Grandma walks over to Fox and looks up at him. He smiles, but it falls, and then he just looks so vulnerable.
“You’ll fit in here perfectly. Welcome home, my child.”
I think Fox’s eyes get glassy, but he nods, mumbles something, and turns away from us. But his scent is warm and light in the air.
“So, this is it? Stamped, sealed, has your approval? Can we go now?” Sebastian says around a straw as he sips his freshly squeezed juice.
“Sit down and have another muffin. I have questions.”
The questions are gruelling and come from both alphas. Grandma and Grandpa know exactly what to ask to have us all squirming.
At the end of the hour, I’m sitting there exhausted, sweating a little, wondering if there is anything else they could possibly ask.
“Well, you kids have a good day.”
I blink. What?
“Just kicking us out, just like that, huh?” Sebastian says, clearly amused.
“Yeah, just like that,” Grandpa says. “It’s time,” he says theatrically.
“Time?”
“Yes,” Grandpa glowers and grins like a villain in a movie. “It’s gull-feeding time.”
“You promised Sofia that you’d stop that,” Sebastian growls.
Grandpa shrugs his shoulders and gives us such a charming smile that it’s almost impossible to stay mad at him.
“They are cute, and now it’s only a few of them. Besides, Sofia is my grandkid, not my parent. I’ll do what I want.”
Sebastian throws open the curtains, and we find thirty or more lined up on the porch rails, fossicking around on the grass. But in amongst them are the magpies.
“I think your plan failed miserably, Grandma,” Sebastian says dryly.
She stares at all the birds, her mouth open in what looks like horror. “Hot damn.”
“It’s an army of birds; world domination is mine. We take the land, the sea, and the skies. Nothing can stop us now, bahahahaha.”
Grandma sits down and grabs Sebastian’s phone. “Find me a cat. Or twenty.”
I choke on a laugh. Grandma loads us up with chocolate muffins and ushers us out the back door.
“There's no point trying to get through the birds; you’ll just get poop on your shoes.”
I hug Grandma and get out of the way, turning back to watch how sweet Sebastian is with her. Fox embraces her, too. She’s surprised by it.
Katsu bows to her again and then kisses her cheek.
“Come paint the house!” Grandpa shouts.
“We’ll be here,” Fox yells back.
Together, we walk slowly, a bit aimless, but then Sebastian leads us down to the beach. We walk along the sand, not talking, just content.
Her words haunt me. Tell them. Tell them before it’s too late.
I open my mouth, but Fox whirls, and I find myself enveloped in a hug.
