fever dreamt echoes
â Sylus's instincts flare when you are ill, needing to nurse you back to health, whatever it takes... he fails to notice that his boys have his instincts too.
Ê êᎄêÊ: a sickie fic that took my left shoe and ran away fr me. what was supposed to be the fam nursing mama to health becomes a deepdive into Sylus's oversights as a father. phew. enjoys! â-urs
important heads up for context of this story: lucian and kyros are (my headcanon) sylus's twin boys. 2 turning 3 years in this one! ᥣđ©
sylus & his family | sylus x reader | fluff, mild angst, comfort. sick!reader, husband!sylus, dragon babies just wanna see mama tw: imagery of illness/migraine symptoms, vomiting, (past) emotional trauma
Sylusâs hackles rise at the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut at noon.Â
Lucian and Kyros, positioned on their bellies on the carpet by his feet, pause their coloring with a curious glance. Turning their heads to the sound, they rise to go see who it is. But before they could rush off, Sylus holds them steady with his evol and strides ahead of them.Â
The big twins were out of town on a mission heâd expected to take a week longer.Â
You are supposed to be at work. Youâd left early that morning. In a panic, having risen a few hours too close to the time youâre expected at the Association. Kicking him by accident when you wrestled against the comfort of your warm duvet.Â
He had no fight against you wriggling out of his persistent hold, no matter how much he whined at your absence, and was forced to accept the hasty kiss you plant on his lips before rushing out of the bedroom. You promised to be home by dinner.
He had half a mind to go after you and pull you back for his own selfish reasons, but his boys waddled into the bedroom to take your space and curl up against him. Cementing him in a warm pile of baby fat and the scent of blueberries.Â
Anyway, youâd said dinner.
So it was a surprise to him to see you at the door just before lunch. Toeing your shoes off, your coat half off your shoulder and your workbag dangling in your loose grip. You meet his gaze from the wall you lean against for extra support, and offer him a smile that lacks it usual depth.Â
He clocks it immediately. Zooming in on the details of your features like a machine built to know you. The sheen of sweat on your brow, the heavy droop of your eyelids, the paleness of your lips. It was as if something inside you had made itself at home where it was not welcome.Â
Black and red tendrils dissipate from pudgy bellies when his sons start to complain at not being able to reach you.Â
He confirms your condition in the way you squeeze your eyes shut briefly at the excited squealing and tittering of your children. The usual melodies feeling like a clap of thunder in your skull.
Sylus is able to move only an inch towards you. And you are already shaking your head and mouthing his least favorite words. âIâm fine.â
Your arms are cooked pasta around Lucianâs waist. Your knees trembling rocks holding back a landslide as you lift him to your height. You are reluctant to reduce the support and give Kyros your other hand as he guides you in the living room.Â
All the while Sylus stands at the ready to lighten the load he worries you refuse to lend him.Â
The smell of your living room is a balm to your aching sinuses, clean linen and fresh citrus blossoms. The warmth of the filtered sun through the windows is a live wire through your shivering bones. And the heat of your husbandâs body as he slots himself between you and the corner of the couch is exactly what your numb skin has longed for the entire morning.Â
âGo upstairs.â he whispers in your ear. Unkempt hair in your eyes, features taut and tiredâ he suffers at the look of you. Lends you his strength to tidy you up with featherlike touches.
Your neck twinges when you shake your head.Â
âBoys.â you reason, pressing the weight of Lucian closer to your chest as he talks about his new doctorâs tool kit toy.Â
Kyrosâs hand had made its way beneath your sweater and onto the skin of your belly, rubbing circles gently. For his own sensory need, unknowing how helpful it is for you too.Â
Sylus understands, but frowns in disapproval anyway. âBelovedâŠâÂ
âMama, hot.â Kyros murmurs, continuing his gentle ministrations. âOtch! Hot.âÂ
âOh no.â Lucian adds too, unintentionally slapping his hands on either sides of your face a touch too hard, making you wince. Sylus doesnât mean to scowl, but he does. âMama, tick?âÂ
âGentle, please.â their father almost begs, peeling the tiny hands that squish your skin off. You sigh gratefully at him, your skin beginning to feel uncomfortably tender.Â
âNoâno tick, pease.â says Kyros, climbing up the cushions to get up close to your face. Sylus is quick to intercept his hand, mold his against the little one silently, to guide gentle combs through tendrils of your hair. âMama, well.âÂ
âJust a little dizzy, baby.â you reassure himâ but the hypo-nasality of your voice and the light pop! from the top of your spine does little to your case.Â
Your familyâs face remain unchangedâfrowning in worry, staring in concern.Â
You swallow. The back of your throat feels dry no matter how many times you do so. Only Sylus can see the strain on your face and heâs digging his nails into his palms to keep himself from overreacting.Â
Instinct tells him to switch on survival mode. As if youâd come home with a bullet wound or a broken leg. His muscles itch to take you away, hoard you, encase you in a bubble of safety until you feel better once more. Claiming it his single-handed responsibility to nurse you back to health.Â
Heâd done it before. Confident to a fault, heâll do it again.
