The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy
Chapter 0411

Only twelve times, apparently, much to Rosie and Jesse's glee.

Mom, Dad, Cora and Roger stay in their own tight knit little group tonight, I think reminiscing about old times - one of their favorite hobbies - while grandpa Henry and the rest of the boys sit around the couch, joking and laughing about the usual boy stuff - sports, and fighting, and daring trials of masculinity or whatever. Jesse breaks away every few minutes to send the kids on another mission, or to tackle them, or to lift one up on his shoulders and spin them around. I grin, watching him, loving how good of a brother he is.

Seraphina, to my delight, chooses to sit on my lap, over in the quiet corner where I'm sitting with Jackson and Juniper. Junie's reading a book - a nice, thick fantasy romance, I see, her favorite - but Jackson and I are just sitting quietly.

We were chatting quietly until Seraphina came over. But the minute she sank down in my lap Jackson fell a bit quiet, looking at my tiny cousin askance like he's a deer that's ready to run from the greatest predator of all time.

When I notice the tension in Jackson's body, I burst out laughing.

"What?" Sera asks, looking up at me with that mixture of joy, curiosity, and anger that only a four-year-old can manage. "What's so funny?"

"I don't know, Fifs!" I say, pointing at Jackson with my thumb. "You'll have to ask Jacks."

"Oh god," he groans, covering his face with his hand. "Please - don't draw its attention to me -"

"It!?" I gasp, cackling with laughter. Even Juniper looks up from her book, smirking.

"You tell me what's so funny, big boy!" Seraphina demands, turning in my lap to face Jackson and giving him a big shove on his shoulder.

Juniper starts laughing too as my laughter deepens.

"Nothing's funny... Ser..fif...god, what's her name again?" Jackson looks desperately between Juniper and me. "Your family has so many nicknames for everyone - I can't keep anything straight."

"SeraPHINA Liliana Sinclair!" my tiny cousin insists, glaring at my mate. "What is so funny!?"

"Nothing, I promise! Nothing's funny!" Jackson insists, leaning away from her tiny rage with his hands up. "Nothing's ever been funny, I'm sorry!"

I cuddle Sera close to me, laughing and smiling down at her. "Go easy on him, Fifs, he's scared of little girls. He's never met one!"

She looks up at me, shocked, and then over at Jackson like she can't believe it at all. "He's never met a little girl? Why?"

"Because," I sigh, shaking my head as I look pityingly at Jacks. "He's just been very, very unlucky not to have crossed paths with one before."

Seraphina studies me and then Jackson for a long moment before she kneels on my lap and reaches out her hand, patting Jackson gently on the shoulder and giving him her best wide grin - which, I have to admit, is a little terrifying. "Don't be scared, big boy," Seraphina says, working hard to be gentle. "I will be nice to you."

Jackson thanks her very politely and she nods, climbing off of my lap and scurrying away.

"What is with you, Jacks?" Juniper asks, and we both turn to see her smirking at Jackson, a little delighted. "You're so weird."

"She's just so little," Jackson says, laughing at himself, spreading his hands out before him like it's obvious. "I have...no idea what she's thinking, or what she wants. And I feel like I'm always at risk of accidentally crushing her or something, which would make everyone here really mad-"

I burst out laughing at this, nodding at the understatement of the year, as Junie gives him a big grin before seeming to turn back to her book.

"Who knew," Juniper sighs. "That the one thing that strikes true fear into one of the world's strongest Alphas..."

"Was just a little girl," I finish, sighing too and shifting so I can climb comfortably into Jackson's lap, my favorite spot. He immediately closes his arms in a circle around me, holding me close. "Perhaps this is the military secret that Moon Valley needs to capitalize on to defeat the Atalaxians. How can we incorporate Seraphina's terrifying girl energy into our military strategy?"

"I think we already have," Jackson murmurs, sighing and giving me a kiss on the cheek as he tightens his arms around me, drawing me even closer.