The Viper and the heir

Welcome to the family,Jasmine

"Mind if I borrow you for a moment,brother?"Kamil asked.

Kalim nodded,excusing himself to Rook and Ruggie and following his brother down the stairs and into a bit more quiet side alley.

"What is it it,Kamil?"
"What's your angle?"
"Huh?"
"Why are Fluellen and Layton here?!Why did you invite them?You barely know them."
"Well..Have you considered that maybe I just wanted to be nice?To you?"

Kamil laughed.

"Kalim,Kalim,you sweet fool..We don't do nice with eachother.We never have.That's not us."

Kalim lurched a little at that.Kamil was right.They weren't.And until now Kalim hadn't really questioned it.As teenagers they were incredibly petty and even recently they were just the same..

The sultan sighed.

"You're right.It's not really..an us thing.But maybe it should be.Maybe it always should've been."
"What brought all this on?"
"You helped me save the man I love,so I figured I bring the men you love to you.And we try to fix things from there."

Kamil blinked,mouth wide and slowly crossing his arms.He mouthed something then and Kalim hummed in confusion.

"What are you saying?"
"I'm trying to thank you but my body is refusing to speak the words into existence."

They both snorted awkwardly.

"Ok,I'm gonna thank you first and then you can try."Kalim offered.

His brother nodded.

"Thank you,Kamil."
"You're welcome.Thank you too,Kalim."
"You're welcome."

Kalim approached for a hug,only for Kamil's hand to end up on his face and hold him back.

"Woah,woah,woah..Let's not push ourselves.Baby steps."
"You know,I probably should've seen that coming."

They nodded at eachother and turned heel to return back to the festival.

-

"You left.Why?"Kalim asked,walking into his and Jamil's chambers.

Jamil stayed quiet then.Not because of any anger towards his husband,but mostly out of shock.After all,seeing a women die of child birth right in front of you tends to knock you off your kilter pretty hard.

Speaking of..He adjusted the baby girl in his arms when she started stirring.

"Jamil?Jamil,love,are you ok?"
"Mhh."

It was then that Kalim decided to walk over.He gasped.

"Jamil..Where did you get the baby?"
"I didn't steal it."
"Mhh..So,what happened?"
"Kiara died.She gave birth earlier than expected.Her water broke in the kitchens and I got called over.We helped her out but..She didn't make it."
"And you're taking care of the little one till the father shows up?"
"I wish,the man was a no show since the pregnancy test came back positive."
"So,you've never met him?"
"Nope."
"And none of the other servants know either?"
"Apparently,it was a one night stand gone wrong but she wanted to keep it."

Kalim hummed and sat down,scooting closer to him and leaning on Jamil's  shoulder.Without even a second thought he leaned his head against Kalim's .

"She's cute."
"All babies are.You should've seen Najma's baby pictures.Looked adorable and now she's a she demon."

Kalim chuckled kissing Jamil's cheek,before humming in consideration.

"Actually..I don't think I've ever seen your baby pictures either."
"Better not.I was a rather ugly baby,I must confess."
"I'm sure you were adorable."he said,petting the baby girl's head.