Page 69 of My Eternal Light

Aeson poured her a glass of sweet tea. “Go down the hall, two bedrooms on the left, two on the right, one at the end of the hall, times four. For the infants, we have two rooms set up for sleep, one for changing and clothes, and the last one for play. When they get older, we can convert them to proper rooms.”

“You guys thought of things we didn’t.”

Leon smiled. “It’s great to be around kids again.”

“We were going to buy some of the paint and personal items for the kids, but it sounds like you have the wall colors sorted,” she said, holding up the kid’s assignment sheets.

Aeson immediately plucked them from her hands and began going over the kid’s answers. She saw the moment he got to Cody’s; he melted on the spot. “We’ll take care of these,” he said, quickly.

“What do you have there, brother?” Balder asked.

Aeson straightened. “Men, we get to play The Santa Claus.”

Leon jumped up. “Seriously?”

She looked at Kincaid. “The Santa Claus?”

He grinned. “He means Santa Claus.”

“But, you already got so many things for them already,” she began.

Bastien wagged a finger at her. “Kincaid got them the boring things like books, desks and school things. We get to be Super Uncles and get them the toys and things off their little wish lists.”

“Those weren’t wish lists, they just put down their favorite colors, items and what they wanted to be when they got older,” she explained.

Aeson held up Cody’s sheet. “Cody, age five. Likes the color blue and he drew a gun.”

She sighed. “He said he wanted to be a warrior when he grew up.”

“Then we will get him training gear, in the color blue, along with lots of toys and we’ll arrange for him to start drills with House Erlondon,” he explained.

“He’s only five!”

Kincaid took her hand. “He says drills, but they basically get to play with the kids. Show them different games to strengthen their bodies, that sort of thing.”

Aeson continued to flip through the pages, as he got to the last pages he was frowning. “Did you look at these?”

She shook her head. “I was going to when we went shopping, why?”

“Nearly all of them want to be warriors,” he said.

She understood why. “Then what I’ll do is ask this House Erlondon to create and maintain their playtime. If over the years they still want to be warriors they will have the foundation they need, but if they change their minds, we can support them then.”

She took in the men’s sad expressions. “Gentlemen, they no longer want to be victims. They are craving the strength to not only look after themselves but each other. Seeing how wonderful all of you are, I can’t think of a better way for them to grow than to emulate the lot of you.”

Aeson cleared his throat, then handed her a single piece of paper. “Then this one is yours.”

She looked down and felt her breath catch. It was Aeron’s. He wanted to be a teacher, like her. “Oh,” she whispered.

“What?” Kincaid asked and she passed him the paper. He read it and smiled. “He was imitating you last night. I think he’ll make a great teacher, especially with you to guide him.”

“I have so many books I can get him,” she began excitedly, then looked around at the men smiling at her. “Okay, okay I get it. It’s a lot of fun spoiling them, isn’t it?”

Aeson stretched. “We’ll make the kid’s rooms the correct colors then we’ll head out to meet with House Erlondon and go toy shopping.”

She turned to Kincaid. “That frees us up, what did you want to do?”

“I’d like to see how the room looks without that huge bed in it, then maybe look online for some furniture we like. I have a feeling even if Declan had the time, it would be a while before we got anything. In the meantime, we’ll need something.”

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