Lucian protests when Sylus lifts him out of your arms, while Kyros frowns at him in confusion. To placate their watery eyes and erupting sobs, he quickly says, âGo show mama your drawings.âÂ
Their mind shifts. Papa is suddenly correct, and they rush off to collect the loose leaves of doodle-pressed papers scattered around the room. Lucian also hops off to retrieve his doctor set.Â
Buying Sylus the time and space to draw you near his orbit and cage you in his embrace.Â
âIâm fine, really.â is what you say and it drives him mad. Heâd puff a cloud of smoke through his nostrils in another life with the way he scoffs.Â
He is calmed by the way you curl against him anyway; your clammy back to his middle, your heated forehead against the curve of his neck. You are driftwood in a raging stream with the tightness at which hangs on to you.
âI donât appreciate it when you lie to me,â he says slowly. Not understanding why you insist on still acting tough. âEven if you mean well.âÂ
Sylus sighs, âHavenât we agreed? You can lean on me.âÂ
His sentiment contests your fever as it melts your heart twice as fast. You run your fingers along the blunt stubble on his chin. âI know. I am.âÂ
But you arenât in the mood to get scolded. Not when every breath is like shards of glass through your mouth, your nostrils are vestigial and your brain pounds behind your heated eyes.Â
You sigh, your gaze trailing after your scampering children. âDonât scare them.âÂ
Hardened by experience, the rational side of Sylusâs brain knows you are fine in the grand scheme of things. With a paracetamol, a good sleep and hydration, youâll be back on your feet at a normal temperature in no time.
But the side of him that feelsâ the one you bring out with little to no effortâ it aches at the sight of you still fighting against your already protesting body. It makes him calloused to anything else that doesnât involve benefitting you.
So, intentions far from ill but single-minded, he grumbles. âThey should know.â
And ever patient you, with a heart so big and generous, push back. âBut they donât. Not yet.âÂ
You take his hand. He frowns at your searing touch. A kiss is pressed onto his knuckles and he is ice beneath it at your request. âGentle.âÂ
One breath through his nose is sighed out his mouth and he nods. Gentle.Â
He doesnât let you go when the boys return. Subtly keeping them from climbing back onto you as they present their scribbles with calculated stretches of his limbs coming in between you and them.Â
The boys are none the wiser.
They flit around you like humming birds wearing white coats. Lucian has the plastic heart-shaped stethoscope plugged to his ears. Kyros holds a baby-blue otoscope he insists is a hammer.
They ping-pong from being art curators and doctors. One talks about his drawing, while the other assesses your condition with a plastic medical tool.Â
âDis âPisto with hat.â Says Kyros, as Lucian bends over Sylusâs arm barrier to stick his stethoscope on your chest.Â
When Kyros is knocking your knee with the otoscope-hammer, Lucian narrates, âDis mama, dis papa, dis Wookie and Kee-wan. And âPisto have shoes. And Kee-wo and meâWoosian have cotton candy.âÂ
The little ones show you their interpretations of the world through whorls and zigzags of color. When you try to listen closely and your mind doesnât drift off, you catch that Kyros has drawn a field of flowers he sees in his dreams, and Lucianâs new fascination on distant planets. And that your temperature is âthree-sixâ on the plastic thermometer, and you get a shot of âcoffeeâ on your shoulder.Â
But you can only do so much. Powerless, thanks to Sylusâs weight on your arms and his lulling scent in your nose; beckoning like home, like rest.Â
Soon, your eyes droop and your head bobs back onto Sylusâs shoulder. Just as Lucian is telling you of the beach and Kyros is explaining how mâs can look like birds.Â
Sylus seizes their attempts at waking you back to attention with a look, which they take positively. With understanding nods, mouths rounded in quiet âohâŠâs, they step away from poking you back awake.
Little fingers are raised to little lips and they murmur shushes and lovely things in your silence. And later, they tail after their father like minnows in a stream when he lifts you down the hallway and carries you to bed.Â
-
Kyros knows what papa is saying is important. He knows also, that whatever papa is saying, that papa is right.Â
And that he should listen to papa.
But the door to your bedroom is open.
