"Gayral, Gayral! Guess what, guess what, guess what!"
Gadreel smiled softly when Evangeline mispronounced his name, like the three year old always did. He opened the door of her daycare and held it open, and Askira's daughter bounced into the outside, the son of Ares following after her, letting the door to the daycare close. "What, Ava?"
She stopped and turned around. She pouted at Gadreel, her lower lip puckering out. "You didn't guess! I can't tell you what uness you guess!"
Gadreel chuckled and scooped Evangeline into his arms, making the girl squeal and laugh as the man set his girlfriends child on his shoulders. "Alright, alright! I'll guess. I'm guessing that... Tommy finally admitted that he absolutely loves you. Is that what happened?"
The three year-old wrinkled her tiny nose in disgust. "Ew! No! Icky! Love is gross! Why ould he do that?"
Gadreel resisted laughing, and instead tilted his head up to look up at Evangeline. He kept his face serious as he responded. "Love isn't icky. You love your mommy, right? And your Uncle Ben? And Aunt Aithne?"
"Well yeah, but that's deefront. That is a deefront kind of love. That is family love, Gayral. And I love you, too, Gayral! You are part of the family, too!"
Gadreel smiled at that, ignoring the urge he had to correct her pronunciation of "different". "Am I?" He asked instead. "You really think I'm part of the family?"
Ava smiled widely and nodded. "Mmhm! Mommy loves you, so that eans that you are part of the family. You are like my daddy, Gayral. I know you aren't my real daddy, but you are like my real daddy. I don't know who my real daddy is, but I am glad I don't, cus you are much batter than him, cus you actuy stay with my mommy." The three year-old girl wrapped her arms around the older person's head, giving him a hug and making Gadreel smile more.
"That is very kind of you, Ava, and it means a lot to me that you think that. And you are very smart, too, for knowing the differences of the different love. Do you know what kind of love I love your mommy with?"
"Love love! Not family love. A deefront love. The one with lots of kisses and time in bed."
Gadreel's eyes widened slightly at her description of the kind of love the kind of love he and Askira had, but he knew if he denied it Ava would know he was lying. She was good that way. She knew when someone was lying to her, so there was no getting past her with a lie. So, instead, he decided to clarify it to her more that they didn't spend that much time in bed. "Actually, Ava," he started. "Mommy and I don't stay in bed that much. Yes, we sleep together, but-"
"But not the way to make me broers and sisers, right?"
He smiled and nodded. "Right. Gods. Where do you learn this stuff?"
She grinned. "I isten to my teachers talk. Misses Caba is pregnaunt."
"Oh, is she? How did you learn that?"
"She let me feel her tummy," Evangeline told Gadreel, patting her own stomach. "Her tummy was bigger than mine, toe, cus she had a baby inide it. She's a girl, like me! I told Misses Caba to name her Beetrice."
Gadreel chuckled. "Beatrice? Why Beatrice?"
"Cus I like that name!" Evangeline responded.
"Do you now? Maybe you should tell mommy that you want that to be your name."
"No!"
"Well, why not?"
"Cus I like my name, too! More than I like Beetrice. Evangeline is pearfect for me." She grinned.
Gadreel smiled back at her. "That it is."
"You still have not guessed what I was talking about, you know."
Gadreel blinked his pale blue, almost gray eyes. "Oh yeah... what was it that you had wanted me to guess?"
"It's almost Crustmas!" Evangeline exclaimed, throwing her hands up to accompany her exclamation.
"Christmas?" Gadreel repeated, feigning cluelessness. "What's... Christmas?"
Evangeline rolled her gray-brown eyes. "You know what Crustmas is, Gayral! Don't act like you don't!"
The son of Ares laughed at that. "Yes, you're right. I do know what Christmas is. And you know what?"
"What?"
"Mommy says we get to celebrate it this year."
Evangeline grinned. "We do?" Gadreel nodded, and Evangeline bounced on his shoulders in her excitement. "Hurry up and get us home, then! I want to dacrate for Santa! Giddy up, Gayral! Giddy up!"
He laughed and let out a playful whinny before jumping around a little, making Evangeline clutch to his forehead and laugh. "Hold on tight! I'm going to gallop the whole way to the car, and I parked pretty far away today!" He only gave the little girl a couple of seconds before he started to gallop quite literally to the car, bucking occasionally to make Evangeline laugh.
...
Ah, Gadreel. So full of energy with a little one. ;3