Alpha's Surprise Baby(21)

     



 

- Rock Quarterly



"Even after a tumultuous year in which he had a child, found her after  she was kidnapped, and got married, Kade of Ignis Lupus did an  incredible job with his third album, Embers. The raw emotions of his  experiences, many of which happened during recording, come through  powerfully in the lyrics, which are just as moving as the strong  melodies."

- Shifter Sound Mag

"It looks like people liked it after all," I said, skimming over the clippings Kade had collected. "The critics came through."

"What a relief," he said, slumping on the couch next to me. Zoey jumped  in his arms and he cuddled her, wrapping his arms tight around her. "But  now I don't know what direction I want to go in."

"Do you have to decide now? You still have the tour to get through." I  put an arm around his shoulder, pulling the two closer to me and resting  my head on Kade's. His hair smelled sweet and fresh.

"I guess not," he said. "But I'm the kind of person who's always looking  toward the future. I want to know what my next step is."

"Maybe you should take a page out of my book," I said. "Just float along  the river of life and see what happens to you. Maybe you'll stumble  upon someone who changes your life when you least expect it."

He wriggled out from under me and kissed me. "Ew!" said Zoey. "Kisses! Ew!"

"You get kisses too!" I said, taking her head gently and laying a  comically loud kiss on her head. She went into fits of giggles.

"You ready to go on a big trip with us?" he asked her.

"Yeah!" she said, grinning at us.

She had no idea what she was in for. The tour was going to be a hard  trip to bring a kid on, but we couldn't leave her with someone else for  two whole months. There was a lot she'd have to deal with, and a lot  we'd have to put up with, too. But it was going to be an amazing  experience for her, and she was going to be the most well-traveled kid  at her new school in the fall.

"Where we gonna go?" she asked.

"All over," I said. "We're going to go to almost every state in the  country. It's going to take two months to see all the places."

"Two months?" she said, her eyes wide. It was an extraordinarily long time for her to conceptualize.

"Mm-hmm," said Kade. "That's what, one fifth of your life to date? It's  gonna be crazy, but you'll be fine. You'll get to see all sorts of cool  things."

"Okay," she said, skeptical. "We gonna eat ice cream?"

"Lots of ice cream," I said. Ever since the ice skating excursion, she  had developed a fascination with ice cream that had surpassed even her  love of nature and animals.

"More ice cream than you're going to be able to eat," said Kade.

"Nuh-uh." She didn't believe us.

"Trust me on this," I said. "We'll eat a hundred boxes of ice cream. You think you can handle that?"

"Yeah!" she cried. She burst into giggles and we squeezed her close,  taking in her fresh baby smell. Her hair had become long and golden, and  we braided it into pigtails often. Her eyes, once a milky blue, had  become a greenish color. She was a little angel.

"I love you so much, honey," said Kade, burying his face in her hair.

"I love you even more," I murmured, as I gathered them both up in my arms.

She wriggled her way out of Kade's arms so that her little face popped  up again. "I love daddy and daddy the most!" she said, beaming at us  like she was pleased with herself.

I was the happiest guy in the world in that moment.