ŷ������

“I’m not a good father.�� I breathed out a sigh, clutching her. “Ivarsen has no discipline. He’s going to be undriven. Fane is neurotic. Everything has to be perfect. Gunnar is going to blow us up with his machines. Dag has refused to eat a vegetable since birth, and Octavia’s going to wind up in a fucking asylum when she finds out real life pirates are just terrorists with grenade launchers.�� I gulped, hating that after thousands of years there was still no proven method of raising kids. “I don’t know what to do. How the hell would I know what a good parent does and doesn’t do?”
― Penelope Douglas, Fire Night

“What does he look like?�� Winter whispered up at me, her voice raspy.
I smoothed my hand over both their heads. “Like next year he’ll be running around in the fountains with us,�� I told her. “He’s perfect, baby. Black hair, a little pissed off…��
She snorted, and I thought about what he’d look like in a year when he was walking and running and laughing and playing. I wanted the noise. I wanted it all over the house. I wanted it filling our lives from here on out.”
― Penelope Douglas, Conclave

“This is black; fear, falling, release...excitement, risk, danger...
And at any moment, death.
Freedom.”
― Penelope Douglas

“And although I was paying the bills and building us a future, I did relent when Banks gave the house back to Winter, including ownership of everything in it. Banks advised Winter to keep it solely in her name, though, so she could kick me out whenever she wanted.
They laughed about that one.”
― Penelope Douglas, Kill Switch

“I kiss her. “Do you really think I’d not let you have something you wanted?��
She smiles. “Really?��
“You want a motorcycle; you get a motorcycle.��
Her face lights up with her beautiful, excited smile, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen.”
― Penelope Douglas, Conclave

“Why is she crying?�� I barked at the doctor.
“Because it fucking hurts!�� she yelped, answering for him.

“Well, give her something!��
“It’s too late for that now,�� he mumbled through his mask and then peered over Winter’s legs. “Plus, you wanted natural childbirth, right?��
“What the fuck for?�� I burst out, looking down at her like she had three heads. “We didn’t talk about that.”
― Penelope Douglas, Conclave

“She paused and then said, “I love you.��
A pang hit my heart like it always did when she said that. Like I was falling for her all over again.”
― Penelope Douglas, Conclave

“He’s perfect, you know?�� I scaled my hands down her back. “You did an amazing job. I just hope he has more you than me in him.��
She nodded, agreeing, and I gave her a swat on the ass.
She laughed. “So what are we naming him, then?�� she asked.
“We didn’t decide?��
“Not that I remember.��
I closed my eyes, shaking my head. God, I had no idea. Nothing old, please. And nothing biblical.
Oh, and nothing unisex. Like Peyton, Leighton, or Drayton.”
― Penelope Douglas, Conclave

“I descended the small pathway toward the orchestra section, watching her, the long, gauzy gray costume flowing in layers around her legs and her hair flying around her as she spun and bent backward. There were no words to describe how beautiful she was.”
― Penelope Douglas, Kill Switch

“It’s a boy?�� he blurted out. “Are you sure?��

We leaned in, and I folded my lips between my teeth to contain the laughter.

A baby cried, there was some shuffling, and then we heard Damon’s playful little growl. “Ugh, what am I going to do with you?��

“Damon!�� Winter growled. “I’m going to kill you. You better love him. You do, right?”
― Penelope Douglas, Nightfall