“EveryLie”—MyDarkestDays
Four months later….
Ehria Angeline may have entered the world in the middle of a blizzard, but she brought sunshine to my life.
We had decided to name her after Nico’s mother and mine. The months flew by, and she grew more beautiful with each passing day.
“Where are my girls?” Nico called out as he got home from work.
“In here,” I called out from my office where I was finishing up the last project for the day as Ehria played with her toys on the activity blanket. At the sound of her father’s voice, she immediately stopped her movement and seemed to listen intently for his approach.
He stepped into the room, and she began to kick wildly as her chubby little arms windmilled in excitement.
“How’s your ink doing, babe?” he asked.
I grinned. “It’s good.”
After Ehria was born, Chains insisted on me getting his brand, and I had no complaints. Wearing the brand of a Royal Bastard was a deeper commitment than a wedding band. He had done the work himself, and I loved it. It was a chain in the shape of a heart. In the center it read “Property of Chains.”
To make it better, he had drawn a jasmine flower and had one of the other artists ink it over his heart. Then he had inked Erhia’s name and birthdate on his forearm. Surprisingly, he was able to squeeze it in with all the work he already had on him.
“Where’s Daddy’s girl?” he asked with a brilliant smile as he crouched by our daughter. “How was her check-up? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it,” he said.
“The doctor said she’s in the ninetieth percentile for height and the seventy-fifth percentile for weight. Hitting her milestones like she should, too. And no worries, it was only a check-up. Besides, I would’ve had to worry about the new nurse tripping over her tongue if you were there.” I laughed because the nurses flirted shamelessly but harmlessly with Nico anytime he went with us. He rolled his eyes with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
With a fond smile, I watched her antics as she waited for him to pick her up. He reached for her, and she cooed. I laughed, but abruptly stopped and studied her with narrowed eyes.
“Did you see that?” he asked as lifted her into his arms. Unsure if he was referring to the same thing I thought I’d seen, I blinked and remained silent a moment.
“See what?” I asked, trying to sound normal because I was a little freaked out.
“Her eyes,” he said as he held her up in front of his face. Completely unfazed by our disbelief, she batted at his face and grabbed for his nose and beard. “They looked like they had a silver ripple that ran through them for a second,” he said, and I swallowed hard.
“What could that be?” I asked, suddenly uneasy.
“I have no clue. You haven’t seen that before?”
“Not once. You?”
“Nope.”
“Maybe you should call Ogun or Madame Laveaux,” I said, my tone full of uncertainty.
“Maybe it was our imagination,” he tried to rationalize. Uncertainty was heavy in his tone as he pulled his gaze from our daughter to me.
“Both of us?” I questioned with a cocked brow. We stared at each other but neither of us said a word. Then he pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Bro, are you busy?” he asked, then listened.
“Can you come over afterward?” I could hear the other party speaking but couldn’t make out what they were saying. It sounded like Ogun, but I wasn’t sure.
“Yeah, bring whatever you think you’ll need. I want you to look at something for me.”
He ended the call.
“Was that Ogun?” I asked.
“Yeah.”