Tobin laughed at that. “I better get back down there and save the little godlings from Fray,” he said, then slipped back into the water.
“Godlings,” Sawyer said. “Oh my god, Ciar. Is that not the best word ever?”
He nodded. “I got so emotional down there,” he admitted quietly. “I wished you were with me, so bad.”
Sawyer sighed and cupped Ciaran’s cheek before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “We’ll be okay,” he said. He tried to brighten up, smiling. “Tell me about them. They’ve grown so much!”
“Crazy fast,” Ciaran said. “They’ll be morphing into humans soon, I bet. It usually takes a little while, but they’re already talking. That’s fast for our kind.”
“Salem’s genes, so...”
Ciaran nodded. “I bet Áine and Ukko can morph into cats. Ukko definitely. He’s a Mimic, for sure.”
“He sneezed himself into a sea urchin, Ciaran,” Sawyer said, eyes welling with tears. “A sea urchin!”
Ciaran let out a teary laugh. “So freaking cute. And everyone’s just... happy. Everyone, the whole consortium, is just... happy.”
Sawyer looked up at him, his ice-blue eyes soft and warm. “You mean family. Your whole family is happy.”
Ciaran nodded, blinking back more tears. “Family.”
Chapter
Twenty
AURIN
Watchingtheir babies grow and learn struck Aurin with wonder. Every milestone, every discovery, every laugh, every tear, everyfirst. It was all so much better than he could have imagined.
Like the first time they’d morphed into kittens. Or into humans. Toddlers, as it were. It was not their favourite form. They’d decided as a collective that human forms were hard. They had less coordination, less freedom of movement, less freedom of communication, and zero ability to breathe underwater. Their human bodies were heavy, less agile, and a scraped knee or grazed palm was common.
They were learning, though. And it was in human form that they had the mosthumanlessons because freeform and kitten form was so much easier.
And the whole consortium had taken it upon themselves to be the best teachers ever.
Watching their four children interact with their aunt and uncles was truly the best part of Aurin and Salem’s day.
Kellan was wonderful in the classroom. The time they spent in their new little classroom was amongst the kids’ favourite human activities. They loved learning how to write, how tocount, and how to draw shapes and name colours. Dylan would help with the arts and crafts, and Hendrix would break up the bickering, usually between Llyr and Nyx over a pencil or a ball. Or in the water, over a shell or a clam.
Hudson took them on kitten excursions to the vegetable garden, and Beau made them wooden puzzles and toys. Sawyer would read them stories with such enthusiasm, and they adored every book. Otis and Pania taught them in freeform, how to open shells and how to safely move rocks on the seafloor.
And Fray...
Well, Aurin couldn’t in good faith call what Fray did “teaching.”
He’d taken the four kids into the water, and Aurin couldn’t hear what Fray was saying, but he was making funny faces and puffing his cheeks out, being the typical funny guy he was. Only when Llyr puffed his cheeks out, it made bubbles come out of his butt. The other three giggled and tried to fart bubbles, and Fray laughed and laughed and laughed....
Fray wasn’t allowed to babysit after that. Not without Tobin’s supervision, at least.
Fray was also the reason there was now a community swear jar and why Salem and Aurin had to tell the kids there were certain words only grownups were allowed to say.
But Fray did help Ukko understand his electrical pulses, so he was mostly forgiven.
And oh, how they all loved him.
They loved Ciaran too. Theyadoredhim. Something Salem couldn’t quite understand, but Aurin understood it perfectly. He had that hard exterior but was totally soft for them, and they knew it. They’d climb all over him, in human form and in cephamorph, and he’d pretend to be mad but was secretly loving every minute, and then he’d tickle them and they’d squeal in delight and laugh. They brought out a much softer side ofCiaran, and it made Salem almost forgive Ciaran for putting Salem out in the rain that one time....
The one thing Aurin was sure of, was that their four babies were most certainly loved.
