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Kitali closed the door softly behind her before quietly making her way to the twins’ room. She could hear Aymeric’s voice still coming from within as she approached. Her hand was hovering over the knob when his voice changed to a shrill nasally tone.
“‘Stop, little gingerbread man,’ shouted the old woman. ‘I want to eat you for my tea.’,” he read.
Kitali muffled her own giggle as their toddlers shrieked with laughter.
“But the gingerbread man would not stop,” Aymeric continued dramatically. “The little old woman chased after the gingerbread man, but she could not catch him.”
Estinien walked up the hallway coming from the stairs, and looked at her quizzically. She put a finger to her lips and pointed at the door. Estinien came up beside her, listening.
“‘Stop, little gingerbread man,’ bleated the karakul,” Aymeric continued, comically drawing out his vowels. “‘I want to eat you for my tea.’”
“Papa, karakul doesn’t drink tea,” Ystelle giggled.
“Well, what if this karakul did drink tea?”
“That’s silly!”
“It is rather silly, yes,” he agreed.
Estinien smiled fondly at them through the door.
“Is Lisi still awake?” he whispered.
“I just put her down, she should be,” Kitali whispered back.
With a kiss to her head, he continued past her to Lisi’s room, slipping in quietly as Kitali continued to listen to the story. Next the gingerbread man encountered a chocobo who wanted to eat him, and then, when he arrived at the banks of the Coerthas river, a clever fox tricked him into jumping into his mouth. She stifled another laugh as the girls both gasped in surprise as the fox’s jaws snapped shut over the poor gingerbread man.
“Again, read it again!” they both demanded.
He chuckled.
“No, I think one story is quite enough for tonight.”
Kitali decided that was a good time to make her appearance.
“Besides, your mother- ah, right on cue,” he said warmly, looking up from the grand rocking chair.
Both of them wiggled off their beds to rush over to her, and Kitali stooped down to meet them. Routine bed-time kisses were given to both of them. Kitali and Aymeric each tucked them into their respective beds before wishing one final goodnight and closing the door.
“Were you listening in?” Aymeric gently accused once they were in the hallway.
“Only for a little bit. The voices were funny,” Kitali said.
“They seemed to enjoy it,” he said with a fond look back at the closed door. “Is Estinien still in the kitchen?”
“No, he went to say goodnight to Lisi.”
Aymeric went and knocked softly on her door.
“Estinien? The girls are in bed if you still needed to say goodnight,” he called.
“Aye, I’ll be there in a bit,” came the reply.
“I’ve got some work to finish tonight, so it’ll just be you two,” Kitali said.
“Well I shall say my goodnight now, then,” he said, bending to kiss her.
She stood on her toes to meet him halfway, cupping his cheek and letting the kiss linger.
“I love you,” she murmured against his lips.
“I love you, too. We shall see you in the morning.”