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It was a bright, warm afternoon and the silence was broken by the sounds of several loud giggles and squeals as a group of children ran away from each other, depending on who was ‘It’. Luckily, Sunny hadn’t been caught just yet after a few rounds, and had just managed to duck in time before one of his big sisters, Lilac, could tap him on the shoulder.
“Sunny! Over here!” shouted Phoenix, his best friend, looking very rarely flushed for his hybrid status. At once, Sunny scrambled from the ground before Lilac could re correct her stance and darted over to the other boy, trying to catch his breath amongst the non-stop giggles. A moment later, his hands landed on the same tree Phoenix had his hands upon and he turned to Lilac with a wide grin.
“Base!” he shouted, earning a frustrated growl from his sister.
Lilac stomped her foot, and huffed annoyed as she brushed several loose curls out from the front of her face.
“Lilac!” came a shout, and all the kids turned around to look out the front porch of the twins’ home, where both their mothers were sat and watching their game. Sunny’s Mama waved a hand over. “Come on, let me tie your hair back up!”
“No!” Lilac shouted stubbornly, before her green eyes twinkled mischievously and she darted for a now distracted Ember. “Tag! You’re it!”
“AHH!” the little blaze-canary hybrid screeched. “No fair! It was on pause!”
“Was not!”
“WAS TOO!”
“Oi!” the twins’ mama yelled. “We said no fighting!”
“Was noooot!” Ember whined, crossing her arms and pouting. “Li cheated!”
“You lost!” teased Phoenix, grinning mischievously over at his twin (though it came off less mocking as there was a missing gap where a baby tooth had recently come loose).
Ember let out a little growl as her hair sparked. Then she turned and shoved at Lilac. “Now you’re it again!”
“That’s not the rules!” Lilac yelled, making chase after the other little girl.
“Quick! Come on!” came another shout, and Sunny turned to find his oldest sister, Poppy, waving her hands to him and Phoenix. “You gotta run!”
“Let’s go!” Sunny shouted as they both started to sprint away from the tree, less they got in trouble for breaking the rules too for staying on Base for too long. Though it seemed Lilac was far too focused on revenge as she honed in on Ember.
Likely sensing the chase wasn’t going to end any time soon, Ember spread her little yellow wings, and made haste to take off into the air. Being only five years old, her wings were not yet fully grown like either of their mamas’, but they were just enough to take her high out of reach from little grabby hands.
“Hey!” Lilac shouted.
Ember only stuck out her tongue.
“Oh jeez,” Ember’s Mama sighed from his seat. “Not too high!”
“Bit late for that, Tim,” Sunny managed to hear his Mama mutter right as Lilac spread her own wings to take off.
It wasn’t long before the upset screeches from both girls turned into giggling again as soon their regular game turned much more exciting up in the air.
Sunny felt his smile start to drop when he watched Poppy’s bright blue and gold wings flutter as she took to the air; wearing a particularly mischievous grin that only happened when she knew she could get away with breaking a rule as she went even higher than Lilac or Ember.
“H-Hey guys?!” Sunny cried up. “I can’t-”
“Wait for me!” Phoenix gasped, looking excited as he took off after the girls, his own canary yellow wings spreading out to help him up to the skies.
Beneath them, Sunny was left behind; unable to do anything but watch.
“That’s not fair!” he cried, feeling his bottom lips wobble dangerously. He just wanted to play! But he couldn’t when they were all up there having too much fun, while he was stuck down on earth. The only wingless one in the entire family of avians. “Hey!”
He was ignored, likely unable to be heard over the breeze and the laughter. He sniffled, reaching up a fist to wipe away at his eyes.
“...Oh no,” came a murmur from the porch. “Tim, can you watch the girls?”
Another moment, there was the familiar, comforting scent of pretty flowers nearby and a hand in his hair. “Hey, buddy, want me to get ‘em down? I can put on my big scary voice, huh?”
