Theodore didn’t notice at first, but soon he heard the loud wailing of Griffin, and he wasn’t stopping at all. He couldn’t feel Inigo, maybe because he was hurting himself somewhere by hiding in his mind. As much as he wanted to do the same, he knew that he couldn’t.
Because he knew that if Liara had been present, she would have prioritized others over herself. Though he wasn’t her, he didn’t want to disappoint her. Theodore tried to stand on his feet but fell down. Tears rolled out of his eyes.
"Come on, Odo." He heard Liara’s voice. "Get up, Griffin needs you." He looked up and found Liara; he knew that he was assuming things. She wasn’t here. "He is crying, Theo. No one was there beside you to calm you down when you were crying after your birth. Don’t let him face the same thing. He has his dad." She spoke again.
"Get up."
Theodore finally got up on his feet. Right now, he is weak, but not for long.
‘Inigo, stop mourning. We will have her back.' Theodore hissed angrily. The fact that Liara accepted his marking broke their hearts because Liara wasn’t someone who would give up on something just like that. He had taken just two to three steps when he saw Sophia walking towards him in tension; she was rocking Griffin, but he kept crying like there was no tomorrow.
"Theo, can you please calm him down?" Sophia asked with concern. In the beginning, Griffin started crying because of the pain, but after that, no matter how much Sophia tried, he wasn't quite ready to be calm at all.
Theodore took him into his arms. "Stop crying as if someone hit you." Theodore scolded him, hitting slightly at his buttock. All of a sudden, he stopped crying and looked at Theodore with a frown on his face. "You were enjoying before when you were outside, and now you’re throwing a tantrum so that someone will take you out again."
"Is he full?" Theodore asked Sophia, who nodded her head. "Let’s go then! I will give you a little tour of the place where we are." With that, Theodore walked out of the house, which reminded him that Liara wasn’t there.
He noticed his son’s expression the moment they were out. He looked here and there curiously. Theodore pressed his lips against his forehead. His son was just like him. He liked staying outside.
"Do you want to know where I used to spend my nights all my life?" He asked and walked towards the tallest tree in that area. But he was surprised to see Ezra sitting at his place when he reached there. He was crying silently.
"You okay, pup?" Theodore asked, reaching towards him while holding Griffin in one hand. How could he be fine? He lost his father today.
"Yes!!" Ezra quickly wiped his tears.
"Here, hold him. He is so heavy." With that, Theodore gave Griffin to him all of a sudden, shocking Ezra. He held him in no time, getting scared that he might drop a pup. He had the habit of carrying his younger brothers, so he knew how to hold a newborn pup.
"He is so different from you," Ezra muttered. Theodore didn’t say anything and saw Cassius and others appear out of nowhere.
‘He is smart. He left before we would have found him.' Theodore heard Caroline speaking. He didn’t have to be a genius to understand about whom they were talking. The best trackers that he knew were Alaric and Colton.
He needed an answer from them—or just Alaric because only he knew where Colton was.
"He is asleep," Ezra spoke in a low tone. Theodore cocked his brow, not excepting this superpower from Ezra. "I’m too good with newborn pups." He added with a smirk.
"I will appoint you as my pup’s babysitter then."
"$20 a day."
"Excuse me?"
"What? I’m now the man of the house." Ezra spoke confidently, shrugging his shoulders. "I need to earn." Theodore didn’t comment on that part. He didn’t want Ezra to spoil his childhood by earning instead of studying.
"$20 for two hours." Theodore negotiated.
"Are you trying to do favors? Because I don’t want your favors or pity." Ezra said, narrowing his eyes.
"Nah. Favouring anyone is not my thing. It’s just that I doubt my son will be easy to handle."
"I can handle him and all your future pups," Ezra said confidently. Theodore didn’t say immediately, but he never asked him to babysit all his pups. What if he had a daughter in the future? Damn! He didn’t want a single boy around her except for her brothers.
*
#TBC