a bichon frise—as they caused mayhem around us. Morrigan always made herself at home closer to me than she normally did in Ariel’s house, I thought, because she felt like she was slumming it with the riffraff.
When Ariel brought coffee, she asked how Sebastian took his. To make it easier for him, she put it in a travel mug with a straw,
He smiled gratefully. “Thanks so much.”
Ariel caught his tiny wince and glanced at me, but I shrugged. Even his lightly fractured arm was bound to hurt for a while.
“Ariel.” I wasn’t above whining to get what I wanted.
“Fine. All right. You’ve been a good boy.” She finally handed me the baby. I took my first up-close look at my new niece, who was utterly perfect: skin soft as rose petals and eyes that were still the odd twilight shade that would change to the true color later on.
Her pout was pink as a plum blossom.
She squirmed fitfully in my arms, shoving a tiny fist out of her blanket to grip my finger like a heavyweight boxer, and I fell in love.
“She’s beautiful, Ari,” I whispered. “Let’s hope she has your looks and Tag’s disposition.”
“You came all this way to curse my child?” Ariel glared down at me. “I happen to think your brother is an extremely handsome man.”
They talked for a while. Ariel asked Sebastian and Molly mild questions about his job and how long he thought he’d be staying. If I hadn’t been so content sitting with Artemis in my lap, I’d have probably noticed more of what was being said and that Sebastian was fading fast.
Molly touched my shoulder. “We should probably head out. Sebastian looks tired.”
“What?” I glanced up to find every eye on me, even Tag's. When had he returned?
“You were in your own little world,” said Ariel.
“I must be tired too.” Ariel came to take Artemis from me.
Sebastian let Molly help him to his feet.
“The last few days really took their toll,” he said quietly. “You guys spent so much time with me in the hospital. We all need to sleep for a week.”
“I hope you will,” said Ariel as she walked us outside. Tag led us to his SUV. “I left a U-shaped body pillow in Stone’s cabin for you. It was really useful for me when I was pregnant. I washed the cover, of course, but also the pillow, and I beat the heck out of it until the feathers were fluffy again. I thought it might help you find a comfortable position to sleep in.”
Sebastian looked like he might cry. “Thank you very much. I’m sorry if I’m going to be a big drip for a while.”
Ariel put her arm around him. “You’re fine. Drip away.”
Molly and Sebastian followed Tag, but Ariel stopped me on the porch.
She took my hand. “You should probably know that Serena called yesterday. She sent Artemis a lovely gift and a box of Sadie’s baby things.”
“I see.”
“There will never, ever be a better time for you to reconnect with your family.”
“One crisis at a time, Ari.” I tried to pull away, but even holding a baby, Ari wasn’t that easy to get around.
“Is Serena a crisis to you? Are your children a crisis?”
“Ari—” I couldn’t look at her. “Can’t we just talk about this later?”
“No, baby. Not this time. You know what I see on your face when you look at Sebastian? I see spring. I see hope. I see a man coming back to life. Caring about someone else, even a stranger, can do that for you.”
“I’m not—” I stammered. “We’re not—”
“Caring about Sebastian, putting his wellbeing before your comfort, has pulled you from all the old fears and resentments of the past and forced you to live in the present moment for the first time since I've known you.”
“So what?” I asked tersely. “Will Serena resent me any less for the pain I caused her? Will I seem like less of a monster to the kids just because I’m trying to help a sick friend?”
Ariel gave me a wounded look. “One thing for certain is you won’t know for sure until you reach out and ask.”
“It’s too late.”
She gripped me tighter. “But what if it isn’t?”
“Ari. I couldn’t handle it if they rejected me. Not again.”
“But what if they don’t?”
She cupped the side of my face and brushed her thumb over the ripples of scars there. She even—God help me—pushed my eye patch out of the way and laid bare the whole gory reality