Releasing a long breath, she looked back at her brother, and a grin lit his face.
“Fine,” she agreed, drawing the word out to express her irritation. “But after we get back from Millie’s.”
“Of course... You’re the best!” Haris hugged her, kissing her cheek.
She let him, saying, “You owe me.”
“My life,” he agreed. “I owe you my life.”
As annoyed as she got with her siblings, she was still fond of them in the way only an eldest sister could be.
Emmeline went to the kitchen to get started on the soup for Millie, running through a to-do list for the rest of the evening and tomorrow. She rubbed her temples.
She really wouldn’t be getting any sleep for the next six weeks, would she?
Chapter 7
Emmeline was up late making the soup, buns, and cookie dough. Then, she slept for a few hours and did a half-day at Tempest before flying down to Millie’s on Torch.
It was a two-hour flight but she loved being in the air. It was one of the few places where she could stop working and thinking and just be. Up here, there was nothing she had to do, and nothing she could do, since she had to hold onto her handlebars. It was liberating.
Looking down at the vast world below, Emmeline watched as the snow-covered Starshine Valley gave way to uncovered earth as they went farther south, the air around her getting less frigid the longer they flew.
They arrived at Liam’s farm two hours later. In the summer, the farm was lush, the fields bright and green, with a constant flurry of workers on the land; in the winter, it was empty and quiet. Torch landed in front of Millie’s large gray farmhouse, and while her dragon was hardly winded, when Emmeline dismounted, she stretched her muscles.
Millie and Liam didn’t have dragons—Liam wasn’t froma Drakkon family, and Millie had her hands full with her kids—but they did have a small stable for the dragons to rest in when the Sterlings came to visit, and Torch headed there now. It was beside the farmhouse, and Samreen’s dragon, Sholay, was already there on the rocks, a huge pile of fish beside him, along with a water basin.
The dragons rubbed their faces along each other’s necks in greeting, and Emmeline climbed up the three steps to the front door, pulling her phone out from her crossbody purse to check her father’s location. They had left an hour before her and his location showed that he and her brothers were still an hour away.
Emmeline punched in the key code for the front door. She had hardly made a step into the house when she heard a shriek from within.
“Khala!” four-year-old Noah cried, running down the hall toward her. Emmeline glimpsed two-year-old Ira hanging off Samreen, then Noah launched himself into her arms. She caught her nephew, spinning him around as he screamed with delight and she smothered him with kisses.
“I missed you!” she told him, setting him down. Noah grinned up at her, and Emmeline saw Millie on his face, a sight that made her heart warm.
“You’re finally here!” Noah replied, jumping up and down.
“Let me look at you,” she said, putting her hands on his shoulders. She inspected him, then said, “Noah, why do you get bigger every time I see you, huh? I need to tell your mama to stop feeding you so many vegetables. You have to stay my little baby forever!”
He giggled, then looked over Emmeline’s shoulder, out the window of the storm door. “Did you come on Torch?” he asked, trying to run past her. She grabbed him before he could.
“Hey! Where are your shoes? And your jacket? It’s cold!” He pouted. “We can say hi to Torch in a second. Come on.”
Emmeline closed the front door, then went to kiss her mother and niece hello. Ira reached for Emmeline, and Emmeline scooped her into her arms, twirling her around. Ira giggled.
“Okay, now you watch them while I clean up and cook,” Samreen said, straightening the front of her top, which was navy blue and part of a matching set. Her dark hair was clipped back in a knot, and she redid it now.
“I made soup,” Emmeline said. Ira reached for Emmeline’s nose-ring, and Emmeline scrunched her nose, blocking Ira’s hand. “Dad’s bringing it with the boys.”
“Is there enough for everyone?” Samreen asked, picking up toys and throwing them into the basket. Emmeline never knew how things would be when she saw her mother, and the complicated nature of their relationship made her nervous.
Sometimes her mother could be her best friend, but sometimes, her mother could be so harsh. Emmeline loved her, and knew her mother loved her as well but, as the eldest, there was a lot expected of Emmeline. That pressure often pushed her to succeed and surely had a part to play in her success, but sometimes, it felt like too much.
“Yes, there’s enough,” Emmeline said.
“Good.” Samreen nodded in approval. “I’ll make somesooji ka halwa, then. Millie’s in labor and Liam is with her. The baby should be here soon.”
Emmeline hoped the labor didn’t last too long; she had told Millie to do her pelvic floor exercises, but she wondered if Millie actually had.
