“How did you figure that out?” he grins.
“Because I did that. I knew when it was my dad at the door. I could tell when it was her or one of the other kids. I knew when the house was empty. The sounds of all three cars. When the other kids snuck out of the house to go to a party.
“Ayrie is not smarter exactly. They’re both insanely clever. The energy balances differently. When Ayrie hyperfocuses on something, nothing can pull her out until it’s done. I see she gets that from you and your father.
“Aizen likes to multitask. He knows what he’s doing, goes around in circles, finishing four or five things at once, and moves on. He’s not obsessive like her, but the details matter. I know that because for me sometimes the details were life or death, and I always did several things at once.”
“I have noticed that. You have an insane sense of everything around you. I’ve tested you.”
“You’ve tested me?” I laugh.
“I’ve moved your things; you still know where they are.
“Oh, my god, Knight. Yeah, I know. I thought you didn’t like me putting things in certain places.”
“I figured since you placed those things back where I moved them to,” he grins.
“Well, now they have assigned places.” I roll my eyes.
“What gives me away? I’ve tried everything to sneak up on you, and nothing.” He starts up the stove. I pause, feeling my face heat up. “Oh, now I have to know.”
“Okay, I’ve always had a low sex drive.”
“Are you sure?” he smirks. I flip him off, making him laugh.
“Yes, but I swear my body knows when you’re around. I know you don’t have a certain walking pattern. I can never hear you breathing. It scares me.”
“Is that why you check my breathing when you think I’m sleeping?”
“Yes,” I laugh. “But the kids are like that, too. Aizen snores very lowly. I always bother Ayrie because she’s just always so still.”
“She is.” he grins.
“You also change your fragrance all the time. It’s just the way my body reacts to you. Did I ever tell you that we stood in front of each other in the restrooms on the ride here from Paris?”
“What? I would have remembered,” he shakes his head.
“We both came out of our stalls at the same time. My stomach fell out of my ass at the
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sound of your voice.”
“Oh, shit. The little French girl that called her mom a sad fuck. That was you,” he points at me with the pasta package. I cover my mouth as he doubles over laughing. “Oh, baby. I’m sorry, but the was the cutest fucking burn in all of existence.”
“I’m holding a knife, Nathan,” I growl at him.
“Well, jokes on whoever said that because look at you now–mated and the Queen of all Rogues.” He pulls me to him. “I’m going to get her another painting for that.” “You ass,” I shove his face when he tries to kiss me. “That was an expensive gift and it‘ s only ever going to sit in her room because that thing is ugly as shit.”
“You don’t like it? Angel, you should have seen how she would return to it. It was so cute. I’ve seen her standing before it, eating her string cheese. I don’t care how ugly you think it is. They love that thing. I would get him a statue, but they were all sold already.”
“Did you salt the water?”
“What do you think?” he growls playfully. “I love that they have interesting hobbies. Let me show you something.” He wipes his hands on the towel hanging off the stove and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “These editing skills are elite.”
The title comes up, L’art Avec Papa. I press my lips together when Lacrim starts to play. Her pictures are flawless as they clip into one another through the entrance. One after the other inch closer until they’re inside. It pauses on a photo of her holding Knight’s hand before it fades into the high ceilings and gorgeous shots of all the pictures they’ve seen.
His eyes are completely fixated on the video as pictures of the three of them come up. A photo of her on his shoulders, taking a mesmerizing image of the dome decorated with smaller canvases. It never occurred to me that this was something impressive to others.
Sure, I thought it was amazing, but I was like this as a kid, and I never knew it was more. I thought it was normal, and I guess for us, it is. I never let them play on their computers for too long because I don’t think it’s healthy. However, he’s right; this is a really good video.
“What?” he asks when it’s over.
“I’ve never rewarded them for this,” I admit.
“What do you mean?”
“Or praised them.” I huff/“She has a shit ton of these things. I put them away.”
“Okay. Why is that making you sad?”
“Because you’re right. This is beautiful, and I don’t know. I guess I thought it was something they did, like my art. It was always just something I thought I could make
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money off of. I have never stopped looking at this stuff as anything other than a hobby. I’m jaded in that department. And I feel like they know that. Ayrie never sent me stuff; she gives me the little disk things to put away. That’s fucked.”
“Hmm,” he shakes his head and tucks the phone away. “Or maybe they think just like you. Maybe they do these things because they believe you are so good at this and mimic you. This is a skill everybody has to have now. Everything is digitalized. But she‘ s five. I know professionals who can’t do this just for fun. It takes them weeks, and she sent me this that following morning,”
“Yeah, she edits on her tablet. It’s my old model and it still has all the apps. She has two games on there. A math one and the Hello Kitty one, she plays with Perry. She has forty minutes to play on that thing every morning, car rides, and at night for a few hours.”
“I think that, while they may like to be praised for this, it’s a good thing that you don’t. This shouldn’t be something that they should seek your attention with. My parents knew nothing about my music until I started using a studio. I would work for a little extra money, and they started butting in when I was always broke,”
“That’s cute.” I laugh.
“This is their thing. Let them be kids. I love that they don’t use their talents to get your attention. They know they will always have it when they need it most. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. You’re giving them room to figure things out for themselves.
“I’m glad you gave them that, because as much as I hate to say it, when their training starts, certain expectations will be set, and I’m not going to be my father, but it’s not going to be easy, Angel. You feel it. How strong you are.
“They’re going to be stronger than us. The older they get, the closer they’ll get and the more powerful they will become. It’s up to us to ensure they know how to use all their abilities to follow in their reign. As long as we maintain this position, we’ll survive.”
“I’ll stab you if you hurt one of them. I love you, but I love them more. They will always come first, and if I think that you’re pushing too hard, you’re not going to like what I’ll do to you.”
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