Page 125 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

Shaking his head, he scoops up the last bite and wets his lips before finishing it. Afterward, he meets me in the kitchen to help clean up. “You know…there is one type of faerie immune to the rules of tongue.”

“Oh?” I offer, aimlessly, as I begin mixing the remaining ingredients needed to make a full batch of my cottage cheese loaf.

“Given your powers, if you befriend one and enact a contract with them, you would be able to retain your…unique sense of humor. Even with fully fae blood.”

I freeze.

The rest of the cottage cheese containergloopsinto my mixing bowl. “Really?”

His nose scrunches in response to the sound, but he merely arches a brow and steps back. “Yes. I’ve never met one of these faeries before. They are increasingly rare and exponentially powerful. Unlike vampires who can sometimes speak truths into existence using their hypnotic voices, astory faerieisn’t bound by any restriction or retribution. They weave their magic out of imagination and control an infinite number of possibilities, so who’s to say what is or is not true within the realm of their mind?”

That is…so cool.

“Xios.”

“Hm?”

“How do we go about hunting down and befriendinga story faerieas though we don’t have ulterior motives?”

He lifts his attention skyward. “I’m not certain… Maybe we could get a large box, and stack books inside it before letting it rest precariously atop a stick that will knock over whenever said books are—” His eye catches mine while he’s explaining the cheapest trap in cartoon history to me with his hands. He pockets them. “You’re looking at me like that. But it is not entirely unlikely to work. The story fae are notorious for living and breathing their works. Legends say they are capable of rewriting history…however, who can trust such a thing when they most definitely wrote the legends?”

“Iwouldtrust your fae knowledge, but, see, you’re just a baby.” I kiss Ash’s little head again. “It’s hard being a single mom who works two jobs and who has two bouncing baby boys.”

“Ash is too young to bounce.” Alexios blinks. “Since when doIbounce?”

Dipping my face, I add my onion and garlic powder while I whisper to Ash, “Notice how he didn’t deny being ababy? Onlybouncing?” I cut my gaze toward Alexios. “How revealing.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Alexios bristles. “Don’t twist this like that.”

“You also didn’t deny being a boy, so I am inclined to believe you did indeed choose the single point you considered incorrect.” I am too happy right now, in spite of everything. Ollie is a mad genius. Stress cooking works wonders. “It’s so fun when the faerie age gap goes in the other direction. What absolute bliss.”

“Age gap is a romance trope. Are you accepting that we are romantically inclined?”

I dump the complete mixture into a casserole dish. “Who gave you permission to twistmywords?” Shoving the dish in the oven, I turn on Alexios and cross my arms around my baby. “Also, of course we’reromantically inclined, you ding-dong. You literally married me.”

“This one-sided marriage does not aromancemake.” He crosses his arms as well, mirroring.

Great.

We’re having a standoff in the kitchen, mere feet apart, with an infant sleeping between us.

“I tie your bunny-eared PJs into a bow sometimes. What’s more romantic than that?”

He leans forward, hovering. “Giving me your soul. Letting me make you fully fae. Providing me access to your thoughts. Handing me the playground that is your emotions.”

Face inches from his, I murmur, “You’re not old enough for a playground, Xios. You’re barely walking. Why, you aren’t even old enough to talk, so I simply can’t understand you, actually.”

“Diabolical mistress.” His words drag a fingertip of heat down my spine.

“When in the world did you master compliments?”

His shoulders lift as his eyes lower, grazing my lips. Thoughts seemingly distant, he says, “Who knows?”

I swallow.

He lets his eyes close and stops leaning dangerously near.

“Did I just…”

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