Marta leaned into him and he wrapped his arm around her in a side hug. He was glad she'd figured it out. Figured out that she was human and that Lily was a good reminder. "Speaking of reminders, after you feed her and she's drifting off to sleep you might want to take her downstairs to Nox, he might need that reminder too. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you crawled into bed with him. He likes what the kids fondly call the puppy pile."
Marta wasn't a live in part of the family, so her comfortableness with the puppy pile and the close physical relationship they share with Nox is probably still far from normal to her. But they all needed it and Nox did too. He was filling gaps in his own life with these kids. And everyone was better off for it.
But she was right Cade drank about half the bottle while he had eavesdropped on their conversation. Hayden pulled the bottle from his reach and set it on the other side of the kitchen space out of reach and instead pushed a cup of coffee with creamer and sugar on the side instead. "It's all a lot. Wolves, and dreyken, healing and strangers. You come from a normal world and your brother he doesn't. This is a normal day, a bit more exciting than normal, but still a normal day.
Cade looked at Hayden still in stunned silence. "Who are you people?"
"You sure you really want to know? You could go back to the US, pretend you never met Nox and live a completely normal life. But the moment you choose to stay, to learn more. You won't live the same life you did. Even I learned that lesson the hard way. He was just a job. A mark in my bar to watch while he was in London and then after we hit it off around the world because I could understand him. And it was my job. It was all great until I came here and I was pulled seemingly into his world. Out there, in the real world, he was an enigma, a fantasy. A fucking god if you want to put a word to it. He's fucking scary if he wants to be. And then I see him curled around a baby and a houseful of kids he's saved from monsters who absolutely adore him. With a story no one would ever beleive. And now, all that is gone. How could a guy who topples empty buildings with a thought go from that to barely surviving a fight he'd have had in the basket with a thought? Tell me Doc, what would you do if you couldn't doctor anymore? If someone ripped out all your knowledge of medicine. What would you do?"
Marta wasn't a live in part of the family, so her comfortableness with the puppy pile and the close physical relationship they share with Nox is probably still far from normal to her. But they all needed it and Nox did too. He was filling gaps in his own life with these kids. And everyone was better off for it.
But she was right Cade drank about half the bottle while he had eavesdropped on their conversation. Hayden pulled the bottle from his reach and set it on the other side of the kitchen space out of reach and instead pushed a cup of coffee with creamer and sugar on the side instead. "It's all a lot. Wolves, and dreyken, healing and strangers. You come from a normal world and your brother he doesn't. This is a normal day, a bit more exciting than normal, but still a normal day.
Cade looked at Hayden still in stunned silence. "Who are you people?"
"You sure you really want to know? You could go back to the US, pretend you never met Nox and live a completely normal life. But the moment you choose to stay, to learn more. You won't live the same life you did. Even I learned that lesson the hard way. He was just a job. A mark in my bar to watch while he was in London and then after we hit it off around the world because I could understand him. And it was my job. It was all great until I came here and I was pulled seemingly into his world. Out there, in the real world, he was an enigma, a fantasy. A fucking god if you want to put a word to it. He's fucking scary if he wants to be. And then I see him curled around a baby and a houseful of kids he's saved from monsters who absolutely adore him. With a story no one would ever beleive. And now, all that is gone. How could a guy who topples empty buildings with a thought go from that to barely surviving a fight he'd have had in the basket with a thought? Tell me Doc, what would you do if you couldn't doctor anymore? If someone ripped out all your knowledge of medicine. What would you do?"