Shady

Ky cocked her head to the side. “Who, sir?”

“Hopefully so,” Ky said encouragingly. “Are you excited to see him again? Despite everything?”

“Do you think…?” Ky glanced up at him, suddenly remembering that she wasn’t being careful and guarded like she usually was. This was a delicate matter. It wouldn’t do to ...

Ky smiled. It was so nice to see how utterly infatuated with his children he was. To imagine how her Papa must have felt about her. “I can’t wait to ...

“Makes sense,” Ky answered. She wondered what it was about her that made her parents look at her and think Kylia . It was a pretty name. Maybe they thought ...

“Yes, sir,” Ky agreed with a smile. “Do you have names picked out?”

“That’s exciting!” Ky said, mirroring his energy. “Tie-breaker, eh? Are you hoping for another son or a daughter?”

That was adorable . Ky barely stopped herself before she said as much. Instead, she smiled and said, “That’s really sweet. I’m glad you found each other.”

Ky started after him, realizing it seemed like something he didn’t want to talk about. So she went back to where she had originally been planning to go with her ...

Ky blinked. She was aware that he wasn’t an Ash — his name itself was a testament to that. But even though he grew up with the Ashes, she couldn’t ...

“Oh.” She supposed that made sense. And was a solid plan. She appreciated the effort he was putting into helping her overcome her inferiority complex. But it gave her pause, ...

“Yes, sir!” Ky popped to her feet, then glanced around, suddenly remembering that they were standing in the middle of a flight of stairs. “Where… were we going, before… all ...

"Yes, sir!" She was buzzing with enthusiasm, delighted he was egging her on. "Thank you, sir! This is... so much better."

"Yes, sir!" she said, stiil grinning. She thought back to all her aspirations from when she was a child. She liked remembering this side of herself. It was refreshing to ...

Ky grinned, perking up. The thought was exhilarating . That there was actually hope for the future. The chance of finding her happily ever after. "Then maybe I should start ...