223. SIRIUS & CELIA

223. SIRIUS & CELIA
KADE
The guilt hit me so suddenly that I almost looked away.
Almost.
Then she smiled.
Small.
Soft.
Entirely for me.
Just like that, everything else disappeared again.
There was no Outfit.
No guests.
No waves.
No music.
No Don.
No enemies.
There was only...
Her.
She stood at the beginning of the aisle with Sirius resting comfortably against Hana's shoulder, his tiny hands already reaching toward his mother the moment he spotted her. Beside them, Layla held Celia, who had somehow managed to shove the corner of a handkerchief into her mouth while everyone else had been distracted.
Typical.
Lilly immediately noticed.
"Baby Celia is eating Uncle Kady’s handkerchief."
Luna gasped dramatically. She didn’t hear the last word.
"No!"
She hurried over with all the determination a four-year-old could possess, gently pulling the handkerchief out of Celia's mouth.
"No, eat Uncle Kady."
Celia frowned.
Then reached for Luna's sleeve instead.
Luna looked horrified.
"No!"
The entire front row laughed.
Even Seline.
God...
I had missed that sound.
The officiant cleared his throat.
Traditionally...
She was supposed to walk toward me.
Traditionally...
Someone was supposed to give her away.
No.
Absolutely not.
There wasn't a single person alive capable of giving Seline Marcellous to me.
She wasn't something to be handed over.
She wasn't waiting to be claimed.
She had chosen me.
Just as I had chosen her.
I stepped away from the altar.
Someone called my name.
I ignored them.
The sand shifted beneath my feet as I walked the entire length of the aisle, never taking my eyes off my wife.
Halfway there...
When I finally reached her, neither of us spoke for several seconds.
I simply looked at her.
Really looked.
At the golden dress.
At the tiny lines beside her eyes that only appeared when she smiled.
At the woman who had somehow survived everything this world had thrown at her and still found enough courage to love.
"You wore gold," I whispered.
Seline shook her head, smiling. “You are my gold.” She says.
Hana groaned, “Cheesy.”
I gently tugged my wife toward me.
"Come on, Wildling."
"Where?"
I looked toward the altar, waiting for us.
"Our forever is waiting."
Side by side, we walked the rest of the aisle together.
Exactly the way we had lived every day since finding each other.
Not one leading.
Not one following.
Just...
Together.

THREE YEARS LATER | SELINE
"I think they're asleep," Kade whispered the words like he was afraid the walls would hear him.
We were standing in our bedroom.
Alone.
Actually alone.
The house was silent.
No crying.
No crashing.
No tiny footsteps.
Nothing.
The twins had fallen asleep nearly forty minutes ago.
Forty whole minutes.
A personal record.
Kade immediately locked the bedroom door.
Then checked the monitor.
Then checked it again.
Then adjusted the volume.
Then adjusted it one more time.
"You have issues."
"I have children."
"Same thing."
His mouth twitched.
Then he pulled me closer, one hand sliding around my waist while his forehead rested against mine.
Peace.
Beautiful peace.
The kind that only existed for parents in very short bursts.
I kissed him softly.
He kissed me back.
Then—
A loud thud echoed through the apartment.
Kade froze.
I froze.
Silence followed.
Maybe it was nothing.
Maybe—
The silence shattered.
A scream erupted from the nursery.
Not a normal cry.
Not a sad cry.
The end-of-the-world cry.
The kind that made every parent immediately assume someone had lost a limb.
Kade was already moving.
The bedroom door slammed open. We sprinted toward the nursery.
Only to find Sirius sitting on the floor.
Crying.
Absolutely devastated.
Tears.
Snot.
The whole package.
Storm sat beside him, looking exhausted.
Meanwhile—
Celia was standing on her bed, holding a stuffed rabbit over her head, as she had just conquered a kingdom.
"What happened?" I asked.
Sirius pointed dramatically.
At his own knee.
The knee looked perfectly fine.
I looked at Kade.
Kade looked at me.
Neither of us saw blood.
Neither of us saw an injury.
"Sirius?" I crouched down beside him. "What happened?"
His tiny face crumpled even further.
Then he sobbed.
"Boo-boo."
The word came out between hiccups.
My heart immediately softened.
"Where?"
His tiny finger landed on his knee again.
A knee that looked completely unharmed.
Apparently he had fallen while attempting to sit down.
Sit down.
Not run.
Not jump.
Sit.
Meanwhile, his sister had somehow climbed onto the changing table.
Nobody knew how.
Not even Storm.
The dog was staring at her with the same expression Kade wore whenever Dante spoke.
Concern. Deep concern.
"Celia."
The little girl grinned.
"Dada."
Then she jumped.
My soul left my body.
The child landed on a pile of stuffed animals.
Then immediately tried to climb something else.
"NO."
Celia laughed.
Actually laughed.
Then took off running.
Tiny feet slapped against the hardwood floor.
Storm sighed.
A dramatic, long-suffering sigh.
Then followed her.
Sirius was still crying.
His little arms immediately reached toward Kade.
Kade picked him up.
The crying somehow became louder.
"Dada."
"I'm here."
"Boo-boo."
"I know."
"Bad."
"What is bad?"
Sirius pointed toward the floor. Apparently gravity. Gravity was bad.
His feelings toward gravity were very strong.
Kade nodded seriously. "You're right."
I bit my lip.
"You are encouraging him."
"He got hurt."
"He gently sat down."
"He had a traumatic experience."
Sirius buried his face in Kade's shoulder.
Still sniffling dramatically.
Across the room, we heard a CRASH.
We turned around. Celia had found a lamp.
Of course, she had.
Storm was trying to physically block her path.
The lamp was now sideways.
The dog was standing between the lamp and the toddler. The toddler was attempting negotiations.
"Dooooog."
Storm remained firm.
A furry bodyguard.
A guardian.
A martyr.
Celia put both hands on her hips, her eyebrows scrunched.
Tiny.
Furious.
Then she marched away toward a bookshelf.
Storm immediately followed.
"Dada."
Sirius sniffled.
"Yes?"
His tiny hand pointed toward his sister.
Then came the most heartbreaking whisper.
"Ceya fall."
Kade looked at me.
I looked at Kade.
Because, despite being terrified of everything, Sirius was worried about her.
He has always been.
"Celia won't fall," Kade assured him. “She’s fine.”
The little boy considered that and nodded.
Satisfied.
One second later, Celia climbed onto the coffee table.
Storm looked ready to retire.
Kade looked ready to retire.
I looked ready to retire.
And somehow, in the middle of the chaos, Sirius had fallen asleep against Kade's shoulder.
Tears were still drying on his cheeks.
While his sister was balancing on furniture she had no business standing on.
"How are they, twins?" I whispered.
Kade watched Celia attempt to climb Storm.
Then looked at Sirius.
Then back at Celia.
Sirius is always a second away from hurting himself.
And Celia, she is always a second away from destroying everything around her.
Initially, we were worried about them.
Will they be normal? There were so many experiments done on us, Kade’s grand father and Elias waited for them to be born for years.
But our twins are as normal as toddlers can be.
They are safe.
I am safe.
I heard another crash.
Okay, my kids are not always normal.