Ethan and Evelyn were both bright, inquisitive kids and wanted plenty of attention. From the moment they learned to speak they were always babbling, talking to their invisible friends and playing games of their own invention.
At times it almost seemed there were ten kids rather than two, as if all the imaginary friends were real and had to be chased and looked after as well. To Devin it was almost terrifying, despite the fact that Katharyn looked in her element and happy.
And then there were times when he fully understood her. When he guided little Evelyn in her first steps, when he saw unconditional love and trust in her eyes, he felt his life had purpose.
This was much better than anything the Fae could ever give him or anything he could steal from them.
Devin almost stopped expecting expecting it, when his domestic bliss was invaded from the outside. Perhaps when he remembered the Fae he had inadvertently attracted their attention. Or perhaps they had been looking for him ever since he managed to steal part of their magic and only now managed to find him. All he knew was that when he felt the now familiar blue light concentrate on him and once again lift him into the sky, there was anger in it.
What happened next was in a blur, but the sensations of fear and pain were far too clear. He remembered angry faces, screaming, lost of it his own, and something being ripped from out of him. And then nothing, until he woke up on the cold ground outside his home again.
For a while the fear was the only thing he knew and he screamed before he realised he was doing it. Only then he started noticing familiar surroundings and Katharyn's anxious face hovering over him.
He forced himself to focus on reality and at least pretend calm until he could feel that way inside. He didn't want to scare anyone, especially when there was no way Katharyn could help him.
"I... think I had a nightmare?" He said with a fake smile, but Katharyn still didn't look too convinced.
"I'm all right. Really." He hugged her tight and her warm embrace almost made it so. Only when he finally relaxed in her arms did Katharyn accept his reassurance and even then she looked more resigned than convinced.
Devin let her lead him to bed, but he wasn't able to sleep. He just lay there with his eyes closed and listened to Katharyn and the twins breathing, not daring to even move.
Only in the morning he could run to his shed, which was still hiding all the parts of his life he couldn't share with anyone else. Everything that didn't fit with his family.
He opened the book he had stolen from the Fae to a random page an suddenly he didn't dare look. He was sure there was something wrong with him, he had felt wrong the whole night, but he was afraid to be sure.
But he couldn't stay in the shed for too long. Katharyn might noticed and she couldn't know.
He looked in the book and his suspicion was proven right. The words appeared blurred, floating on the page and completely illegible. Devin didn't even need to try the simple spell to know it wouldn't work, but he tried it anyway and caught himself just in time before he could try something bigger. Or before he could scream. Everything concerning magic had been taken from him and he felt violated and robbed.
But life had to go on and life did go on, without any changes that would be visible for his family. Eventually Devin almost managed to convince himself that he didn't want to risk provoking the Fae again, that his family, the life that was out in the open and in the light, was the only part he ever needed and ever wanted.
The twins' birthday came and went and by then the secret life felt more like a dream than anything real.
Devin had thought that when Ethan and Evelyn started going to school, he and Katharyn would finally have some time for each other, but it seemed at most they were two steps behind instead of ten. The twins' world was growing wider and every day they had new questions and new games they wanted to try.
But soon life settled into a new pleasant routine, from morning meal to bedtime story.
Everything seemed perfect.
Every day Katharyn gave thanks to the Watcher for all the gifts she had received. She hoped for a big family with many children, but she was confident everything would come in time with Watcher's blessing.
When she started once again feeling ill in the morning, she wanted to tell Devin immediately, but something stopped her. Maybe it was superstition and fear that there some things could be too good to be true, maybe it was just a desire to surprise him when she was certain. But even though each bout of nausea filled her with joy, she kept silent and waited for the right moment to share the news.
Elena's life was going in a similar was to that of her cousin. With Tristan gone to find his own place in the world the house felt truly hers, to be kept and given to her children. Malcolm had stopped talking about a new house,
Adrian was a happy baby and Elena made sure he had everything he needed and plenty of attention, unlike her and her brother.