Sunny just started crying harder. He didn’t want them down. He wanted to go up!
Mama sighed, losing his playful tone at once. “Oh, baby, come here,” he sighed, leaning down to pick the boy up and hoist him into his arms. Still crying, Sunny buried his head into Mama’s sweater, wailing broken-heartedly. “I gotcha. Shh… Shh… I know, buddy, I know…”
Sunny glanced up, feeling Mama start to walk away. He let out a loud sniffle, and glanced up to watch as Phoenix dive bombed for Poppy (earning a loud screech of disapproval from his Mama); and whined miserably. “I wan- sniff - wanna p-play!”
“I know you do,” his Mama sighed, still walking away. “It’s wrong of them to do that when you can’t join them. I’ll be having a word with both your sisters tonight, okay?”
Sunny let out another whine, and averted his gaze. Only for his tears to start up all over again as he came faced with his Mama’s big colourful wings, and cried again. “W-why can’t- sniff - can’t I h-have win- sniff - wings, Mama?!”
His Mama’s flowery scent wilted and stung his nose. “I don’t know, Sunshine… I’m so sorry.”
Sunny’s tears mostly cleared up by the time Mama took him home; and they spent the remainder of the afternoon snuggled up on the couch while they watched Finding Nemo. He liked watching the fishes, and cheered up a little as he rattled off the ones he knew about to Mama. Mama listened with the occasional hum, nod, and “Oh really?”; and on one occasion, a fond laugh and a kiss to the top of his head - muttering something about being a talker like Daddy.
About halfway through the movie, Poppy and Lilac were brought home by Uncle Tango; and Mama made them both apologise to Sunny for leaving him out of the game. He accepted their apology, but still didn’t feel too cheered up. His problems weren’t really fixed. Not when he was still the odd one out without any feathers. The thought left him solemn even up until Daddy came home from working on his big base and prepared dinner for the evening.
They were having chicken tonight; normally Sunny’s favourite, but he was still feeling a bit too gloomy to properly enjoy it. He nibbled on little bits and pieces - blissfully unaware of the way his parents were doing their weird way of talking with just their eyes and small gestures. Most of which were aimed towards the little boy.
There were light giggles as Lilac began to throw her peas across the table at Poppy; who retaliated by throwing bits of carrot.
“Girls, that’s enough,” Mama scolded, quickly grabbing Lilac’s hand before she could throw a handful. “No playing with your food!”
“Aw,” Poppy pouted, lowering her spoonful of carrots as even Daddy gave her a (somewhat) stern look (he could never pull it off as well as Mama could - he was far too soft on them all. Though they all knew well enough that when he tried, he really meant it, and that was enough to stop lest they disappoint him).
“Now, come on, eat your veggies please,” continued Mama, letting go of Lilac’s hand once the peas were back on the plate.
Lilac whined. “I don’t like peas!”
“I don’t like carrots!” protested Poppy, sticking her tongue out.
“Broccoli’s yucky!” Sunny piped up loudly, feeling left out.
“We don’t have broccoli!”
“Peanut, no shouting at the table, please.”
“Regardless of whatever vegetable is on your plate,” Mama interrupted over Daddy, “I want you to eat them up. At least three mouthfuls, okay? You all wanna be taller than Daddy one day then you gotta gobble them up.”
“Exactly, I- hey!” Daddy cried out over the kids who all laughed at his outraged expression. Seemingly ready to retaliate, he smirked up at Mama. “Well, then if you all wanna have bigger wings than Mama then you gotta eat all your greens!”
Sunny stopped laughing at once.
Mama’s expression turned thunderous. “Scar!” he hissed angrily at Daddy.
“What did I- oh shoot.”
Sunny pushed his plate away and jumped off the chair and made a dash for his bedroom, tears already running hot down his cheeks.
“Good going,” he briefly heard Mama growl before there was a scrape of another chair being pushed back, followed by quickened and frantic footsteps. “Sunny?!”
