Luna. Chapter 80

(Lyra's POV)

Thursday afternoon brought unexpected domestic tranquility. Elena had offered to watch both Felix and Sally's kids along with Asher, turning the afternoon into an impromptu playdate. I found myself in the kitchen making snacks while children's laughter echoed through the house.

"Aunt Lyra, can we have the cookies with the sprinkles?" Maya, Sally's six-year-old, appeared at my elbow with the kind of hopeful expression that made saying no impossible.

"Of course, sweetheart. But only after you eat some fruit."

I arranged apple slices and grapes on plates, watching through the window as Asher and Tommy, Felix's four-year-old, built an elaborate fort out of couch cushions in the living room. Normal childhood chaos. It felt like a gift after weeks of supernatural drama.

"You look happy," Elena observed, entering the kitchen carrying her twin boys, one on each hip.

"I feel happy. It's nice to remember what normal family time looks like."

Elena set the twins down in their high chairs, where they immediately began banging plastic spoons against the trays in rhythmic delight.

"How's Victor feeling?"

"Much better. The doctors said he can come home tomorrow if his test results stay stable."

"And the house situation?"

I glanced around at the children playing peacefully in the next room. "Much better too. Morgana did an amazing job with the purification."

Elena nodded, but I could see concern in her expression. "Lyra, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Are you worried about the long-term effects? I mean, exposure to that level of dark energy for months..."

I'd been trying not to think about that. "What kind of long-term effects?"

"I don't know. That's what worries me. There's not much research on how cursed objects affect children with psychic abilities."

As if summoned by our conversation, Asher appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"Mama, Tommy says his daddy told him that some people can taste colors. Is that true?"

I looked at Elena, who raised an eyebrow. Asher's synesthetic abilities weren't exactly a secret, but I'd been trying to keep them from becoming neighborhood gossip.

"Some people experience things differently than others," I said carefully. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I told Tommy that fear tastes like metal and happiness tastes like vanilla, and he thought I was making it up."

Elena knelt down to Asher's eye level. "That's a very special ability you have. Not everyone can taste emotions."

"I know. Mama says it makes me unique." Asher looked at me seriously. "But Tommy thinks it's weird."

"Different isn't weird," Elena said firmly. "Different is interesting. The world would be boring if everyone was exactly the same."

Asher considered this, then nodded and ran back to his fort-building project.

"He's handling everything remarkably well," Elena observed.

"He's resilient. But I worry about him growing up feeling like he has to hide who he is."

"Is that what you're planning to teach him? To hide?"

The question caught me off guard. "I want to teach him to be safe."

"Those aren't always the same thing."

I thought about that as I finished preparing snacks. Was I teaching Asher to be cautious, or was I teaching him to be afraid of his own abilities?

"Elena, how do you balance protecting your children with letting them be themselves?"

She laughed, gesturing at her twin boys, who were now attempting to feed applesauce to their stuffed animals. "I have no idea. I make it up as I go along and hope for the best."

"That's reassuring."

"Parenting isn't about having all the answers, Lyra. It's about loving your kids enough to figure things out together."

Felix appeared in the kitchen then, his shirt covered in what looked like finger paint and his hair sticking up in several directions.

"Your son is an artist," he announced. "A very enthusiastic, very messy artist."

"What did he paint?"

"Everything. The coffee table, three couch cushions, and most of Tommy's face."

I could hear water running in the bathroom and Sally's voice patiently explaining why paint belonged on paper, not on furniture.

"This is nice," I said, looking around at the controlled chaos that was my house full of friends and children.

"What is?"

"This. Normal problems. Paint on furniture instead of cursed objects in bedrooms."

Elena smiled. "You deserve normal problems."

"Do I?"

"Everyone does. Even celestial wolves with psychically gifted children."

Felix grabbed a handful of grapes from the snack plate. "Speaking of which, have you thought more about what Sally and I discussed? About finding the book on celestial wolf abilities?"

"Actually, yes. I talked to Aria about it last night."

"And?"

"And there's a problem. She can't connect with our lunar energy source. Something's been blocking the connection since my transformation."

Elena and Felix exchanged glances that made me think this wasn't entirely surprising news.

"Have you talked to anyone about that?" Elena asked carefully.

"Not yet. Why?"

"Because blocked lunar connections aren't uncommon in celestial wolves who've experienced trauma. Sometimes the psyche creates barriers to protect itself from overwhelming power."

"Or," Felix added, "sometimes the barriers are created by external forces. People who don't want celestial wolves accessing their full abilities."

I thought about the systematic attacks on my family, the careful planning that had gone into each threat.

"You think someone deliberately severed my connection to lunar energy."

"I think it's worth investigating," Felix said. "Especially since it would explain why you haven't been able to access any protective abilities despite having a powerful celestial bloodline."

The front door opened and closed, followed by Kael's voice calling, "Lyra? I brought dinner from that Thai place you like."

"In the kitchen," I called back.

He appeared in the doorway carrying bags of takeout containers, his expression shifting from casual to alert as he took in the domestic scene.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Just a playdate," Elena said, standing up. "Which reminds me, I should get these two home for their naps."

She began gathering her twins, who protested loudly about leaving their stuffed animal tea party.

"I should go too," Felix said. "Tommy's probably painted half your bathroom by now."

"Felix?" I caught his arm as he headed toward the chaos in the living room. "Thank you. For offering to help with the celestial wolf research. It means a lot."

"We're family, Lyra. That's what family does."

After everyone left and the house was cleaned up, I found myself sitting at the kitchen table with Kael, sharing pad thai and thinking about what Elena had said.

"Good afternoon?" he asked.

"Surprisingly good. It felt normal for a few hours."

"Normal is underrated."

"Is it? Because I'm starting to think normal might be exactly what we need more of."

Kael studied my face. "What's really on your mind?"

"I've been thinking about Asher. About how to raise him to be proud of his abilities instead of afraid of them."

"And?"

"And I think that starts with me learning to be proud of mine instead of afraid of them."

It was the closest I'd come to admitting that maybe, just maybe, I was ready to stop running from who I was supposed to be.