Eskin chuckled.“Well, it wasn’t appropriate to express it back then, but I have been fascinated by you since you first taught that course on battlefield triage.”
“I think I called you an immature dumbass.”
He chuckled.“Like I said, fascinating.”
“So why are you here now?I am guessing you are still working in the capitol.”
“I am.The program and the academy trade specialists all the time.Aksalla has been trying to lure me over here for years.”He stepped closer to her.“I am highly desirable.”
She looked up at him and cocked her head.“Interesting.”
His cheeks bronzed.“I mean, as an instructor.”
“Uh-huh.My eight-year-old is standing right behind you.You may want to watch how deep you dig this hole.”
He turned warily and looked at Ithal.He went down on one knee in front of her son.
“Ithal, do you object to my courtship of your mother?”
Ithal smiled.“No.I think you should.I will call you Silver Storm when you are dressed all shiny and Uncle Eskin when you are in street clothes.”
She smiled at the surety of her son’s voice.
Eskin nodded.“Can we go for a walk and discuss what you think your mom would like for a date?”
“Yes.Mom, can you see if sis has any dessert in the freezer?”
Alody started laughing and said, “Yes, my treasure.Go and negotiate for my time.You know your schedule better than I do.”
Ithal nodded and gestured for Eskin to come with him, like a tiny king.He walked to the door to the back yard, and Eskin stood, bowed to her, and followed with a grin.
Alody smiled and went to tidy up the kitchen.The weirdest thing about Eskin was that she wasn’t mad about Ithal seeing them together.He looked all grown up from the front and amazing walking away.
She noticed that Jenaki didn’t come back to the main room, and she smiled.They had both been alone for a very long time.Affection had been in short supply and romance non-existent.Alody had begun embracing change when she adopted Ithal.It was time to continue the trend of embracing the new.
She was still smiling in a sparkling-clean kitchen when the guys returned, sitting and reading a book while Ithal and Eskin muttered intently.
Ithal said, “We need a notebook and a calendar, please, Mom.”
Alody smirked, found the drawer that contained the items, and held them out to Ithal.He went to the kitchen table and drew a chart with a marker in his precise movements.
Alody said, “Sweetie, what are you doing?”
“Making a chart so that Eskin knows when he can borrow you.You will have to work regular hours for this, though.I will make arrangements with Kessie and Vaken to go over to their places for sleepovers once a month.”
She raised her brows.“Borrow me?”
“Ask you to go to nice places for dinner and stuff.Other stuff I don’t want to know about.”
Alody covered her mouth.“Why do you say that?”
“That’s what Vaken says about his aunt and her partners.Stuff he doesn’t want to know about.Like cuddling and kissing and stuff.”
Eskin smiled.“That kind of stuff.”
He kept his gaze locked with hers as Ithal made the availability chart.
“It’s quite the commute.”
