“It’s fifty degrees out, Mama. It’s spring.”
“In LA it’s—”
“Smoggy and filled with traffic.” Two things he did not miss from his old life.
His mother couldn’t argue with that, and since she’d managed to take her grandchild right out of Laddin’s arms and was now singing a Spanish lullaby to Aaron, whatever objection she might have had was lost.
Not so for his grandmother. She turned to both Laddin and Bruce and gave them an arch look. “We thought you were dead,” she said in a stage whisper to Laddin.
“I called you.”
“Your birthday was months ago. We didn’t know what had happened to you.”
Laddin spread his arms wide. “Nothing happened, Nana.” He glanced at Bruce. “Except I fell in love.”
“And got a baby.”
Bruce came close as Laddin shrugged. A moment later Laddin was being supported against Bruce’s side. It was a casual pose. There was no need to lean into Bruce, but he did anyway because he liked it, just as much as Bruce seemed to like holding him.
Mama finished her lullaby. Then she looked up at Bruce with a narrowed eye. “You going to marry my boy?”
Bruce flushed. “I asked him last week.”
Laddin held up his hand and flashed the hardwood ring on his fourth finger. “I said yes.”
Mama nodded in approval. “Good.” Then she smiled. “I will put little Aaron to bed now, and then we will talk about how all this happened.”
Laddin flashed Bruce an “I’m so sorry” look, but Bruce merely shrugged. It was a good thing they’d long since sorted out what story to give to family and friends.
Everyone waited as Mama climbed the stairs. She’d started up the lullaby again but kept interspersing the lyrics with cooing sounds. Laddin knew she was echoing Aaron’s sounds. The boy had quite a repertoire of noises. He and Bruce had spent many evenings laughing together at the delightful sounds.
But the moment Mama was out of sight, Nana turned on them with sharp eyes and pointy nails. “How dare you!” she growled. “How dare you become a werewolf and not tell me!”
Laddin reared back in shock. “How do you know?”
“Because I can see it, child. On both of you.” Her eyes narrowed when she peered at Bruce. “You’re fairy-born, aren’t you?”
“Um… yes, ma’am?”
“Harrumph.” Then she grinned. “I was right about you, wasn’t I, Laddy-boy? I knew you would change to magic in your twenty-eighth year, and I was right!”
“Yes, Nana, you were. But we can’t tell—”
“I know, I know.” Then she got a canny look in her eye. “But do you want to know about Aaron’s future? I saw it in a dream—”
“No!” Laddin said, his voice hard. “Just because you were right about me, that doesn’t mean I enjoyed twenty-eight years of speculation about my death.”
Nana reared back, her expression hurt. “But I never said you’d die. It was a change to magic.”
That was the truth. She’d never claimed he’d pass away. She said he’d have a complete change of life from one state to another. It was everyone else who’d assumed he’d kick the bucket.
Meanwhile, Bruce squeezed his arm and gestured them into the kitchen. It was the only room besides the nursery that was fully unpacked. “Let’s get something to eat, okay? I’m starved, and the lasagna was a long time ago.”
Laddin nodded as he grabbed the baby monitor. He wanted to be able to hear everything that went on upstairs too. He turned to his grandmother. “And then you can tell us why you’re here.”
Nana blew out a breath. “We wanted to see you, of course! And I wanted to tell you all about my dream—”
“No,” Bruce said sternly. “No forecasting, no dreams, no stories. I know I just met you, ma’am, but I must insist on this. We do not need more drama around your great-grandson.”