It didn't take long until she was with child again and little Adrian got a younger brother. Malcolm was beside himself with pride and joy and full of plans. He would make sure both boys - and all children that were sure to follow - would have great lives, taking over his smithy, maybe even becoming knights or marrying into nobility. If Delia could do it, why not their future daughter?
The only cloud in Elena's sky was Malcolm's work. She knew he only wanted to care for his growing family and was grateful for that. She knew it as the responsible thing to do, that her own carefree parents were lucky to afford the life they had lead. But with Malcolm spending almost all his time in his smithy, she often felt lonely.
She missed the intimacy between them, or even just feeling wanted and important. Now it felt like Malcolm often didn't even see her, too exhausted to pay attention to anything besides the endless cycle of work, food and bed. And when he did have time for anything else, he was more likely to give it to the boys than to her.
The boys were quickly growing an the house seemed full of them. Especially Adrian, the older brother, was bright, active and eager to explore. He didn't seem to be afraid of anything, not the dark, not ghosts and invented boogieman meant to keep him inside, and not real dangers like wild beasts that could be roaming the woods. None of them had ever hurt him and none of the stories his mother told him could beat that simple fact.
One night Adrian even met a real beast of the woods. He sneaked outside to chase fireflies, laughing as their tiny lights flew around his head and following them further away from the house than his moth would ever let him on his own. He didn't even notice how far he was, so engrossed in his game and the lights that he only realised two of them were in fact eyes of something huge mere inches from a mouth full of sharp teeth.
And then, before Adrian could decide whether he should start crying, the beast sniffed him and walked away, leaving the boy to feel brave and powerful like a hero of fairy-tales.
Damien had in his old age found a quiet harbour that he never imagined he might like. He had never thought himself a family man and most of his life was spent avoiding any kind of responsibility, but after Anna died and his two grandsons were born, his love of crowds and adventure mostly left him.
He helped around the house and with taking care of the boys, but he was slowly growing more and more tired, his bones aching with the weather. So he mostly rested, wondered, how he had come to all this... and felt strangely content.
Content enough, that when he awoke from a nap one evening to see a dark hooded shape bending over him, he didn't even feel fear.
"So... this is it?" He murmured, getting up to follow the figure's beckoning finger. "Time to go? Where? What..." comes after? He didn't manage to finish. As he made a few steps towards the Reaper, the fear finally came. He had never payed much attention to religion, even when he was growing up in a convent, but the priests of the Watcher always said after death came reckoning and reward or punishment for one's life. And he wasn't so blind as to see his life had been far from perfect.
He stopped, hesitating when the dark figure beckoned him again. And then the understanding came, as clear as if the Reaper had spoken.
"What comes after is another adventure. Another... party."
Elena knew her father was old and she thought she was prepared for his death, but it still shocked her. Without him napping on his bed, the house suddenly felt that much more empty. Fully hers now, for all it was worth, and suddenly much less wanted.
She wanted to cling to her family, but she couldn't share these thoughts with her overworked husband or little children. They needed her strong, there for them, supportive. Not broken from something that should have been natural and expected.
She went through the funeral and then did her best to hide most of her grief and only cried at night, when nobody could see her.
And it got better in time. At least in this the priest and everyone else had been right, it did get better. As weeks turned into months and eventually into years, the house started feeling like a true home again, the empty hole maybe not filled completely, but at least less visible.
The boys were growing, older Adrian excelling in school and his younger brother Ronan eager to imitate him and compete with him at the same time. They were healthy, active, bright, with amazing future in front of them.
Life was good.
What Elena didn't know was that Adrian's courage and brilliance went further than the games he so enjoyed. That he had never forgotten his encounter with the wolf with glowing eyes and been more intrigued than scared.
When he took to sneaking out at night and trying to find the creature again, Adrian took care that nobody saw him. And when he found the wolf again and managed to appease it with food sneaked out of the kitchen, he had even more reason for his secrecy. He had an adventure that was only his, a friend and maybe a protector that nobody knew about. And if it stayed that way, nobody could take it away from him.
