“I know. Isn’t he beautiful? He makes me a grandmother! Can you believe Carrik and I are grandparents?”
Lore’s face fell and he seemed stupefied for a few moments. “No. No, that is not allowed. You’re too young. You’re my little Lily.”
“I’m afraid you can’t change that, and won’t even if you could. I like being a grandmother.”
Lore looked at Eli who was still doing his best to pull out a handful of Lore’s hair — the part he wasn’t chewing on, anyway. “I can see why you do. I’m rather besotted myself.”
Lily extended her finger toward Eli’s chin and he promptly snapped at her finger.
Lore laughed again. “We are going to play! We will pretend to be bears!”
“Where?!” Lily, Tempest, Brandt, and Carrik all demanded.
Lore looked back at them like he was scolding them. “On the floor, right here in this very room,” Lore said. “Goodness! Can you believe the lack of trust?” Lore asked Eli, as he settled on the floor right in the middle of the throw rug and produced a soft stuffed dragon out of thin air for Eli to grasp at. “Here little Bear, help me attack the Dragon.”
“Great. Glad you picked a Dragon for him to make a toy out of,” Carrik said.
Lore looked up at Carrik and smirked at him. “I thought you might like that.”
“Mmhmm. Have you met Angelle’s parents? This is Avaleigh and Daniel,” Carrik said.
“Hello,” Lore said, as he took Daniel’s measure. “And you’re a Dragon.”
“I am. Is that a problem?” Daniel asked.
“Not at all. It’s just that every little boy, and girl, will at some point dream of Dragons — though for very different reasons,” Lore grumbled. “Do they dream of Lore, or an Elemental? No, they do not. They dream of larger than life reptiles. I do not see the attraction — for the girls anyway. The boys dream of vanquishing the Dragon.”
“Doesn’t go so well for most of those who try,” Carrik snarked.
“No, not always. But sometimes the Dragons are turned into a tree,” Lore said excitedly with a wild grin and a nod as he bobbled the toy Dragon toward Eli.
“Okay, that’s enough. Lore stop prodding Carrik. Carrik stop being so sensitive — lots of little children love Dragons. Daniel, allow me to apologize now. We are, regardless of the bond that we all hold dear, as dysfunctional as every other family you might encounter. Unfortunately, we can only ever go so long before past differences are tossed around. Please don’t take it personally,” Lily said.
There was a knock at the door, and Boon shrugged as he walked over to it. He grinned at his sister as he reached for the door knob.
“Oh, no,” Lily said.
Boon laughed. “Oh, yes.” He opened the door and Destroy grabbed him and hugged him as though he was his long lost father. “Boon! I’ve come to offer my congratulations, meet your mate and compliment your home. It is beautiful. Here, I brought you a cake,” Destroy said, shoving a cake plate at him.
“Thank you,” Boon said.
“You’re welcome. Where’s your woman? Oh, I see her! What a sweet little female!” he said, making a beeline for Angelle. As he moved toward Angelle, his gaze landed on everyone else in the room and he lifted a hand. “Hello! I’m here!”
“Of course, you are,” Lily said with a shake of her head.
Destroy grinned at her, but stopped mid step when his gaze fell on Brandt. “It’s you! You came back! How brave of you!” Destroy exclaimed.
“Uncle Destroy!” Lily and Tempest both said warningly.
He raised both hands as he backed away from them, moving ever closer to Angelle. “I’m just saying! He’s very brave coming back. But I’m not doing anything at all! Hello other people!” he said, waving at Avaleigh and Daniel. He reached the kitchen island and went around it, bowing his head briefly to Evangeline. “Hello, Angel.”
“Hello, Destroy,” Evangeline responded.
“Hello, Angelle. Hey… Angelle, Angel, Evangeline… Angel is in both names. And you’re both nice. Are you an Angel, too?”
Angelle looked at Evangeline, then at the dark-grey skinned Gargoyle. “No. I’m just human.”
“Oh. Thought I was seeing something nobody else did. Doesn’t matter! I’m so very happy to meet you. Boon has waited a long time for his mate. And as much as I hate to admit it, my daughter has missed out. But I think that’s a good thing, because anyone can see that you two are true mates, not chosen. May I be the first to congratulate you?”
