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She turned her face into my hand and kissed me. “We’ll do it together.”
I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. “Always.”
I claimed her mouth, and water sloshed out of the tub as Diego moved to entangle himself with her as well. By the time we were done and satisfied after enjoying Astrid, and she us, most of this water would be on the floor.
Epilogue
Astrid
My discarded utensilclattered in the sink. I swayed along to the music playing from the speaker on the kitchen island. Xavier cooked something elaborate, refusing to tell anyone what he was up to. It wasn’t time for dinner yet, and it was obvious the portion size wasn’t for the whole house.
The front door opened, and Angel charged into the house. Dad walked in after her with a grocery bag in one hand, a redheaded baby strapped to his chest, and a dark-haired one snugly secured on his back. I squealed and ran over to him, taking the shopping bag before he could offer it, and ran back into the kitchen.
“Thanks, Dad, I really appreciate you stopping at the store to grab baking supplies I didn’t check to make sure I had before I started baking,” my dad said in a mocking voice that was supposed to be mine.
Xavier laughed; I rolled my eyes. “Sounds like Grandpa doesn’t want a cookie pie all to himself as a thank you.”
“No, I never said that!”
I chuckled and pulled out the bag of flour and sugar. I may not be the best cook, but I sure could bake. And Dad especially loved my cookie pies.
Dad sat at the island and perused through a pile of photos I’d taken him away from for my baking quest. They were from the solo trip back up to Canada he’d taken a few weeks ago. I’d wanted to go with him so I could see Arran and Hurrit, but my schedule didn’t work out this time, especially with us planning a trip in a few weeks for our daughter-father hunting trip.
Dad cooed at his precious cargo between photograph flips. It brought a smile to my face.
The babies, Birdie and Bard, as they were affectionately called by everyone, were Magnus’veryspecial twins. The nicknames had started out as a jest from Dahlia, due to their respective fathers, and then, much to Magnus’s dismay, caught on with everyone else, so they ended up sticking. I couldn’t even recall their actual names at this point. Luckily, Magnus was a good sport, and it didn’t harm the relationship she’d been building with us.
Magnus happily used that relationship for her babysitting needs whenever she and her partners needed a break. And Dad was all too keen to take them in as his grandkids, just like I thought he would. Same with taking anyone else in as family if they wanted. It was creating quite the dynamic in this house, on top of the changes around here.
More and more supernaturals, immortals, and even mortals who knew of the supernatural world showed up in town looking for a place of sanctuary. It was a strange thing to witness over these past months, especially with how well the mortal people of the town had adjusted to the new reality.
We also had more residents, some staying on the property, others preferring to stay in town but needing the therapy Diego and I offered. We were at a point where I was worried we’d need more help, but I had no resources to source therapists with knowledge of supernatural existence.I should talk to Dahlia and Aya about it. Maybe between a cyberwarfare goddess of war and a dragon with super-soldier-hacker training, they can find someone.
Aya breezed into the room and immediately went to playing with Bard. He giggled and babbled. The sight of them both with these babies was just too adorable.Careful, Astrid, we don’t want to be picturing things happening between her and Dad.That was the last thing I wanted to think about.
“How’s that search going?” Dad asked her.
“We’re getting close to finding a location,” Aya said, between croons at Bard. “Dahlia did another tweak to her program, and it’s actually getting a few blips for us to analyze.”
Dad nodded. “Good. I’ll infiltrate any location we need, no matter how small a lead.”
After I’d told Dad and Aya what Ingrid had said about the magic blockers, they’d jumped right into researching what she’d done to me, and the risk these posed for everyone should they try to spread its reach. I had no doubt they already had, long before she revealed the truth to me. They’d have wanted all kinds of test subjects, and if you’re going to follow a goddess of chaos, one good way to cause it was to kill the magic in the magical community.
Between Dahlia’s and Magnus’ hacker skills, Aya’s cyberwarfare prowess, and Dad’s resources and experience, they made for an awesome team. I knew they’d get to the source soon enough.
Tyr entered the room while I was in the middle of mixing my dry ingredients. He walked past and slapped my ass; I gasped. He chuckled while smirking before taking Birdie from my dad. He lifted her high in the air. She kicked her little feet and arms, smiling down at him as he spoke softly and lifted her up and down as if he were bench pressing the infant.
Seeing him be so gentle and caring with these two babies when Magnus brought them over, did something intense to my ovaries. I swallowed.Simmer down, hormones. Not now. We’ve got plenty of time.
Dad turned to me, a wicked grin on his lips. “Ace, when are you going to finally give me grandbabies?”
“Oh, for the love of—” I threw my hands into the air and the others laughed. “Really? You have two right here. That’s supposed to distract you for a bit.”
My dad continued to grin. “Yes, I have two, but what about another?”
I sighed and rolled my eyes.
“You’ve got two boyfriends, Ace. Wouldn’t be too hard.” Dad turned to Tyr. “Ain’t that right?”
