I laughed. “And unfortunately, I’ve seen Dave the dong. On the very real chance that Shitty Ritchie will reveal Dave at the funeral, I’m going to take a hard pass, too.”
Alana Catherine grinned. “You guys want to go on a date with me to my playground instead?”
I glanced at Gideon in concern. I was pretty sure the playground had been destroyed when the house had. He winked at me and covertly shook his head.
“Yep,” he told our daughter. “It’s a date.”
She kissed each of our cheek and wandered into the crowd of our friends and family.
“Do we even have a playground anymore?” I asked Gideon.
“No,” he replied. “However, ten minutes from now, we will. What Alana Catherine wants Alana Catherine will have.”
I grinned. She had her daddy wrapped around her little finger… and mine too. Neither one of us would have it any other way.
Candy Vargo’s foster kids had tackled her and were having a shrieking, screaming, laughing tickle party on the lawn. The out-of-control giggling was contagious. Even Gideon chuckled. Having kids around was glorious. They were just too damned adorable. Of course, Candy’s badass reputation was being systematically shredded by her sweet behavior with her little ones. But I was pretty sure she didn’t care. She loved big and she loved hard. It was one of her secret weapons.
“The Demons are here,” Gideon commented.
I raised a brow. “You’re a Demon,” I reminded him.
“True, but I live here with my very hot wife. I own the ugly house behind us.”
I laughed. He would get rewarded for the very hot wife comment as soon as we could get a little privacy. I was lookingveryforward to that.
Goddess Cecily, Abaddon, Goddess Pandora and the Demons stood slightly apart from the rest of the group, but we’re clearly pleased with the results of the mission. Cecily was fascinated yet appalled by Shitty Ritchie. She watched the tiny guy with an expression that was half-horrified and half-amused. The Goddess could join the club. She and Abaddon had gotten cornered by the miniature weirdo who was begging them to stay and attend the funeral for his formerly large dong. It was not a two-way conversation. Shitty Ritchie was talking their heads off and Cecily and Abaddon were trapped. It was a typical day in the life of Shitty Ritchie and everyone around him.
But Pandora… Her focus was elsewhere. Her eyes were glued to the ghost of the former Higher Power aka Hemah.
“Pandora,” I said in a brook no bullshit tone. “Don’t start anything.”
She gave me her resting bitch face stare. It was impressive.
“I’m quite put out that Its already dead,” Pandora lamented. “It would have been my greatest wish come true to have destroyed It myself. I would have made Its demise last months—possibly years. Would have been very painful. Very,verypainful.”
“Welp,” I said, wanting to get away from her. “Its dead. Very dead. Completely dead. You’re going to have to find another hobby.”
Before she could answer, Gideon and I gave her the slip. Dealing with Pandora wasn’t on my present to-do list. I would be pleasant, but I still didn’t trust the woman.
Everything was wonderful… until it got weird.
Why in the hell did it always have to get weird?
“Daisy! Gideon!” Candy Vargo shouted. “Over here. NOW!”
Gideon and I ran like the Darkness was on our ass. When we reached Candy, we froze.
She was holding a baby. I was confused. None of her foster kids were babies. The youngest was five. Had she gotten new kids while we were gone? That didn’t make sense. I would think that social services would want to meet her in person if they were letting her foster a baby.
I didn’t get it.
Gideon did.
He walked over to Candy Vargo and extended her arms. That was when I noticed the clothes in a pile on the ground at Candy’s feet. They were Alana Catherine’s clothes.
I almost swallowed my tongue.
“What happened?” I asked, rushing to Gideon’s side and checking that it was indeed our baby in his arms.
