Kizzy let out a deep sigh. “Yeah. I have to expect that. I imagine it’s the same with every parent who thinks no one is good enough for their baby.”
“You’ll find out,” Brandee said. Her bright-blue eyes twinkled.
Both Kizzy and her father looked at her in surprise.
“Oops. I guess I should’ve yelled, ‘Spoiler alert!’”
“Wait—you can’t mean Kizzy’s…”
“Not yet. Sorry,” Brandee said.
Kizzy smiled, and it grew into a grin. “Just knowing that I’ll have children eventually makes me happy.” Then she turned to her father and said, “Mazel tov, Grandpa.”
Aaron groaned. “Grandpa? Already?”
Kizzy laughed. “It’s not like you’ve got a lot of time to get used to the idea. I may not be pregnant, but Ruth is.”
Suddenly, she remembered she and Noah hadn’t used anything other than magical protection—and she’d never tried it out before. Maybe she was pregnant! Nah… She didn’t feel any different. Still, she’d better keep that little tidbit to herself.
* * *
Dante walked into the house and hung up his jacket. “Hi, honey, I’m home.”
Noah wandered into the living room, scratching his head. “I just found something, and I’m hoping you can tell me what it is.”
Dante took in the strange look on his brother’s face and grew alarmed. “What is it? Some kind of new bug crawling on our food or something? I told you to put everything in airtight containers.”
“Come with me.” Noah strode toward the back of the hall and veered left into the spare bedroom. He indicated the amateur chem lab with a sweep of his arm. “This. What’s all this?”
Dante gaped at his brother with concern. “Your lab? You set the whole thing up but don’t recognize it? You don’t know what experiment you’re doing in here?” Dante strolled up to his brother and felt his forehead. It was no warmer than usual. “Are you feeling all right?”
Noah stepped away from him. “I feel fine. Look, I’m just confused—and concerned. All of this equipment…these ingredients… This stuff isextremely volatile, and it’s ready to go. One wrong move andkerblooey! I obviously know some of this stuff is mine, but who set it up? If I did, why don’t I remember it?”
Dante took a step back. “Are you telling me you forgot about the alchemy experiment?”
“What alchemy experiment?”
“You can’t remember you’re doing an alchemy experiment? Did you inhale something you shouldn’t have?”
Noah threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know what’s going on. If I did inhale something, it was an accident. You know I wouldn’t do anything like that on purpose.” He rubbed his forehead. “At least you know more than I do. What can you tell me about the alchemy thing?”
“Where’s the book?” Dante hurried to the closet where he thought Noah was keeping it. He looked through the shelves, and there was nothing even remotely like it. He even looked in and picked up boxes, in case it had slipped into or behind something. “I don’t see it. Did you take it somewhere?”
Noah shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What book?”
Dante was becoming more and more concerned. “Come on, Bro. If you’re joking, I don’t appreciate the prank.”
“I’m not joking.”
“I believe you. You’re not that good of an actor.” Now he was downright worried about his brother and his state of mind. What was going on with him? “Let’s go check around the kitchen and see if we can find it there.”
“Okay. But I don’t know what I’m looking for.” Noah followed him to the kitchen.
Dante began opening cabinets and drawers while Noah just watched. Finally, when Dante didn’t see the book anywhere, he turned and said, “I don’t think it’s here. I’ll look in my own room, even though you never go in there.” Then he stopped in his tracks. “You don’t, do you?”
“Of course not. Why would I?”
Dante strode off to his bedroom and did a quick survey of the area. There wasn’t a lot to see. He checked his dresser drawers, his closet, under his bed, but there was nothing that looked like the ancient book Noah had brought home.
