“Well, that’s what enclaves are all about, aren’t they? I was surprised to hear that Silva had moved back to town. We’re really happy to see her again. I can’t wait to catch up with her in the office.”And where were you? Where have you been this whole time?“I heard you were in the Otherworld.”
Her mouth dropped open at her own audacity.That was an inside thought. What the fuck is wrong with you?!
Tate’s eyes slid sideways, glancing at her briefly before returning his attention to their daughters. “Did you?”
In for a penny . . .“Yeah. I didn’t know what to believe. We were just sad to see her go. I was always terrified of Otherworld stories when I was kid. I still am, if I’m being honest, but uh . . . well, glad you’re both in one piece, I guess? Relatively speaking.”
Tate said nothing for a moment, watching silently. “Relatively in one piece. And itisbleedin’ terrifying, so that’s a good instinct. I’d hold onto it.”
He didn’t elaborate, but the battered state of his person spoke for itself.Fucking yikes. “She’s four?”
“Just three.”
Kora and the little elf had abandoned the tea set and were now in the castle, climbing up to the second level to go down the slide.Three. That math didn’t work out in her head, but this was neither the time nor place, nor was it any of her business.
Lurielle had been hurt when Silva had missed her wedding, absent entirely for both the planning and ceremony, but distance had brought clarity, and whatever superficial hurt she’d felt then was long since forgotten. She remembered thinking their kids would be friends when they found out Silva was pregnant.Which was definitely when she was married to Tannar.
“She’s just between my two. My son is in the other preschool room, just down the hall from yours. We’ll have to do some playdates this summer.” Kora pterodactyl screeched her way down the slide, as Tate’s little girl giggled from the top. “And my daughter, as you can see, is part dinosaur.”
Tate grinned, watching the two little girls scramble back into the castle. “Aye, you won’t need to worry about her. Fierce little mite. Seems as though she’s more than capable of handling herself.”
Lurielle laughed, nodding in agreement. Her daughter was a force to be reckoned with.And no one gets to dim her, serene selkie toddlers be damned.She turned an ear back to the mothers a few feet away. They were discussing language immersion programs, early math literacy, and whether Trollish or coding was the more strategic second language focus.
“Welovedthe philosophy,” a kitsune was saying about the Orcish language immersion camp her child would be attending that summer. “It just aligned with our values.”
Valueswas a code word, she had discovered. Values in this context often referred to nothing more than how exclusive the program was, how sought-after it had become in parenting circles, and how much social currency inclusion in it carried in places like this.An Orcish language program would be good, though. You should look into that.
“How immersive do you suppose it will be if the parents aren’t speaking the language in the home?” Tate wondered under his breath, a low voice for her ears only, his eyes never moving from where the girls were playing.Yeah, that’s a good point. You should start your lessons again.
Kael was building with several other children, laying the foundation of the blocks like a structural engineer — carefully, consideringly, his movements precise. When the gnoll jumped up and bumped the table, he protected the structure. Lurielle could almost see his tiny brain recalibrating. She didn’t know whether the glow of pride she felt was appropriate.He’s good at this. Not ‘he makes you look good.’ You know how to be better than that. You’re not your mom.
“The program we chose issucha good fit for Wylie. We interviewed at a few, but I know this is the right one.”
“That’s code for ‘this is the one that accepted us.’ As if preschoolersneedinterpretive water dancing.”
Lurielle turned away, disguising her choked laughter with a cough. Tate was a bitch. It was the addition the playgroup sorely needed. It was whatsheneeded, at the very least. Confirmation that she wasn’t the only one occasionally thinking unkind thoughts about the conversations undertaken by the other parents, the constant churn of signing their children up for whatever they could, preparing them for far-off futures, without enough consideration into whether there was any enjoyment involved.
When snack was served, they watched the children line up. Kael waited patiently in line while Kora reached out for a cup of the cheddar frog crackers. Lurielle tensed. Kora’s eyes raised to hers as if she could feel the telepathic command. “Wait,” Lurielle mouthed. She watched her little kaiju’s hand still, her jaw tighten . . . before her arm dropped to wait for her turn. Lurielle gave her a thumbs-up. Another tally on the board.
She grinned down at the little elf when the children found their way to them, the girls still holding hands. She was dressed exactly the way Lurielle would have assumed Silva’s daughter would be dressed, in an A-line pinafore dress and a matching cardigan that looked as if it cost as much as her monthly car note.
“Is that from the shop in town?” Yanna asked, holding her toddler on her hip as the little selkie glared down at Kora.
Oh, he wants an enemy? Fucking bring it. Lurielle winced, berating her internal voice.NO. That’s not what we’re going to teach them. They don’t need to be as competitive as you.
“You know,” Yanna continued, smiling serenely up at Tate, the fathers in this group have their own little hang session with a few of us and the kids; you might want to exchange numbers.”
“The sweater was made for her.” Tate’s smile was cool, his voice clipped, ignoring the selkie’s other words entirely, his eyes already down on the little elf, who’d taken his hand back and wasgripping it tightly. “Aelin, do you want to ask your new friend to come over and play soon?”
Yanna opened her mouth to answer, blinking in shock when Lurielle beat her to the punch.
“Doesn’t that sound fun, Kora? And Aelin’s mommy is one of my good friends, so we can make a day of it.”
The selkie stepped back, eyes tight, unused to not being centered in this space, quickly glancing around for one of her inner circle.
This is what it felt like to be friends with one of the cool kids, Lurielle realized, almost snorting at how ridiculous she knew she sounded. She had never been a part of that circle, had never even been cool-kid adjacent in the club.Does that mean you’re friends with Tate? Oh no.
The entire ride home was spent with Kael singing a song he’d learned at school, Kora loudly adding her own babble, not to be outdone. Lurielle winced, glancing up in the rear-view mirror with a smile. She understood the pressure of perfection, maybe better than anyone. But they were this young for such a short amount of time. “When we get home, I think it’s time for a story. And you can play for a bit while I make lunch.”
