Prince Ezra
I braced myself for the question as I looked away from Adonis briefly and to the toddler in his arms. Named after the very man himself, Zekie, a nickname for Ezekiel, didn't have a clue on why my face suddenly turned from pleasant to as if I had eaten a sour grape.
His brain was far too young to comprehend the full extent of the question as he played with his father's hair.
"I will get around to it," I looked back at Adonis whose eyes were already intently looking at my face with a look of understanding only a parent could have had. Apollo, Iris and I were siblings. We bickered when I got comfortable enough to do so and did all kinds of wild things together during the days I could actually pull myself out of bed.
Adonis always felt like a parent. The wise older siblings you went to for advice and guidance, not for shots or falling off trees together. That was something we all appreciated and over time as they got used to Ma, they treated her like a mother and that brought us even closer together.
"We all hide from the skeletons in our closet," he sighed and then focused on his lap thoughtfully, "we bury them deep in a dusty closet, lock them away and throw the key in the ocean praying over time the metal will corrode away. However, no matter how much we want to pretend it never existed to begin with. We know deep down, somewhere out there that closet still exists and the only excuse for us to not open it would be a key.
"Go see him Ezra, you'll find yourself at peace that you did," he softly smiled to me and I held my breath.
Only he could deliver what everyone had been telling me to do in a way that felt so loaded with guilt. He probably saw right through me. Saw that I was travelling the world doing the king's work to forget about my past.
I cleared my throat and nodded. "I'll try."
"You will. Especially this week. More importantly this week," he looked at his son and pressed a kiss on his forehead. "It's your uncle's birthday this week."
"Uncle Ezzie?" Zekie grinned at me and my heart melted. How did Adonis and Cloud have such adorable children?
"Uncle Ezekiel, that's why we're having a party for him," he smiled. "You're going to grow up to be just as great as him. I know you will." Zekie laughed, not understanding the weight the sentence held and wiggled his way out of his fathers arms to go play with his siblings and cousin. "He's just like him."
"Curious, hard headed and authoritative," I said, having broken down Ezekiel's character enough in my head to know the adjectives that described him perfectly.
"Curious yes, hard headed most definitely but most importantly big hearted. He's young but you can see he'll do anything for his siblings," he looked into his children as Luna tripped whilst chasing the twins but Zekie was right there to pick her up. "He will lift you up to heights you didn't know you could achieve."
I looked at the children and yearned that one day I would have had the opportunity to look at my children the same. That dream had long perished six years ago. The desire died more and more when I knew they wouldn't have the same green-brown eyes.
"You won't believe what Iris just said!" Apollo came back into the room pulling Adonis and I out of our discussion. "She can't come over because she's not feeling well."
"Well that's understandable she's pregnant," Cloud frowned. "Do you think we should send the doctors for her? Maybe some soup as well."
"Gino has it handled," Apollo sighed. "The first time the entire family is in the city together, she's too pregnant to come over."
"You clearly haven't dealt with child birth to know that your statement would get you killed if you were in a room with heavily pregnant women," Maria laughed as she wrapped her arms around her husband's waist. "We still have tomorrow. I'm sure she'll feel then."
"Then I guess dinner can start," Adonis stood up with a grunt and within seconds Cloud was by his side as casual as possible. We all knew how much Adonis hated to feel like he needed help to stand therefore we all found our subtle ways in doing so without him noticing.
Dinner was filled with chatter and laughter. The entire family filled in the gaps of the events that had happened within the palace whilst I had been away. Each encounter, reenactment or joke made me feel more guilty that I had kept my distance for so long.
When the children had gone off to get ready for bed and a bottle of wine was opened I found myself laughing harder. Forgetting my troubles long enough that I almost felt like me again.
"Look at you! That smile. We haven't seen that smile since you won elections. A Prince already has enough on their plate. Why in the world would you add more to that by being a minister?" Apollo snickered as we sat around the sun room.
"That's because he enjoys calling the shots," Thea giggled as she sat on my lap constantly holding up a glass of wine to my lips.
"He's doing an excellent job. Kommos security has never been stronger," Cloud gloated. "We were voted the safest country in the world for a reason."
"Thank you Cloud for the great compliment," I grinned. "If it wasn't for Thea's technological mind I wouldn't be this far."
"You should get involved with the new drones Thea, that was your field of speciality," Maria just had to add salt to a very argument filled wound for Thea and I.
"Oh that's if great Prince Ezra will let me," she smiled and looked at me. "You know since I'm going to be your wife and all."
"I'm not stepping into this trap," I chuckled then gulped down my wine to give me strength.