Crimson Summer || Book One

The Princes of Crimson

~Waylon~

"Mama, am I pretty now?" 

My sweet little Micah asked as he twirled in a circle wearing the intricate crimson-colored ballgown he begged for before his father brought home two as a present. One for his nonstop wear currently running through the wash after a run-in with watercolor and one just for today. 

"I think you are absolutely stunning baby, now stay still Mama still has to get these little strays," I compliment my middle son while I brush my five year old's luscious blonde hair back, toning the fluffiest parts down a notch just like I had to do with Casper's. Finishing up Micah in the bathroom while Alexei changed out Casper's shirt after he somehow managed to get a juice stain on it for the second time. 

"Mama, I finished my new book!" Galen gasps as he rushes into the bathroom with the gentle taps of his little shoes against the tile with excitement. 

Dressed in his handsome crimson-colored suit he naturally smiles with a wide toothy grin. His front left baby tooth missing after Casper knocking it out yesterday with a soccer ball.

"What? G, you just started it this morning," I sigh as I push a small loose strand of his rich black hair to the side and my shy mini Alexei looks down at the book with a hint of sadness. God, he looks so much like his father with the slightest hints of me sprinkled in from his single dark blue eye and often curious gaze to his early love for reading.

 I was such a shy kid, always nose deep in a book so I could hide from the world and pretend I was brave and outgoing like the characters.

 Letting time pass me by while getting cozy in my comfortable shell until their father broke me down and ripped me from every comfort zone I had, creating new ones in his wake. 

"I know Mama, I didn't mean to finish it. I just started reading and it was over too soon," He says with that same sadness I usually feel when I finish a good book for the first time and wish I could read it again. I gently pinch his pouted cheeks, just kissing the tip of his nose.

"Hey it's okay baby don't cry, tell me all about it," I ask, petting their stool in front of the sink and Galen sits down, still clutching Princesses of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George to his chest like a precious gift that had to be protected at all cost. 

"Well, it's about these twelve sisters who are the princesses of Westfalin and under a curse where every night they have to dance with an evil demon's twelve sons, but the sisters are getting sick and dying," Galen dramatically recalls and Micah gasps. I just finish with Micah and sit back on my knees to listen to my other sweet little boy's story. 

"Twelve sisters?! That's a lot, I can barely handle two brothers Mama," Micah points out and Galen rolls his eyes. 

"Anyway, in comes this brave soldier back from a war, and guess what his name is Mama?" Galen asks while hugging the book a little closer and I know why it's his favorite. It was mine too when I was younger and I'd spend countless hours rereading it just to disappear into its pages to ignore my sister. 

"I don't know baby, what is it?" I ask him even though I knew the book by heart and he puffs out his chest with pride.

"His name was Galen too Mama! And he became the knight who saved the princesses from the demons!" he says with the most excitement I've seen out of my usually calm baby in a while. 

Named after the boy who became the knight in shining armor and saved the day just like how his father fought and killed my greatest demon to save me and the triplets. Risking his life for us that night, he loved these boys so much he was willing to pass on without ever meeting seeing their beautiful faces just so we could live the peaceful life we do now.