âMake very little noise, because mamaâs headâŠâ
And he hasnât seen you in an hour (which feels like a million years if he knew how to count past five).Â
â⊠go play on your own for a whileâŠâ
And he wants to know ifâ
âPapa.â He blurts right in the middle of Sylusâs very important reminders. Sylus turns to him patiently, taking his hand in his and massaging his palm in acknowledgement. âRoro eep with mama.âÂ
Sylus frowns. âNo, angel. You canât.âÂ
âAh-huh. Can.â He nods, disagreeing with Sylus and tugging his arm back. Sylus steadies him, catching his shoulder and maneuvering him away from the door.
âKyros.â papa says, voice deep and strong. Kyros is startled by the tone. âMama is going to be okay.â
âBut⊠tick.â He frowns. His eyes water, catalyzed by the sternness that has befallen this exchange. âFeel better. Needâneed huggies.âÂ
Sylus swallows nails as he stares back at his son. âMama needs quiet right now. To rest.âÂ
âI quiet.â He insists, pushing fruitlessly against Sylusâs embrace. âPâomise.â
Lucian, placing his own foot in the mix, chimes in. âPlease, papa?â
But the decision is made. Sylus nudges Kyros to his brother, who welcomes him in a consoling hug. They stare helplessly at papa who stands and turns away. âMaybe later, hm?âÂ
He shuts the door.Â
And with a heavy heart, they listen to papa.Â
đąđž đąđž đąđž àż àż*:ïŸ
The first time you stir from your fevered haze, you notice that you are out of your work clothes and are wearing one of Sylusâs shirts. His scent refreshing and comforting, engulfs you in a phantom hug.Â
The glass of warm water on your dresser is almost knocked over in the dark, but you successfully drink it along with the pills in a small dish just to its left.Â
Then you lie back down, drape an arm over your eyes, and drift off.Â
Or at least try.
It wasnât quite a sleepâ you could hear your heartbeat in your ears, too conscious of the distorted sound of your breathing, and the persistent pulse in the back of your left eye feels like how pebbles do beneath your boots.
Not to mention it was too cold, but you were sweating and shivering all the same.Â
Frustration holds hands with sickness; you feel your insides gang up on you to attack. When the nausea hits, you sit up blindly and scramble out of bed into the bathroom to hurl out your already empty stomach.Â
Sylus, the shadow you married, is already holding your hair back as soon as your knees touch the ground. âEasy.âÂ
The headache is maxed to a hundred on its own richter with each seize and each gag. Your one hand waves Sylus away, asking him to go, to save whatever dignity you had left in his eyes.Â
But he refuses. A statement he makes as he stays.Â
When it passes, you lean back on your calves and try to get a grip of the spinning world around you. Sylus is already getting something damp and cool to press to your face.Â
Disgusting, you think as you brush your teeth and wash your face. But the act leaves you feeling better than you started off, paradoxically.Â
âSyââ you rasp as he guides you back to bed after youâve cleaned up.Â
âNot a chance.â is all he says, lifting your shirt and slipping on a fresh one. His again.
âYouâll catch it.â you murmur.Â
He shakes his head, a ghost of a chuckle in his words. âItâs not that bad.âÂ
He finds it a wonder how youâre akin to a soggy piece of lettuce right now, and still have the wits to tease him. âYouâre a doctor now?âÂ
The chuckle materializes as he tucks you back beneath the covers. âYes. Family medicine.âÂ
âOoh, well look at youâAH!â you yelp, blocking his kiss with your palm as he targets your forehead. âNo!â
âWhat do you mean ânoâ?â he gasps, swooping in for another with a impudent grin. You duck out of the way with a chiming giggle. âDoctorâs orders.âÂ
âStop it! Iâm gross.âÂ
He pauses at the declaration and shoots you a dangerous look. âIâll warn you not to speak of my wife that way.â
You sniffle in disbelief. âSylus!âÂ
He dodges your hands expertly and successfully lands a peck on top of your head before bouncing back up to his feet with a victorious grin. You harrumph, tossing a pillow square at his face. He lets it land and laughs.Â
âYouâve broken your fever,â he says lightly, bending to brush sickly sweaty hair out of your now glowing face. Taking a moment to caress the plump of your cheek with the pad of his thumb.Â
Great. At least that was out of the way. But your mouth still tasted weird, and thereâs a little creature knocking albeit politely at the back of your eyeball.Â
You groan. âThe last time I was this bad wasââ
ââThe twins.â he smiles fondly, recalling the earlier days of your pregnancy. âYouâve done well keeping yourself healthy for three years then.âÂ
âMaybe Iâm pregnant again.â you joke.Â
He freezes. His world tilts. Are you? You couldnât beâ could you? Had he been so busy, miscalculatedâ
Your hand squeezes his tightly. His face is a picture you wish you could paint, one that makes your heart flutter. âIâm not.âÂ
The thickened air thins and he releases the breath he hadnât noticed heâs held in. His brows knit together as he breathes. âDonât⊠donât do that.âÂ
You search his expression for anything negative, but find only a plucked sense of excitement and wonder in his shining eyes. âToo many kids?âÂ
He almost laughs at your assumption. âNo, not at all.â
âThenââ
âNot enough.âÂ
The grin he flashes you lingers with mischief and allure, sharp lower fangs almost twinkling at you seductively. Heat crawls up your face and youâre sure this isnât the fever. You shove any part of him you can reach with all your might in hopes to relieve the tension.Â
âGo. Watch the kids. Youâre a headache.â you say. Turning on your side to dismiss him⊠or, really, to hide the flush on your face.Â
He leans in, the weight of his hand on your hip. Takes the opportunity to kiss you again. Your head, your cheek, your shoulderâbefore leaving you to drift off.