Sunny made it to his room and slammed the door shut with a surprisingly loud crash. Not even pausing, he ran for his bed and buried his head into his pillows, sobbing his little heart out. It wasn’t fair! It just wasn’t fair!
There was a knock on his door. “Sunny?” he heard Mama’s voice call softly from the other side. “Buddy, can I come in?”
“Go away!” he cried, not lifting his head up. He didn’t wanna see Mama. He didn’t wanna see anyone !
“Sunny-”
“GO AWAY!” he screeched at the top of his lungs before breaking out into loud cries again against his pillow.
There was a pause of hesitant silence otherwise. “Okay… I’ll let you have a minute, Sunshine. I’ll check on you again soon, alright?”
Sunny ignored him and just kept crying; not even noticing when his Mama’s footsteps quietly retreated from his door or even the muffled argument from the kitchen that followed shortly afterwards. He just kept crying his broken heart out.
It wasn’t fair! Why couldn’t he have wings like Mama or his sisters or Uncle Jimmy or the twins?! Why did he have to be the odd one out?! Why couldn’t he be able to fly around and have fun with them all?!
He kept crying over the injustice of it all, just wishing for his own pair of wings.
It was a while later before Sunny ended up crying himself to exhaustion, and he found himself dozing in and out of sleep; far too tired to keep his aching eyes open anymore. Too tired to do anything anymore. He just wanted to go to sleep to forget any of today had happened. Maybe, if he was lucky enough to wish hard enough, then wake up with his own wings. Just like that movie that said to wish upon a star for all dreams to come true…
He was so sleepy he didn’t even stir when there was another knock on his door.
“Sunny?” came Mama’s call again. “Can we come in now?”
Sunny didn’t answer, hoping if he stayed quiet Mama would leave him alone and let him sleep.
He heard the door creak open slowly, then a sigh. “Oh, Scar, he’s fallen asleep…”
“Aw, Little Berry,” came his Daddy’s hushed tone, just before two sets of footsteps approached his bedside and then there was a comforting hand carding their fingers through his hair. Sunny’s nose twitched; his Mama’s scent was closer, while Daddy’s lingered not too far behind.
Mama’s scent soured. “I don’t know if we should wake him up,” he whispered. “He looks so sad… Oh, baby…”
“Might be better to let him sleep?” Daddy whispered, sounding closer. “Then we can try talk to him tomorrow.”
Mama sighed, still running his fingers through Sunny’s hair. “Yeah… Might see if we can at least get him in some pyjamas at least.”
Sunny made sure to keep his eyes closed, still too tired to do so otherwise, and still really not wanting to talk about what had him so upset. He only occasionally let out a whine of protest when he was manoeuvred out of his day shirt and into his pyjamas instead; though he was quickly hushed by Mama, who then held him up in his arms when he was dressed while Daddy did something to the bed. Sunny let out a content sigh, unable to stop instinct as he buried his nose against his Mama’s neck, finding comfort in the familiar scent.
There was a sniffle that didn’t come from Sunny.
“...Gri?”
“Scar, I don’t know what to do,” Mama whispered, slowly rocking Sunny. “He’s normally so happy, I hate seeing him like this.”
Daddy sighed. “I know… I’m sorry I-”
“No, I know you didn’t mean to,” said Mama, sounding sad. “I just don’t know how to make this better. I know it’s hard for him with the others all having wings. He just feels like an outsider… and I don’t know how to fix it.”
There was more silence for a little while before Daddy spoke up again in a whisper. “Let’s just get him all tucked in. We can talk more about it later.”
A moment later, there was a falling sensation as his Mama lowered him into bed, and then he felt the covers be tucked very tight and snuggly around him. There was the scent of spice hovering close by and a light kiss on his head, before it retreated and an even stronger, floral scent took over that turned him even more dozy as another pair of lips met his forehead.
