Page 29 of Triplets for the Dark Elf

After playing with the other two for a while, Miothro comes up to Hazel, points at the spot next to her, and asks, “Can I sit here?”

She looks at the spot and then at him and gives him a nod. Miothro sits next to her, but unlike most people, he doesn’t try to push her or ask her questions. He sits with her quietly, and I wonder if he knows that’s the way to Hazel’s heart. Just to be there and give her peace.

By the time the sun is dipping low, the kids are tired and cranky. We should have left earlier, really, but I wanted to give them as much time together as possible.

As they tell Miothro bye, I can feel the question coming on, so it doesn’t surprise me when he turns to me. “I want to see them more. They are my kids, too.”

And despite all the reasons I have to say no, I nod. “Okay.”

I can’t keep them apart anymore.

And in truth, I don’t want to.

16

MIOTHRO

Four.

Four years ago I met Annalise in a club near my shop and it changed my entire life. I’ve relived that night so many times that I feel like I see it every time I close my eyes. I remember how it felt when our eyes locked and I just knew that I needed to meet her, get to know her.

And once I did, I was so fucked.

Annalise was a dancer at a club that my business associates frequented, and though it wasn’t my first time there, it was the first time I saw her. She was dazzling, her eyes bright and her hair shining under the lights. Her skin was sparkling, but I remember thinking that wasn’t the most radiant part of her.

I could see from her smile and the kindness in her expression just how bright her soul truly shone.

So when some chivdouyu whispered in her ear and she went to get her master, I snapped. Should a k’sheng overstep when it comes to the caste above him even when he has no money? Society says no. But in a bidding war, I won, caste or not, and Annalise came home with me that night.

“What do you want me to do?” she had asked, and I turned to take in her small frame as I guided her back to my shop. She was trembling in the night air and I was cursing myself for not having a coat to wrap around her.

Giving her a grin, I teased, “What do you want to do, little lumiola?”

Her eyes widened and she cocked her head. “Whatever you want, of course.” Then her eyes cast down to her skin. “Do you call me that because of the glitter?”

I stopped just in front of my shop, pinching her chin between my fingers as I lifted her face to look at me. “No, I call you that because you are a light in the dark. Much like the lumiolas are a dancing spot of brightness at sunset, you shone brightly in that club. And not because of your skin. Because of your smile and your eyes and yoursoul.”

And then I turned to unlock the door. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so forward with her, but I could see just how the world had beaten her up. Maybe I wanted her to feel as lovely as I believed her to be.

Once inside my shop, she stared at me obediently, clearly expecting me to strip her. Instead, I lifted her, placing her on the counter, and she didn’t speak until I placed food in her hands.

“What are you–”

“Eat,” I told her, and there was no hesitancy in her bites. She was so frail that I couldn’t stomach it, so I fed her until she insisted she could eat no more. Then I sent her home to get proper rest even if I did want to take her home. Just to talk and hold her.

I’d never felt that before, that innate need to take care of her. But it’s what drove me to buy her contract the next day and to give her a job and a new home. Since I met Annalise, I was determined to protect her.

And now, I have so much more to protect.

Twenty-four.

It’s hard to believe that I learned I was a father twenty-four days ago. I’ve wanted it for three years now. Desperately, I watched Imris with his family, and it’s not that I don’t love Osella and Dovrec.

In fact, I love the twins like my own. I love throwing Dovrec in the air and chasing Osella around. I love rolling in the grass and laughing until we are all gasping for air. And maybe I haven’t done that with them enough because it is a double-edged sword.

Because every time I left them, I was stuck with this longing. This need for my own kids.

I believe some people are born to be parents, and I have this need to provide and protect. To care for others. I think I’ve always known that ultimately, I was made to be a father.