This timeâ you sleep. And sleep is smooth, quiet and deep.Â
đąđž đąđž đąđž àż àż*:ïŸ
Sylus canât figure why his boys are extra rambunctious now, when he specifically asked them not to be.Â
Usually self-sustaining, Lucian and Kyros are perfectly trained to entertain themselves when the adults are too busy. But today, itâs as if all training has flown out the window, and Sylus is suddenly caring for three people and not just you.Â
While striding in and out of your shared bedroom, the chances that heâd have an encounter with a silver haired little boy was a hundred percent doubled.Â
Heâd caught Lucian by the scruff of his shirt and turned him around. Two giant stuffies in his arms, far larger than his on height along with him.Â
Kyros had dragged books and your favorite couch blanket to your door. Sylus had to physically dig through the row of indoor plants to find him and his stash and send him away.Â
And at some point, Lucian snaps first. Crying when Sylus carries him off to the kitchen on his way to refill your bottle of water.Â
âWanna to see mama!â He performs a full-blown tantrum in the space of his fatherâs one armed embrace. Pushing and shoving the unmovable force that holds him captive. âLet me go! Let me go!âÂ
And Sylus only grumbles. A hair away from losing his own composure. âLucian, mama is sick.âÂ
âI doctor mama better!â He shouts now. Fueled by the expression on Sylusâs face giving absolutely nothing away. Just sheer indifference. Done with the conversation before its even started. âLet me go!âÂ
âLucian!â Sylus seethes. Done. Firm. Final.Â
Lucian freezes. Shock flooding sobering his nerves.Â
And then helplessly, he sobs, leaning into Sylusâs chest. Earlier shouts and shoves now faltering in the face of his fatherâs anger. And that hurts him more than being denied.Â
âI sorry.â He murmurs. No flourish, no drama. Just sorrow and regret. Sylusâs shirt is clutched in his small fists, a lifeline to keep his father tethered to him.Â
And Sylus is thawed in a flash. His shoulders hunch at every sniffle, his arms curl closer at each hiccup.Â
Then Sylus crumbles too. Bending at the waist and burying his face in his sonâs hair. âJust⊠wait, okay?âÂ
Lucian nods, smearing snot and salt onto Sylusâs sweater. âLove? Love Lucian, papa?âÂ
Sylus has to clench his jaw to keep himself together. For now he finally realizes how his actions are being received by his children. And though he means well, the struggle between what he thinks is best for you and indulging in his children is like finding a shadow in a fog.
And he bears the back-breaking weight of it as he looks into glassy red irises. âYes, of course I do.â He nuzzles his nose, wipes tears away with the swipe of his thumb. âI love you. I love Kyros. But mama is sick right now. And I just⊠she needs rest. So, wait, okay?âÂ
Lucian doesnât fully understand. But he listens still.Â
Sylus finds Kyros sitting by your locked door, wrapped in your blanket from the couch.Â
He canât find it in himself to feel anything but endearment at the look of him. Not after the spat with Lucian still a stone in the pit of his stomach.Â
âKyros.â He sighs.Â
âMama need blanket?â Kyros asks, rising from his seat.Â
âNo, angel she has enough.â He says, setting the tray of medicine and snacks to the side and picking Kyros up.Â
âOne more!âÂ
âNo, Kyros.âÂ
âPease?âÂ
Sylus shakes his head. The look in Kyrosâs eyes is pitiful, but Sylusâs resolve is stronger today. Running on fumes from the stress and worry of it all, fluttering lashes and big puppy eyes just wonât make him budge.Â
So when Kyrosâs face changes from pleading to anger, Sylus is take a back. âWhat are you doing?âÂ
âHmph!â the little boy takes a breath, mouth posturing into cry but no sound comes out. In fact, no air comes out.Â
Sylus turns rigid.