“Goodnight, Sunshine,” his Mama whispered, pulling away. “Love you…”
Sunny drifted further, only briefly startled at his bedroom light turned off and further plunged him into darkness before there was another click of his nightlight turning on.
“It’ll be all better in the morning,” whispered Daddy, just before there was the click of his door being closed.
Sunny blearily opened his eyes; taking solace in the pretty starlight emitting from his nightlight for a moment, and then closed them again.
He couldn’t see how it could be any better, unless he miraculously woke up with a pair of wings…
“...Psst… Psst! Hey, Little Berry?”
Sunny whined, trying to roll away from whatever was trying to wake him up.
“Come on, bud,” came the same whispering voice again, now shaking him lightly by the shoulder. “Wanna wake up for me?”
Sunny whined again, and opened a reluctant eye, finding his Daddy sitting on the edge of his bed. The older alpha grinned happily. “There he is!” he cheered quietly. “You awake, Little Berry?”
“...Daddy?” mumbled Sunny, rubbing a fist tiredly against his eye. “What doin’?”
“Oh, I thought we could go out for a little adventure!” said Daddy, pulling back Sunny’s bed covers. “Just you and me!”
Sunny looked towards his window in doubt. “It’s night time?”
“Yeah, a super secret adventure!” Daddy whispered, putting a finger against his lips. “But we gotta be really quiet, okay?”
“‘Kay,” Sunny mumbled, already feeling his eyes flutter shut tiredly.
Undeterred, his Daddy just reached his arms around him and hoisted him up into his arms, and Sunny quickly settled his head tiredly on the alpha’s shoulder.. He was almost rocked back to sleep when Daddy stood up and tiptoed out of the room, lulled by the momentum. He perked up a little, hearing a small meow.
“Jellie, you’re on guard duty,” Daddy whispered, still tiptoeing past before opening the front door with a creak.
Now a bit more awake from his curiosity, Sunny lifted his head up and curiously looked around as Daddy walked at a quickened pace down the lit path. It was way, way past bedtime, he thought in wonder as he stared up at the big, full moon shining down. He’d never seen it so high in the sky before… it was kinda pretty…
“Where goin’?” Sunny asked, yawning shortly after.
“Just to the ol’ cookie shop,” said Daddy, a little louder now they weren’t home and being sneaky. “I thought we could make some! I’m feeling a bit snacky.”
Sunny lifted his head up and looked around. “Where’s sissy?” he asked, wondering where Poppy and Lilac were. Normally they always helped out together as a family whenever Daddy wanted to make cookies
“No sisters tonight,” said Daddy. “Just the two of us. They were fast asleep.”
“...Daddy, I was sleeping?”
“Not anymore you’re not,” said Daddy, letting out a little giggle, confusing Sunny further. He didn’t ask anymore questions, but retucked his head against his Daddy’s shoulder as they finally entered his cookie shop.
Sunny hummed happily at all the various, sugary smells as they passed the store front and into the back where the hidden kitchen was. They normally didn’t come here a lot, as Daddy usually preferred baking cookies at home; but Sunny figured they were trying to keep this super secret for some reason so they had to do it out of the house.
Daddy then lowered him to the floor, and retrieved an apron to protect his jammies. “Okay, my little chef. Let’s get the ingredients,” he said, tying on his own apron.
“We makin’ peanutter?”
“Hmm, actually,” Daddy hummed, reaching into an overhead barrel. “Seeing how it’s just the two of us, I thought we could make something a little more special?”
Sunny’s gaze widened upon spotting what he was holding. Cocoa. They never had cocoa! Or any kind of chocolate, because it made Mama and his sisters sick. He only ever remembered trying it once at Beau’s birthday party the previous year, but only a little bit as both Mama and Daddy had been worried that he would get sick too like his sisters. Alas, it seemed wings weren’t the only avian gene he was missing.
