Marcella let out a small squeal and clapped her hands over her mouth. "Cosimo, what the fuck are we doing at my parents' house?"
Cosimo gently removed her hands from her face. "A mating gift, from me to you,tesoro."
"How? How is this… Renata…" Marcella stammered, looking around her.
"I had my lawyers go over the deeds to the house. Turns out your ex-husband was as useless at paperwork as he was at everything else. He never signed the final deed of transferance, and now he no longer has the mental faculty to make decisions or try to fight the ruling. The house and everything in it are now legally yours once again, Marcella." Cosimo wrapped his arm around her. "It might need an extension put on it, especially if we are going to move all of the Sforza lab here from underneath the castle in Milan."
"Cosimo," Marcella smothered a sob in his chest. "I don't know what to say. I love you. I love you so much."
Cosimo lifted her chin with a finger so he could kiss the tears off her cheeks. "I love you too. I even have a perfect decoration to place wherever you wish."
"Oh? And what's that?" she asked with a sniff.
Cosimo pulled out a box from his pocket and handed it to her. Marcella opened it and burst out laughing. "Amore, you shouldn't have."
She lifted Carlo's finger and wedding ring from the box. Cosimo and Apollo had set it in a clear block of resin.
"It would make a good paperweight if nothing else," Cosimo replied.
Still laughing, Marcella put it back in the box and stared around at the house. It was a run-down mess, but it was still standing. "It's going to take work, but I will get it back to normal again in no time."
"That brings me to my next surprise," Cosimo said and pointed to the field beside them. A large portal of crimson fire opened, and people started walking through.
Marcella's mouth popped open. "What…is happening?"
"The family wanted to come and meet you. I told them to bring help," Cosimo said and waved at Kian and a heavilypregnant Elise. Behind them came Hedera and a small army of brownies.
"I don't want to meet the family dressed like this," Marcella scolded him.
"You look perfect, like always," Cosimo said and kissed her.
Marcella didn't have a chance to express her outrage further because the rest of the family surrounded her. Bayn, Freya, Killian, Bron, and the Ironwoods came through, followed by Taranis, Quinn, and their knights, except for Avallach, who was still running the kingdom in Taranis's absence. Maria stared at the dragon knights in wonder.
"Be nice," Cosimo warned her. "They are going to talk you through shifting."
Maria's eyes lit up when she spotted Vidar. "Dibs! I call dibs!" she called and hurried off through the crowd before Cosimo could stop her.
"Dear gods, she's going to flirt him to death," Cosimo complained.
Beside him, Oberon snorted with laughter. "Think it would take more than flirting to take Vidar down. Well done on your mate, little brother. She is delightful."
"Yes, she is." Cosimo grinned as his eyes found Marcella, surrounded by all the women of the family, asking her questions and laughing with her. Elise had already grabbed Marcella's hands and put them on her swollen belly.
"Should she be up and about in that state?" Cosimo asked Kian.
"Try and get her to sit still. Really. I dare you," he said with a touch of irritation.
Bayn rolled his eyes. "Don't mind him, Cosimo. He's just pissy he can't growl at his mate and get her to behave like he wants her to."
Cosimo laughed and accepted the mug of ale that a brownie passed him. It was only a little past midday, but that never seemed to matter with the fae.
A cry went up, and they turned to watch as the dragons began shifting for Maria. She was running about, calling out to them.
"Are you going to get out there? Show us what you got?" Killian teased Cosimo.
"I have nothing to prove. I would rather Maria harass them than me."
Taranis walked over to join them by the fence. "I'm starting to think it might be good if Maria doesn't shift just yet. I thought you Greatdrakes were bad enough, but she's on a whole different level of chaos."
