My face flushed.
“Thank you.” I gripped the cardboard cup, bringing it up to my nose and inhaling the rich aroma of coffee, chocolate, and the tiniest hint of raspberry.
He didn’t reply, already focused on brewing the next drink.
I looked down, shaking my head as I walked back toward my stroller to enjoy my coffee with the other moms. A moment later I realized I never even learned his name. How rude of me, considering he’d be integral to servicing my caffeine addiction once I stopped nursing. When had I gotten so awkward I couldn’t even make it through an introduction?
“You witches ready for this month’s blackout bash?” Ivy asked. I placed my coffee back in my stroller and sat down on a bench to feed Aspen under his thin blanket.
“I am. Last month’s was so fun. Bummed you didn’t make it,” Jade replied, giving Ivy a frown. She used the other end of the bench, laying out a long mat and changing her daughter, Petunia, with the finesse of a pro. She was not a first-time mom—I could tell by how relaxed she was about everything.
And here I was just trying to not look awkward hunched over with a boob out under my makeshift nursing cover. One false move and every witch in the vicinity was going to get theircafé au lait,and not in a way that was appropriate for being neighborly.
I fussed about with the blanket, making sure everything was hidden from view.
“Yeah, Parker was a real gremlin, and I just needed to get some sleep once I got her down,” said Ivy.
“I get that.” Jade nodded.
“What is a blackout bash?” I asked, realizing I was still having a conversation with other adults where I could actually vocalize my question and get an answer.
“We have a neighborhood new moon get-together. Aurora started with the other wives on Blessed Crescent when she became coveness, and it’s been slowly growing in size over the years. We usually meet up a few weeks after we’ve recharged under the full moon and do some casting as a coven,” Ivy said, picking up Parker and lifting her shirt to nurse her without taking a beat, her breasts somehow magically discreet despite being in public.
Obviously another mom expert, Parker was perfectly placed and latched in no time. If I tried to do the same thing, Aspen would probably unlatch and turn to give every witch a wink for getting an eyeful of my now porn star-level boobs. Being a part of the DD club before pregnancy, I didn’t need all theextrathat most women saw as a perk of breastfeeding.
“Gives us some girls’ night fun since the full moon usually brings about other sorts of activities…” she added with a smirk to Jade.
I swallowed hard.
“That’s nice,” I said, then gave myself a silent pat on the back for being able to follow the conversation.
“It is,” Jade replied, walking back from throwing a dirty diaper in the trash can. “I’m sure you’ll get an invite soon.”
“I’m pretty much a homebody.”
Plus, I’d need to recharge under the full moon to join in.
“Oh, if you’re out here, you’re not a homebody.” Jade picked up her daughter and gave her a kiss. “We already have one of those.”
“The one who lives in the last house?” I asked, pointing at 1 Blessed Crescent. “I saw her out yesterday, but I haven’t met her yet.”
“Don’t be surprised if you never do,” Ivy piped in. “That’s more of a sighting than many of us have seen in weeks. Acacia doesn’t really do the whole coven thing.”
“I thought that came with the territory in Celestial Haven’s witch-designated sections?”
The whole appeal for most supernaturals living in tight-knit communities like these was having others who understood the challenges that came with a magical life. The capital where I’d lived with Atlas was different, same as the city’s supernatural sections, but these hidden oases boasted the collective.
“It is, but apparently when you have enough money to buy the big houses, they don’t seem to care.” Jade shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee.
“She was some important supernatural geologist who lived on the East Coast.” Ivy let down her sweaty white hair before tying it back up in a messy knot atop her head. “Discovered something big there, apparently.”
“What brought her to Washington?” Most people stayed on their coast. Moving wasn’t very common, especially for those with a successful career like it sounded like this witch had.
Rummaging through her stroller, Ivy grabbed a pacifier and wiped it on her sweaty tank top before popping it into Parker’s mouth. She made motherhood look effortless—something I both envied and admired. I was still trying to let go of the mom guilt of not being able to do a sterilization spell when Aspen’s pacifier fell to the ground. Without my magic, it would only make me more tired, more drained…
Like I needed more of that.
Ivy gave me a smile before she continued on. “I believe it was for work, though no clue what she was doing because after her first moonluck, she never showed her face again. That was… How long ago, Jade?”
