“Daddy! Did you hear? I flew!”
Okot sets the utensil down and lifts her up. “I did hear. I am very proud of you,” he says, his voice filled with pride.
I swear, every time I see my mates with our daughter, my ovaries start to throb. When we first had Amorette, I was worried that there would be jealousy, but that hasn’t been the case at all. It was never even an issue of exactly which genfin is her biological father, and Okot doesn’t see her as any less his just because she has a genfin tail. In their eyes, they’re all her daddies, and they work together as a perfect unit. Of course, she’s had them wrapped around her little red tail since birth.
She climbs up Okot’s arms to his shoulders. “Yep! I did this!” she says, spreading out her arms and red wings. “Daddy Ro frew me in the air, and I fly-falled. Daddy Ev catched me.”
I shoot a look at Sylred, and he scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. “They were being careful.”
“Then, Daddy Ev let me climb on the roof and jump off!”
None of my genfins will look me in the eye after that one.
“Is that so?” I ask dryly. I’m not even surprised, to be honest.
“Let’s eat before you get the genfins into any more trouble,” Okot tells her, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
Amorette climbs down, and Okot starts loading everyone up with pancakes, which I politely decline. Pancakes for breakfast? Gross.
I get up to pee again, and when I toddle back, I notice my cupid boss mark start glowing.
“Again?” Sylred says, tilting his head at my arm when I return.
“Yeah…”
My mates all shoot me looks that I promptly pretend to be oblivious of.
“You said you’d take time off,” Sylred reminds me.
“I know, but I can’t just leave them hanging.”
Guilt claws at me. Now that I know more about my cupid boss powers, I know that my mark starts glowing whenever there’s an issue in Cupidville.
The only problem? I can’t actually go to Cupidville. Firstly, because I’m pregnant, and we don’t know how that will affect the baby. Secondly, we can’t have Ronak turning feral and not being able to snap out of his animal-state.
I’ve been working remotely when an issue crops up. Usually, that’s okay, because I can call Sev here and delegate to him. But the mark has been glowing more incessantly lately, and Sev isn’t the most reliable or the most driven. He gets distracted by his dick a lot. Honestly, we’re probably two of the worst cupids in existence. And we’re in charge. It’s been a long three years.
“Why don’t you take care of whatever it is that they need this time, and then tell them you’re on a break until the baby comes,” Sylred suggests.
“Yes, my beloved. We want you relaxed,” Okot adds.
“I’m totally relaxed,” I insist as I bite my nails.
“You barely sleep more than two hours at a time,” Ronak rumbles, looking displeased.
“That’s just because I have to get up to pee.”
“You keep a pile of heart-shaped cupid paperwork shoved in the pantry, and you sneak in there to work when you think we aren’t looking,” Sylred says.
“Umm…I’m just getting snacks?”
They roll their eyes.
“You’re scratching. A lot. Which you always do when you’re stressed,” Evert says, looking pointedly at my hand that’s…yep, it’s scratching my old itch. Dammit.
I throw my hands up in frustration. “I can’t help it! I’m the boss. I have to, like, do stuff.”
“How about asking Lex to help?” Sylred suggests.