. Just a modest two-bedroom over the Envy border, but you’re most welcome. As long as you don’t mind rooming with an old bird like me.”
A sob hiccupped in their chest, and they threw their arms around Hemersyn’s neck. “I don’t mind. I promise I won’t be a bother, and I’ll even learn how to clean the bathroom. You know, if I have to.”
Feathers puffing up, Hemersyn cooed and bundled Cya close. “You’re never a bother, my dear.”
“It won’t be but a few days until I find a place for myself.” They pulled away and wiped their nose on the back of their hand. “How do I do that, by the way? Is it difficult?”
He chuckled, gazing down at them adoringly. “You can stay with me as long as you like.”
“Oh thank gods,” they choked out between teary sobs. “I don’t want to live alone. Please don’t make me leave.”
Talons framed their wet face, and he kissed their forehead, drawing them back into his embrace. “Never. You have a home with me as long as you want it.”
“I love you,” they confessed into his plumage, and Hemersyn’s eyes glossed over.
“You are the joy of my heart,” he whispered, and Cya burst into fresh tears.
As she dabbed at her eyes, Dex’s mom sent him a watery smile, and, eyes burning with his own tears, he scrambled around the coffee table, dropped to his knees beside her chair, and buried his face in her stomach, arms squeezing her tight.
“I love you, Mom,” he croaked, and she folded herself over him, covering his head with kisses.
“I love you too, baby, and I’m so proud of you.”
His tail thumped against the carpet, and he peeked out between his mother’s arms to meet Cya’s teary gaze. Head tucked under Hemersyn’s chin, they smiled at him. It trembled but held, and he smiled back.
Lifting a hand, Cya spelled out,“P. A. C. K.”
“Pack,”he signed the word, and Cya copied it. Dex nodded, settling more comfortably on the floor with his head in his mother’s lap as she pet him soothingly.“Yeah, this is pack.”
“Home,”they signed next.
“Yes,”he agreed again.“Home.”
Curled against Hemersyn’s chest, they sighed, and Dex inhaled their sweet relief.
“It’s good to be home,”Cya signed, and Dex couldn’t have agreed more.
Chapter thirty
No Place Like Home
Cya
“Cya,sweetheart,youhaveto stop washing your red clothes with my whites.” Standing in the doorway to Cya’s bedroom, Hemersyn held up an undershirt and what once had been a white button-up—both were pink now. “At this rate, I’ll be out of white clothing before the week is up.”
His tone was exasperated, inching toward annoyance, and Cya crossed their arms over their chest defensively. “I didn’t know they were your whites, and I was in a time-crunch.”
“Poor planning on your part does not equate an emergency on mine,” the Avia said, and their jaw dropped.
“It wasn’t poor planning!” they lied.
“You could just apologize,” Dex whispered from his spot lounging on Cya’s bed as he thumbed through his anatomy textbook.
“Just be more mindful, my dear,” Hemersyn said, and they nodded.
“Of course. Sorry.”
