Page 280 of May: Bloom & Bane

Sage turns toward him.

“... Can babies do that?”

“I don’t know,” Damien admits. “I’ve never met a fertility reaper before you.”

My heart does a little flip at the thought of a little girl with her fathers’ beautiful wings.

Ash crosses the workshop in two long strides and drops to his knees beside the willow basket. Droot presses both tiny paws against my sweater and squints at my stomach as though he’s conducting an examination.

Andrik walks in carrying another armful of birch wood. He takes one look at the circle gathered around me and his eyes widen. “… What happened?”

Damien gestures toward my stomach. “We’re discussing whether the baby is growing wings.”

Andrik doesn’t even blink. “Probably.”

“Probably?!” we all say at once.

“Both of her dads have wings… why is that surprising?”

“I just thought they’d grow later.” I glance at my stomach. “Like Eirlys with her antlers.”

“Do you think she’ll have one each—like us?”

“Guys,” I interrupt, “we don’t even know if she has wings.”

Damien looks down at the crib. “We should probably widen it?”

“For what?” I ask.

“Clearance.”

“She’s the size of a melon.”

“For now,” Damien retorts.

“He’s right,” Ash agrees.

“He is not right.”

“If she has wings, they won’t be fully grown.”

“Initially,” Damien says.

“They’ll need room to stretch, ash’kaela.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Andrik…” I sigh. “Please. Be the voice of reason here.”

“I think the reasonable thing would be coming to live in the cabin with us.”

I sigh.

“There are three kraken roaming around.” He adjusts one of the crib slats. “All those tentacles would make childcare much easier.”

“Uh-oh,” Damien whispers.

The temperature plummets. Ashán’s shadows explode, swallowing the windows in a rush of black.