The West Way Nursery School was a sprawling, single-story fortress of smooth river stone and thick cedar beams, custom-built to survive the blunt-force trauma of over fifty high-energy beastworld children.
Thanks to the under-floor heating loops I'd designed after my 'long dream,' the main playroom was as warm as mid-summer, the scent of sawdust, sweet dried rushes, and Taruna's morning honey-broth hanging thick in the air.
At four years old, Nadir was the only child in our immediate bloodline who didn't look like he belonged in a higher age bracket. Even Kaelen and Sora seem to have caught up to him in height. And they were just one year old.
Nadir was small, soft-spoken, and walked with a tiny, rhythmic waddle that made his striped tiger tail swish like a pendulum.
