Page 57 of Triplets for the Dark Elf

Ikiss all three of our sleeping babies that had finally crashed on the couch goodbye and wrap Charmaine into a tight hug.

“Have fun,” she whispers in my ear, amusement tickling her tone.

I can’t help but laugh. “Oh, I will.” When we part, I give her a soft smile. “Thank you for taking them for the night.”

“Of course. Your family now. We’re here whenever you need, okay?”

Gods, I love this family. They really are so special and not like any other k’sheng family that I’ve ever met.

I feel a pair of arms wrapping around me from behind and lean back until I feel a strong chest against my back. My body automatically relaxes into the comforting hold.

“Ready to go?” Miothro murmurs into my ear, kissing the spot right behind it.

I shiver slightly at his touch. “Yes.”

He presses another kiss to the side of my head before lifting his own, nodding at Charmaine. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

Her eyes twinkle with amusement. “Don’t rush yourselves. Sleep in. We’ll keep them all entertained until you guys come back.”

“Thank you.”

Her smile widens. “Of course.”

Miothro pulls me back with an arm around my waist, guiding me out the front door and onto the quiet night streets.

The ceremony had been wonderful and everything that I could’ve ever imagined it to be. I’d been nervous having all that attention focused on me—not that there were many people that had been invited—but the moment I saw the love flowing from Miothro’s eyes as he stared at me, I could feel everything else melting away.

I’m so lucky. I really don’t know what I did to deserve this man or our babies or the family that decided to invite me in with open arms, but I’ll never take it for granted.

When we get back to the shopping district, Miothro sweeps me up off of my feet and into his arms, a surprised laugh leaving me. “What are you doing?”

“I have a surprise.”

My arms come up to wrap around his neck. “You do? There’s more?”

“Oh yes.”

I can’t imagine what else left he has to surprise me with. I’ve got everything I need already, so what more is there that he can spoil me with?

It isn’t until we head down an unfamiliar street with houses lined on either side that are far larger than I’m used to seeing that it suddenly clicks.

I gasp. “You actually got it?”

He grins at me. “I did. The paperwork was sent over early this morning.”

“By the Mother! Miothro!”

He spins me once before cutting down to a house towards the middle of the street with a large yard and a small fence outside of it. He sets me down briefly to retrieve a pair of keys out of his pocket to unlock the fence and push it open before he’s sweeping me up in his arms again and bringing me up to the front porch.

The house is beautiful and much bigger than the penthouse we’ve been living in over the past few weeks. So far, the cramped space hasn’t been too bothersome, but it had become very apparent that once the triplets were going to be getting bigger soon, that we would need some extra space.

We’d been toying with the idea of moving out of the loft instead of expanding on it and making the upstairs penthouse some kind of rented space for artisans to come and guest spot at the shop in order to sell their handmade items for a rental price. It had been Miothro’s brilliant idea to suggest renting out the space and mine to bring in other artists.

While his shop was mostly filled with the essentials needed to create things, it also had the same sort of environment that I knew could breed creativity if harnessed correctly.

Upon opening the door to our new house, I breathed in the scent of freshly polished wood and listened to the sound of Miothro’s footsteps echoing along the empty foyer. I couldn’t help picturing all of the memories we were going to make with the triplets here. To listen to them running around and playing, or arguing over something silly like whose turn it was to cook dinner. All of these wonderful pieces of our lives would be created here in this very space.

He sets me down gently and pushes the door closed behind us. As I walk further into the house, I notice that it’s been lightly furnished.