“Yes, it is.” Uriah chuckled. “That's your sister, Iona.”
Iona made a cooing sound that wrapped around Ivy's heart, and Uriel echoed it with a soft, drawn-out, 'Oh!'
He slid down to lay his face on Ivy's shoulder, and she lifted her arm to hold both her precious babies, watching Uriel examine the new addition to their family.
“She's kinda small, Mama,” Uriel said with great concern.
Ivy kissed his forehead, loving the way that one stubborn curl refused to be moved off his forehead. “She'll get big like you in no time. You can say hello, but you'll have to be extra gentle with her for a while, okay?”
“Super gentle.” Uriel nodded, using one finger to touch the hand Iona still had wrapped around Uriah's finger. “Hello, Inona. I'm Uriel, but you can call me Uri, cause I'm your brudder, okay?”
In answer, Iona just yawned and closed her eyes with a grunt. Uriel looked offended, but Ivy gave him a squeeze and promised Iona would be more fun later. “She's just really tired right now. It was a long trip to get here.”
“Oh. Dat's okay. I get tired on long trips too. Be wight back!” Like a little eel, Uriel slipped off the bed and took off running past his uncle, who held the door up with his shoulders, an amused smile on his face.
“What terrors you make, sweet sister.”
Ivy snorted, not sure she could keep her eyes open much longer. “Just wait until you have six sets of twins running around before you go calling my sweet boy a terror.”
She'd never seen her beautiful brother turn gray before or grab his chest like he was having a heart attack. “Six... six pairs! How dare you! You take that back this instant!”
Ivy didn't have time to take anything back, as Uriel came blasting back into the room and practically launched himself into the air to land on the bed. “Here! Inona can borrow Mr. Sausage. I like to cuddle him after a long trip. He farts away bad dreams.”
Mr. Sausage was a glaringly pink pig with a faulty squeaker that made a horrible fart noise instead of a proper squeak. It was Uriel’s favorite toy. Uriah had won the hideous thing for Uriel at a county fair on his first birthday, and the pig hadn't left Uriel's bed since.
“Son, that's the nicest thing you could have done today for your sister.” Uriah's praise made their devil of a child grin proudly.
“So, what you're saying is, Imma really really good boy?”
Uriah nodded gravely. “I am, and you are.”
Uriel punched their air above him and raced away as fast as he could go, howling like a monkey, “Auntie ROOOOOOW! Papa says I'm a really, really good boy! Make that a big ole' piece of cake, okay?”
“Auntie Ro better be taking him to her place after giving him cake and ice cream this late,” Ivy muttered darkly, but really, she was so happy she could barely contain it.
Uriah pressed a kiss to her forehead and eased out from behind her, cradling her neck to help her lie flat. “She already said that was the plan. You need to sleep now. Can I take her?”
Ivy nodded, his enormous hands so gentle when he took Iona and cuddled her to his bare chest. She pulled her legs up like a little frog, making herself small enough to fit perfectly in the palm of Uriah's hand.
Ivy turned on her side to keep them in sight, but he only went as far as the big rocking chair a few feet from the bed. She didn't even notice Ilex slip out or shut the door quietly behind him, so entranced by the expression of unfettered happiness on Uriah's face.
The moment was ruined when she accidentally grabbed Mr. Sausage the wrong way, and a hideous fart ripped through the quiet. She covered her mouth to stifle her giggles, and Uriah sighed deeply with regret. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back to rest on the rocking chair, rubbing gentle circles over Iona's fragile back.
“When she turns one, we're going to the beach. There won't be any farting pigs on the beach.”
“Bet you Uriel will find something dead to roll around on.”
“Shit. He totally will. A movie?”
“We'd lose him in the dark, and he'd wind up scaring the piss out of whoever is unlucky enough to have candy.”
“Fine. We'll have a party here, and he can murder a piñata and bring the head to his sister for.”
“Probably for the best.”
Uriah grunted darkly, no doubt imagining all the trouble their four-year-old could get into at his sister's birthday, putting his feet up on the bed so Ivy could curl her hand around his ankle.
“Go to sleep, honey. We'll be right here when you wake up.”
She closed her eyes and held onto him. “You made all my dreams come true. What am I going to dream about now?”
“Cursing your brother with six pairs of twins?” Uriah offered with a chuckle.
Ivy grinned. “Yeah. Six pairs. Mmhm.”
She drifted off, sinking deeper and deeper into an exhausted sleep, and right before she was rolled into the comfortable darkness she heard Uriah say, “I love you, Ivy. You're still my dream come true.”
<<<<>>>>
Author's note
Alright, boys and girls. I know this wasn’t the book you were hoping for or expecting. Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are.
I am still diligently working away on Dillon’s Universe and Sarazen’s Pride and the next Portrait of Death, but I couldn’t stop myself! Between the muggle job and the stress of everything happening in the world, I guess it was just time to switch gears and find a way to make a little magic.
Yeah, I know, I started ANOTHER series. I’m terrible, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, folks. The voices in my head take turns, some of them going silent until they’re ready to tell me their story, others pipe up through a bullhorn and refuse to be ignored.
Yes, each sister will have her own story.
Look for Kerrigan in A Little Dark Magic in October!
I want to send out a heartfelt thank you to all my extremely patient readers. You’ll never know how your support as I’ve struggled with the decision to put out a completely new project versus getting nothing out this year have seriously weighed me down. It’s been a drag lately, folks, and I know I’m not alone.
So, thank you. THANK YOU!
For my new readers, I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this intro to my literary offerings and look forward to hearing from you!
Check out my World of Wroth readers group on FB HERE
Or come visit my website to see all my available books and where to purchase them at www.isabelwroththewriter.com