Page 160 of The Other Omega

His eyes softened. “You are welcome, my heart.”

Chapter 33

Elowen

“Ithink that's it, Eira.”

Two weeks after we chose the furniture together, I put the last little snow leopard beside the books and stepped back to look at both shelves. At twenty-seven weeks and three days, I was very grateful that arranging a few toys was all I had left to do. The shelves had slowly filled as deliveries arrived, with every box checked before it came anywhere near our rooms, and now the nursery had rows of stories, baskets of High Mountain toys and enough stuffed animals to keep two little girls busy for years.

Assuming I could stop buying them.

Leon had commissioned the teddies after I told him about the ones I’d loved as a child. He’d listened as I explained how I used to sleep with one tucked beneath my chin, then asked what made one comfortable against a child’s face and whether the arms and legs should move. Lucien joined the conversation halfway through and actually wrote down my answers.

I’d expected two bears.

Our daughters now had rabbits, mountain goats, snow leopards and several creatures I recognised but still couldn’t name. Their fathers had asked me to inspect the samples, so I’d sat on Leon’s lap with an armful of soft animals and shown him which seams I could feel through the fabric while he recorded every change.

The two enormous bears had been his surprise. One was powder pink, the other a soft pastel lilac, and both were bigger than me. They sat at opposite ends of the reading corner, with huge, rounded paws and broad bellies I’d already tested when nobody was looking.

Eira straightened the lilac bear's ear. “The girls will have somewhere to sit with their books when they are older.”

“They may have to make room for their mother.”

She looked at the little dent I’d left in its stomach. I smiled at her, and she went back to the basket of smaller toys without saying anything.

The pale wood made the stone walls feel softer, and the lamps Lucien had worried over gave a low, adjustable light beside the feeding chairs. The built-in shelves kept the books close enough to reach from the seats, with storage above for things we wouldn’t need until later, and there was plenty of clear space between the two cots and both doors.

My mates chose the furniture with me and checked the plans as they were being made. The only thing I’d asked was that they wait to see the final arrangement until it was finished. Their mothers had helped turn that little surprise into something I could actually manage without spending every afternoon on my feet.

Astrid had arrived with Helena, Maren and several people ready to carry anything that needed moving. Livia coordinated the household staff while Eira somehow kept the boxes and everything coming out of them organised. I mostly sat with a basket of tiny clothes on my lap and tried to fold them without stopping every few minutes to show everyone how cute something was.

At one point, Astrid reached for the upper shelves, a blue book in her hand. The guard beside her offered to put it up, and she reluctantly handed it over.

“One shelf higher.”

“Astrid,” Helena said, “Elowen will need to reach them.”

“She will not need this particular volume for some years.”

I looked up from a pair of socks. “What is it?”

“An account of the early Vaelor campaigns, adapted for children.”

Maren took the next book from the pile and opened it. “Astrid, isn't this one a bit violent for children?”

“Our granddaughters are Vaelors, my dear. They are perfectly capable of handling a little violence.”

“They have not even been born.”

“That is why I suggest we wait until they are six years of age. That is when it is appropriate.”

I looked at Eira.

She slowly shook her head.

Note to future self: don't read Astrid's books to the girls.

Before they left, Helena showed me where she’d put some of Astrid’s more violent books, Maren checked all the labels with Eira, and Astrid kissed my forehead and told me to send for her if I needed anything.