April 26th, 2021:
It was official. Winter and Lynx were dating.
I found it shocking, but Kinkajou was ecstatic at the news.
"Really?" Qibli skeptically asked, eyeing Winter suspiciously. "You didn't cast a love spell on her, by chance?"
"No, I did not," Winter said, rolling his eyes.
"Wow," I said, crossing my arms. "What a shocker."
"What?" Winter demanded. "You guys think it's impossible for a girl to like me?"
"Mhm," I hummed as Qibli said, "Pretty much," and Turtle nodded, saying, "Yes."
"They're just jealous," Kinkajou reassured Winter. "I am so happy for you! Honestly, I saw this coming from a mile away. Lynx never stops talking about you. Like, never."
"I can confirm," I said, leaning back into Qibli's couch. "She's come up to me so many times for advice, which I am horrible at, by the way."
"Well, what did you tell her?" Winter asked, slightly sitting upward.
"Oh, nothing," I said dismissively. "I just told her not to always assume you don't care, even if you act like it."
"Do I?" he asked, frowning.
The entire group said yes.
"Guys," Thorn said, suddenly coming out of the kitchen. "What would be better for the gender reveal? Popping a balloon, cutting a cake, or a classic baby fight?"
"Baby fight?" Qibli and I echoed in unison.
"It's where a person gets into a boy baby costume and another person gets into a girl baby costume and pretends to fight, and the winner determines the gender of the baby," Turtle explained.
"That would be hilarious," Qibli observed.
"I vote baby fight," Kinkajou immediately said, raising her hand, and I followed in her footsteps.
"Baby fight it is, then," Thorn said, writing something into her notebook. "Hey, I'm going shopping for neutral baby clothes later. Who's coming with?"
"Seriously?" Kinkajou cried. "I wish I could, but I'm going out with Glory later. Aw, man."
"I'll go," Qibli said, and for the first time, he seemed excited for something.
"Me, too," I agreed, sitting up and grinning. "Baby clothes shopping is so exciting. And everything in miniature is so adorable."
"I would go," Turtle said, "but apparently it's suddenly my job to babysit Auklet whenever Mom isn't home, even though Anemone and Tsunami are both home for the majority of the day."
"And I take it that Winter is automatically uninterested?" Thorn guessed, but I saw she felt bad for Turtle.
"It's not that I'm uninterested," Winter said. "It's just... I'm busy, mkay? There's a difference."
"Sure," Thorn said. "I'll have Deathbringer babysit Ostrich while we're gone."
"Bad idea," I quickly said. "Even though he let Ostrich hold onto him for, like, 30 minutes, he's horrible with kids."
"Have some faith," Qibli said. "He honestly can't be that bad."
"*"
"You are making a mistake," Deathbringer groaned as Ostrich clung to his leg. "I'm really not good with kids. Ask Moon. Moon, tell them how bad I am with kids."
"You will be fine," Thorn insisted. She added in a low whisper, "Plus, I think she has a teeny crush on you."
Deathbringer's eyes widened in horror as Sunny and I smothered a laugh.
"I am begging you," he said.
"Have fun!" Thorn called before closing and locking the door behind her. "Our ride should be here any second now."
"Why not just drive there ourselves..." I started to say but trailed off when a car backed into the driveway. I assumed it was an Uber since I had never seen it before, but the following events changed that thought process.
Thorn walked over to the driver's side and the window slowly descended.
"Hi, babe," she said, gently kissing the man that appeared from the window.
I raised my eyebrows and glanced at Sunny. Her face was a mixture of confusion and a sign that indicated she was a little weirded out.
I dared a glance at Qibli and saw nothing but an annoyed expression that had hints of anger and protectiveness.
"Smolder, do me a favor and get out of the car," Thorn ordered, sending him a slightly crossed look.
"Alright, alright," the man's voice as Thorn backed away and gave him room to push open the door. The man who appeared from the car was rather tall. His hair was in between the color bronze and gold, and he had a pleasant grin on his face.
Thorn beckoned to Sunny. "This is my daughter, Sunny, and this is my son, Qibli." She introduced her kids happily. I gave a teeny wave.
"I'm Moon," I said awkwardly. "Qibli's girlfriend."
"Kids, this is Smolder," Thorn said.
"It is an honor to meet you," Smolder greeted, shaking Sunny's hand, my hand, and then attempting to shake Qibli's hand, but ultimately failing and getting a glare from him instead.
Thorn frowned. "And Qibli will try very hard to be on his best behavior and he will be kind and respectful because he is well aware of how much this means to me, so he will try to get along with Smolder, right, Qibli?"
"Right," Qibli muttered, keeping his glare on Smolder firm, but Smolder sent him a welcoming grin anyway.
"Congrats," Sunny said to Smolder, making an attempt to be welcoming to a person she had never met before.
"Thank you," Smolder said, transferring his grin to her. "So, baby clothes shopping, huh? I'm pretty excited if I'm being honest. First time."
"Speaking of which," Thorn hurried, "we should probably start going, right? Yes, let's go. Everyone in the car, now."
