Page 66 of From the Edge

Eleanor grinned. “Little ones? Here?”

“Yes. All over the building. If you are planning on hanging around, you can get a certification to work with children and take on one of the rooms yourself. You just have to adhere to the safety regulations of the certification.”

“Where can I get some books to get started?”

Rowan smiled, held out her hands, and a stack of books appeared. “These are the course materials. Ask Grandpa to help you study. He can take over working with the older kids if you guys want to stick around. I know he has a clean legal history, and he was a doctor, so first aid is there as well.”

Eleanor grinned. “Okay. Now show me my room so I can start a study. Tomorrow we need to take a run to a bookstore so I can get more books on early child development.”

Rowan smiled. Her grandmother had always had a serious lock on life with babies as her special subject. “Do you want me to tell Mell you are willing to babysit if she and Norecayet want a date night?”

Eleanor smiled. “I will tell her myself.”

They walked down two doors, and Eleanor and Vasoric’s names glowed against the glossy black. “Here you are.”

Eleanor made happy sounds and opened the door, a happy shriek spilling out. Rowan watched her grandmother move from item to item. Vasoric’s library, her little ladylike desk, the huge bed that was probably going to get a workout when her grandfather got up there. Her family affection wasn’t something that she ever doubted. Her parents cuddled constantly, and Eleanor and Vasoric laughed and giggled and danced constantly. She knew what affection looked like; she just couldn’t picture herself with someone. Not yet.

She said, “I am heading back to the kitchen and getting to work on a timeline for the big thing on Friday. There are going to be a lot of dark elves here. I need to get the gear arranged. Friday will be a long day.”

Eleanor smiled. “May I help?”

“Yes, you may. Two hundred pounds of meat arrives tonight, and I have to make some rubs.”

“I can definitely help. I will just tuck these books away, and we can head downstairs.”

“There are clothes in your wardrobe that you weren’t buried in.”

Her grandmother grinned and went to the wardrobe, pulling out an outfit shockingly similar to hers. They linked arms and headed downstairs. Time to do the pre-prep prep.

Chapter Ten

The ladies were working together in the kitchen while Eleanor held little Rowan. Eleanor asked, “Where are the men again?”

Rowan was scooping brown sugar for a pork rub. “In the gym. Apparently, it is hard to get the machines that I have down there.”

“Avor wants to know where you got them.” Regis was measuring out spices and salt.

“Um, I can ask your new palace for them. I asked the building here and wanted something that Aspen or Grandpa could use. I kept the image in my mind, and it takes shape.”

Regis paused. “You can ask my building?”

“Sure. It was designed with the intent to be a building like this one. Shelter for many while allowing them to start new lives. The gym just helps people build body confidence. Even the rescued omegas.”

Regis paused. “Can they come here? For the barbeque? I think this is the most relaxed and culturally normal event that they could witness.”

“As long as no one tries the garden, we are good.”

“But you just got the herbs from there,” Mell said softly.

“Sure, but it is my garden. It didn’t absorb my blood; it contained it. It also contained my pain and all my omega impulses. It holds it all beneath the roots and beneath the plants. You aren’t cannibalizing me.”

Regis looked relieved.

Rowan chuckled. “Even I wouldn’t eat me.”

Mell opened her mouth and then snapped it shut.

Eleanor smiled. “I will explain it to her later.”