Page 47 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

One squeeze, and that smile that looked more like a grimace.

"I wish you were coming with me. If you remembered who you were, you would have enjoyed the big, noisy family dinner. But as you are now, you would hate it because there are too many people, and the children are loud."

She meant to stop there, but talking about her grandchildren was one of her favorite topics.

"Allegra is Kian and Syssi's daughter, and she is only nineteen months old, but she talks like a girl three times her age. Evie is Amanda and Dalhu's, and she is fifteen months. She has much less to say than Allegra, but she is just as intelligent. She is just not as assertive, which is funny because Amanda is very assertive and Syssi is very shy. The daughters turned out to be their mothers' opposites. Evander Tellesious, or E.T. for short, is Alena and Orion's little boy, and he is adorable."

She paused to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. "You will like them when you get to know them. I am sure of that."

Khiann was losing the battle with his eyelids, which were beginning to droop again.

Annani rose to her feet, leaned over the bed, and kissed his forehead. "I am going now. Will you be all right until I return?"

He smiled at her, the crooked half of a smile, and squeezed her hand once.

"Then I shall see you later tonight."

She let go of his hand and set it down on the blanket, then straightened her gown and made herself walk out the doors.

16

KIAN

"They have no names," Alena said. "Bridget calls them John Doe One through Four, and every time I hear it, it grates on me."

"So, name them." Amanda reached across Dalhu for the bread. "Give them temporary names until they can object and choose their own. You could do John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Or Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."

"I vote for the Beatles," Sari said. "They're not a mouthful."

"I like the Ninja Turtles," David countered. "They're named after famous artists. They have a nice ring to them and are easy to remember."

"They're a mouthful," Sari insisted.

Kian sat at the head of his table and let the conversation flow around him.

Sari had been home for less than two hours, and the noise from a dozen people, all eager to add their piece of information to her knowledge base, was reaching uncomfortable levels.

None of it was news to Sari because Alena had been updating her regularly, but it didn't matter. Everyone was excited to talk about Khiann, and Annani seemed content to watch her family get excited about her mate.

"How much can he actually understand?" Sari asked.

"Everything, as far as we can tell." Alena set down her fork. "But he retains very little of it. He'll be perfectly present for what Mother tells him, and the next day it's as if she hadn't told him anything. He remembered that Esag had visited but not that his name was Esag."

"So, he remembers the person, just not the name," Sari said. "I'm the same. I'm horrible with names."

"I liked Jasmine's voice before I could have told you whose voice it was," Ell-rom said. "The mind can only absorb a limited amount of information after being barely active for so long. Everything was confusing and overwhelming at first, but Jasmine was infinitely patient with me, and that helped a lot. I didn't feel pressured to do more than I was able to."

Annani put down her wine glass. "I wish I had Jasmine's patience. I am doing my best to give Khiann time and not pressure him, but I cannot help the disappointment I feel every time he forgets something I told him just the day before. Did you experience short-term memory problems at first?"

Ell-rom turned to Jasmine. "Did I?"

She frowned. "I don't think so, but then I didn't know anything about you, so I didn't try to dump your entire history on you at once." She winced. "I'm sorry, Clan Mother. I didn't mean to imply that this is what you're doing."

"No apology needed, since you are right. I am trying not to dump too much on Khiann at once, but perhaps I need to dial back even the little I tell him." Annani turned to her brother. "I am trying to limit Khiann's exposure to new faces, which is why I have not invited you to see him yet. Imagine me trying to explain your backstory to a male who still has trouble remembering his own name."

"We didn't expect to be invited," Morelle said. "We are perfectly content to wait until Khiann leaves the clinic."

"Thank you for understanding. He can hold on to perhaps a dozen facts, and I even have to remind him of those. He cannot speak yet, so he cannot ask questions."