Page 12 of House of Kallan
“It truly is. But then I wonder how he’s going to feel being the only one of his kind,” Lydia said. She looked at me. “And willhe be able to look like you and me? You have a different… appearance, right?”
“Less so than some, but yes. I think one of the most concerning things we have with the newborns is that they’re born monsters instead of in the ‘suit’ if you will that we generally present to the world. I think as a whole, we’ve spent so long blending in that this is almost our primary shape and the monster that we are is a secondary instead of the way it used to be.”
“So the babies have reverted back to their original biological instincts, maybe?” she asked.
“With all the challenges we’re facing at the moment, those kinds of questions haven’t even made it to the top of anyone’s list yet. But it would definitely be interesting to find out.”
Lydia smiled. She reached for a misting spray bottle and gently sprayed her baby. “The nurse earlier said that we aren’t sure if he needs to remain damp,” she said as she set it down. She met my eyes and I could see concern there. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Miss Tatum. How will I raise this baby in the world?”
This was one of those conversations that we were never sure when the right time was to bring it up. We didn’t want them to feel like we were in a hurry to get rid of them. But honestly, we couldn’t just let them out in the world with babies who looked like monsters. I could only imagine the madness that might cause.
There were nasty things done by humans to other humans in the world. Of all ages. I didn’t want to take a chance on something else just as cruel or worse, happening to a helpless child and already traumatized mother.
I placed my hand over hers. “We’re working on setting up a new program. When you’re ready for an environment a little more ‘normal’ than what you have here, we’re hoping to find you a supernatural family with like characteristics of your child to pair you with for a while. Your baby needs to learn about himselfand his particular brand of magic; these are things you aren’t equipped with the knowledge and instincts to do so. We want to give you every possible tool we can to assure you have the best chance at success in the world with a monstrous child.”
Lydia bit her lip as she looked at the baby.
“I promise, the monsters you met are not the rule to the rest of our kind, Lydia. They are an exception. One that many are working on eliminating, but as you can imagine with any kind of large-scale violent conflict, it takes time,” I assured her.
She took a deep breath. “I know. I believe you.”
I ran a finger down the baby’s tentacle arm and watched him for a minute.
“I named him,” Lydia said shyly. She met my eyes. “Tate.”
Grinning, I squeezed her hand. “You’re going to be just fine,” I assured her. “I’ll make sure of it.”
I stayed and talked to her for a while longer before leaving her as one of the nurses came in for feeding. Lydia would be fine. I was pretty confident about that.
My rotations were never predetermined. I generally had those who resonated with me personally that I checked on often. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason why they spoke to something inside me, but I gave them my personal attention regularly.
Don’t misunderstand that. I didn’t play favorites. Everyone received equal care. But there were just some cases that pulled on my heartstrings.
Like the shadowkind.
Pushing open the orphan wing door, I stopped at the cribs and play areas along the way to the corner where the Shadowkind were located. Shadow was sitting as he usually was, just watching the world around him with his stuffed fox in his hands.
His dark eyes moved to mine, and once again, I received the barest hint of a smile.
“Hey, you,” I greeted and reached in for him.
Shadow looked at my hand and then touched it with one of his after a moment’s consideration. He was a fascinating little boy.
“Want to come with me for a while?” I asked him and held out my hands.
He looked at me and then reached for me, keeping his fox in hand. I picked him up and brought him to my hip. Again, he gave me a small smile.
Brushing his hair from his face, I smiled. “You’re a handsome little guy, you know that?”
Shadow blinked long lashes at me.
“I’m curious to know whether you’ll actually speak when you learn words,” I said, not truly believing that he understood me. It was rhetorical more than anything.
Bringing him to the wardrobe, I changed him and then dressed him in something warmer. The orphan nursery was kept pretty warm for their comfort, but the rest of the building wasn’t nearly as cozy. Not that it was cold. Just colder than a newborn needs.
I let the nurse in charge know I was taking Shadow for a walk and procured a stroller. Shadow didn’t put up any kind of resistance as I settled him inside and buckled him securely.
“Ready to explore, little one?” I asked, leaning over to look at him. Shadow turned his face up to me, but there was no smile this time. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
