There was a popping sound behind me, and I whirled around to find Ronan sitting cross-legged on the floor, grinning. “I wasn’t bweaking the rules. It was an emewgency, Mommy.”
“Oh, really?” I drawled, tapping my foot and biting my cheek so I didn’t start laughing because of how adorable he was. Scanning his face and clothes, I didn’t spot any sign that he’d been in the kitchen pilfering a treat. His emergencies often involved him desperately needing a second dessert since he had quite the sweet tooth. “What were you doing?”
He slow-blinked his bright blue eyes—the same shade as his father, uncles, sister, and cousins. “Sheridan was cold. I helped her with her bwankie.”
“Your sister is napping in the nursery.” I crouched down so I was closer to his eye level. “How did you know she was cold?”
“I heawd her.” He tapped his ear.
I dropped down on my butt, shocked by his answer. Neither of the kids had spoken telepathically to Kieran or me yet. I kind of figured the first time one of them used that particular gift, it would be to reach out to us. “Have you heard Sheridan say something when she isn’t near you before?”
“Uh-huh.” His little forehead scrunched while he nodded. “I heawd her ask to go higher on the swing set.”
We’d added a playset to the back lawn just beyond the patio, but it was within earshot of the kitchen. “Did that happen yesterday when you went inside to get a drink?”
“Yup.” Rowan made a popping sound at the end of the P as he nodded his head.
That wasn’t what I’d meant, but figuring out how to explain telepathy to a kindergartener wasn’t exactly easy. “The nursery is all the way upstairs, and you were down here with me. Has she ever talked to you when she was in a totally different part of the house like that?”
He shook his head. “Nuh-uh.”
“Okay, sweetie.” I heaved a deep sigh, my shoulders slumping. “If you hear your sister inside your head again, you need to tell Mommy or Daddy what she needs. No more popping away to get it for her.”
“Fine,” he huffed before getting up to stomp across the room to the stack of toys he’d been playing with earlier.
Get your butt in here, husband. I need to see your gorgeous face when I tell you what our little angels have been up to while you’ve been outside puttering around in the garden.
I felt Kieran’s shock through our bond. What do you mean? I haven’t heard a peep from Sheridan on the baby monitor.
After finding a monitor that had a range of one thousand feet, he had laid claim to the parental unit and rarely handed it over to me. Apparently, daywalker babies have other ways of communicating when they need something.
My husband popped up in front of me, his jaw slack and eyes wide. “Sheridan called to Rowan?”
I nodded, stepping close to twine my arms around his neck. “Yeah, he was playing while I was reading one of those romance novels that give me all sorts of ideas”—I gave him a saucy wink—“and then he went poof. He said it was because Sheridan was cold, so he covered her with her blanket.”
Kieran chuckled, shaking his head. “At least that’s closer to an emergency than wanting an extra slice of pie.”
He made an excellent point, but I still had a bone to pick with him. Narrowing my eyes, I grumbled, “It would’ve been nice to know that daywalker babies can use telepathy. You know how much I dislike being surprised by stuff like this.”
Brushing his lips over mine, he murmured, “I promise to make it up to you.”
“I know you will.” I shivered in anticipation and wagged my brows. “Repeatedly.”
“If that’s what my beloved consort wants, that’s what she’ll get,” he vowed.
Dropping my hands to pat his chest, I wished Rowan hadn’t outgrown the need for naps so I didn’t have to wait until after bedtime. “Right now, I’ll settle for you having another talk with our son about his powers. And one with our darling two-year-old when she wakes up.”
“Sorry, you were surprised again, baby.” He flashed me a sheepish grin. “But in my defense, it’s been more than six hundred years since I was around a daywalker baby for more than a short period. I guess I’ve forgotten some of the finer details.”
“Teleportation and telepathy were the vampire gifts I had the hardest time wrapping my head around, so at least I shouldn’t be shocked anymore when it comes to them using their abilities.”
“Probably not.” His choice of words didn’t inspire confidence, but that was fair since he was one-hundred-percent correct when he added, “I’m sure they’ll find other ways to keep us on our toes.”
Thanks to my anti-hero husband, I had an eternity to enjoy all the ways they’d surprise us...and I wouldn’t have it any other way.