“He has a good reputation,” Braden replied. “I’ve never heard anything bad about him in conjunction with his job. He seems fond of Sami, too. I’m not sure how his relationship is with Zoe, but even if they hate each other, they make it work.”
I thought back to the interaction I’d witnessed the night before. “They don’t hate each other.” I was certain of that. “They respect each other. They love one another. They simply won’t kowtow to one another.
“I think James has that shifter mentality where men are supposed to be strong and take care of the women,” I continued. “He probably doesn’t understand how Aric can sit back and let Zoe put on a magical display the way she does. I mean, he was the one to stay back with Sami last night, and Zoe raced off to be involved in the final battle.”
“I noticed that.” He combed his fingers through my hair. “You raced off to the final battle, too, though.”
“Yeah, but that’s my first instinct. Your first instinct is to be in the thick of things, too. I would guess that’s Aric’s instinct but Sami takes priority. Given how strong she is, that means the traditional gender roles in their house often get blurred. Aric had to protect Sami, so he did. Zoe had to make sure the threat was eradicated, so she did. Children change everything.”
Braden pursed his lips, considering. “You’re right, of course. Aisling used to be in the middle of trouble at every turn but she’s taken a step back since having Lily.”
“Your sister was involved in a huge fight when she went into labor and got sucked through the gate not long after giving birth,” I pointed out. “She’s hardly sitting on the sidelines.”
“No, but she would’ve inserted herself into the fight further last night if it weren’t for Lily. You’re right about children changing things.” He angled his chin so he could slide in close and give me a soft kiss. “Do you ever think about it? Kids, I mean. Do you want to have children one day?”
It seemed like a serious conversation for so early in the morning, but I understood why he was asking. We’d intertwined our lives to the point of no return. If we didn’t want the same things, it would be painful moving forward.
“I wouldn’t mind a kid or two,” I said. “I don’t want them now or anything, and I can’t see having an entire brood like your family, but one or two would be nice ... after.”
He held my gaze. “After you find answers on your parents?”
I nodded. “After the revenants are gone and we can slip into some semblance of a normal life. I don’t want to bring children into a world where there’s constant fear.”
“I can see that.” He snuggled me close. “I think one or two kids is a good idea. Before Lily came into our lives, I thought I might want five or six. That was a fluffy dream, though. The reality is, we have one baby in this family and it takes all of us to keep her changed, bathed, fed, and happy. There’s no way we could do that with six kids.”
“Not and have time for each other,” I agreed.
“And I’m going to want to spend oodles of time with you.”
“Oodles?”
“Oodles,” he confirmed, tickling my ribs and making me gasp. “In fact, I might want to spend a little time with you right now. How do you feel about that?”
“I think that can be arranged.” I laughed, breathless, as he rolled me so he could land on top. “I need a good jolt to wake me up anyway.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. A little bit of time for us before we greet the day and have to start thinking about the trouble at hand.”
“Just you and me before the waffles,” I suggested.
He lowered his mouth to mine. “You read my mind.”
Twenty-Six
I had to stop back in at the gate. I’d been lax in my duties, which made me feel guilty. Oliver was used to me taking off, but Paris had to pick up some of the slack, which didn’t seem fair since Zoe was her best friend.
The mage went with me, asking for a tour of the island when we landed. I gladly took her around, pointing out all the hotspots. When we arrived at the conservatory, I asked if she wanted to go inside. She declined, especially when it became obvious that Collin and Claire were screaming at one another on the side patio.
“I don’t think your plan worked,” I noted as I watched the merrow jab fingers and glare. “They’re not meant to be together.”
“It wasn’t technically a plan,” she countered. “It was an experiment. I’ve always been interested in the relationships of others.”
“Oh, yeah?” I was amused despite myself. “Does that include your friends?”
“You mean Paris?” Her smirk was sly. “She’s always had absolutely tragic taste in men. I don’t know how to explain it. In college, she dated this guy. Mark.” Her expression darkened at the memory. “He caused us a lot of trouble. Then, years later, she was dating a cult leader when she popped back into our lives.”
Since she’d opened the conversational door, I opted to walk through it. “You guys seem close, although Paris mentioned that she went years without seeing you after college. How did that happen?”
She hesitated and then shrugged. “It was my fault. Er, well, I guess nobody was truly at fault. It was more that we wanted peace. I mean, after college, all Aric and I wanted was to be able to build a life together. We lived together in an apartment for a year and then he built
