Page 75 of November Reign
Jasmine was looking at something on Ulrian’s phone while nibbling at her cookie when we entered the living room. Ulrian looked ill at ease despite trying to appear relaxed. The baby, the little angel that he was, slept peacefully.
Thyme had barely poured his coffee before Ulrian spoke.
“I want you to adopt these children.”
“Pardon?” The look of surprise on Thyme’s face would have been funny if I wasn’t sure the same expression was on mine.
“These two are siblings. Jasmine and Calix have no parents. Their mother was very ill after the birth of Calix. She never recovered and has since died. The children have been placed with foster families. Unfortunately, their innate magic makes them incompatible with human fosters. They need a magical home.”
“Is there no one else to claim them? Their coven?” Thyme looked upset. I thought I saw some hope there. He wanted this, just didn’t want anyone taking them back if he grew attached. By the way he was looking at the kids, that ship had sailed.
Thyme took my hand and squeezed it. The gesture told me all I needed to know.
“Their mother was not part of a coven, though she had applied to join yours. When she came here, hoping for a better life, Basil was in charge and he felt her power to be inadequate for coven membership.”
I felt a low growl slip free. Basil had been such a dick. I was glad he was gone.
“How do you know this?” Thyme asked.
“Bryony, their mother, left a note explaining why she had no one to turn to. We did attempt to contact her family. They signed over their rights to the children.”
While I wanted to curse, I didn’t. Little ears were listening.
“Oak?” Thyme turned to me, a beseeching look on his pretty face.
I wasn’t going to make him wait. Besides, this was a gift. Who were we to say no? The kids needed a magical family to guide them and Thyme deserved a do-over after missing Damon’s childhood. We could love these kids as our own. I knew it.
“We said we wanted to add to our family. Why not these two?”
His whole being lit up. “Are you sure? What about the curse?”
The mayor straightened further at the mention of the curse. “Demons in contracts to witches,” I explained.
“Ah,” he said, dismissively, no longer interested since it wasn’t relevant to the situation at hand.
“Angel,” I turned to Thyme.”We’ve got a family around us to help look after these two while we get what we need to break the curse. Besides, Damon would love to be a big brother, don’t you think?”
There was no promise of us breaking the curse any time soon. There were elements to the spell we needed to find. Most of which were in the demon realm in long forgotten places. When I found a lead, either Thyme could come with me while someone took care of the kids if it wasn’t safe for us to bring them, or he could wait for me to come home. I’d always come home faster with them waiting for me.
In his heart, I could see Thyme drawing parallels between Damon and these two orphans. He knew the man he’d come to accept as his son would love them.
“So we can take them in?”
“Are you going to be my daddy?” Jasmine came closer, her little crumb covered hand rested on Thyme’s knee.
I watched Thyme melt at her precious face. Her blonde hair was tied in rough pigtails. She’d gotten crumbs down her dress.
“Do you want two daddies? I’d like to be your daddy, too.” I leaned down to meet Jasmine’s green eyes.
She nodded. “I have two daddies. Calix two daddies too?”
Thyme stroked her hair. “Yes, you both get two daddies. A big brother, too.”
Jasmine smiled up at him, trust in her eyes.
“I knew this was the right place to come.” Ulrian pulled a folder from his coat pocket. “Now if you can just sign this, they will be yours. I’ll have my driver drop off the rest of their things.”
My eyes met Thyme’s as I signed on the dotted line, accepting the two children as ours. He grinned at me, delighted with his amazing turn of events.
Turned out that the first adventure of our marriage and Thyme’s reign over the Northarbor coven was going to be parenthood. I was all in.
The end.
