Page 8 of Fire Forged

She blinked at him, confusion in her blank gaze.

“Where you wash yourself.”

“Bathroom?”she asked.

So simple and easier on the tongue.“Yes,” he said.

“I can have my own bathroom?And bedroom?Just for me?”she whispered.

“Of course.I am too big to share my bed with you.What if I roll over and squash you?”He was being silly.With Lily, she brought out that long-forgotten side of him.Deep in his soul, he believed Kyerx would have approved of him adopting Lily.

He veered right of the entrance to an empty corner.“How about here?”He pointed to his door across the room.Large windows streamed light in.“My bedroom andbathroom are there.”

She squealed and threw her arms around his legs for a hug then danced through the space.

Soon, males were entering and leaving as they built the bulkheads for two rooms.In and out they came to fit her bathroom, making sure it was at her height.Thankfully, Etterians designed modular spaces to allow for easy customizations.That wasn’t something he had to worry about for now.While this was happening, he took her to the magnus replicator to choose her bed.Pillows, linen, toys, garments, and a rug were ordered then delivered to their new…home.He let her order whatever she wanted.Anything she later decided she didn’t want could be re-sludged.

What made this all worthwhile was her wide eyes, flushed cheeks, and excitement.She squealed, danced, and hugged the legs of any male who helped.He’d never seen his males so happy and gentle, moving around Lily with care.Their honorable reactions swelled his chest.What truly hit him hard was the way they gazed at him…with respect.Which he was used to as a supreme commander; this time, it meant more…somehow.

Lily’s eyes drooped, and when he picked her up, she curled against him and drifted off.He contacted Medic Aldur and asked him to come round in the evening.

“Lily,ensa, please let Aldur look at your scars.He will heal them for you.”Nerx gathered her tiny body in his arms.

“Will Uncle Aldur make them go away?”she asked, her blue eyes huge in her adorable face.

“Yes, he makes all scars vanish,” Nerx said.

A little furrow formed on her brow, and she wriggled off his lap to hold his hand.She ran her fingers over the scar that ran from his wrist to his elbow.With her tongue sticking out, she concentrated on being as gentle as possible.

Nerx rolled his lips to hide a smile, even as his heart swelled at her care.

“He missed one,” she said.

The scar had ceased to hurt him physically.Yet, as per his request, it remained as a reminder.He’d received it the day Kyerx died, the day Nerx had failed his blood-bond.When he’d dislocated his shoulder and nearly dropped Kyerx, in grabbing for his wrist, Nerx had scraped his arm across the metal step’s sharp edge.He hadn’t noticed the wound until Father arrived with a medic.

“This is for me to remember my brother,” Nerx whispered.“He died many years ago.”

Her brow twitched, and she tugged up the left sleeve of her pink garment she called ‘peejays.’

Aldur’s breath hitched at the sight of four circular scars on her forearm.

“Daddy wanted me to remember him,” she said then peered at Nerx.“Did he die too?”She pulled up her other sleeve, showing three more scars.“They don’t hurt anymore.Does yours?”She faced Aldur.“Angel says scars can be deep inside.Do you take away those too?”

“Heal it, Aldur,” Nerx commanded in Etterian.

Aldur stepped back and lowered his med-gun.“Do you want me to heal Nerx’s scar, Lily?”he asked thedamuinstead.

“Nah, it’s for his brother.”She twisted to brush her fingers over the jagged edges.“This one is a deep, like mine.It still hurts, right?”She touched his chest.

Nerx found himself nodding at her, admitting to the pain he kept inside.

“May I heal your scars?”Aldur asked her.

She tugged off her tunic, revealing her damaged body.

“Pretty please, and leave one to remember Bad Daddy.”She held out her arms and waited while Aldur scanned her with his med-gun.

“Hungry?”Nerx asked to distract her for she’d started to swing her backside and fidget.Any moment now, he expected her to break into birdsong.

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