“Oh boy, I’m excited! I get to be like the Uncle Grayson now.” Justice grinned, bouncing on his feet. “Oh Lucie, I forgot. I got a message from Destiny today. She’s pregnant too. We’re going to have two new babies in the family.”
Lucie giggled. “I know. She sent me one too.”
Justice’s face fell. “She better have told me first!”
“This is my first trip to Elysia,” Derrick said, wrapping his arm around Lucie.
“Me too. This is great! I feel like I’m part of an elite club.” Jasper grinned.
Lucie smiled. These guys always ended up putting a smile on her face. Maybe she would plan a trip to visit Aedan and Deeana. She hadn’t been up to it after everything, but she needed to go soon. Plus, there was a dragon party coming up that they were all supposed to attend.
“Alright. Let’s go.” Lucie opened a portal and the four of them walked through. They appeared right outside the fairy castle on a neat and clean, light tan cobblestone path. Both sides of the path were covered in flowers. Very fairy-like.
Jasper and Derrick looked around, taking it all in.
“Ahhh! It’s my Luce Luce! Come here, Toots!” They heard a high-pitched squeal, and Lucie was caught in a hug. She turned and grinned at Kristen, her grandma Lita’s best friend and grandpa Asher’s cousin, returning the hug.
“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’re having a baby. It won’t be long before my own grandkids are having babies. Oh gosh, I’ll be a great-grandmother. I feel so old.”
“You are the hottest grandma I know,” Garrett said, wrapping his arms around Kristen. “It’s good to see you, Lucie. Your grandmother has been expecting you.” He gave Derrick a hard look.
“This is my mate, Derrick. Derrick, this is more of my family, Kristen and Garrett.”
“Pleasure to meet you both,” Derrick said politely.
“I haven’t decided yet. For now, I’ll withhold my judgment. But if you hurt Lucie—” Garrett started, but Kristen elbowed him in the stomach.
“Take good care of our Lucie.” Kristen smiled. “Lita is up near the back garden.”
“Thank you.” Lucie giggled as she watched Garrett still giving Derrick the once-over. She gently tugged Derrick along. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Kristen gave Justice a quick hug and pushed him off to follow Lucie. They had just seen Justice not too long ago, when he came to become a guardian. They would plan to meet up with them later. But right now, Lita was growing impatient, so they needed to hurry.
As they approached the garden, Lucie spotted her grandparents, and a soft warmth bloomed in her chest at the sight of the others scattered around them. Grayson, of course, was there. Caspian and Merida sat together near the back, and she smiled at the sight of them, remembering how Caspian had taught her to skip stones as a kid while Merida pretended not to laugh at her terrible aim. Their daughter Renee was mated to Sam, her father’s beta, though Renee wasn’t here today.
A little further down, she spotted Caden and Rosa. Caden, who had been Asher’s beta back in the day, and whose son Sam had stepped into the same role under her father. Caden had lost his wolf in the demon war. It had taken him years to come out on the other side of that grief, and Lucie still remembered the quiet stretch of time when he barely spoke. He looked settled now. Rosa’s hand rested on his arm like it always did.
And there, at the far end, sat her great-grandparents. Alice and Nathon. The sight of them always made her throat catch a little. Living history, the two of them, still holding hands like they had all the time in the world.
“Lucie! It’s about time!” Lita stood and walked toward them.
“Hi Grandma.” Lucie gave her a small smile as Lita gently took her hand.
“Look, it’s an old man retirement home.” Justice chuckled, looking over his extended family.
“This old man can still run circles around you,” Grayson snorted with a smirk.
Caden stood up and walked over to see Lucie. “How are you doing with everything? You know, if you ever need to talk about the shifting thing, I’m here for you.”
“Thank you. I’m okay, honestly. How about you? You sure you still don’t want Dad to give you another wolf?”
Caden chuckled and shook his head. “I already had the best partner ever. Even though I wouldn’t be replacing him, I don’t want to have to start over with that relationship. Maybe if I was a young pup, but not now. Not in my retirement days, right Justice?”
“Just calling it as I see it.” Justice grinned widely.
“So this is your mate?” Caden turned his gaze to Derrick.
“Yes, this is my Derrick.” Lucie smiled proudly, leaning into Derrick’s side.
