She rolled her eyes and said, “Right you are.” She looked at me and explained, “I have family duties that take a great deal of my time, so while I hated to hire a nanny for my babies, it seemed the best option, and it’s working out well, so far.”
“How old are they?” I asked. Brain had told me they were triplets, but hadn’t told me much more about the kids.
Sophia glanced at Brain, back to me. “You’ve probably figured out they aren’t human, but my telling you they’re ten months old will still seem odd when you see what appears to be three very rambunctious eighteen month old toddlers.” She shrugged and explained, “They’ll stay about this size for the next year, so from that point on their size will seem about normal for a human child, though their intelligence will give them away as being much smarter. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more, but Aaron’s being quite possessive and secretive towards those who don’t already know, and I need to do what I can to soothe the overprotective beast.”
Her genuine smile told me how much she loved her husband and children, and even so, she was sorry for the secrecy.
“I’d love to meet them, and please don’t apologize, I’m sure he’s doing what he feels necessary to keep his family safe.”
Brain chuckled and said, “And I don’t blame him a bit. I hope to eventually be able to tell you the whole story, but I’ll respect Aaron’s wishes. I think I hear his car in the driveway though, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Yes,” said Jonathan, still standing near the door, “he’s here.” He nodded to Sophia. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned to me and said, “It was nice to meet you, Harmony. Brain looks happy, so I’ll assume you’re good for him.” His gaze shifted to Brain and he added, “Good to see you again. I’m leaving them in your care a few minutes while I touch base with Aaron, and then he’ll be in.”
Sophia shook her head and said, “Jonathan’s been with me since I was a child, and was never allowed physical contact with me in human form. He’ll hug me, now, when I insist, but he still acts all formal in front of other people. Drives me crazy.” She nodded to the food. “My little darlings will decimate the appetizers when they come up, no matter they’re eating now. If you want something else, you should go ahead and get it. Make yourself a plate — they won’t bother what’s yours.”
I followed Brain’s lead and put a few items on a plate, and set it to the side. I jumped in my seat a few minutes later at a high pitched squeal from downstairs, and Sophia laughed. “My daughters love their daddy. He’ll bring them all up once they calm down from welcoming him home.”
We talked another couple of minutes, and then quieted as we heard a melee of voices coming up the steps.
Two pudgy, adorable toddlers, a girl and a boy, ran in and climbed Brain, repeating some form of, “Brain! You’re here! Mom, it’s Brain!” over and over.
Aaron was holding a beautiful, wiggly, girl, and when he put her down, she also ran to Brain, adding her adorable, little-girl voice to the chaos.
And Brain’s smile was huge, bigger than I’d ever seen it, as he alternated hugging the toddlers with play-wrestling them.
When they finally settled down, one girl was wrapped around his torso, the boy was standing on Brain’s leg with his arms wrapped around Brain’s neck, and the other girl was sitting on the big-bad-werewolf’s leg, leaned against his side.
“I’m happy to see the three of you again, too, but I hadn’t expected this rambunctious of a welcome.” He looked to Sophia and said, “They haven’t seen me in five or six months, I’m surprised they remember me.”
“Which goes to show,” said Aaron, “it’s never a good idea to underestimate my kind. The two of you may be geniuses by human and wolf standards, but not by all.” He looked to me and said, “May I introduce Sapphire, Emerald, and Hunter. I’m sure you can guess which is my son. Sapphire is wrapped around him like a parasite, Emerald is sitting on his leg.”
Hunter turned his eyes to me, as if just noticing a stranger in the room, and I felt as if I were being analyzed by an ancient soul in a tiny body. “You smell like Brain.” It was baby talk in that he said his L’s and R’s as W’s, but otherwise, it wasn’t. He didn’t ask it as a question, and yet it wasn’t an accusation. A statement of fact.
I wasn’t sure who to look at, as now all three of the toddlers were looking at me. Sapphire gave Brain a scalding look as she asked, “She b’longs to you?”