âKyros,â he keeps his calm, rubbing his back with one hand and blowing steady streams of air on his face. But his heart races just beneath the surface. âBreathe, come on now.âÂ
Kyros heaves again, taking in more air but not exhaling it out. Sylus blows again. âPlease, angel. Come on.âÂ
And with another puff of air, Kyros breaks out of the spell and cries. A loud wail that sinks into silent, frustrated hiccups. Sylus has half a mind to join him.Â
âWanna go the inside!âÂ
âOnly sick people in the bedroom.â He states again, standing firm while gently rocking him side to side. Fumbling with clumsy fingers as he tries to reassure the hearts he keeps breaking.Â
âWait for mama to feel better, okay?â He asks of him, pleads, holding his crying child to his chest. Drowning in the sorrow of causing both of them such pain in a day.
When heâs settled, he takes Kyros to Lucian in their bedroom. Sitting with them for a while to jumpstart a play sequence before slipping out to check up on you.
And in his act of righteousness, he fails to see the pile of your favorite things gathered by the doorway of the twinsâ bedroom. Awaiting patiently to be transported to your side.Â
đąđž đąđž đąđž àż àż*:ïŸ
You vomit again. Sylus sticks with you until the waves of nausea calm and you tread the waters of dreams once more.Â
Once your breathing is even and your pupils no longer shift beneath your lids, he goes to check on your boys.
He thought theyâd given up after that with the silence that followed after a while. But he clearly didnât understand how persistent your children actually are.Â
âPapa.â Lucian frowns up at Sylus, large eyes twinkling with unshed tears at the wetness of his shirt. Heâd tilted his sippy cup a little too much and spilled all the sticky fruit juice on his tummy. He intercepts Sylus just as he exits your bedroom.Â
Sylus exhales through his nose, assures him itâs okay, and gives him a change of clothes.Â
âMy tummy cold.â Lucian tells him, guiding his fatherâs heavy hand to his middle. Then he heaves, âBlegh. Eugh.âÂ
Sylusâs voice rumbles with amusement. He rubs his belly in soothing circles until heâs a little warmer and kisses his forehead.Â
âBetter?â He asks. But Lucian doesnât seem too happy when he nods and asks to be put down.Â
But just as soon as he places him down, Kyros waddles up to him with a tissue up his one nostril. âPa.âÂ
What is going on?Â
Sylus picks him up slowly. Seeing no urgency or panic in the little oneâs eyes, so heâd rather not introduce the emotion to him. âYou okay, angel?âÂ
âA-choo.â He says. Says, like a script heâd planned and produced. Like someone behind Sylus had cued him with an action! The rolled up tissue flies out of his nose unceremoniously, dry as a feather.Â
And then it clicks.Â
âOh.â He nods, understanding fully what his two clever little copies were trying to do. âI see.âÂ
Lucian, who hadnât gone too far away, who was idling âsubtlyâ in the corner of their bedroom pushing a wooden car back and forth, looks at Sylus just as Kyros does.Â
âAre you two⊠sick?âÂ
Kyros bobs his head vigorously, and Lucian is giving thumbs ups from where he sits.Â
âPoor angels. Sick too when mama is sick?â Sylus pouts, playing along, smothering the wheezing laughter clawing its way up his chest.
âA-huh. Andâand tick babies go inâ the inside room.â Kyros supplies, leaning his head on Sylusâs arm, really selling his story all too well. He points towards the direction of your bedroom and squeezes his eyes. âAchoo. Achoo! Pease.âÂ
âUh! Me too.â Lucian grunts, rushing over to drape himself dramatically over Sylusâs legs. Squeezing his eyes shut, hands over his very-much-okay-belly and moaning in pain. âOw! Tummy achy!âÂ
The laughter is far too strong to suppress now, and he gathers his boys to his chest in an adoring embrace. His caring children, he wonders where they get it from. He makes a show of a loud, defeated sigh as he brings them down with him, backwards onto the bed where they chorus his giggles in return.Â
âMiss mama so soon?â He asks, tilting his head forward. He brushes their bangs out of their faces to look into their eyes.Â
Too little to be filled with so much worry.Â
But understandably soâ theyâd never seen you sick before. Donât know how to process seeing you act differently from their usual, put together mother figure.Â
And the way he carries himself doesnât help to reassure them either. Briskly trudging around with a dip in his brow, quick and urgent. A sudden obstacle between them and their mother; equally as worried, equally as distressed. It wasnât until the fever finally broke and he heard you joke with him once more that his lungs had regained its full capacity.
