The hum stopped, to then start up again.
My sleep addled brain needed a moment before it processed that was not an appliance crapping out noise but a people noise.
“Didn’t mean to startle you, dear! The back door was open. I noticed as I drove by. Came over to make sure you were okay and there you were, passed out in a pile of papers, just like you used to when you were little, helping out your daddy.”
Sunny is in my house? The look on my face must have conveyed my confusion because she smiled sweetly, set a hot cup of black tea down in front of me, and began scooping up the papers I’d accidentally scattered everywhere.
Sunny looked surprised to see what I was reading.
Any hopes that Cy was making another break in were dashed.
“Made a load of casseroles, dropping them off to the snowed in sorts, helping them shovel their drives. My, it’s been a doozy of a storm, hasn’t it,” she chattered on as she left the room. “Brought you a couple casseroles! No broccoli. Cy guy said you hate the green trees,” she tittered.
I did in fact hate broccoli, but I’m the kind of stubborn that knows it’s good for me so I eat it anyway. I must have donesomething to give away my distaste for the vegetable while he was here. A facial expression as I ate some, maybe?
“Do you know what this is?” I asked as she returned with a bowl of tater tot casserole. It was a shot in the dark but I was desperate.
“Of course I do.” Sunny smiled, realized I wasn’t, and paused. “Don’t you?”
“Uhm… should I?” I frowned, even as I took a huge bite of ground elk, three cheeses, tater tot goodness, and chewed happily.
Sunny sighed. Her hand went to her forehead, glanced at something in the stack of papers that made her frown, and glanced away. “Perhaps we should go sit at the table for this.”
“I’m good where I’m at,” I admitted, then motioned behind her for her to take a seat in the one I used to occupy when in Dad’s office.
“I worried this might happen. For years I urged them to tell you.” Sunny looked just shy of wringing her hands.
Huh?
“Tell me what?” I was not liking the sound of this, not one bit. “What’s wrong with me not knowing… Dad made up a secret language- languages,” I corrected, holding up the other stack. Dread filled the pit of my stomach. “He didn’t do anything bad, did he?” I couldn’t picture it but again I thought it and it popped out of my mouth.
“Oh, no, honey, it’s nothing like that. It’s just- Well, I don’t know where to start,” she murmured, fumbling her words.
“Well, if Dad didn’t do anything wrong, then what’s the problem?”
“Lepyr,” she chirped.
I stared at her stupidly. “Leopard?”
Sunny shook her head. “Those writings, those ones are Lepyr.”
I held up the other ones and she murmured, “Lo denaii.”
Okay, well, they had names. That was a start. I still failed to see how it was messed up Dad hadn’t told me, or why Sunny thought I should need to know.
“Lo denaii, is, uhm, well, technically it’s Foot.”
When I stared at her uncomprehendingly, she went on. “Your daddy left the Lo denaii years ago to live in the human world. He preferred to refer to himself as a Foot. You know, renaming himself.”
A Foot? Was I hearing her right?
“Dad was a Foot and Mom was a… Lepyr?” I just tossed it out there. My tone said what I hadn’t. Malarkey, your table is ready.
“Yes,” she gave a firm nod.
“What does that make me then? Lemme guess, a lizard person?” I laughed.
She didn’t.
