**Seth**
I’d left to talk to my mother, not even grabbing a shirt in hopes that I wouldn’t wake Molly, but as I attempt to sneak back in, I find her sitting up in bed, scrolling on her phone.
“Are things OK now,” she asks, looking up at me, concern etched on her face.
“Yes,” I tell her, walking to the bed and climbing in next to her. “I think so.”
She nods once and places her phone on the bedside table next to her, turning her full attention to me as she always does. It’s something I’ve noticed she does intentionally, and I’ve tried my best to do the same for her. She’s never asked, of course, but I know it’s important to her. I've seen the way her Dad and her Brother always give her and her mom their full attention and I know she expects that from me now- whether I'm the King or not.
“I don’t need to know what all happened, but I know that Audrey loves you.”
I pull her to me, placing my hand over our son. He kicks a few times before something drags across my hand and I pull it back quickly. “What was that? I’ll carry you to the doctor here.”
She giggles slightly, pulling my hand back where it was. “He’s just rolling, Seth. He’s fine. That’s his body moving across.”
“The twins never did that," I say, nearly in a panic.
“The twins didn’t have enough room to move like that,” she tells me with a smile, twisting her fingers through mine, but still leaving my hand in place. “Will you tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?”
She asks me so softly, like she’s afraid to bring it up, but she cares so damn much. Finally, I open up to her about what all happened, about my conversation with Carolyn, and then with my mother, but it feels so good to tell her that I can’t stop myself. I continue on, telling her about how I’m worried I’ll screw up our kids, tell her that I’m not good enough to be their father.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were feeling like this?” she asks, gently placing her hand on my face.
I sigh, rubbing my hand across her stomach. I gently push down my finger and he pushes back up, almost like he’s playing with me. “I’m not good enough for YOU, Molly. Of course, I’m not good enough for our kids.”
“Stop,” she says softly, pushing my hair back and moving her fingers to the stubble on my face. “You’re the most amazing man. I’m so lucky to have you. You made mistakes before, but you were honest with me about them. You’ve not done a single thing wrong since.”
I sigh, pulling her even closer to me. “We always talk about how we need to protect Cora because she’s so special, but I constantly worry about you, too. You also have magic. You’re not immune to danger because you’re an adult. Andrew needs to protect his sister, but I don’t want him to feel the way I do all the time.”
“We have security teams,” she reminds me. “They love our girl, too. Andrew doesn’t have to worry about his sister. If we do our jobs right, he’ll do it anyway because he loves her.”
She’s right, I know. It’s logical, but it doesn’t help ease my mind at all. “He’s going to be King someday.”
“Yes, he will,” she says, gently playing with the hairs on my chest.
“It’s too much for a small baby,” I say softly, feeling ridiculous for feeling this way.
She smiles, reaching up and placing her hand on my cheek. “YOU’RE King. His only job now is to be a baby, and then a little boy. When he’s older, he’ll start to learn, but only when he’s older.”
I sigh, my hand gently rubbing her back. “I was always in the office with dad, learning everything about what to do and how to do it.”
“And I was in Lunar Falls cooking,” she says with a smile. “I had no clue I would be Queen one day until I met you. He doesn’t have to prepare now. Let him be a kid and then teach him later. I had people to help me and he will have the same when it’s his time.”
I take a deep breath, letting her words sink in. She’s got a point. She jumped right in and with my mom’s guidance, she’s been an amazing queen so far, and has had two kids and another on the way. Andrew will be fine just being a kid and learning the job later.
“I’m worried about Cora,” she says to me so softly that I almost don’t hear her. “I… I can’t teach her how to use her magic. I don’t know anything.”
Oh, my sweet girl. She rarely ever talks about the magic she has. So much so that I forget that she even has the ability most of the time, though knowing it makes her a target never leaves my mind. “She’ll learn.”
“We need to spend more time with Lily,” she tells me. “I… I know she did what she did for my safety. I understand that she didn’t have a choice. But Magic just scares me, and Cora had that burst of magic the moment she was born. It’s so powerful.”
I hold her close to me, gently rubbing her back. I saw first-hand just how scared Molly was when Cora first moved something, but I didn’t realize it was this deep for her. “You also had a burst of magic when she was born. The three of you together made quite a wave.”
“I thought that’s what made the fighting stop and it made me feel better,” she admits. “But David said he called them off when he saw Lily. It didn’t stop anyone.”
“It made an impact, Love,” I tell her, thinking on what she’s said. “We don’t know that for sure. Have you talked to Lily about him yet?”
“No. There wasn’t time before we left. I think that Cora and I need to go visit for a bit. I need answers- about David and about what to do with her.”
“You just love her, Molls,” I say, kissing her head. “If you need to visit, then that’s fine. We can figure it out. But don’t do it because you are afraid of the magic. Go because you want to see Lily, because you want Cora to learn to use the gifts she has. Maybe you can come to terms with it and learn to use it yourself.”
She tenses and it causes me to worry, afraid that I’ve said something wrong. “There’s so much bad that can be done because of the magic.”
“And so much good,” I tell her, holding her to me. “You’re the kindest person I know, Love. Just because you CAN do bad doesn’t mean you will. Learn how to control it and teach our girl.”
Aksara