Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Her eyes were shining as she chatted with Malik, and her words flowed out in a soft, excited rush. She was usually shy, but it always seemed to disappear when she was talking to his younger boy. Hadwin glanced at Vanna, and when his beautiful wife gave him a tremulous smile, he knew that they were thinking – and worrying – of the same thing.
“Do you think it’s possible?” she asked under her breath.
“If it does come true, will you be against it?”
His wife didn’t answer right away, but he was not worried. It was her upbringing that only made her seem occasionally heartless, but in the end, he knew she would do the right thing. The woman he knew and loved wouldn’t be able to help it.
“I hate it when you’re looking at me like that,” she muttered.
Hadwin smiled. “Like what?”
“Like you think you’re the good cop and I’m the bad cop.”
“It usually plays out that way,” he pointed out.
“Because you don’t know how hard it is, living your entire life in a fishbowl, and everyone acting like they have the right to say something about you. I’m just worried—-”
A cough from Altair had the two parents looking up, and that was when they noticed Malik glaring at them.
“She may not be fluent in Rami yet,” their younger son spoke between clenched teeth, “but I am, and I’ve heard every word you’ve spoken.”
Vanna smiled weakly. “Oops.” She heard her husband laugh, and she kicked him under the table. Wicked man. She was his wife. He was supposed to be on her side and protect her from her son’s wrath.
When bedtime came, everyone went up together, with Kyria wailing for Malik to put her down.
“I’m not a baby!”
But Malik only laughed. “Yes, you are. You’ll always be a baby.” And ignoring Kyria’s protests, he kept the nine-year-old girl in his arms until they reached her bedroom. By the time the rest of the family caught up, Malik was already tucking her in bed.
When Malik straightened, Altair moved forward and kissed her on the forehead. “Huhm jamil.” It translated to ‘dream beautifully,’ which was the Ramilian way of wishing one a good night’s sleep.
Kyria smiled up at him. “You too, Altair.”
Hadwin ruffled the little girl’s hair. “No more reading under the covers, you promise?”
Kyria looked reluctant.
“How about a bedtime story?” Vanna suggested. “I’ll read you a bedtime story, then you promise to sleep right after?”
A torn expression flitted over the little girl’s face. “Okay, but...can Malik read to me instead?”
Altair and Hadwin coughed to cover their laughter as Vanna’s head turned sharply towards her younger son with an accusing look. “Alghashi!” You cheater!
Malik sputtered in a mixture of disbelief and indignation while the other men in the family could no longer control themselves, their shoulders rocking in silent laughter.
“Husband, tell him,” Vanna said mournfully in Rami. “It’s unfair of him to monopolize Kyria—-”
“I am not monopolizing her,” her younger son snapped.
“Can’t we at least have her while she’s still young? He’s going to have all of her in the future anyway.”
Malik threw his hands up in a fit of frustration. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Ha!” Vanna threw him a look of scorn. “Don’t you think I don’t know where this will end? We all know it. When she’s the rightful age, you’ll make her your eros—-”
“What’s an eros?” Kyria’s puzzled voice interrupted her tirade.
Altair choked, thinking it was the one word the little girl shouldn’t think of right now.
Hadwin’s face turned expressionless as he considered how the world would take it, if one day Kyria did become one for Malik.
Bride, Vanna thought, cringing as she realized what she had let slip.
And when she saw how Malik looked like he was seriously considering strangling her now, Vanna faked a yawn. “I think it’s time to go to bed. Oh, age is really catching up with me.” She sailed out of the room without even waiting for her husband.
“What’s an eros?” Kyria insisted, sitting up.
“I, err, need to go as well.” Altair swiftly turned away and left the room.
Hadwin clasped his younger son’s shoulder. “You’re on your own, son.”
And then Malik was alone.
Kyria was still looking at him questioningly.
Damn them. Damn all of them. Damn them.
He drew a chair next to the bed and took his phone out from his pocket. “How about I read you some Stephen King?”
She let out a squeal of excitement, her quest for new vocabulary instantly forgotten. There would be hell to pay later. Stephen King was forbidden for good reason. The last time he read her one of King’s stories, Kyria hadn’t been able to sleep alone for an entire month, and Hadwin’s punishment for Malik was to be home by eight every evening and keep his little sister company until she fell asleep.
King would mean a month’s curfew yet again, but it was better than answering what ‘eros’ meant - to Kyria and him.