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"…and with a final cry, the evil sorcerer was defeated. Once he was gone, they were able to break the curse, and the jesters were turned to princes once again. The kingdom was saved, the princes married the princesses, and they all lived happily ever after."
"Daddy, what does that mean?"
Sun turned towards his middle child.
"What does what mean, Sophie?"
"Happy ever after."
He had never thought much about the phrase himself. It seemed self-explanatory to him, and he had simply accepted it as a popular way to end fairytales. Of course, by the time he was able to ask questions like that, he had had a much fuller understanding of the English language than the average toddler. Besides, children seemed to come up with plenty of questions that their parents would never think of.
"Well, it means that even when the story is over, all the characters are still living their lives the way you'd think they would, and they're all pretty happy."
"All dem?"
"Every single one! Except for the sorcerer, of course."
"Yeah, cuz he's DEAD!" exclaimed Michael, the oldest. Sun was concerned about the glimmer of excitement in the five-year-old's bright blue eyes. Perhaps he had inherited a bit of his namesake's thirst for vengeance.
"Daddy," Sophie continued, "are you and Mommy happy ever after?"
"I'd say so!" he smiled. "We have each other, and we have this nice, safe house, and we have three incredible children that we get to hug, and kiss, and tell stories to!"
"Stowy!" yelled Jake, the youngest of the Aster clan.
"I would love to read you another story, but you've already had five tonight. You need to go to sleep at some point."
"But why do we need to sleep right nooow?" Mike whined.
"Because we need to wake up early to get to the zoo on time."
"Daddy's right, Mikey." They all turned to see Chloe standing in the doorway. "You wouldn't want to fall asleep in front of the lions, would you?"
"NO!" Mike shook his head vigorously. "They'll take it as a sign of weakness and EAT me!"
"They would?" she asked.
"Yeah! Because I'm so YUMMY since I eat so much BREAD!"
"Me too!" Sophie exclaimed, raising her hand.
"Bwead!" yelled Jake.
"Bread is pretty yummy," Sun agreed. "Maybe we'll pack some for lunch tomorrow. Are we ready to go beddy-bye now?"
The children whined, but they were too tired to have coherent arguments. Parents and children exchanged goodnight hugs and kisses, Sophie was brought to her room, and soon they were all tucked in.
"Daddy?" Mike whispered.
"Yes, Mike?"
"Are the lions really gonna eat us?"
"Oh, goodness no! The zoo is perfectly safe, I promise! Besides, I heard that lions only like pumpernickel bread."
"Like Mommy makes?"
"Oh, I guess… but you haven't had any of that in a while, have you?"
"No. Mommy's pummernickel bread isn't very good, Daddy."
"I thought you loved Mommy's baking?"
"Not that bread. I always give mine to Sophie."
The confession came as a surprise to Sun, who could've sworn Mike had taken his slice politely the last time Chloe made a pumpernickel loaf. Although, he didn't remember seeing him finish the bread.
"That's… good to know. I'll make sure she doesn't try to bring any to the zoo for you or the lions."
"Ok. Love you, Daddy."
No matter how many times he heard them, those words always melted his heart.
"Goodnight, Michael. I love you, too."
After a final goodnight kiss on the forehead, he turned the lights out. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the faint glow of the nightlight plugged into a nearby outlet. Once he was sure that the boys were asleep, he joined Chloe in the kitchen. She was busy packing lunches for their trip.
"Oh my stars, there's a beautiful woman in my kitchen!" he exclaimed, volume low enough not to disturb the children.
"What a coincidence, there's a handsome man in my kitchen!" she responded.
"You don't say!" He kissed her on the cheek. "Want some help with that?"
"Yeah, could you rinse off the grapes?"
"Of course!"
"Thanks." She handed him the grapes to rinse. "I'm so excited for tomorrow."
"Me too!" said Sun as he turned the sink on. "The kids are going to have so much fun! Oh, by the way, Michael doesn't like pumpernickel."
"What? Since when?"
"I don't know, he just told me right before I came out here."
"That's nice to know. I already made his lunch, though. Would you be willing to take this revolting, pumpernickel-infested sandwich off of his hands?"
Sun put down the wet grapes and saluted.
"I shall do what I must, m'lady."
Unlike Mike, he loved anything and everything his wife baked. Her recipes' natural deliciousness was only increased by that special "L" ingredient poured out into every batch.
"My, how chivalrous of you." She added some more filling to the offending sandwich. "It's a good thing we have some sourdough, too. Would he be alright with that, do you think?"
"He didn't say anything about sourdough, so probably."
"Good." She started making a new sandwich with the sourdough. "I can't believe he never told me before."
"He probably didn't want to hurt your feelings. He would've told you eventually."
"Maybe, but I think this was supposed to be a Daddy and Mikey secret. You two have always been so close."
"He loves you just as much as me."
"I know, but it's always been different with you. You two share a lot more than just your faces."
Michael did look very similar to his father, but without the lighter skin patches, and also younger and a gazillion times cuter. As he grew, he started to act a lot like him, too. He loved to do crafts and help clean up afterwards, and they shared the same laugh. Sun had thought it was sweet at first, but he worried that Mike might someday act too much like him. Chloe always assured him that it was normal for little kids to mimic their parents.
Sun dried off the grapes, then distributed them into their proper compartments in the lunchboxes.
"You know, when we said we wanted kids, I don't remember asking you to clone me."
They both laughed.
"I don't think that's quite how it works, dear," said Chloe.
"And I'm so so so glad it isn't!"
Sun paused, and his voice softened.
"He's going to go so much farther than I ever could. They all will. Smarter, and kinder, and… better socially-adjusted. They're already leagues ahead of where I was at their ages. That's not really a fair comparison, but…"
"They are wonderful. And you know what else?" Chloe stored the finished lunches in the fridge, then slid her hands over his shoulders. "They wouldn't be this wonderful without someone wonderful to teach them."
Sun wrapped his arms around her waist, which was still remarkably small, especially for a mother of three. "It's a good thing I married a teacher, then," he smirked.
They leaned in, eyes drawing closed. Just before their lips touched, a tiny voice called out from the other room.
"DADDYYYYYY!"
The young couple opened their eyes and shared a halfhearted grin.
"Well, duty calls," said Chloe, stealing a quick peck on the lips.
"Sure does," Sun chuckled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."