“My dowry?” What in the hell was she talking about?
“Did they tell you nothing? I would've thought Tammy would keep you informed at the least.”
“I've not been myself for a while. Once we came home, I had to overcome a lot. They've been coddling me. All these things about the Unseen and Supay and Sárkány culture that I don't know, they don't have to be learned in one day.”
“Of course not. The Unseen world's dowry is different from the humans. It’s one-tenth of a bride's total financial value. In Supay circles that's usually still a significant amount of money. That money is set aside, by law, for the bride, should she ever want to divorce her husband and can't be used for anything else. If one of them dies it goes to the heir.” She took my hand. “I'm here for you, Riley. If my son was willing to give up everything, including his life, for you, then so will I.”
I gaped at her. “Thank you. That means a lot to me. And I'd like to spend time with you, and get to know Michael better through you so that I can tell our children more and more about their father.”
“That pleases me more than I can say. Little David won't even remember him,” she said with a sad smile. “I have four other sons, but Michael was my oldest. Of course, we don't have favorites with our children. But I was very close to him.”
She squeezed my hand and stood. “I see your husbands hovering outside the room.
I twisted to see Elias and Anthony peering into the room.
“Can we come in?” Anthony asked.
“Of course,” I said. “We're just getting to know each other.”
Delilah met them halfway across the massive kitchen and pulled them both into a hug. The way they responded to her told me they were very fond of her. I'd have to get the details from Tammy about why there was bad blood between Delilah and Danyelus.
After a few minutes of catching up with the men, she excused herself to go find her grandchildren. She said all of the kids were her grandchildren, even the Sárkány. “I claim any children of yours,” she said to Elias and Anthony.
Once she was gone, I let out a breath. “Whew,” I said. “She's a lot to take. Did the kids get settled? What are they doing?”
They nodded. “Already swimming,” Anthony said. He pointed behind me, and I turned to see a few of the kids in the pool with Tammy. I couldn’t wait to join them. “Stephen is showing Axoular and David around.”
“Isn't she great?” Elias said. “She's the fun aunt. My mom was our teacher, like Tammy now. And Anthony's mom was like a mother hen, always clucking and making sure we drank enough and had warm clothes.”
I grinned. I loved hearing about their upbringing. “Were you raised together?”
Anthony nodded. “Yes. Our fathers were always working together. They were generals in the Supay army.”
“Whoa. Hold up. There's an army?”
“Of course. Every Unseen species has one. We war with each other too often not to have one,” Elias said with a laugh.
“You're so nonchalant about it.”
“We grew up with it. Like I said, they were generals. So we moved a lot, just like humans do. Generals must go to their troops, wherever they are.” Anthony moved to the fridge and found the bottled blood. “Elias, look. She actually did it.”
Elias's mouth dropped. “Bottled blood. It's human?”
“Yeah, we can't make blood yet, not until we get the Council to come into the modern age and let us study the sciences.”
Elias nodded. “Well, let's try it.”
Anthony warmed some and they sat with me, sipping their bottles. “It's just like bagged,” he said. “But much more convenient.”
“Not bad,” agreed Elias. I watched them discuss blood like wine connoisseurs. Even with months to get used to it, I didn't like to think about the fact that they drank blood. David still hadn't begun to crave it, even though his powers were still progressing. I was hopeful that his Sárkány side would power through, and he wouldn't be dependent on blood to sustain him.
“Show me around this place,” I said when they finished their bottles.
The home was beyond my wildest dreams. They'd spent parts of their childhood there, so it was comfortable to them. I think they enjoyed seeing my excitement at every new discovery.
They weren't kidding about a bowling alley. There was also a theater with a television bigger than I'd ever seen outside a real movie theater, and recliners that I knew I wouldn't want to leave.
The hot tub, sadly, wasn't for me until after I had the baby. Too hot. The pool, though, I couldn't wait to get in. It had a grotto and a lazy river. The river snaked around the basketball court and tennis court. “That's on my list first,” I said, causing them to chuckle.