His boys havenât had that closure yet. Their last image of you was your fluttering lashes and loosening grip on their crayon-scribbled sketchbooks. To them, it was a cartoon-swoon into an endless slumberâ sudden, unexplained, too odd to feel alright with.Â
And here Sylus was, keeping them from seeing you. Barely providing them with an explanation outside of âmama is sickâ. Underestimating how much they understand and how much they actually care.Â
Guilt gnaws at his heels. Faced with failing to calculate balance between caring for you and helping your sons.Â
Gentle, you asked him. And instead he dismisses them outright. Preferring them out of the way instead of letting them offer their helping hands to usher you to health.Â
He combs his fingers through their hair, marveling at how much they exude you while looking so much like him.Â
A wish heâd made when they were bornâgrant your prayer for them have his features, but let the world be kind and bless them with your heart.Â
âIâm sorry,â the words are brittle glass beneath a roaring flame. Broken. Fragile. The talons of his mistake dig deeper into his chest as they continue to wear their innocent hearts on their sleeves. Hearts heâs been taking for granted.
How could he have been so excited at the prospect of having another one with you earlier, while all day he kept pushing his first loves away?
âIâm sorry for hiding mama from you.â He says, cradling soft cheeks in the hard edges of his palms. âI shouldnât have done that.âÂ
Your heart, your beautiful heartâ resonates in twin chests. So easy to love. So quick to forgive.
Kyros is the first to touch his face, mirroring his own movements and brushing his own silver hair out of his eyes. âIt okay. It okay, papa.â
Lucian follows suit, cradling Sylusâs cheek with his palm.Â
His jaw trembles. He bites his lip to steady it. Heâd found tears closer to the surface since having sons. Thinks itâs still one of the strangest feelings to have evoked so easily. But heâd also learned to stop being so surprised by the wonders his little ones do for him.Â
âCan go the inside room?â Kyros whispers when he finally sits them all up. Unaware of the mountains Sylus has conquered in his mind in that little moment they shared.Â
It was a battle he was never meant to win.Â
He shakes his head in defeat. He eyes the pile of yours and their favorite things by the door. âOne thing before we go.âÂ
đąđž đąđž đąđž àż àż*:ïŸ
The next time you wake is after hours of a soul-deep slumber.Â
Gone is the stiffness in your neck, and the dryness of your throat. Thanks to the heat-pack cradles your skull. On the bedside, a humidifier fizzes out your favorite scent.Â
This time, you do not wake to a pounding skull or nausea. Â
This time, you wake to the sound of the whispers that sent you to sleep the first time. Shushes. Lovely things.Â
Something hard rests beneath your fingers, it crackles and crunches when you flex. It takes a while for your blurry vision to make sense of itâand the nest of things around your bedâbut when the picture comes to clarity, you cant help but smile.
Whorls of spirals in a shape of a flower in an obscure vase. A little queen made of circles and boxes and sticks wears a crown and lies in a heart-shaped bed.Â
And in spiraling, elegant handwritten script it is says: Feel better soon, Queen Mama.Â
âTook an hour to do that.â Sylusâs weight dips the mattress as he draws near to you. He moves various stuffies and plushies aside just to make space.Â
He catches the moisture from your eyes with his finger and finds no resistance this time when he leans in to kiss your forehead. âBoys were debating what color flowers youâd like.âÂ
âFor an hour?â Your mouth tugs downwards despite your joyful disposition. Sylus nods, curling around you like a beast and guiding your head to his chest.Â
He gestures to the red whorls overpowering the rest of the colors. âLucian was very persuasive.â Â
You finally crack a smile. âHow were they?âÂ
âThey take after you.â Is all he says, nodding towards the other edge of the bed where two curious heads with two pairs of careful eyes wait. Little crocodiles in the water.
Waiting, testing whether to approach or retreat.Â
Now, when have they ever held themselves back like this?Â
Your heart aches when you realize Sylusâs small movementsâ his one finger held up and cueing them to hold, his brows raised to prompt them to ask.Â
âHowâa you, mama?â Lucian asks softly, his voice unused to speaking at such a volume. One hand comes up with the end of his plastic stethoscope, hovering, waiting to be used.
