Lullaby (The Fable Series, Book 2)

Chapter Twenty Nine

"I think you mean trying to beat my score," Alastaire says pointedly. "And failing."

"Whatevs," Ben grunts "It's my stupid phone. It's been spazzing out on me recently."

"Cry me a river," Alastaire says coolly. "Anyway, move up Benji. Make space for Cupcake."

Ben sighs and sits up, folding his legs underneath himself.

I settle down next to Alastaire, trying not to get too close – he's still half naked, after all. Finished towel-drying his hair, he does the typical boy thing and throws the damp towel down on the floor, before leaning back against the bed's headboard. His eyes linger for a moment on me, sweeping over my very sparse, borderline sheer white silk pajamas.

It's too late to cover up now, so I just cross my arms over my chest, feeling my face flush under Alastaire's inquisitive gaze.

"What 'av we got 'ere then?"

Lyall pops his head through the doorway.

"I hope he's not harassing ye," he says with a suspicious glance at Alastaire. "Better safe than sorry with this one. Especially at 1am in the mornin'."

I snort back a giggle, as Lyall walks into the room and goes over to Alastaire's window. As usual, he's wearing ridiculously adorable pajamas – dark green with Adventure Time characters printed all over the pants.

"How're they doin' Al?" He asks, peering out of the open window. "Aaw, aint that sweet. Best mam in the world."

I crane my neck to see what he's talking about. With all the craziness of the past few days, I'd totally forgotten about the little dove family Alastaire had shown me nesting in-amongst the roses just outside his windowsill.

"You seen 'em yet Ash?" Lyall asks, turning to face me with a smile. "You'd like this."

"Yeah, a few days ago," I say, going over to join him at the window. "They got big so quickly."

The last time I saw them they were newly hatched, tiny and pink and naked. Now they're at least double the size, covered in a light fuzz of soft grey down. I can see one sticking out from underneath the mother bird, squirming its way clumsily out from under her white feathers. Without even opening her eyes, she stretches out her wing, folding up the escaping baby against her breast.

"Blimey, bloody onion ninjas at it again," Lyall says, sniffling as he settles down in the armchair next to the window. "Now that's a mother's love for ye. Good job, dove."

He sounds sad. He always mentions his mom in interviews, so they must be really close. He must miss her.

"Birds are booooring," Ben says. "Let's decide what we're doing tomorrow."

"True," Alastaire says. "Ash, you know Portland better than any of us. Got any ideas?"

"What's so special about tomorrow?" I ask, settling back down on the bed. "Aren't we just doing the usual? Recording and stuff? I thought Felix wanted to finish by Saturday."

"Ouch," Alastaire says.

"Ooooh awkward," Ben says.

"What?" I say, looking from Alastaire and Ben's grinning faces to Lyall's slightly pouting one.

"It's no big deal," Lyall says, his face flushing slightly.

"Turning seventeen's no big deal?" Ben asks, aghast. "In one more year you can legally drink."

"We drink all the time anyway," Lyall says, gesturing to an empty champagne bottle and a tipped over wineglass on Alastaire's bedside table.

"It's your birthday tomorrow," I say stating the obvious. OMG. How could I have forgotten? I didn't even buy him a gift, and it's too late now. Dammit.