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Day 4: Bedtime story
Bode is halfway up the stairs when he hears voices from Kata’s bedroom. He pauses, smiling to himself as he realises what is happening and, careful to avoid the creaky step, listens in.
The first voice is Kata’s, bright with enthusiasm and that unmistakable giggle that he’s been hearing more and more lately, and which never fails to make his heart sing. The second (and third, and fourth and...maybe fifth?) are all Cal’s.
Cal might be a frankly horrendous cook and washer-upper (which is why both have been firmly Bode’s domain since they moved in together a year ago) but it turns out he is a worlds-class bedtime storyteller, albeit a self-conscious one in front of anyone but Kata.
Bode’s smile widens as he creeps up to the top of the stairwell, poised just outside the door to Kata’s bedroom. It’s decorated with little sketches of stars and planets and Nekkos (she’s in her Nekko-girl phase, like half the kids at their village’s tiny school), and a height chart showing just how much she has grown in the last few months. Bode runs a thumb over the topmost mark, looking forward to teasing Cal mercilessly on the day she overtakes him in height.
Kata shrieks with laughter inside, drawing Bode’s attention back to the present. The door is ajar and, peeping through it, he sees a scene so sweet that it makes his eyes prickle.
Kata’s bedroom is a cosy cave of deep blue hues. There are tiny astrolabes and hand-made mobiles suspended from the ceiling, and her bed (which is still a bit big for her) is a sea of plushies. Painted eyes and metallic stars twinkle in the low light.
Cal is lying on one side of Kata’s bed, propped against the headboard, hands dancing and face aglow as he reaches the finale of this evening’s installment of ‘Bal the Warrior Jedi’. (Yes. Cal had wanted the hero to be Bode, Bode had wanted it to be Cal, so they’d compromised). BD-1 is curled at the foot of the bed, bwoop ing in awe at each dramatic twist and turn.
This one is a space battle, one of Kata’s favourites. BD is projecting a canopy of shifting stars over an epic scene made of floating toys, all Force-levitated by Cal and whizzing around in scrappy raiding parties and neat Imperial convoys, with Bal fighting valiantly in the centre.
Mookie, playing the part of Bal, of course, is brandishing their specially-crafted lightsaber (a stick and some leftover neon ship-paint that had come in clutch) as a horde of enemy ships, made from anything from bouncy balls to hair clips, closes in for a last-ditch enemy attack.
Kata clearly started the story cuddled into Cal’s side, but is now bouncing up and down on her knees, swiping and pointing at the swirling toys, as caught up in the battle as if she were watching her favourite holo-film. Look look! There’s ships coming in there! Get em Bal! Oh no! Try again, you can do it! Wow! Amazing!!
At last, Mookie/Bal faces his recurring arch rival, the villainous Queen BigBad (played by one of the corn dolls Merrin made for Kata last solstice) and ends her life with a dramatic stick-saber stab to the chest. Kata whoops and BD bweep s, both leaping to their feet and dancing around on the bed in celebration. Cal presses himself against the headboard to get out of the way, laughing and letting the toys topple back to the floor. He catches Kata’s sleeve to stop her over-balancing, and finally catches sight of Bode watching them from the doorway.
A flush colours his cheeks immediately, but he doesn’t look away. Instead, he extends an arm, hand splayed in invitation.
“There’s a spy in our midst, Kata.” he jokes, eyes bright and warm. “But don’t worry, he’s on our side.”
Heart full, Bode steps into the room. Kata promptly flings herself into his arms, rattling off the highlights of the story in half-sentences too rapid for him to really make sense of. He laughs with her, saying ‘mm!’ and ‘ah!’ and ‘oh really?’ in all the right places, as he shuffles into bed opposite Cal. Kata plomps down in between them, Mookie crushed against her chest. Bode reaches behind her, draping an arm across Cal’s shoulders. Kata snuggles back against the arm too, drawing them into the three way cuddle. BD-1 hops up onto Cal’s shoulder and nestles in, making the three into four.
If Bal’s latest story was a bit overstimulating, the retelling for Bode’s benefit is enough to burn out the last of Kata’s energy. By the time she’s finished recounting the grisly fate of Queen BigBad, she is yawning and rubbing her eyes. Bode kisses her forehead and helps her scoot down a bit, so she’s in the centre of her nest of pillows and plushies. Kata insists on giving each of them a kiss on the cheek before she settles down - BD, then Cal, then Mookie, then Bode.
“Stay with me til I sleep?” she asks, still so small and rumpled amid the brightly patterned sheets.
Cal and Bode exchange a smiling look, and Cal ruffles her hair and says “Of course, little Nekko.”
“I’m not a Nekko!” Kata giggles through a yawn. “I’m a girl!”
“You can have girl Nekkos,” Cal jokes, stroking back her hair. “Why not both?” Kata wrinkles her nose, still smiling, and closes her eyes. On Kata’s other side, Bode curls in towards her; his body and Cal’s like twin parentheses, with his daughter (their daughter now) tucked into the middle. Cal’s fingers keep smoothing her hair back from her forehead.
Kata falls asleep quickly, Mookie tucked beneath her chin and the ghost of a smile still on her face. Bode starts to extract himself, only to pause as Cal shifts a little closer to the bed’s centre, so that he can rest his head on Bode’s shoulder.
“Let’s stay a little longer?” he murmurs, sounding almost as worn out as Kata had been. Bode chuckles; a deep rumble in his chest, and moves his shoulder to a better pillow position to indicate his agreement. Cal settles with a soft hum of pleasure, and Bode rests his cheek on the top of his partner’s flame-red hair. They drift off together, with BD-1 charging contentedly on the bedside table.
Bode’s last impression before he sinks into dreams is one of wonder and gratitude; their little family, cosy, complete, and happier than any of them had ever dared to dream.