Page 107 of I Married Kayog
“And what were you doing?” he asked, his voice almost a whisper.
Malaya looked away, her eyes slightly going out of focus as she prodded her memory. “It’s hard to say. I believe I was sick since I was always lying down.”
“Youbelieveyou were sick? You’re not certain?” he insisted.
“I don’t recall any pain, which is why I can’t say for certain that I was sick,” she said with a shrug. “But every dream involved my parents singing to me. The first few times, I dismissed it as just being a weird fantasy. And then the dream kept coming back more detailed, more intense, more vivid. I can almost recall the feel of my parents’ feathers when they held me.”
“And then what happened?” I asked, my hand slipping into Kayog’s for comfort.
“And then the dream changed. I realized that I wasn’t a bird of paradise, but a Temern. And in that dream, the two of you were my parents.”
A choked sound escaped me, and tears welled in my eyes as I held on to Kayog’s hand with bruising force. Malaya blinked rapidly, visibly trying to fight back tears pricking her own eyes. She was battling powerful emotions as well, but I was too overwhelmed to properly interpret them. From Kayog, shock had given way to a mix of peace, joy, and wonder.
“You would make me pretend to fly around because I couldn’t flap my own wings. You would play with me and sing to me. That song has been haunting me. It pops up in my head at random hours of the day, and every time, I remember responding once we got to the chorus. I didn’t understand thelyrics. But I knew that every time I spoke the one word from the lyrics, it would make you happy. And your happiness filled me with the greatest joy.”
“And what was that word?” Kayog asked, his voice trembling a little.
“It sounded likecoo lee coo.”
This time I started bawling. Malaya’s lips quivered, and tears began trickling freely down her cheeks. She hugged herself while Kayog crouched next to my chair to wrap his arms and wings around me.
“What does it mean?” Malaya asked, in a shaky voice.
“It means ‘I will always love you,” I replied.
“It wasn’t a dream, was it?” Malaya asked, although it sounded more like a statement.
“What do you think?” Kayog challenged in a soft voice.
“I think that I would give anything to hear my parents sing it again the way they sang it for me when I was a sick baby,” she replied.
Without hesitation, Kayog sang, his voice deep, rich, powerful as it rose through the room. Malaya leaned against the changing table, crying loudly. Odessa glanced in turn between her mother and my mate with undisguised curiosity. As an Obosian, she could see auras and read emotions from them. Although confused by what was happening, she didn’t perceive actual distress from her mother. Those weren’t tears of sorrow.
Kayog leaned down, rubbed his temple against mine in an affectionate gesture, before freeing his hand from mine. He walked towards Malaya. Seeing him approach, she pushed away from the table and ran to him. She threw herself into his arms, and he hugged her tightly. Resting his head on top of hers, he continued singing, his wings closing around her. It took me a bit more time to regain my bearings enough to get back on my feet.
I walked to them, joining in the song, my voice harmonizing with his like when we would sing to little Thea. As soon as I closed the distance with them, Kayog opened his right wing to draw me in. Malaya immediately let go of Kayog with her left arm to wrap it around me.
And there went the waterworks again.
My poor mate ended up having to carry the song on his own while the two of us got his whole chest fully drenched. Except, as he began the second chorus, a high-pitched little voice joined in, although totally out of sync with him.
“Oo lee oo!” Odessa chirped after Kayog. “Oo oo… Oo lee oo!”
Between two sniffles, we all burst out laughing. With much reluctance, my mate released us both, only for me to draw Malaya into my embrace. For the first time, I got to fully hug her like my heart had ached to do since finding out she was my angel. She reciprocated, burying her face in my neck as I wing-hugged her.
KAYOG
My heart filling to bursting, I stared at the two most important females in my life intertwined in the maternal embrace I never thought would come. Malaya was glowing, her song soaring in perfect harmony with ours. No more secrets, no more pretending we were just good friends.
“Thank you for saving me,” Malaya said as Linsea released her at last.
“We failed you once. We were not going to fail you twice,” I said.
To my shock, she frowned, stepped away from Linsea, and came to stand in front of me. She reached for both my hands and held them in hers.
“You never failed me. I was sick with a congenital illness that couldn’t be cured. You gave me the best life possible for the time I had back then. Your love and the happiness you gave me were so great that I had to come back to give this another go. Both times, the two of you gave me my best life. So thank you for finding me again, for fighting for me, and for loving me more than anyone deserves to be.”
“We can never love you too much,” I said, caressing her cheek.