"*"
The car ride there was very uncomfortable. The tension in the air could not be missed, but despite this, Thorn tried to spark a conversation, yet she was not successful.
The store we went to was very homely, and as we entered, gentle music was playing in the background. Not too many people were in there, so it was pretty peaceful.
"They have the best baby clothes," Thorn was saying, trying to be the optimistic one. "Miniature socks, shoes, onesies, and so much more. Remember, we're thinking neutral."
We searched the shop for a moment before we finally found a secluded spot that had everything we needed. Sunny and I found a cute pair of shoes that were grey and had hints of black in them. We also found matching socks and a onesie that said, "Mommy's Favorite" on it.
"That hurts," Sunny joked, but she added it to the cart in an instant. Qibli also added a couple of things, but not after thinking about it carefully. I could tell this was important to him, too, and he was really trying his best not to get pissed off by Smolder's presence.
When Smolder and Thorn were getting a little too close and Smolder was leaning forward to kiss Thorn, Qibli walked in between them and pretended to be showing Thorn a pair of miniature boots. Although Qibli's acting was impeccable and he was pretending to look curious, Smolder got the message and backed off.
"Is he usually like this to a person Thorn dates?" I whispered to Sunny.
"Well, Smolder's the first guy she's dated since Stonemover left," Sunny whispered back. "But Qibli seemed to have liked Stonemover, so maybe he's just worried Thorn might forget him. Then again, Qibli's pretty protective of the people he cares about, so this might just be his initial reaction."
"I don't blame him," I whispered after a moment. "One day his mother passes out and he finds out that she got pregnant out of nowhere. Now, out of the blue once again, the man who supposedly got her pregnant is trying to become buddy-buddy with him on day one. I just think he needs time to process things."
"I agree," Sunny said, then quickly slipped away when Qibli started eyeing us with suspicion.
Meanwhile, Smolder was trying his best to form some sort of relationship with Qibli.
"Qibli, what do you think of this hat?" he asked him, keeping a warm and friendly smile plastered on his face. Qibli, though, ignored him and instead walked right past him as if he hadn't said anything at all.
Thorn sighed, rubbing her temple as she closed her eyes.
"I... thought the same," Smolder called after him. "It is... very cute. But, hey, thanks for the opinion." He sighed, plopping the hat into the cart.
"Uh, anyone got any baby names?" I asked, trying to brighten the mood. Nobody answered, so I just stopped trying.
"*"
I kept glancing up at Qibli, opening and closing my mouth for a while as I debated on what to say. Smolder had gone back to his apartment and Thorn was taking a nap. Meanwhile, Qibli and I were both sitting on his bed as Qibli busily typed on his laptop.
"Whatever you want to ask, just ask it," Qibli suddenly said, leaving his gaze on the screen of his laptop.
"I—huh, what?" I quickly stammered. "I, uh, I have nothing to ask."
Qibli finally lifted his gaze to look at me. "Moon, you've been staring at me for the past hour. What is it?"
I suddenly became interested in the ceiling. "Oh, well, y'know... I was just wondering why you dislike him so much."
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming you're talking about Smolder?" I nodded. Qibli let his gaze fall to his laptop once more, but he didn't type anything.
"Well, first of all," he finally said, "I don't like his demeanor. Second, he shows up out of nowhere and he's just this... perfect guy and Thorn looks happy—which is great, really, it's just..."
"Does it have to do with someone named Stonemover?"
Qibli looked at me for a moment. "Sunny told you?" he guessed, and without letting me answer, he continued, "Thorn really loved him, and he just up and left one day without so much of a letter. Thorn didn't leave her room in days. She was heartbroken, and now this random guy is here and every gut instinct is telling me to always keep him locked out just in case history repeats itself."
I searched his face for a moment before gently smiling. "You know what I think?" Qibli raised his eyebrows. "I think that Thorn is extremely lucky to always have someone worrying for her, especially someone like you. You care, and that's what I like most about you."
I let my eyes drift to my hands. "She also cares a lot about you," I continued. "She won't be happy with Smolder if you aren't happy—if you don't support her. She needs you to approve, Qibli."
Qibli winced. "You think so?" he asked. "I want her to be happy, but... How can I be sure he's right for her? I mean, does he know what she loves doing the most? Or what about her pet peeves? I mean, now they are legally bound to each other because of this baby, whether they like it or not. When Thorn has this baby, they'll have to be a team to make it work, but what if their downfall is just inevitable?"
His worries were sensible. Everything he said was true, and it got me thinking a little.
"Well," I said, "You'll be here to make sure Thorn is okay and that Smolder knows his place, right? You could totally guide the relationship on the right path."
"But we're going to college next year," Qibli pointed out.
Right, I thought.
"We just... need to have faith," I tried, crawling over to him and getting under the covers. "And you look tired so you should get some sleep." Qibli obliged reluctantly, getting out of bed to place his laptop on his desk before turning off the lights and crawling back in.
"Give him a chance, okay?" I whispered, and a moment later, I felt Qibli pull me in closely as we snuggled together.
"Okay," he whispered gently, and then there was silence.
<3