“Triple choc chip!” Daddy declared, also digging out a bag of various chocolate chips. “We’re gonna go all out, Little Berry!”
Sunny giggled as his Daddy leaned down to lift him back up, right before setting him down on a chair standing upright by the counter top. He wasn’t quite too sure why they were doing this, but as he watched eager eyed as Daddy placed down the mixing bowls and ingredients in front of him he began to stop questioning it as he became more wide awake. It wasn’t often he got to do anything by himself with just Daddy, or even Mama most days. He was always with his sisters, or with the twins. Everything from the late night cookies, to the promise of chocolate, to being alone with Daddy was a rare treat indeed. So Sunny was going to take as much advantage of the surprise as he could.
They worked as a pretty good team. Daddy measured out all the ingredients, and handed them over to Sunny to pour. Sunny even got to crack the eggs! And he managed to keep most of the shells out of the bowl (though Daddy still had to scoop out a few, even though he was telling Sunny what a great job he was doing as he did so). They poured the chocolate chips; and Sunny tried to be sneaky and eat some when he thought Daddy wasn’t looking. Only for Daddy to just pinch one out of his fingers and eat it while Sunny gasped in outrage. It devolved into a fit of near identical giggles between them as they continued to pour the different flavoured chips in, munching on a few more as they did so (Daddy insisted it was important to make sure they weren’t poisoned, and at one point dramatically ate a white chocolate chip straight out of Sunny’s hands, claiming that he was certain that one was tainted - earning a loud bout of laughter from the boy at his father’s dramatics).
At long last, the ingredients were finally mixed with Daddy’s help, and the dough rolled into balls and spread out on the trays (Sunny’s were a little more messy than Daddy’s neat ones), then finally they were placed in the furnace. They both sat on the floor by the working station, and watched as the cookies slowly began to bake. The excitement of the baking session was slowly dying down, and Sunny found himself growing a bit sleepy again. He just let out a wide yawn and rubbed his eyes, finding himself soothed by all the delicious and comforting smells all around him. Not quite as soothing as Mama’s scent; nothing would ever be better than that, but Daddy’s was a pretty close second. Soon he found himself leaning against the alpha’s side tiredly, and let out a happy hum when Daddy wrapped an arm around his side and pulled him in closer as his spicy scent went all nice and tickly in his nose.
“I’m sorry I upset you at dinner, Little Berry,” Daddy murmured. “Your Mama told me you had a bad day with your siblings. Sometimes I just say stuff without thinking. Brain can get a little scrambled sometimes. But I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
Now Sunny was more awake. Oh yeah . He’d almost forgotten about it all. The reminder only made him curl up into a tighter ball against his Daddy’s side. He chewed on his fingers. “...If I eat my broccoli will I get wings like Mama?”
There was a pause, and a soft sigh. “No, buddy. You won’t.”
“Why?”
“I was just trying to get you little rapscallions to eat your veggies and I made a bad lie-”
“Why won’t I get wings?”
Daddy seemed to be having trouble finding the right words. “Because you were born without them, Little Berry.”
“But sissys have them,” Sunny argued. “When did they get wings?”
Daddy sighed again, and ran a hand through Sunny’s hair. “They always had them. They were born with them. It’s… sometimes babies look more like their mamas, and some more like their daddys. Poppy and Lilac were a bit more like Mama. You just happened to be a little more like me.”
Sunny sniffled, feeling upset tears brew. “Why?” he whined.
He didn’t know why, but his Daddy let out a small laugh at that question. “I know. I know,” he sighed. “Mama’s much better isn’t he?”
Sunny sniffled again and nodded.
“You know how happy your Mama was when you were born?” said Daddy, starting to rock him a little in place as he pulled Sunny more properly onto his lap. “He once told me before Poppy was born that he had a dream of a little boy that looked just like you. No wings and everything. You were like a dream come true for him.”
“Really?”
