Luna. Chapter 166

I woke up to sunlight streaming through the bedroom windows and the feeling of Kael's arms still around me. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming.

Then I realized he was really there.

"You stayed," I whispered.

"I couldn't leave." His voice was rough with sleep. "I tried, but I got to the back door and just couldn't do it."

"What about Cordelia?"

"I sent her a message. Told her the meeting was moved to a secure location."

I turned in his arms so I could see his face. "You're taking a huge risk."

"You're worth it."

The morning light made his dark hair look almost blue. I'd always loved the way he looked first thing in the morning. Relaxed and unguarded.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Early. Just after sunrise."

We had hours before he needed to leave. Hours before the coalition meeting tonight. Hours to pretend we were just a normal couple expecting a baby.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"For food?"

I laughed. "Among other things."

"I'm hungry for everything with you."

We made love again, lazy and sweet in the morning light. No desperation this time. Just the simple joy of being together.

Afterward, we went downstairs to make breakfast. Kael cooked while I sat at the kitchen table, watching him move around my kitchen like he belonged there.

"This feels normal," I said.

"Good normal or scary normal?"

"Good normal."

He flipped pancakes with the same precision he brought to everything else. "I want more mornings like this."

"So do I."

"After we deal with the king, after we stop the Ashwalkers, I want to wake up next to you every day."

"Is that a proposal?"

"It's a promise."

We ate breakfast together, talking about everyday things. Asher's latest inventions. The baby's due date. Plans for renovating the nursery.

It was easy to forget, for a little while, that we were in the middle of a war.

Around nine, Asher came downstairs, took one look at us, and grinned.

"Dad! You stayed!"

Kael lifted him up for a hug. "Just for a little while, buddy."

"Are you coming to my science project presentation next week?"

Kael and I exchanged glances. Next week felt impossibly far away given everything that was happening.

"I'll do my best," Kael said.

"What's your project about?" I asked, wanting to redirect the conversation.

"How plants grow differently when you play music for them." Asher's face lit up. "I've been playing classical music for some seeds and rock music for others."

"Which ones are growing better?"

"The classical music ones. But the rock music ones look more interesting."

Kael laughed. "That sounds about right."

We spent the morning like a real family. Playing games, working on Asher's project, planning the baby's nursery. For a few hours, the outside world didn't exist.

But as afternoon approached, reality crept back in.

"I need to start getting ready for tonight," I said.

"And I need to leave soon," Kael added.

"Can't Dad stay for the meeting?" Asher asked.

"It's too dangerous, baby," I explained. "But he'll be thinking about us."

"Will you be back soon?" Asher asked his father.

"As soon as I can."

"Promise?"

Kael knelt down to Asher's level. "I promise I'll do everything I can to come home to you and Mom and your baby sister."

"And you'll stay safe?"

"I'll be very careful."

Asher hugged him tightly. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, son."

After Asher went upstairs to play, Kael and I had a few minutes alone.

"Last night changed everything," I said.

"For the better?"

"Definitely for the better."

He pulled me into his arms. "I want this, Lyra. I want us. Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes," I agreed.

"Even if it means going to war with my brother?"

"Even then."

He kissed me softly. "When this is over, we're going to have the life we should have had all along."

"I'm holding you to that."

"Good."

As the afternoon wore on, we made plans for his exit strategy and my approach to the coalition meeting.

"Remember, don't give Kane any real intelligence," he said. "But make sure he feels included."

"And if he asks direct questions about our capabilities?"

"Lie convincingly."

"I can do that."

"I know you can."

Around four o'clock, Kael started gathering his things.

"It's time," he said.

"I know."

Neither of us wanted this to end.

"The next time I see you, everything will be different," he said.

"Better or worse?"

"Better. It has to be better."

He kissed me goodbye, long and thorough, like he was trying to memorize the moment.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too."

"Take care of our babies."

"Take care of yourself."

After he left, I stood in the empty kitchen feeling the loss like a physical ache. But underneath the sadness was something new.

Hope.

For the first time in months, I believed we might actually have a future together.

Now I just had to make sure we all survived long enough to claim it.