and happy to see their “father” so happy. It was good to see Paulie and Zeus in happier circumstances and even Wes and Cass called in for an hour. They were on their way to another case, but they came with congratulations and gifts for the unborn child. Hades was a surprise – somehow Arvyn thought the Lord of the Underworld would be someone really dour, lurking in a corner somewhere glaring at everyone and not keen on having fun. But Hades turned up with a smile, a cute little chipmunk mate who was hilarious to chat to, and two darling children strapped to his chest.
Poseidon was another shock – Arvyn had been imagining a giant man with long green hair and a fish tail. The god who turned up looked like one of the many twinks that used to catch Arvyn’s eye before he was mated. Poseidon’s mate was a lot bigger than he was, and an alpha wolf shifter to boot. But any reservations Arvyn had at meeting Claude quickly disappeared when the man hugged him close and offered him a place to run with others of his kind “anytime.” “One of the joys of being mated to a god,” he’d added and Arvyn had felt really touched by Claude’s open acceptance.
Having never had a problem with meeting new people, after spending so many years drifting, Arvyn found himself chatting with a huge variety of people. Osiris was slightly standoffish, but Arvyn found out he was a real music buff. The Lord of the Dead had surprisingly good taste. Horus was stunningly good looking and clearly used to being the center of attention, but after saying hello, Arvyn steered clear of him. The man spent too much time undressing everyone with his eyes. Anubis didn’t say a lot, but he seemed pleasant enough. He was the one lurking in the corner, instead of Hades, but he smiled and answered anytime anyone spoke to him.
The women kept to themselves, although they were pleasant enough when introduced. They were all stunningly beautiful, with thick dark hair and ageless faces, but they tended to hold themselves back, almost aloof, even with Ra. Bastet, who Arvyn learned had been their earlier visitor, spent most of the afternoon talking to Isis, Nephthys, Sekhmet and Hathor, and they all left by the time Helios arrived.
All in all, it was an amazing get together. Food eaten, children admired, the gods sat around chatting about everything and nothing and Arvyn was starting to feel tired and wanted some snuggle time with his mates. The sun had set hours before. Helios was enjoying a quiet drink chatting with Poseidon and Hades. But as he scanned the faces still mingling on their deck, Arvyn couldn’t see Ra or Kirill anywhere. Searching his bond, Arvyn grinned. He put down his bottle of beer and slipped into the house and up the stairs.
“I knew I’d find you here,” he said fondly as he stepped into the room designated as a nursery. Ra was sitting in a huge rocking chair that was gifted by Bastet, while Kirill was on the floor surrounded by a bunch of furniture pieces.
“Our sweet Kirill has had just enough happy juice to think putting up a crib, without reading the instructions, is a good idea.” Ra lifted his face for a kiss that Arvyn was quick to give him. “I tried to tell him I could do it in two seconds flat, but…”
“Some things should be done by hand,” Kirill said firmly. He held up what looked like two legs of the crib. “Shouldn’t there be four of these and how come they’ve both got a sticker with the letter A on them?”
Chuckling, Arvyn folded his legs and sat on the other side of the pile of parts. “Who was the one who gifted us with kit set furniture?” He started sorting out the straight bits that would form the base.
“Claude and Poseidon.” Kirill put down his two pieces and studied the pile again. “Apparently, Claude almost had kittens watching Poseidon try his hand at DIY and thought it would be fun to see us muddle through with it too.”
“Have you got the screw packet that came in it?” Arvyn laid out the four edges of the base and put aside the slats that would fit in it.
“They’re all different sizes too,” Kirill grumbled, throwing the packet over. “How the hell anyone can make any sense of this jumble of bits?”
“That’s why they come with instructions.”