Page 43 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

"Will you text me when you know?"

His question surprised Zephyr. "Sure." She'd take his number later. "Why do you want to know?"

"It's interesting," he told her. "Your body is like the oven. It cooks the baby, and it comes out when it's ready."

Wow. He was such an astute young man. Zephyr had zero doubts he was going to grow up into a force to be recknoned with. Good thing he was her friend now.

"I hope it's a girl."

Zephyr tilted her head at his words, her brows furrowing. "Why?"

Xander finished his juice and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand in a move that belied his age. "Aunt Amara has a tree for one of her babies that died," he told her, tapping his finger on the counter. Zephyr already knew about the tree. In fact, she'd been the one to send Amara a list of ideas when she'd talked about it.

"I know," Zephyr told him. "Why does that make you wish it's a girl?"

"So Tempest can have her sister, even if it's a cousin."

The words landed like a blow to her chest. Zephyr felt the tears fill her eyes as the thoughtfulness this child possessed,even in his logic, filled her heart. She knew he was protective of Tempest, but the fact that he wanted her to have a sister she'd lost.Damn.

"Are you crying again?" he asked, and Zephyr didn't know if she was projecting it but he sounded amused.

"No," she sniffled.

A noise left his mouth, and she realized he was chuckling next to her.

They wrapped up the breakfast in the next few minutes, and she took her phone out to feed his number, forgetting that it was dead. Groaning, she let it down on the counter. Xander picked it up, turning it around and examining it with intent. She left him to it and cleared up the plates, rinsing and washing and stacking them on the side of the sink to drain. She cleaned up the cooking area and washed the bowls and pans, all the while aware of the young boy opening the back of her phone and tinkering around with something. It took her about half an hour to restore the entire space to its former glory. She returned to the counter, where Xander now sat with her phone lit up through the cracked screen.

She picked it up in amazement. "How did you fix that?"

He shrugged, like it was no big deal. "I just checked if something had come loose in the back when it fell. I've added my number to your list. You should really add a better password than 1234."

Zephyr began to laugh, a deep belly laugh, at being chided about it. Zen had told her countless times to do that, too, and she'd never done it. Shaking her head, not brought down by her sister's memory for the first time in months, Zephyr opened her texts and sent him one.

Hi!

I'm right here. Why are you texting?

She liked this game. Chuckling, she typed again, leaning on the counter opposite the boy.

Do you have any plans for today?

No.

"What do you say about a haircut?" she asked, brushing her fingers over the hair that had fallen on his forehead.

He pulled away. "No. I want it to grow more."

"Okay, okay. What about assisting with a makeover?" she suggested; her heart felt light, lighter than it had in weeks. "Should we do it?"

Xander looked at her stomach again. "What's a makeover?"

"It's when you change something about your appearance to feel good," she explained to him.

He gave her a once-over. "Why would you change anything?" The words seemed absurd as if she were absolutely perfect as she was.

Xander had no filter, and that just made what he said even more precious to her. "Can I hug you?" she blubbered, wondering if he knew how good he was for her soul.

He nodded, and she walked around the counter, wrapping her arms tightly around him and pressing a kiss on his head. He sat still, not moving but not resisting.

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