Page 56 of House of Kallan
“Maybe we didn’t tell him,” Raiden said. He looked at Hadrian. “Didn’t you tell him?”
Hadrian shrugged. “Apparently not. We’ve been a little preoccupied.”
“But seriously,” I cut in. “Who’s having a baby?!”
“The Darkyns are bringing home one of the orphans,” Idris said. “Tyrus chose a baby.”
“Oh,” I said. “I knew about Tyrus and Bael. I didn’t know that the rest of his husbands had agreed.”
“I’m not sure it was so much a choice at this point,” Hadrian said. “Not that they’re upset about it. I think they’re all rather excited. They just worry.”
I nodded. I understood that. Since learning about Tyrus and Bael, I’d wondered what would have happened if we’d brought a baby home first and then started looking for a wife. Part of me didn’t think it would make an ounce of difference at all. Especially since our wife was Tatum. Maybe if we’d brought home one of the orphans, we might have met her sooner.
But I still understood the Darkyns’ trepidation.
“Are we just getting gifts? Have they even put together a nursery?” I asked as we headed out to the car and piled in.
“No and no,” Calix said. “We’re picking up furniture first. While they ready their house for an infant and eventual toddler, we’re doing their errands.”
“I didn’t know there were so many things involved with having a baby,” Ellis said, shaking his head. “I mean, I get the places to sleep, but there’s like three different kinds and they’re getting all of them.”
“Meaning?” I asked.
“Well, there’s this thing called a bedside sleeper that I guess is an attachment to the bed with mesh walls?” Ellis said as he pulled out his phone and handed it back to me. “Scroll,” he instructed, and I did. “That one is a multiple use thing with the seat and changer on the top. Then under those two is anelevated bed andthenyou take that part out when they’re bigger and it’s a deeper bed. I guess they can play in it too.”
“Huh,” I said. “I like that it’s got multiple uses, anyway.”
“Yep. And then scroll again. That’s the actual bed. A crib. The mattress has like three levels and then you can deconstruct it to be a toddler bed, which apparently takes the bars off and that’s the difference. But then it also turns into an actual big person bed. All with the same frame and stuff.”
“But babies weigh like two pounds. I weigh a lot more than that,” I said.
“Yeah, right?!” he said, taking his phone back. “That’s what I said. A crib wouldn’t hold me. But I guess it’s ‘rated’ for like 300 pounds. I’m not sure what ‘rated’ means, but I guessed it meant it could hold me too.”
I looked up at the others. They’d been quiet, but there were smiles on all of their faces as they listened to me and Ellis talk. They did that a lot.
Turning back to Ellis, I asked, “Are you guys going to have a baby?”
He laughed. “I don’t know. Doesn’t seem like a safe world for a baby, does it?”
“No, but I think you’d love a baby.”
Ellis sighed. “Yeah, I would. And I think Ady would be stunning with a baby belly. But can you imagine Ryker with a baby?” His eyes went wide.
“You think he’d not be good with it?” I asked.
He didn’t answer as we climbed out of the vehicle into the parking lot. As we stepped into the store, Ellis said, “You know, if someone had asked me if I thought Tyrus would be good with a baby, I’d have said no way. He’s crazy, a little cold, and a lot unstable. Just like Ryker. But from what I hear, it’s very different with Bael, so… maybe Ryker would be good with our baby. Because it’s our baby, right?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“What about you?” he asked. “Are you going to have a baby?”
“Don’t rush things,” Hadrian said. “We’re still working on our wife.”
Ellis grinned. “But you have your wife,” he said. “That’s a good feeling.”
I sighed. Hadrian met my eyes, and we shared the same emotion, probably. “It is,” Hadrian said. “A very good feeling.”
“All right,” Calix said. “Still sans wife over here. Don’t rub it in.”
