Devin looked so beautiful, even when he was just in casual clothes for around the house. He drifted across the kitchen in a forest green dress. It was long and flowy with a ruffled trim, but still left little to the imagination. With a body like his, it was near impossible to hide those luscious curves. Detachable sleeves began halfway down his arm, which further added to the earthy look he adorned. Often, Devin would dress very woodland like this and I absolutely adored it.

In the process of cooking dinner for our guests, he started to reach for something on a higher shelf. I quickly stopped him by pulling him down my his hips. Though he was actually taller than me and could reach it just fine, I stopped him because I didn't want him ripping open the cut healing on his torso. Mine is almost completely healed and it's only been about twenty four hours. His, though, would take a considerably longer time.

He has been ritualistically cleaning it over with a diluted wash of nectar from his tree. It'll help speed up the healing process and prevent infection. He's also drank a small glass of the nectar, concentrated. As I've explained before, the nectar of a dryad's tree has very strong healing properties. When I stumbled across Devin's cave all those years ago and he helped me out, he gave me Emerald's nectar to help me heal. That is considered the most generous gift a dryad can bestow upon you. Even back then, we'd do anything for each other, and nothing has changed.

"Mommy!" Dahlia cried as she rushed into the kitchen. She held up her finger, which had a little blood dripping down it. "Mommy, I got a paper cut."

"Oh, Sweetie." Devin cooed as he knelt down. "Come here and I'll fix it. Ricky-"

"On it." I replied as I was already halfway to the cabinet we kept bandages and medicine in.

Though I shouldn't let him stress his body by doing do, I let it go when Devin picked her up and put her on the counter. He very slyly rested his hand across his abdomen. Devin thinks I don't notice these things, but I do. Our bond has never been stronger after we finished our last love ritual, but I hate to see the aftermath of pain. It's a little philosophical, isn't it? You can't have true love without long lasting pain.

Being the angel of a mother he is, he very sweetly and patiently put everything on hold just for a tiny paper cut. Devin washed out her cut under the sink water, then wrapped it up with a roll of bandages I had handed him. He kissed her finger softly. "All better?" He asked. She nodded and sniffled. Devin frowned, "Something's still wrong?"

"Pearl is being mean and not playing fair. She stole Baxter from me." She pouted. Baxter being her favorite stuffed animal, I should clarify. She has about ten hundred but if anything happens to Baxter, stop the presses. The world is ending.

"You tell her if she doesn't give Baxter back, I'm going to feed her to uncle Kuza." I said.

"Ricky." Devin glared at me. He huffed, "Don't listen to daddy. I'm sure if you ask her nicely, she'll give him back to you. Okay? Mommy needs to finish dinner."

Dahlia jumped down from the counter, agreeing to try to play civilly with her sister. The two of them normally get along, but from time to time Pearl can get pushy. She's a lot like me in those regards. Whereas, Dahlia is very soft spoken like Devin. What neither of them have ever seen, or really anyone to my knowledge, is Devin does have a violent side. I don't even mean that sexually. When he has to defend his family, he will turn nasty. Much nastier than me. This still sounds sexual, doesn't it? Or maybe my mind is just stuck in the gutter.

"You know I like when you call me daddy." I spoke just above a whisper. Devin rolled his eyes and went back to chopping up carrots. I sighed and wrapped my arm around him from behind. "I'm kidding. You look gorgeous in that dress, by the way... But I know you hurt yourself when you picked Dahlia up."

He was oddly quiet. Devin seeped out a breath and murmured, "Um, just a little bit. I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" I asked with genuine concern. "You don't sound okay."

It felt like there was something he wasn't telling me. Devin hesitated in responding. He simply said, "I promise I'm alright."

"If you insist." I unhappily replied.

Something was off. I know my own husband. We've been together twenty years, had two kids, and both almost died a few times. I can see through his walls easily. The real question was, what was up with him? We have no secrets between each other. The more I thought about it, the more I grew worried.

| | |

Our small kitchen table had never been more full with people. We rarely ever saw guests. Ryan, on occasion, but that was it. I do miss being able to have such a big family feeling around the dinner table. The others certain enjoyed Devin's cooking as well. I'm used to Kuza and Josh being pigs, but Chris usually minds his manors better. I guess I took for granted how good of a cook my beauty is.

I noticed Devin didn't have much of an appetite. It was worrying me and I was beginning to think it could be related to our little moment earlier in the kitchen. There was only one other time he's ever acted like this, but I was slightly terrified to admit it could be the reality. We're stuck in a very poor spot in life right now.

"Ricky, have you come up with an answer yet for me?" Chris asked, "I'm planning on heading back home in the morning. I need to know."

I swallowed my pride as I pushed around food on my plate. "Yes, I will. Devin and I talked about it, and he once again opened my eyes to how selfish I was being. I hope you have a plan."

"Working on it. First, I need to fix things between Angelo and I. Plus, I'm sure Ashley will get locked up for an eternity for sneaking out for a week. So, that'll be a major setback." He replied.

"I'm surprised the king isn't more worried about your whereabouts." Devin softly said to her.

She shrugged, "He rarely even notices I leave. He locked me up in a tower that he thinks is impossible to escape, but I get out all the time."

"Locking the princess up in a tall tower. That is such a cliché." I snickered.

Ashley sighed, "Ah, but isn't he a lover of clichés?" She joked.

"I'm counting on that fact." Chris said, "That castle is crawling with secret passageways. Ryan's magic can get us in, but those passageways will allow us to actually sneak around."

"We'll talk about it more when you think the time is right to see through the plan you create." I responded, not wanting any of this talk in front of the kids.

"Understood." He stated as he caught my glare.