Page 16 of Broken Chorus

Roar your last and sleep awhile,

Rest peacefully you precious child.

He hummed the tune, then sang it again, adding another verse.

Little princess of the clouds

Where thunder rumbles high and loud

The storm around you is filled with rage

The earth below an unruly cage

Is that why you refuse to sleep

Or sink beneath the blankets, deep

On this night of endless rains

I’ll sing to you to ease your pain

At least he had her attention now. Her little fingers were tangled in his hair, while her face pressed his damp t-shirt to the sticky skin beneath. Tears, snot, he didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about what was soaking him or he’d probably cringe and beg for a wet wipe. He could deal with it later, once she was completely down for the count.

Aaron rocked, he sang, he paced in front of the window, rubbed her back and felt the little one getting limper and limper in his arms. Dani’s soft snores were such a huge contrast to her angry screeching that it was like she was a completely different child. Maybe they were all different people when they slept, better, or at least, at peace with themselves and the world.

“Come on, you can put her in her bed,” Hawk whispered.

He’d silently moved in and out of the room while Aaron had been singing to Dani, toys and laundry in his arms, clean pieces fresh from the dryer that he’d sat folding while Dani had finally settled down. Now, Hawk led him down the front hall to Dani’s lavender room and the railed bed lined with squishy pillowlike toys. Aaron laid her down, still humming the song, but it was Hawk who tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead, and madesure Mr. Whiskers was placed securely beside her, pinned in place by her arm.

They backed out of the room as silently as they could manage, the nightlight casting silver moons and stars on the ceilings and walls. Neither made a sound until they were back in the living room, collapsing side by side on the couch with heavy sighs.

“Holy shit, and I thought performing in front of sixty thousand people was difficult,” Aaron murmured, chuckling a little as he turned his head to stare at Hawk. Even ruffled and food covered, he was gorgeous. When those brilliant blue eyes met his, it was all Aaron could do to remember how to breathe.

“It is. This is just a whole other level of hard,” Hawk admitted, reaching to touch Aaron’s cheek.

“You can say that again,” Aaron said, nuzzling into that gentle caress. “I envy you though.”

Snorting, Hawk dropped his hand back into his lap and shook his head. “I highly doubt that.”

“Then you’re not listening.”

In the silence that followed, Aaron continued to study Hawk, noting the wariness on his face and the tiny lines at the corners of his eyes that hadn’t been there the last time they’d been together. There was a dark hue beneath them too, like the man wasn’t getting nearly enough sleep, which, when Aaron tried to imagine all he did from sunrise to sunset, taking care of the cabin and the kids, he was certain he’d be exhausted too.

“You’re serious right now,” Hawk remarked, breaking eye contact with him.

“Yeah. I am.”

“Alright, what the hell is going on with you!”

Hawk snapping at him made him flinch and wonder what the hell he’d done to shift the mood. “Why does something have to be going on for me to wish I had a life like yours?” Aaron asked,hand hovering in the space between them, wanting to touch, but not sure Hawk would welcome it.

“Our lives were exactly the same, up until a couple months ago.”

“They were never the same,” Aaron insisted. “You always had a closeness with your brother that I envied. You’ve been part of normal family things. Birthdays and holidays and seeing the kids grow up.”

“You were always welcome to join me.”

“I know. And the times I took you up on it were amazing, I just, always felt like I was intruding.”

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