“Mmh hmm. I think you were meant to be born just like this. Nothing but perfect.”
Tears welled up again in Sunny’s eyes. “But I wanna go flyin’ too.”
Daddy hesitated brushing his hair, and his scent went a little funny. Not quite burnt, but enough to show some unease. “You will be able to fly one day. I promise I’ll teach you how with an elytra. As soon as you're big enough.”
“When will I be big enough?”
“When you’re taller than Mama,” said Daddy with a small giggle. “So you won’t have to wait long.”
“But that’s forever and ever away!” Sunny whined.
Daddy sighed, and Sunny felt his chin rest on top of his head. “It won’t be, Little Berry. Sometimes I wish it would be forever away, but it really won’t. You and your sisters are already growing up a bit too fast for my liking.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to grow up. I want you all to stay little.”
“Why?”
There was a pause, and Sunny felt a quick press of lips on top of his head. “Cause I can’t sneak you out of the house like this if you’re too big,” said Daddy. A second later, Sunny let out a squeal as the alpha suddenly stood, dragging him up along and hoisting him with just one arm.
“I can’t do this with your sisters. Way too many feathers in the way!” said Daddy, now spinning around as Sunny burst out into uncontrollable laughter. That was true. There had been times he had seen Daddy or even Mama, or his Uncles Jimmy and Tango trying to pull all the little avians away from something they shouldn’t be getting into, only for them to pull back spitting feathers as the wild limbs flapped in protest. But it also made them harder to get away; restrained by the appendages and trying to wriggle away without getting hurt. Sunny on the other hand…
He began to wriggle and squirm; successfully slipping out of his Daddy’s grasp before darting underneath the dining table in the middle of the room. He burst out in a fit of giggles before shrieking when his Daddy knelt down and tried to reach out for him - letting out very soft, playful sounding growls as his mixed spice scent simmered happily. He quickly backed into an opposite corner, before letting out another shriek of laughter when his Daddy chased him around and tried to make another grab at him - letting out another good natured growl when the boy only scrambled away to the other end. Poppy and Lilac couldn't do this; he thought as he giggled at the way Daddy pouted at him. Their home dining table was big, but not big enough either of them could hide under it like he could without getting cramped and confined by the way their wings would take up space.
Only as he was revelling in the realisation, he watched worriedly as Daddy disappeared; then turned very still when he heard creaking above the table. All was silent for a few seconds… then…
“Got you!”
Sunny squealed even louder when an arm suddenly sneaked around his belly and pulled him out from under the table. A moment later, he was hoisted back into the air and pulled up on top of the table where Daddy crouched upon, and he barely had a second to catch his breath before he started laughing all over again when his Daddy started tickling him mercilessly.
A light ‘ding’ broke his Daddy’s attention, and Sunny was allowed to catch his breath - though he still broke of into a fit of giggles in between heaving gasps.
“You know what else I can’t do with your sisters? Or your even your Mama?” asked Daddy, lowering them both off of the top of the table, before settling Sunny into a chair.
“What?”
Daddy walked away, grabbing an oven mit before carefully extracting the tray of cookies from the furnace. Sunny’s mouth started watering instantly at the smell.
“We can’t have these super yummy, super dupt- wait. Dupter? Dupper? These super dupper chocolate chip cookies!” Daddy declared as he set them out on a nearby plate before bringing them over.
Being mindful of Daddy warning him that they were still hot, Sunny reached out for one almost the second the plate was set down. He pulled out one of Daddy’s more nicer looking cookies - perfectly round and perfectly fitting in the palm of his hand. He began to blow air over it to try and cool it down just as a glass of milk was put down on his side of the table. Across the other side, his Daddy took a seat with his own glass, then reached for one of Sunny’s more messier looking cookies.
