Page 63 of From the Edge

“Oh, Grandma Eleanor, this is the queen of the dark elite, Regis. Avor is her husband.”

“Oh, the one talking with Vas? The fellow with the wings?”

Regis grinned. “That’s the one.”

Eleanor looked at Rowan. “Where is Aspen?”

“In the gym.”

“Where is that?”

“The basement.”

“We don’t have a basement.”

Rowan smiled. “We do now.” Rowan sent Aspen a silent message, and then she counted down.

At the eleven-second mark, Aspen burst into the room and grinned at her mother.

Rowan winced and used mage fire to clear up the pheromones.

Rowan took holding the baby over as mother and daughter were reunited. She turned toward the party planners. “So how far have we gotten?”

Regis smiled. “I have desserts.”

“Excellent. I have everything else. Meat is being delivered today; tomorrow, I start the bread after I make breakfast. Vegetables will be prepped tomorrow, and Friday, I am ready to get the smoker up and running.” She paused. “I think we need salads.”

Regis laughed. “I can do salads.”

Lucia said, “I wouldn’t normally say this, but I can do dumplings.”

Aspen grinned. “Can you teach me?”

Lucia nodded. “I can.”

A new person came in, and Rowan greeted her. “Hi, Mira. This is what Aspen looks like when she’s walking around. I have set up a new recording studio in the basement if you still want to warble with her.”

Mira smiled. “That sounds like fun. I love a creepy basement with enclosed space.”

Aspen chuckled and said, “Then we have all the fun you could want. Now I can do more than back up music.”

Mira nodded. “Lead the way.”

Aspen and Mira left, chattering about music as they headed downstairs. Eleanor looked toward the door. “Do you think they will...”

Rowan shook her head. “Nope. Mira doesn’t bend that way, and Aspen knows it. They are friends with common interests.”

Ted chuckled. “You are way gentler with folks than our families. If Lucia weren’t already tucked in with Yorwell, it would have been a few meetings with the aunts and a long line of alphas.”

Lucia smiled. “Which is why Ted is able to hold Ormyet between our grandmother and any matchmakers.”

Ted smiled. “We are taking it slow. Ish.”

Lucia chuckled.

Eleanor asked, “How do you know my daughter or granddaughter?”

Rowan made some more tea and got some pastries out of a pie safe while she held little Rowan in one arm. She set the tea down with the cups, and Regis’s eyes lit up at the pastry. “Do you make your own puff?”