Page 2 of A Crossroads Christmas

I gave a mental shrug and closed my eyes, pretending to sleep again. Gage thumped my chest with his tiny fist. Gavin tugged on my arm, sliding off the side of the bed. His foot kicked me in the nuts as I groaned.Fuck.

And then it got quiet. Neither of my boys made a sound, but I felt their presence. I didn’t have a clue what they were doing, so after a full minute, I decided to peek. One eye slowly opened, and I jolted as my twins watched me. They didn’t blink, just stared with focused, macabre expressions. And they were only about a foot away, closer than I anticipated.

Creepy as fuck.

Scythe chuckled.I love them!

Oh, I knew. His love for them rivaled mine. “Rawr!” I growled, forgetting that Nylah was still asleep as I lunged for my boys and picked them up, tucking one under each arm. They kicked and flailed, screeching as I rushed toward the door.

“Rael?”

Oops.

“Yes, my beautiful, sexy, beloved?”

“Bring my babies back for kisses.”

“Will do,” I promised as I zoomed down the stairs like a fucking badass plane, and the boys clung to my arms, squealing with delight.

We are an excellent father!

Of course.

We need to put another offspring in our female.

He needed to chill.

Nylah mentioned Scythe was persistent. My Berserker? We hadn’t heard from him in so long that I wondered if he stillshared space with me and the Reaper. Time would tell. I knew if I needed him, he’d surface.

I took the boys downstairs and gave them breakfast, leading them both into the bathroom afterward to clean up. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to place the twins on the sink in front of me, holding them in place as I stuffed a washcloth under warm water.

“No!” Gavin yelled as I brought the cloth to his face.

Gage hissed.

“Hey, you’re all sticky with syrup, and Mommy wants you clean for kisses.”

I thought that would convince them. Nope.

“I want scary face!”

“Me too!”

“Boys,” I growled, letting Scythe take over. “We are cleaning faces.”

Two adorable pouts appeared as they wiggled their bottoms but allowed me to rub the makeup and syrup from their skin. It was another small battle to change their clothes.

Ten minutes later, I hauled them upstairs so Nylah could approve. Today was her day off from the hospital, so I would take the boys to our club daycare and give her some quiet time. She worked too many long hours as a nurse even if she did drop to part time after the boys were born.

Nylah rolled over as she heard us enter the bedroom. “Good morning! Where are my kisses?”

I shot them a look to prove the cleaning up was necessary as they bounded toward the bed, tackling Nylah as she laughed. They hugged and kissed her cheeks as I hung back, watching the moment with a full heart. A few years ago, I never would have believed this future was possible. Warmth spread through my chest.

This is our forever.

“Time to go with Daddy now,” Nylah urged as Gavin and Gage slid from the bed. “Color some pretty pages for me today.”

The twins loved to color, but they often chose black. It might seem morbid to some, but with a father who was a Reaper, it wasn’t that strange. In the last few weeks, I’d seen pictures with crude scythes drawn beside black stick figures. If nothing else, my boys were inventive and fearless.

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