CHAPTER 77: 77-BABY FEVER

Lara:

"You are supposed to hold it like this," she said, giving me the stick back.

I secretly looked at Kash and our eyes connected.

There was deep affection in his gaze. The minute he saw me trying to connect with his children, his demeanor toward me changed, and I liked it.

"Okay, and then what? I just hold it like this?" I asked, pretending to ask Amy.

"No, you are supposed to hold it over the fire. How will you roast it?" she complained, looking at me with her big, cute eyes.

"Oh, but I am afraid. What if my hands burn from the fire?" I pouted.

She slapped her little forehead.

"You won’t get hurt. That is why you are holding it with a stick. Look, like this." She held it over the fire, and I drew closer to her.

"Wow, you are so good at it," I said as I kissed her head.

All the while, someone was seething with anger. Iris sat in her seat, her eyes fixed on me.

I swear she hadn’t even blinked once. I guessed she was going to find out that just because she had given birth to a child, that did not mean she would get him back.

I was going to use the same kids she had used to try to steal him from me to win him and even take the kids from her now.

"Kash, your daughter is a genius. Look, she’s making s’mores for me!" I called out to him, partly to have his full attention and partly so someone else would notice what was going on.

Even though I could already tell, Iris had been staring, it was a little too fun to watch her suffer now that someone from her team was paying attention to me.

I guessed it served her right, a bit of karma for always wanting Kash’s attention.

"Yeah, I know. Amy, where did you learn it from?" Kash teased her, and she giggled, looking so proud.

"I learned it from my daddy," she said with a smile.

It was the kind of joke Kash loved to pull on her, he had just taught her how to make them.

We all had a little too much fun. She made me s’mores and then went ahead and sat down with her father once again.

"Amy, do you go to school?" I asked, keeping her involved in the conversation.

"No, I don’t," she replied softly. "Anymore."

That last word came out like a slow murmur, as if from somewhere deep inside her, because she was busy focusing on the marshmallows.

"Sorry, what did you say? You used to go to school?" I asked.

They were still little, but something about her answer caught my attention.

Usually, werewolf kids started school at three or four, though they only learned about werewolf culture and hierarchy at that age.

"Amy, why don’t you come over here and let them have some time together?"

As expected of Iris, she immediately got nervous the moment she saw her daughter getting along with me.

She called out to her, and I had to force a sad smile onto my lips as I met Kash’s eyes, my silent way of saying, ’Look what your ex-wife is doing. She doesn’t even like me being kind to her daughter.’

Amy tiptoed away from us, and that was my cue to pout a little.

"You know what this makes me feel like?" I murmured as I slid closer to Kash.

"What?" he asked softly, roasting a marshmallow for me this time.

"I think I have baby fever," I said gently, trying to stir something inside him.

But instead, he straightened up and leaned slightly away from me.

"What?" I asked, my mood dropping at his reaction.

"Nothing. Did I say something?" he asked.

"Why are we planning a whole engagement when we could just get married directly?" I suggested.

He turned to me, and there was a brief pause in his movements. I could see he was thinking, but I couldn’t tell what about.

"Say something. You’re making me nervous," I said with a shaky laugh.

"I mean, it’s your choice," he said simply.

I had expected him to say more, but it felt as if he wanted to escape the conversation.

"I don’t think we should keep eating all these," he said loudly after a beat. "Even the kids will get a stomachache if they eat too many."

I immediately understood why he said it, Amy was now chatting animatedly with Luca.

I leaned back in my seat, exhaustion settling over me. A flicker of fear rose in my chest, the fear of losing Kash and I didn’t want that to happen.

Finally, Iris stood up to tuck the kids in.

But they didn’t want to go, so they refused to sleep in the cabin, insisting instead that they would spend the night in the tents.

Once it was time and Iris had tucked the kids into the tent, it was just Kash, Luca, and me outside. Luca was still playing with the fire, while Kash seemed done for the night. He got up and started walking toward the tent.

The tents were large, with inflatable beds inside, so I knew the kids would be fine.

But once Kash was gone, I saw Luca finally look up, and his eyes met mine. It was the strangest kind of stare, so intense that a chill ran down my spine.

He kept silently watching me, still poking at the fire with his stick, his head slightly lowered.

It was the way he stared through his eyebrows in silence, then lowered his eyes again, that unsettled me.

"So, when are you and Iris planning on getting married?" I asked, mostly to break the awkwardness, but also to learn more about Luca.

That way, I could get a better idea of Iris’s future plans too.

"Why?" he asked.

He didn’t seem like a very talkative man.

"Well, because in order for them to get married, they’ll have to reject each other," I said casually, slipping the information in.

I noticed how he stopped moving for a second before slowly nodding his head.

"And you want me to ask Iris because you can’t ask Kash?" he asked, tilting his head and closing his eyes slightly, as if trying to read my mind and understand my intentions.

My back straightened under his judgmental tone.

"Well, if I tell Kash, he’ll reject her. But I just hope Iris isn’t using the kids to make him stay," I said quietly.

The moment the words left my mouth, Iris stepped out of the tent and I went silent.