Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
It had certainly been an interesting year. Although few had expected the Queen to abdicate so early, her decision hadn’t come as much of a surprise to Seyn. Her strained relationship with Ksar hadn’t improved over the years despite Harry’s continued attempts to make them all love each other. Seyn didn’t have the heart to tell Harry that his efforts were pointless and some things couldn’t be fixed.
It was obvious that Ksar and his mother’s strained relationship had been affecting their ability to present a united front in the Council, so Seyn hadn’t been particularly surprised by the Queen’s decision: Queen Tamirs might have been a poor mother, but she had always been an excellent queen who cared for the good of her clan. With her abdicating and with Ksar not having an heir, Seyn had to take the second seat in the Council as Ksar’s Consort. Unfortunately, until their son reached his age of majority, Seyn would be the one dealing with old farts like Councilor Xuvok. It was the main downside of being married to Ksar.
Not that their married life was perfect. It might have been emotionally satisfying, but it had been challenging in other ways. Thankfully, the scandal had been forgotten quickly enough, the gossipmongers moving on to a new, much bigger scandal involving Jamil. Seyn hadn’t envied his brother, but it had been a relief; they’d had enough challenges as a newly married couple without the added pressure of public scrutiny.
His and Ksar’s relationship had never exactly been calm and quiet, and that hadn’t changed with their marriage. Ksar still drove him absolutely crazy half of the time. He could be such an asshole to people, ruthless and single-minded when he had a goal in sight. More often than not, Seyn loved watching Ksar reduce some self-important ass on the Council to tears, but sometimes Ksar took it too far and it pissed Seyn off. They had ugly fights every few months, but their fights never lasted long. They were terrible at staying away from each other, always had been, so they always ended up seeking each other out, apologizing, and having sex. Seyn could never stay angry when Ksar kissed him tenderly, need evident in his every touch. Makeup sex was the greatest thing in the world, in Seyn’s opinion.
“It was a compliment,” Ksar said, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek, nuzzling into him slightly. “And you’re right: visiting our son is more important than listening to Xuvok.”
Seyn beamed at him, not even caring anymore how dopey and besotted his smile probably looked. He was besotted with his husband; it was something he’d accepted a long time ago.
“He’s just fallen asleep,” Seyn said, slipping his hand into Ksar’s and turning back to the womb.
“He looks like you,” Ksar said, squeezing his hand. “He has your hair.”
Seyn wrinkled his nose and looked dubiously at the few wisps of hair on the baby’s head. “It might change yet,” he said, unsure why Ksar was so insistent that their son looked like Seyn when it clearly wasn’t the case. They hadn’t used genetic engineering, but Seyn could already tell that the baby was going to be Ksar’s little copy, the color of his hair notwithstanding.
“Why do you want him to look like me?” he murmured, putting his head on Ksar’s shoulder.
He could feel Ksar’s inner turmoil through their bond, but he didn’t try to peek. Ksar would tell him when he wanted to.
For a long while, Ksar was silent, playing with Seyn’s fingers idly as they watched their unborn son sleep.
“I think it will be easier for me,” Ksar said at last, haltingly, “to love him if he looks like you.”
Seyn felt his throat constrict. Ksar didn’t talk about feelings often—that hadn’t changed much over the years—so it never failed to make Seyn feel special whenever Ksar told him that he loved him.
Seyn blinked the tears away and looked at Ksar. “For such an intelligent man, you can be such an idiot sometimes. It’s a good thing you have me to tell you when you’re being dumb.”
Ksar put his other arm around him and pulled him closer. “It’s a good thing I have you,” he said, his gaze heavy and intense as their eyes met.
Seyn would never get enough of this—this feeling of being the most important thing in Ksar’s world—and he couldn’t deny how heady it was, even after years together. Fuck, he loved this man, loved him so much. In a way, he could almost understand Ksar’s fears. Deep down, Seyn was a little afraid he wouldn’t love his children as much as he loved their father, that they would always come second. But rationally, he knew his fears were unfounded. One’s capacity for love wasn’t limited.
“You’re going to be a great father,” he said firmly, burying his fingers in Ksar’s hair and pulling him down to press their foreheads together. “Trust me.”