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“Ellie,” whispered a little little voice, along with a teeny baby hand softly patting her arm where it hung off the edge of the mattress, “Ellie, morning time.”
A smile crept onto her face and she cracked her eyes open, looking into Kohana’s wide ones. “Good morning, ves’tacha. Did you sleep good?” She lifted the duvet and turned onto her side, shifting under the heavy arm slung over her waist. “Come here, Ko.”
He shook his head, “Híŋhaŋi.” Elide sighed softly and nodded, slowly sitting up and swinging her legs to the side. Lorcan shifted and whined low in his throat but stayed asleep. “I hung-y.” The little one hadn’t exactly gotten the hang of ‘r’s’ yet.
She smiled at the toddler and stood up, stretching her arms above her head before she picked him up and propped him on her hip. “Si tut bocklo?”
Kohana nodded decisively, that fierce frown of his appearing on his brow when a piece of his hair escaped the two braids he slept in every night and tickled his little button nose. Smiling, Elide brushed it back for him and kissed his forehead, “Let’s go get you something to eat, baby.”
He nodded his head sleepily and though she would like to have taken him back to bed, knowing he would be cranky and difficult later, she also knew that the little one had a stubborn streak rivaling his father’s and any effort would be in vain. Her heart melted as he snuggled into her and rested his head on her shoulder. “Want aǧúyapi.”
“Mm, and jam?”
“Mm mm. Just toast. An’ mni.” He squirmed in her arms, indicating he wanted down and Elide set him on his feet, his hand slipping into hers as they arrived at the top of the stairs and started to walk down.
Kohana was careful on the steps, making sure he had two feet on the same stair before stepping down to the next. Elide smiled down at him, “Good job, Ko.” They reached the third step from the bottom and Kohana stopped, waiting until she was on the floor before launching himself into her arms. “Oof, you’re getting big.”
“I tanka hoksǐla now,” he told her decisively, giggling when she pressed her nose to his and bounced him before setting him down on one of the barstools and turning to start on his plain toast and water. “Ellie, até ištíŋmA?”
“Yeah, baby, Daddy’s sleeping.” she answered, filling up a cup for him from the tap and setting it down on the marble countertop, “Be careful.” She watched for a second as Kohana, with great caution, took the cup and held it with two hands and drank a sip before putting it back down.
“Toast, pease.” The ‘l’ sound was usually hit-or-miss with Kohana.
Elide smiled and got out the toaster and bread, “Thank you asking nicely, ves’tacha.”
“Tó, Ellie.”
They lapsed into a gentle silence. Kohana was a child of few words, observant and reserved like his father, those dark eyes of his not missing a thing. Elide didn’t mind the silence; she savoured any moment spent with him whether they spoke or not.
A few minutes later, she put his plain toast on a plate, cut into triangles just as he liked it. Elide put a small dish of peanut butter next to his plate, knowing he, when feeling rather wild, would dip his toast into it.
She filled the coffee pot with water and turned when Kohana made a little noise, pushing his plate away and holding his arms up, “Wapahi, ičhé.” His hands opened and closed in a grabbing motion until Elide walked around the counter to him and picked him up again, holding him close as he cuddled into her and nestled his head into her neck, content to stay here as she puttered around the kitchen.
“What do you wanna do today, Ko?”
“Art.” He liked it when Elide brought him to the museum with her. It was quiet there and nobody bothered him when he was in her office, colouring or doing something else. The paintings were his favourites and when no one was looking, Elide would let him touch them gently, his little finger tracing over the texture of oil paints. His eyes went so big and wide when he took in all of the artworks, travelling over each and everything, never once stopping. “I see art.”
“Okay, baby, we’ll go see the art.” She smiled again, she seemed to always smile with Kohana, when he made a happy noise and wiggled joyfully, giggling again when she tickled his side. “After I have my coffee, we’ll go wake your Daddy and get dressed, alright?”
“Mm hmm,” he hummed, playing with the delicate silver chain around her neck, two letter pendants hanging from it - ‘K’ for Kohana and ‘L’ for Lorcan. “Bake cookie?”
She chuckled and kissed his head, “We made cookies yesterday, Ko, did you forget?”
“Hàŋ,” he nodded, lifting his head and spying the container on the island, “Cookie!”
“Later, baby, it’s still morning time.”
Kohana pouted and rested his head back on her shoulder, crossing his arms tightly. “I want cookie now.”
“We’ll get cookies later, Ko. After art,” she whispered, turning at the sound of someone walking down the stairs. Lorcan smiled at the sight of them, clad in a pair of low slung sweats and nothing else, save for the tattoos gracing his brown skin. “Well, well, well, look who finally decided to join us.”
Rolling his eyes, Lorcan walked over to her and tipped her chin up, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, “Good morning, mahasani.”
“Híŋhaŋni láȟčiŋ, até,” said Kohana, waving his fist at his father.
Lorcan chuckled and turned to his son, “Hau, wakanyeja, tókheškhe yaún he?” Kohana reached for him and Elide kissed his chubby cheek before passing him over and turning back to her coffee.
“Waste, Daddy. Going art later.” With that, Kohana managed to wiggle himself free from his father’s arms and jumped to the floor, racing off into his playing room. Elide turned to Lorcan and giggled when he pulled her close to him with his hands circling her waist.
Her laughter melted into a soft moan when he trailed his lips over her neck, pressing biting kisses into her fair skin. “I’ll take Ko with me today, unless you had plans?” Elide bit her bottom lip as his teeth grazed over her pulse and he stood up straight.
“No, yeah, that’s good, I have a couple meetings and I was gonna see if you would take him, so that works out perfect.”
Elide tucked his hair behind his pierced ear, the tips of her fingers brushing against the cold silver hoops piercing the soft shell of it, “When do you think you’ll be home?”
“Not too late, around six.”
A little body crashed into her legs, chubby arms wrapping around her knees, “Art time?”
They laughed and looked down at Kohana, his brow wrinkling as he wondered why they laughed. Elide nodded, “Yes, but first we need to get you dressed, my love.”
He nodded and turned to the stairs, hurrying to them but when he got there, he took them one at a time, making sure he had two feet on one step before carefully moving on to the next. He had one arm stretched all the way up, his little fingers just barely grazing the banister and the other arm held out in caution, in case he tripped. “I’ll go help him,” whispered Lorcan, his lips brushing against her forehead before he took off, easily overtaking his son with long strides and scooping him up, throwing the little one over his shoulder.
Kohana squealed and laughed loudly, wiggling over his father’s shoulder; he smiled wildy down at Elide and closed and opened his hand in a wave. She waved back at him, smiling until father and son disappeared from view and even then, her wide smile didn’t fade as something she’d never realized settled.
This was a happy life.