Almost in sync, they both bit down on their treats, and Sunny let out a happy hum. Maybe it was a good thing he couldn’t quite remember the taste of chocolate, because he could fall in love with the flavour all over again. Soft, warm, and perfectly chewy - the flavour of the cookie just melting on his tongue. He eagerly took another bite, wanting more. Chocolate was just the best!
“Mmh,” his Daddy murmured approvingly, already reaching for another one of Sunny’s cookies. “We did pretty good with these. You like them, Little Berry?”
Sunny nodded, taking another bite. These were the best cookies ever! He wasn’t too sure what cemented the feeling. Whether it was the flavour, the excitement of sneaking out of the house to make them, or knowing that he was having a treat that his sisters would never be able to, meaning they were all just for him.
All he knew was that sitting with his Daddy and munching on the warm cookies that they helped bake together, was that chocolate was his most favourite food in the whole wide world!
Scar knew it was time to go home once Sunny couldn’t go between bites of a cookie without letting out a wide yawn. He made the final call once he noticed his son’s head beginning to droop down, and helped set down the half eaten cookie before he could accidentally rub his eye and get crumbs in his lashes.
“I’ll save them for later,” he promised quietly as he picked Sunny up, earning a little whine of protest as he did so. “We’ll come back later to have more chocolate. Okay?”
“M’kay,” Sunny mumbled in the crook of his shoulder, letting out yet another yawn shortly after.
Scar was grateful the night wasn’t too cold that he didn’t need to bundle the boy up too much before they ventured back outside; and found that just holding him close would keep him warm enough. He made sure to hold him tight, already feeling his whole little body grow limper with sleep, and felt the tell tale signs of his breath tickling against his scent gland growing slower and deeper. Scar couldn’t help but smile softly at the notion. He was going to be fast asleep before they made it through the front door.
One eventual walk later, luckily unaccompanied by any hostile mobs (though that was likely more thanks to the copious amount of lighting around the paths that everyone insisted on every season since Poppy’s own arrival), they finally made it home. He creaked the door open with one hand, first greeted by Jellie who let out a quiet meow upon their arrival.
“No trouble, Jellie?” he whispered.
She merely blinked up at him and softly purred. Scar paused to give her a quick, grateful scratch behind the ears, then continued down the hall of the base to Sunny’s bedroom. He almost laughed upon spotting Mr Finnegan waiting for them, as the little grey cat lifted his head and let out a sleepy meow by the end of the bed.
He lowered Sunny down back onto his bed and tucked the sleeping boy back in; all snug as a bug in a rug. He paused, just soaking in the moment as he ran his fingers through his son’s hair; pausing affectionately at the little braid tucked behind his ear. His little padawan… his little berry…
His thoughts lingered back to their conversation. How long would he be his Little Berry anymore. Poppy was already growing at a scary rate and almost at Grian’s shoulders. His baby girl that once fit in the palms of his hands... Lilac wasn’t too far behind her; and already meeting the height requirements for his Scarland rides, he liked to joke with an aching heart.
He liked that his little boy didn’t have wings. Maybe it was selfish of him; but at least this one couldn’t fly too far out of his reach already… or at least until he too grew up and made him proud with the powers of veloci-tay. For now? If he could just stay this small and as innocent as thinking that eating yucky broccoli would help him grow wings; it was all he wanted.
Just for his babies to stop growing up so fast...
Brushing aside the thoughts, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Sunny’s head - satisfied the little boy was properly fast asleep. “Good night, Little Berry,” he whispered, pulling away. “Love you…”
To his surprise, Sunny’s eyes fluttered ever so slightly. “L’ve you, Daddy…” he mumbled sleepily as his eyes shut again, and his chest gave way for a deep, sleepy sigh.
Scar stayed in place, continuing to brush his son’s hair until he was sure that the boy was back under and on his way to dream land. He retreated carefully, and made sure to scratch Mr Finnegan behind the ears before the cat sat up into a stretch, then moved up to curl against Sunny’s side. He tiptoed up the hallway, and took another moment to pause and check in on his daughters.
