Harper laughed."I knew he used to be in the military, so I decided he was a sentry, but he was a magical one, sent to keep your dad safe.That meant he was good magic, and good magic means sparkles, right?"
Emmett exchanged a puzzled look with Blane.
Harper shrugged happily, and the girls burst out laughing when she said, "I imagined him smiling and sparkling instead of glaring and snarling, and in my mind I gave him a new name."
"What was it?"Tanya asked.
"I don’t think we want to know," said Blane, who was smiling through pursed lips.
"Oh, we do," Alana and Emmett said at the same time.
Harper smiled around at them all and said, "Sergeant Sparkles!"
Both girls fell about laughing, and Blane groaned.
"It’s perfect, Uncle Blane!"
"Can we call you Sergeant Sparkles?"asked Tanya.
Blane glared at Harper as he told Tanya, "Afraid not, Tanya.I was in the Navy.Sergeant isn’t a rank that..."
"Uncle Blane!"Alana protested."It’s only a name, not a rank!"
He rolled his eyes at them and got to his feet."Yeah, I guess if you really want to, you can call me that."He made a face at Harper."Thanks."
She got to her feet, and something loosened in Emmett’s chest when he watched Blane hug her.He hadn’t thought he’d ever want to meet someone new.And the likelihood of Blane accepting someone if he did had seemed even slimmer.
~ ~ ~
While Emmett walked Blane back to his truck, Harper and the girls cleared the table and tidied up after lunch.
"Did you have a good time last night?"Alana asked with a sideways glance.
When Harper hesitated, Alana touched her arm."I'm not trying to give you a hard time.I know Dad wanted to bring you back here.I'm excited about it, not being snarky."
Harper held her arms out, and Alana stepped in for a quick hug.
"I did stay here, and we did have a great time, thank you."
"And did he give you the bear?"Tanya asked."Did he give you both of them?Did he give you mine as well?"
"He did, and thank you so much.I love that little bear you gave me, and I love the one your dad gave me too."
"He wanted you to know that you're Mama Bear now," said Tanya.
Harper froze.
"It’s okay," Alana said."I might not be able to bring myself to call to you that, I don't know.But it's what you are.I mean, Mama Bears are protective, right?"
Harper nodded happily."I didn't know if anyone had picked up on that aspect of it, but yeah, they are.Everyone knows not to mess with a Mama Bear, and I hope you guys don't mind, but I've come to think of you as my cubs."
She put an arm around each of them and hugged them close."And everyone knows not to mess with the cubs of a Mama Bear."
"I love it," said Tanya."I'll be a bear cub."
Alana smiled."I know I've been weird about it all, but I like it too."She glanced over to where Emmett was waving Blane off."Listen, Dad will be back in a minute, and I want to ask you while he's not around."
"Ask me what?"Harper asked warily.