Kyros rasps, âAll better?âÂ
âMhm.â You coo, and with one gesture from you to come nearer, theyâre already overriding protocol and clawing at the beddings, climbing over the edge. Sylus uses his evol to nudge them up the incline. And they close the space between you.Â
You sit up against Sylus and watch each twin assume a position. Lucian balances himself on the bed and backs up bum first to sit on your lap and Kyros squeezes himself in the nonexistent space between you and Sylus.Â
Just before youâd fallen asleep, you remember their little voices telling you about their drawings. The presentation you so rudely dismissed with your slumber.Â
You have every intention to apologize, but Kyros is already starting a new story. In hushed tones and a practiced volume you can only guess is their papaâs doing.Â
âPapa make mama betterâ âike, âike eepy beauty.â Kyros says, pointing to the little queen on your âget well soonâ card.Â
You shoot Sylus a look and he promptly avoids your gaze. âIs that how the story goes?âÂ
âAh-huh! Andâand papa too be da dragon that,â Lucian curls his fingers into claws and swipes them around to fill the space words cannot reach. âRoar! Roar! Go âway, little twinnies!âÂ
You gasp, pressing a hand to your chest in melodrama. Not at all surprised that Sylus had barricaded the bedroom to give you space. And though you donât think youâd have minded the little ones, you appreciating his thoughtfulness nonetheless. You didnât think it was possible for your heart to swell more than it already has. âOh no! How did you get through?â Â
âHat twicks!â Lucian grins proudly. He taps his finger on to his temple, while his twin nods in affirmation, echoing, âMm. Twicks.âÂ
When you tilt your head in confusion, Sylus clarifies. âMind tricks.âÂ
âMama sickie andâand go in the inside room.â Kyros says, playing with the fabric of your sleeve as he explains. Partly in fascination with the fabric, and partly to make sure you donât drift away again. âSoâso Kee-ro and Woosian sickie too!âÂ
âSickies!â Lucian cheers, tapping Kyrosâs foot with his hand. Kyrosâs delayed tap back to the back of his head tells you it was supposed to be a high-five.Â
You hum in understanding, letting each emotion on your face be clear as day. Corners of your mouth lifting at how adorable it must have all been to witness.Â
âAnd papa cry.âÂ
What?
You gaspâwish it was an overreaction for the littles, but it wasnâtâ and your head snaps to Sylus. His palm cradles your nape instantly, steadying you before the headache could return.Â
His eyes are blown wide, pupils shaking as he begs his sonâdonât with just a look. But Lucian wasnât briefed for this before he came into the sick room.Â
So he misses it, and blurts anyways, âHe sayâsay sowee.â He reaches out to pat your face like he did Sylusâs earlier. Soft, syrupy-warm fingers tapping to soothe against your skin. âSowee be hide mama.âÂ
âOh.â you swoon, nuzzling your nose against the column of your husbandâs neck. While he drops his head in defeat, shoulders hunched as if heâs bracing for judgment. One that never comes.Â
Instead, you say, âPapaâs a good castle dragon, no?âÂ
Both of them nod, heads bobbing with effort from the waist enthusiastically to drive the point home.Â
Fingers once drumming against the skin of your arm, Sylus reaches out to tap each childâs forehead. Activating them like sleeper agents with his command. âWhat else wakes the sleeping beauty?âÂ
Their postures straighten, eyes alight and in a blink of an eye they are climbing up the blanket, over your limbs, exclaiming. âKissies!âÂ
Your shrieks are pleasant and warm as you receive a sloppy wet kiss on both your cheeks from each of your children. A sweet barrage of happy âmwa! mmmwa!âs are reimbursed back to them by your own kisses pressing onto the marshmallowy round corners of their face.Â
You overdose in their giggles and screeches as they roll around the sheets, finding home once more in your presence.Â
Sylus watches with the intensity of a hawk, but softened features of a father nursing his own wounded pride. Holding himself back from joining the fray, swimming in his spiralling thoughtsâÂ
For how could he have missed this? Deprive you of the most effective cure of all?Â
Soft lips press hard on his cheek, and he snaps out of it. Blinks to ground himself back in the moment to find you in focus. And offers you a halfhearted smile.Â
One you donât buy.Â
âDoctorâŠâ you says slowly, testing the waters for you know they run deep. You try again when he only scoffs in mild amusement. Evoking more from him with a softened, âMy love.âÂ
And as parched earth does touched after a drought, he crumbles.
âThey begged to see you all day.â He confesses, watching distantly as Kyros and Lucian finally do what heâd been wanting them to do. Just play. Entertain themselves.Â
âThey snuck into the plants. Lucian cried. Kyros even did the breath holding thingââ he breathes through his nose. A wince in disguise. âI told them no, not now. Waitâuntil youâre better. Wait until Iâm not busy. Wait⊠because I thought I would be all you needed.âÂ
He winces now for real. The reality of his words said out loud like nails on a chalkboard; crashing cymbals on a porcelain floor. A humorless scoff, filled with disdain and disbelief chokes him. âHow cruel.âÂ
You consider him. The man whoâd spent the whole day at your beck and call, catching you before you even fall, nursing you from sickness to health, all the while keeping your children entertained no matter how ridiculous it had gottenâstill, still finding impurities in his actions.Â
And while he could be right. While he could have hurt them in the process of figuring it outâyou canât help but think it inevitable. âSylus, youâre figuring it out.âÂ
He grumbles, âI should have known.â
Damns himself with his voice of venom, âBut I dismissed them. Forced them to understand without helping them understand.âÂ
Acting exactly like the ones he despised, the ones who cast him out when he knew nothing else but to live.Â
âYou asked me to be gentle with them.â He breathes.
