Page 89 of A Duchess to Reclaim

“They were done anyway,” Sarah replied, her tone matter-of-fact.

“We wanted to show Brother the birds,” Lydia added.

She let go of Everett’s waist only to quickly snatch up his hand.

“Come, Uncle Everett, you must see them too,” she insisted. “They are so very lovely!”

Everett looked to Dominic with a silent plea for help, but Dominic only chuckled as he shook his head.

“They came already?” Dominic asked, looking down at Amelia.

She nodded, smiling up at him.

“We did order them a while ago, you know,” she replied, her tone teasing.

“Come, come!” Sarah urged, growing impatient.

“Must I?” Everett grumbled to Dominic as Lydia began pulling him out of the room.

“Afraid so, old boy,” Dominic muttered under his breath.

He was still getting used to having children around, and the truth was it wasn’t always easy to deal with their urgency. One thing he kept in mind, however, was just how neglectful their father had been with them. How little they’d received attention or affection once Amelia had left their home. Such knowledge had dampened his impatience quite a bit, and he found himself making leniences for their behavior every day.

With Amelia wrapped under his arm, and Lydia’s hand wrapped like a vise around Everett’s hand, Sarah lead them out of the office, through the house and toward the back patio, where the newly finished aviary stood in all its glory. He had doubted Amelia’s vision for it at first, but now that it was complete, Dominic had to admit that it truly was a beautiful addition to the grounds.

“We must be careful going in,” Sarah warned, approaching the door. “They can fly rather fast and we do not want them getting out. And do not forget the gloves. We have them hanging up just inside.”

“Gloves?” Dominic asked.

“Sister has been reading to us from her books about large birds,” Sarah explained, “Their claws are very different from the small sparrows that flit about. They can slice your arm in an instant if you don’t have the gloves. Especially since they are not quite tame yet.”

“This is starting to sound like an awful idea,” Everett said. “I am not sure that I-”

“Oh, don’t be a baby, Uncle Everett, you shall be fine!” Lydia cut him off, pulling him toward the door.

Everett looked back at Dominic and glared.

“These children are monsters. Are you sure they are not yours?”

Dominic laughed as he reached forward and pushed Everett along, and as a group, they all stepped quickly into the aviary. Inside, Dominic and Everett stepped toward the high walls while Amelia, Lydia, and Sarah fearlessly pulled on the thick gloves and moved to stand in the center of the domed structure.

From above, the large, brightly colored birds let out strangely beautiful and oddly human like sounds as they flittered from one large beam to the next.

“Come my darlings!” Amelia called up to them, holding one gloved hand up high while the other held up a walnut.

“Come Sarah! Come Lydia!” Sarah fearlessly called next, following her big sisters actions.

“You named them after yourselves?” Dominic asked as the red macaw and the large, bright blue parrot flew down to perch on Sarah’s glove. She quickly gave them each a walnut, and reached out to stroke their heads.

“Amelia is the bluish- purple one here,” Sarah explained, “They do not know their names yet. Lydia is the red one, and Sarah is the green one. You’re the black one.”

“Sister thought it was most suitable,” Lydia stated as the large green parrot landed on her glove.

Just then, a shadow passed over from above, and Dominic looked up to see the large black bird swoop down from its perch. Its silver eyes flashed at him as it landed gracefully on Amelia’s gloved hand, and Dominic felt something stir in his heart.

“You handsome,” Amelia cooed to the massive bird.

The thing daintily took the walnut from Amelia’s other hand in its large, powerful beak, and the sound of the nut cracking filled the air. Dominic watched, fascinated as it used its long talons to pick the meat from the shell and eat it.

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