Page 142 of The Ruler
“Kya says it’s important for them to socialize and bond,” Magni said in a low rumble.
“Yeah.” Boulder nodded. “I could stand here all day just looking at that glorious sight. Girls… real girls here in the Northlands. Who would have thought?” His gray eyes were burning with excitement.
“It’ll be interesting to see how the boys react tomorrow,” I said, my eyes following the children playing tag with Marco and Archer having to catch them.
When one of the girls fell with a scream, we all leaned forward ready to run to her, but Archer was there and helped her back up. The girl cried a little, but quickly dried her eyes and nodded that she was okay.
We collectively relaxed again.
“When are they gonna tell Willow and Hunter that they are twins?” I asked and heard the sweet sound of a drone returning. I looked up, smiling that my wife was back.
“Not sure,” Magni said. “I’m leaving all that emotional stuff to Kya. She says it has to be done the right way, but I have no fucking clue what that means.”
“I’m just happy that we pulled it off,” Boulder said, still following the interaction in front of him. “Not long ago this island was quiet and now it’s full of life.”
“Maybe you’re going to long for some quiet once the boys arrive,” Magni noted but I didn’t hear more because the drone was landing and I ran to open the door.
“Hey, handsome,” Pearl said and let me help her down.
“Hey, beautiful,” I replied lovingly.
“Did you send her off well?”
“Yes,” Pearl said and smiled. “And Finn had my mom cracking up with all his bad jokes that he suggested she share with the council.”
“So are you happy with her visit?” I waved to Finn, who moved to Boulder and Magni by the school while Pearl and I stayed close together by the drone.
“Yes, I’m very happy and I’m grateful that my mom got to be here to see the children arrive. She cares about this school and now that I live here and she’s met you all, I think we can count her as one of our strongest allies.”
“I’m starting to think it was a good thing that my brother kidnapped Athena; if not for him this school wouldn’t exist,” I said.
“And…?” she said, drawn out, with an expectant look.
“And what?” I teased.
“And we wouldn’t be together,” she said.
“Oh, yeah, that too.” I grinned and squeezed her butt.
“That should have been top of your list,” she mock-scolded me.
“Above meditation? Because I’m pretty sure I would have never meditated either, if not for you.”
She knew I was riling her up, but Pearl went with the friendly banter. “Our love should be themostimportant thing.”
“Because of the sex?”
“No, because of the bond we share.”
“What bond?” I asked with a straight face that was hard to pull off with her starting to get annoyed with me for real.
“The bond between us. You know: the love, respect, and everything else that we share.”
“Like our love for chess?”
“Yes, among other things but mostly the trust and loyalty.”
“Yeah, I agree. Chess, loyalty, and sex should be top of our list. Always.”
