“Jen. Linna is blue. I told you that.”
“Oh, yeah.” I needed her moral support. “We’ll wait until she’s good and asleep, put her in a car seat, cover it with a blanket like you do in the dead of winter, and tell Mom not to wake her up.”
She sighed. “Okay. But this is going to be a disaster. I can feel it. How do we even know she’s got the gene?”
“It’s got to be her. We’re related through our moms. Yours is dead, but if she wasn’t she’d probably go through the change too. You going through that portal activated all our dormant genes, and we have to start researching who else could be changing and who we can help.”
I tried not to sound too annoyed with her. I needed her help with Mom, but she needed to get on the ball, not just helping the Sárkány that were crossing over from Galdiart, but the ones that were already on Earth. “It only takes one moment of extreme stress to induce the change, and meditation can do it too, so we’re gonna have some chick going to yoga only to come out looking like a lizard.”
“I know you’re right. I feel a little overwhelmed. The twins are still only weeks old, and we’re trying to get the Sárkány through the portal as fast as we can.”
“I’m here to help, Riley. Ineedto be useful. We have to start with Mom though, and then we will start tracing the lineage back from her. She’s got that old family bible. That’ll help.”
We arranged for a time to meet. It was too early; my mother didn’t pull back the covers before nine in the morning on the best day. I found myself with a good five hours to kill before we met. I took a quick shower, set my hair in big fat rollers, and went down for breakfast.
The kitchen was bustling, as it was almost lunch time and Alexander had taken the day off to help me with my mom, so the entire staff was there to impress. They had the good grace to ignore the rollers on my head, but immediately shooed me out of the kitchen. “Lunch is in ten minutes, you can eat with the king,” the chef said. “Go on, then, we’ll take care of everything.”
I sighed and made my way back to the overdone dining room. Alexander and Roan sat at the table, laptops and papers spread everywhere. Three places were set at the other end of the large table, I assumed they’d leave their work to go eat then return after. “Don’t you two have offices for this sort of thing?” I asked.
Roan didn’t even look up from the paper he read, but Alexander did, and did an exaggerated double take. His eyes were on my hot rollers. “What in the world?” he asked.
“We’re going to see my mother, and she’s the nitpickiest person alive. I have to make my hair and makeup right or she’ll find a way to give me a backhanded compliment that will leave me shaking and furious. It’s easier to look the way she’d want me to look so she can’t find fault. She’ll have a dig at my weight, there’s nothing I can do about that.
Roan finally looked up from his papers. “What’s wrong with your weight? You’ve got a beautiful figure.”
My cheeks flushed as pink as the rollers in my hair. “Thank you, but she’s a slender woman, as are most women in my family, apart from Riley and me. Plus, Riley iswayskinnier than she was last time Mom saw her, so she’ll probably compare us, which I hate.” I used to be the skinny one but Riley had to go and get all fit. I doubted I’d ever feel the need to do the same, but who knew? I was going to live for a long time; I might decide to go for it.
“I don’t know if I want to meet this woman,” Roan said with a shudder.
“She’s not all bad. She has this idea of what my life should’ve been like, and she tried so hard to get me to follow the path she set for me. Wealthy husband, active at church, two point three kids, etcetera.”
Alexander furrowed his brow. “Two point three kids?”
I waved my hand at him, dismissing it. “It’s a turn of phrase, means nothing. She’s disappointed that my life isn’t perfect.”
“I suppose all parents want a happy life for their children. Are you happy, Jen?” Alexander asked.
“I am now. I wasn’t before.”
Roan opened his mouth, probably to ask me about my former life, but I interrupted him. “I don’t want to talk about that now. Today is going to be stressful enough. Which of you is going with me? We have to swing by Riley’s and pick up her and the twins.”
Roan’s eyes lit up. “I love babies, can I go?”
I laughed. “Sure. The more the merrier. Mom’s gonna flip anyway.”
We finished lunch, and then I did my hair exactly the way my mom taught me, applied minimal makeup—tasteful and understated. I put on a pair of khaki pants and a soft pink sweater, and a pair of brown leather slides. With small pearl earrings and a thin gold necklace, I was ready.Still too fat, but nothing for it.
Under the sweater I wore the bandeau top that had the most coverage. I’d have to show her my wings to convince her, of that I was certain. I didn’t want to give her too much bare skin to stare at before I changed. She had a grand piano in the formal living room, so there was no danger of not being able to change.
The five hours flew by, and I found myself in the front hallway of Riley’s enormous home with Roan and Alexander. Riley’s husbands, Anthony and Elias, and her boyfriend, Axoular, waited to greet us. “Riley ran to change Michael’s diaper. She’ll be right back,” Elias said after I was introduced to the two I hadn’t met previously.
Anthony held little Linna, who was alert and looking around the best she could on a slightly wobbly neck. “How old are they now?” I asked as I stroked her hair. It had hints of strawberry blonde in it like her Mama’s.
“Eight weeks,” Riley replied, walking out of a side door holding a blond baby. “This is Michael.” She cooed at him before handing him over to me.
He smiled at me and closed his eyes. “He’s sleepy.”
She nodded. “I’m going to swaddle Linna and cover her face with the corner of the blanket. She’s ready to eat, so as soon as we get there, I’ll nurse her and cover up. You’ll have to get the explanations out of the way before she finishes.
