“I WANT TO SEE THE CHILDREN,” Xavran demanded the moment we made it back to the crozan.
We’d been examined by a medic on the rescue aircraft. We’d also gotten a chance to wash the sand from our hands and faces and to clean the bug’s blood off Xavran’s forearm horns. But we were still wearing the same dusty clothes.
Sand sifted from my hair onto my shoulders with every step I took. I badly needed a bath. But I also wanted to make sure that the kids were alright.
A crew member gestured down the hallway. “The children are in their suite. They’re asleep now, but we have a drone watching over them.”
Xavran took off toward the kids’ room. I hurried alongside him.
The suite wasn’t entirely dark. Soft flickering lights under the ceiling imitated the glow of the flying insects from Xavran’s garden home. The kids’ bedrooms were on the opposite sides of the common area. The doors to both were open. A red, glossy drone noiselessly hovered between the doors.
Xavran tiptoed to the room on the right.
“Daddy?” a sleepy voice called. “You’re back!” Ene sat in her bed, rubbing her eyes.
“Shh.” Xavran rushed to her. “You’ll wake up your sister.”
Ene hugged his neck.
“I’m not sleeping,” Illal’s little voice sounded from her bed nearby. She made a move to get out of bed, but Xavran came to her next, giving her a hug too. “I knew you’d be fine, Daddy. I told everyone you’d be alright.”
“No. You cried,” her sister set her straight. “It was Xilvo who said Dad knew what to do in the desert, that he’d be fine, and that he’d look after Susanna.”
Illal just smiled. “Whatever.” She stretched her arms to me for a hug next. “Xilvo said that, but I knew it too. I knew you’d be fine, Susanna.” She hugged me tightly. “Because Daddy would take care of you. He’s great at that.”
“He sure is.” I smiled. “He saved me from a giant bug.”
“A giant bug?” Xilvo ran from the boys’ bedroom across the living area. “Which one was it? Did you kill it, Dad?”
“Are you awake, too?” Xavran frowned but caught the boy in his arms for a cuddle when he ran to him.
“Ivex isn’t sleeping, either.” Xilvo giggled. “He’s just slow getting out of bed.”
The second boy was already running our way. He crashed into my side at full speed, wrapping his arms around my middle. “You’re back!”
Xavran laughed.
“Well, if you’re all up, how about a family hug?” He wrapped his arms around Ivex and me. The other three kids joined us, plastering themselves to us from all sides.
I smiled, feeling all warm and gooey inside. “It feels so good to be back, you guys.”
“We need to have a celebration,” Illal declared.
Xavran raised an eyebrow ridge. “A celebration?”
“Ooh, yes! A party!” The boys jumped around us.
“What for?” Xavran shook his head.
“Well, we have a few reasons. We made it back from the desert in one piece.” I counted off on my fingers. “You’re coming home next week...”
“Mara is gone,” Ene added, matching my tone of voice while sticking out a finger.
“Um...” I glanced at her. “Is that really a cause for celebration?”
Ene blanched, but Illal nodded. “Yeah, I couldn’t stand her whining about how terrible Diria was.”
“Diria is nice.” Ivex shrugged. “Mara just doesn’t like the same things we do.”
The kids had been paying attention all along, it seemed.
“A party it is then,” Xavran conceded.
Ene furrowed her forehead, pressing her lips together. “Except that no one would come.”
“Oh, right.” Illal nodded. “Kessra is having a party next week too.”
“We can have ours the week after,” I suggested. “Maybe the weekend before your dad goes back to work?” I glanced at Xavran.
“I’m planning to change my schedule a bit,” he announced. “I’ve decided to share the job with another captain.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
He grinned at me. “That means I’d work for only half a month, then be at home for the other half. That’ll give me more time to spend with the children.” He leaned my way, lowering his voice a bit. “And you.”
His face was so close to mine, it was all I could do not to steal a kiss from him. I refrained only for the sake of the children.
“That’s wonderful.” I smiled at him. “You see, guys, we can have the party the week after Kessra’s. Your father will still be home.”
The excitement appeared to have evaporated from the girls, though.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
Illal made a long face. “Kessra’s parties are the best. No one will want to come to ours after hers.”
“Nonsense! There can never be too many parties.” I propped my hands on my hips. “Besides, who said hers are the best?”
“Everyone,” the boys drawled in unison.
I sat on the bed, getting down to their eye level. “Listen. I promise we’ll have a party like no one in Diria has ever seen before. Everyone will come because no one will want to miss it.”
“Really?”
I smiled with confidence.
“I may not have many talents. I can’t put an outfit together as brilliantly as Mara or make the cauldron dinner as delicious as your father, but there is one thing I’m really, really good at. I can throw a fantastic party. You’ll see. It’ll be truly out of this world.”