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“Girls, do you have your costumes?” Cassian yelled up the stairs. They only had a quarter of an hour before they were due for the parade, and of course their home was chaotic as usual.
“Yes, Papa!” came his older daughter Seraphina’s reply.
“We’re coming!” Nesta yelled down right after. “Nasima, let me help you with your hair.”
In Illyria, Solstice wasn’t considered one of their holidays. Sure, Cassian loved spending time with his family and celebrating Feyre’s birthday, but it wasn’t his tradition the same way it belonged to Mor or Rhys. Instead, they celebrated the day after Solstice, with training being paused for the day and most of the local businesses being closed. There were parades and more than enough food, drink, and warmth to go around, with many of the younglings putting on bright clothes and painting their faces with traditional symbols of life and good luck.
It had been Cassian’s favorite holiday as a youngling himself — and he was so honored to be able to share this with his own children, probable lateness aside. Their lives in Illyria were worlds away from his own, and that was the way he liked it.
Cassian looked up at the sound of three sets of feet hurrying down the stairs, a wide grin spreading across his face at the sight of his family. “Finally.”
“I didn’t see you offering to help,” Nesta replied pointedly. She had on a thick, blue cloak and matching fur-lined leggings, her cheeks pink from all the rushing around.
“I helped plenty!” Cassian protested. “I was the timekeeper.”
“Girls, your papa is being silly again,” Nesta said, pulling giggles from their daughters.
“Papa so silly,” Nasima, their younger daughter, repeated. She was in that stage where she parroted back everything the two of them said, so Cassian had had to learn to censor himself before she picked up anything inappropriate. “Up?”
“I’ve got you, princess,” Cassian said, bending down to pick her up. Her dark hair was pulled back into two pigtails, leaving more than enough room for the bright clips and soft pins Nesta had adorned her with. “You look so festive, Nas.”
“Mama helped,” Sera informed him promptly. She was almost ten years older than Nasima, in that awkward age where she wanted to cling to her family but she didn’t want to be embarrassed about it, and Cassian knew the moment they got outside she’d make a break for her friends. “Can we go already?”
“Yes, yes, let’s go,” Cassian replied, though not before muttering some choice words in Illyrian under his breath.
Once they all made it outside, it was like stepping into an explosion of festivities. There were bright decorations dotting the path to the main campgrounds, the smell of meat on the grill was intoxicating, and someone was playing the fiddle with so much zeal it was a miracle they hadn’t snapped a string. Cassian couldn’t help his smile as the four of them made their way toward the center of it all, the sight of so many smiles reflected back at him only making his spirits soar even higher.
“Mama, Mama, can I go play with Aria?” Sera asked, spotting Azriel and Gwyn’s daughter immediately. Nesta had hardly agreed before Sera was tearing off through the crowd, her bright yellow outfit disappearing in the blink of an eye.
“She’ll be fine, my love,” Nesta told Cassian before he could even voice his worry. “You know she never takes that necklace off.”
Nesta had enchanted so many of their daughters’ jewelry items over the years with that same spell she’d used in the Rite that Cassian knew he didn’t have anything to technically worry about, but still. “I know. I just worry anyway.”
“Dare I say this is one of the places you can worry the least,” Nesta replied, leaning up to press a quick kiss to his cheek. “Now which way is the parade?”
Cassian spread his wings a little further than necessary to help create a path through the crowd for them, still holding Nasima securely in his arms. She didn’t really start to squirm until the familiar banners for the parade came into view, her blue eyes wide with excitement and wonder as they approached the familiar line of people. Cassian exchanged greetings with so many people he nearly lost count, and by the time they made it to the front he was more than willing to put Nasima down in the chair they were using for the face painting.
Emerie had gotten roped into doing the face painting this year, though she looked more than happy to wield the paintbrush when she saw whose face she’d be painting next. “Hello, my little warrior.”
“Say hello, Nas,” Nesta said gently.
“Hi Emwrie!” Nasima tried her best to form the syllables of Emerie’s name, but it was so adorable none of them could stomach correcting her. “Face paint!”
“That’s right, Nas,” Emerie replied, reaching for her set of paints. “What colors do you want this year?”
“Red!” Nasima yelled. Cassian, Nesta, and Emerie both managed to hold back their winces at the shrillness of her little voice. “For Papa!”
Cassian just about melted on the spot, bending down to press a kiss to the top of his daughter’s head. “Thank you, zogu.”
His little bird just beamed up at him and held herself as still as she could. Emerie used red and white to decorate her brown cheeks, the three adults making their usual small talk as she worked.
“All done,” Emerie announced. She held a little mirror up to Nasima’s face, and judging by Nasima’s happy shrieks, she was a satisfied customer. “I wish I could talk more, but this line…”
“We’ll save you a seat after the parade,” Nesta promised, scooping Nasima up with practiced ease. “Bye, Emerie.”
They wished each other a happy holiday in Illyrian before Emerie called the next child over. Cassian loved hearing Nesta speak Illyrian, loved seeing how much she’d thrived in his homeland over the decades since their mating ceremony. He couldn’t help but sneak a kiss in before they started walking toward the parade.
They made it just in time to start walking with the other families. He took Nasima back from Nesta so she could sit on his shoulders, her little wings flapping with excitement every time they saw someone dressed in a bright costume. Nesta was magicking up silver flashes that wouldn’t burn for the crowd’s amusement, though Cassian suspected she was mostly doing it to hear Nasima clap her little hands together in pure joy. Even Sera managed to sneak into the parade and back to their sides, letting Nesta wrap an arm around her shoulders as they walked.
Cassian knew he thought this every year, but as they walked and danced and sang his people’s songs, he knew this was his favorite holiday yet.