Page 89 of My Eternal Light
Cody twisted in her arms to look up at her. “I hadta help you.”
“You did great.” He blushed when his stomach growled.
Cord appeared by the kitchen entryway. “I have food prepared for everyone.”
Cody turned to Kincaid. “Ms. Bayberry said she was making your favorites, I wanna try those.”
Kincaid brightened. “She did?” He turned to Cord. “We’ll be having dinner at home tonight.”
The squire smiled. “Should we expect you in the morning?”
He looked at his mate and they both turned to look at Meryn. Kincaid nodded. “Probably not a bad idea. I have a feeling we’ll be recapping and getting everyone up to speed.”
“Very good. Have a wonderful evening,” Cord said, gave a half bow then began to herd the warriors into the seating area for dinner.
Kincaid took his mate’s hand. “Let’s go home.”
*****
“Oh, thank the gods you’re okay!” his mother exclaimed, pulling him into her arms. “We would get updates here and there, but we mostly kept the children entertained.” She pointed to the two long tables in the dining room. “I made your favorite, Beef Burgundy.” She steered them to the table and the three of them sat down.
Cody eyed the bowl. “I like the carrots. I helped in the kitchen, and she gave one to me before it went into the pot.”
Draven leaned over. “Me too!” he ruffled Cody’s hair.
Kincaid watched them feeling proud. It couldn’t be easy sharing your parents with other kids, but it looked like his brothers and sisters simply viewed the Eirson kids as more brothers and sisters. “Not so outnumbered now, are you?” he asked Draven.
His youngest brother grinned. “Nope! There’s tons more boys now. I always have someone to play with.”
Around the table Kyrn helped his parents serve the kids, making sure everyone had a napkin and a drink. Kincaid noticed that the kids were all wearing different clothes now. “When did the clothes arrive?”
His mother broke out into a huge smile. “A wonderful woman named Baba brought everything by. She said she couldn’t help the survivors, but she could help the kids. They had an amazing afternoon picking out new clothes and then writing ‘Thank you’ cards to Baba and the warriors.”
Kincaid sat back and simply absorbed the warmth of the room. It was full of life and laughter, a stark difference to what he saw on their mission.
Zadie took his hand. “This is worth fighting for, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Every time.”
He ended up eating two full bowls of stew and only got up when the kids began yawning. He was about to help get them to bed when Kyrn shook his head. “I can handle this. I think your family should introduce yourselves to Aldrya, she’s been waiting for you.”
His mother tittered nervously. “I don’t know if it’s proper we should meet her.”
Kyrn smiled warmly down at the triplet sisters. “Nonsense. She’s been wanting to see you.” He grimaced slightly. “At least you won’t get an earful like I did.”
Kincaid turned and scooped up Ember. His father and mother both picked up his other sisters. Together they walked out back to the large garden area. Like before, the birch tree with its white bark along with the snow made everything look magical.
“Aldrya, we’re here,” he called out.
From the center of the tree the spirit appeared then glided toward them. “More babies! I will never tire of the sight of them,” she said, reaching for Ember.
He passed his sister to the smiling guardian. “Hello little one, my name is Aldrya.”
Ember reached up and touched the spirit’s white hair. “Pretty!”
Aldrya turned to his parents. “It is not an easy task to raise the children of others, especially when you have so many of your own. Why take this on?”
His mother smiled down at Enid. “How could we not?” She cuddled his sister closely. “All I can think of is, ‘what if something happened to us?’ I would want my children to be able to stay together and not be raised apart. After everything the Eirson children have been through, I believe they are owed that at the very least.”