May 1
Melisande, Andrew, Tauryn, and Hailey Going for a walk near the Alcaeyn gardens mid-Morning
April had gone by so fast. Abel had agreed to try and convince the rest of the coven and to take the blood oath himself, but no vows had been spoken just yet. Nonetheless, the time was passing with less stress these days. Tristan was still a potential problem. Kaylee was as well. Hell, when he really sat and thought about it, there were still a million and a half things that either could go wrong or were still a mess, but there was at least some balance back in his life. That all came down to Mel. They’d chosen a final layout with Henry Blair and construction was set to begin soon. As long as she liked the location he had chosen, there was nothing left to do but sign off on the plans officially, and Andrew was confident that she would love the area.
It was close to Mikino. Andrew couldn’t take the credit for that. Judgment had his own interests in keeping Melisande nearby now. If she felt safe to do such a thing, they were in walking distance of the perimeter of the Alcaeyn gardens. The pond, a necessity for Andrew, was actually fed into by one of the streams that Shayleiah played in outside her own home, which would no doubt lead to plenty of little paper sailboats finding their way downstream. Andrew had taught the little Lady how to make them on one of those visits of his, which had become more often than not in the past two months.
Hailey was going to hate losing them but Andrew was eager to be in his own space again, and not to have to worry about every kiss being interrupted by a child squealing in scandalous delight. It at least made him realize that he wanted a little more time for just them before they tried for children of their own. Not that Hailey wasn’t a joy most of the time. It was good to be around her for other reasons as well. He was certain now that he did want to be a father someday, and it was amazing seeing Mel doting on a child that wasn’t sick enough to be hospitalized. It was a treat for them both, it just made renewing the intimate side of their relationship a little trickier.
For example, when he suggested they take a walk today, he had intended for it to be a romantic outing. The area surrounding the Alcaeyn estate was well secured, and the supernatural creatures who inhabited the surrounding forests and fields, even some of the waterways, were benign or outright benevolent. But Hailey had overheard and Andrew didn’t have the heart to say no. He figured that Mikino would do it for him, in truth, but on that, too, he was surprised. They were given leave to go, though not to cross the borders out of the territory Mikino considered his own. And Tauryn would accompany them. Andrew had no doubt there were other eyes on them as well. And instead of a pleasant stroll through quaint trails holding Melisande’s hand, he had tiny arms clinging around his neck as he gave a 6 year old Sidhe a piggy-back ride. It was a treat that her winged keepers couldn’t provide, which made Andrew and Tauryn uniquely wonderful to her. She kept fluttering her wings when she saw something exciting (which for Hailey, seemed to be just about everything), and sometimes it was enough to make him stumble.
He took to it in good humor, arms hooked around the girl’s legs where they clung to his sides. It made holding Mel’s hand an impossibility. And he kept having to remind the child that, being mere inches from his ear, she didn’t need to shout. Even Tauryn seemed to find this amusing—he could probably sympathize. He had certainly served his time with that shrillness.