Yet despite it all, gently, you take his trembling chin in your fingers and turn his face to his sons. Grounding him, reminding him where he is. Where he stands. Who he is. âYou are.âÂ
âI didnâtâŠâ he holds his breath. Swallows the confession, but it rises up anyway. Needing to be said. Needing to be witnessed, to be heard. âI didnât know what to do.âÂ
Thatâs what he hates the most.Â
All the power, the strength and certainty in every area he chooses to stride; for all he has conqueredâ here he is. Helpless, scrambling, grasping at straws to make decisions where it matters most. With you. With his family.Â
âOh, Sylus.â his hands are bound together by yours, fingers burrowing in each space. You guide his forehead down to press against yours, letting him feel you here with him.Â
âNow you do.â you whisper kindly. So kind, terribly sickly kind to him so monstrous.Â
For the first time, faced with greed he now feels shame holding.Â
He squeezes your hands tight as if asking for penance.
Flipping it on himâyou say, âThey didnât understand. But now they do⊠because of you.âÂ
He glances back at his children at your command. Play fighting across the expanse of the bed, gasping giggles and lifting little fingers to little lips when their volume gets too high, pulling each other away from you when they stumble too close.Â
Lucian pauses when Kyros clutches his eye, catching his brother and quietly apologizing. Planting kisses on his hair, squeezing him tight in an embrace.Â
Echos of his own words. Mimics of his own actions. Lessons theyâve learned from him.Â
âNo one wants you to know everything. Not with us.â You assure him, combing disheveled bangs back to reveal his tired eyes. âWe just want you.â
He stares at you. Reverently, wistfullyâ takes your fingers to his lips and presses hard, worshiping you for breathing. Thanking you for being.Â
âGentle edges and all.â You say, the last nail to his coffin. For he has died again and again in your arms, but you bring him back to life each time.Â
He nods. Scars tender and seen. Swallows the lesson, digests the truth. You are well, and so are his boys. And whatever mistakes he makes on the way of keeping you this way, he will spend the rest of his life making it up to you. No matter how hard the storms wreak havoc, he swears to emerge victorious. Â
Until his wings are clipped. Until his soul is dragged thin. He will keep figuring it out and making things right.
His children offer the levity he needs when they stumble over each other to catch him off guard. They squeeze themselves between him and you, and heal him with kisses as well. The little ones settle themselves within the nest of huggable tokens and memorable trinkets they gathered under Sylusâs command.Â
For they hoard his words; they treasure his verses.
They do not tally his sins. Only his love.Â
đąđž đąđž đąđž àż àż*:ïŸ
Later, when the headache drags you under once more, Sylus does not fight it.Â
With a finger to his lips, he slips out of bed to make you dinner. Kyros follows, Lucian stays.Â
Kyros is slow in his movements when he plucks an egg from the fridge. When he squeezes the lemon into the soup. When he arranges the spoon and chopsticks on the wooden tray.Â
Lucian lays silently beside you, caressing your hair gently until he too slips on his dreams.
And when you wake the last time, Sylus is there, waiting for you.Â
And so are your children, with their own breakfast trays and silicone bowls with the octopus grippers to hold them in place. With their spill proof bibs and messy cheeks, already elbow deep into the soup that is served.Â
Clumsy hands overshoot spoons into their mouths, trying their hardest to do it on their own. Making space for Sylus to feed you instead.Â
âI can eat by myself, you know.â you inform him, but open your mouth for another spoonful anyway.Â
He smiles, shy and boyish, caught in his own indulgence. âI doctor you better, sweetie.âÂ
You snort. âI wouldnât mind being sick if it means this.âÂ
He nods, watching Kyros tilt his bowl into his open mouth and Lucianâs fingers dive to retrieve his sunken spoon. A captured beauty in making their mess, with no hurry to be put away.Â
Your laughter, despite your exhaustion, melts something in himâpeeling back the old ache layer by layer, until he can finally let go.Â
âNow, I know.âÂ
â§Ë âïœĄ read more with the little twins here || more sylus thoughts â§Ë âïœĄ
thank you so much for reading! ( ăŁÂŽ `)ăŁ