The door opened with a low creak, but neither girl looked to be disturbed. He smirked at the vision of Lilac all starfished out on her bed, one wing dangling over the edge, and her wild blonde curls all over the place and out of the loose braid he had tied earlier in the evening. By her feet, KatyBee lay in a strategic corner - far enough away to not be kicked off, but close enough to still be comfortable. He tiptoed in, unable to help himself, and took a moment to realign Lilac’s blanket over her; and daringly rock her onto her side to try and ease her wing back into place. Her hair would have to wait until morning, where he would likely spend a good chunk of time untangling each curl and fighting her every step of the way. Because all she was going to want to do was get a start with her day and play and go on adventures and chase her siblings and cousins with her favourite toy lightsaber…
He pressed a light kiss to her forehead too, then turned to his other baby. Poppy was sleeping a lot neater than her sister, and still half tucked into her blanket with her braid only a little out of place…but what was…? He frowned, leaning over her face as he noticed a dark smudge across her cheekbone. Charcoal. She had been sketching again. Curiously, he looked around, and spotted the culprit by her pillow and winced, noticing the charcoal smudges all over the cover too from the nearby pencil. Oh, Grian was not going to like this.
Only he noticed a piece of paper tucked under her pillow, and curiously pulled it out. “Oh, Peanut…” he whispered with a sigh, feeling his heart grow full and heavy. On the page was a sketch of a stylised elytra with little notes all scribbled around the page. Notes of wondering how to make the elytra grow. How many feathers she would need to pluck. How to make it safer. With a hurried looking title on top: For Sunny .
He folded the paper, and placed it on her bedside table (making a mental note to make sure she wouldn’t go around plucking anyone's feathers in the morning). Then, he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. “You’re a good big sister,” he murmured.
Poppy continued to sleep, blissfully unaware. He tucked her in as well, and stood back just in time for Jellie to run up and leap onto the bed by the little girl’s side. “You’re gonna stay here tonight, hm? Gonna watch over them?” he whispered, earning a quiet meow in return. “Thanks Jellie.”
Now knowing his children were safely tucked in, and considerably happier in one’s case, Scar finally retreated back to his own bed - biting back on a yawn as the late evening events finally caught up to him. He tiptoed in, wondering whether he would be lucky to get away with his absence not being noticed. He'd noticed spikes of Worry and Panic through the bond earlier in the evening and had thought for certain he had been caught and had genuinely been expecting his mate to come crashing into the bakery; likely foaming at the mouth wondering where their youngest was. To his pleasant surprise, Grian still appeared to be deeply asleep; he couldn’t sense anything from his mate as he slept soundly. Though he noticed that his husband had rolled over a bit closer to the alpha’s side of the bed - likely insitnctualy seeking out his presence even in sleep.
Scar slid into his side of the bed, and closed his eyes, preparing to drift off. Only almost at once, an arm wrapped around his chest, and there was a flicker of Curiosity . He sighed good naturedly. He should have known better than to expect he would have gone unnoticed even as late as it was.
“Where were you?” Grian mumbled. Curious . Concern .
Scar pushed back with Reassurance . “Just went for a little walk, Songbird.”
Curious . Doubt . Concern . “Sunny’s back to sleep too?”
Scar froze. Shoot .
He turned, noticing Grian’s eyes were now opened. “You really thought I wouldn’t know when my son goes missing in the middle of the night?”
“I… Well, I- uh…”
Grian snorted. Amused . “I knew he was safe. You wouldn’t be so happy otherwise. Just wanna know what you were doing?”
“Just… Just a little father-son talk. That’s all.”
“...you smell like chocolate.”
“...I promise I didn’t let him eat more than three cookies… okay maybe three and a half.”
Amused . Affection . “Is he okay?”
Scar just leaned over, now pressing his final forehead kiss of the night, completing his whole family. “Told you everything would be better in the morning…”