Theodore: Xavier’s Hatchlings ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Such as?” He explained to her what they were needing. “I can do that as well. I’m not saying I hack into computers daily, but I can usually work around firewalls and such. That’s not something I tell many people either.” Theo said he’d keep that in mind. That perhaps she could work with Milo on projects. “I think I might like that. But for now, the twenty-million-dollar question is, do I want to be an immortal? Is it something I need to answer you about now?”

  “Wait.” She looked at Pem when she shouted. “Of course you want to be immortal. You need to be. If for no other reason than I want you around.”

  “That’s sort of selfish, don’t you think?” Pem asked her what she meant by that. “For yourself, not for me. Let me explain. I’ve not had a good life. I know that you’ve not either. However, if you really give it some thought, you’d say that no one has. You’re in an amazing place right now. A great family, even though they’re a little pushy. Money out the ass, and you have a roof over your head. I have, let me see—zip. Less than that, even. I don’t even have a job, nor an offer—no place to live. Because as wonderful as it would be living in your home, we both know I’d have to take one of these idiots out, and that isn’t going to be good for our friendship. I have to think about this.”

  “I could support you.” Jamie knew that Pem was going to say that and just shook her head. “Yes, you’d no more like that than I would. I guess you’re right. I don’t like it, but you’re right. This is your decision to make, and it will be a hard one. I think.”

  “It is.” She looked back at Theo, and he smiled at her. “What? Do you have some point to make with that winking shit? So you know, happily married men aren’t my cup of tea.”

  “Mine either.” They all laughed, and she joined them. For some reason, she just wanted to be alone. When she stood up, so did the men. Jamie asked them if they had something to do too. “No. We were all around when men treated women with more respect. Also, if you make this decision to be immortal, you will have our support, in any form you’d want. And the job offer working with Milo? It still stands. I think we overwork him sometimes, looking for loopholes.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. I’m assuming I should wait on Milo. I know that some shifters are not the share and share alike kind of people.” Theo told her they were a jealous sort, but not usually within the family. “Thanks for that. I do have shit I need to do today. Looking for a job is one of them. As I said, I can’t live here forever. I do want my own space.”

  She didn’t need to look for a job right away. As retired service personnel, she had some pension that she could fall back on. It wasn’t a great deal, but she figured it would keep her in crackers with her soup.

  It was a lovely day. As the nights were getting longer now, she knew it would be around nine before the sun went down. Walking along the streets, she thought about the offer they’d given her. Not just the job, but the immortality as well.

  Ending up at the little park that had seen better days, she sat down on the stone walkway and began pulling weeds. She had always enjoyed the outdoors and working in a garden. Jamie couldn’t remember the last time she’d been able to do anything like this. As she pulled weeds, she thought about her sister. The small nudge at her mind had her tensing up for some reason.

  It’s Carson Manning. I wanted you to know some things. I just found out that you left the house, or I wouldn’t have been so forward and contacted you directly. Not that it matters now, but I do want to speak to you about your sister and the money. It is gone, but at no fault of anyone but your parents. Jamie asked her what they’d done. You don’t sound all that surprised. I’m guessing that, in addition to leaving you with a crap ton of shit to do, they also left a lot of things undone before leaving this earth.

  Pretty much. They were great at being starters of stuff but not very good at seeing things to the end. What did you figure out? By the way, if you’re going to be anything like the sniffers I just left, they’re not my mate. Carson laughed and told her she’d heard about that. Sniffing me like I’m a tasty meal. Do you believe that shit?

  For them, I guess I should. However, I think they meant well. Jamie said she’d figured that out as well. Anyway. When your parents set up so that your sister would have gotten care, they neglected to have someone add to the money. That’s nothing to do with your insurance. The company that took care of the policy just did the same to the one you turned over to her, like not having it invested so there would be enough return on the money to keep growing. Or at the very least, caring for her.

  I don’t understand. How did my parents set up some insurance money for her? She was hurt when they were killed. Carson was quiet for a few seconds. I mean, I’m to understand that Pem’s mother-in-law can see ghosts, but I doubt very much they would have been able to set up insurance.

  Jamie, did you know that your sister was born handicapped? The question and what it meant startled her. Melissa was born with a brain injury. If she’d been born today, they would have been able to take care of it. But they didn’t know what to do with it back then. I thought you might have known that.

  No. I mean, she was little, about five, when my parents were in the accident with her. I’m older than Missy by sixteen years. By the time she was born, I was already away from home and in college. I was a quick learner and reading well before I should have been. After that, I joined the service and rarely returned home. They’d started over, you see, and seemed to have no idea what to do with me. They weren’t ignoring me, just I was older, and the baby was…I just realized how Mom was forever telling me that Missy was a handful. I just figured it was because they were both a lot older than they had been with me. Missy was a baby that was conceived while Mom was going through menopause.

  That explains a great deal. And I can understand about having an older child and an infant. Some of the family has done that. Had a baby earlier in their marriage, then decided to have another one later. We’re all immortal, and having children should we want is always an option. But there are so many rules now. Changes in how people think a child should be raised. It’s not what I’ve done just so you know. I give them a steak in the yard and leave them there until they’re old enough to care for themselves. They both laughed. Jamie knew that the Mannings would have been good parents. Otherwise, the sniffers would have been terrible adults. Jamie did feel badly that she hadn’t known about Missy. She wished that she’d taken better care of being a curious sister. I’ve taken care that the money is being invested with some of the companies we’re co-owners of. It’ll be a good return for your sister.

  Thank you for that. What else? While I’ve never met you, I have a feeling you’re working up to something else. Carson said she was a smart girl. Yes. It’s my looks that turn people off.

  Theo said that you were beautiful. I believe him. However, I don’t want you to be freaked out—by the way, that’s a term we use a great deal. Not freaking out. But anyway, right next to the roses nearby, you’ll see a small creature. His name is Jangles. I have no idea who told him that would be a good name, but he’s a good faerie. He would like to be yours.

  I need a faerie? Carson said she did, simply to keep her safe as well as helping her being around a lot of dragons. I see him. He’s very…well, vibrating.

  Yes. They’re full of energy. I wouldn’t have pointed him out to you, but apparently, they have all been watching you clean out the weeds in the garden you’re in. They need the flowers there, you see. She nodded, then remembered that Carson wasn’t there. The little man flew up to sit on her knee. Jangles will talk to you. And I don’t know why this is, but once you accept him, you’ll be able to understand him. He only speaks faerie.

  Perhaps because I’m not a Manning. Carson said that could be it. I accept him as my friend. I need a friend more than I think I might need a faerie at this point in my life.

  If you say so. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but let it g
o. Also, I hope you don’t mind, but I sent a crew of faeries to your family home to clean it up. The title of the home—I’ve found where you’ve been trying to get it in your name rather than yours and Missy’s. It’s only in your name. I’ve not seen it on the inside, but I know it’s close to my nephews’ homes. I wanted to buy it when we were looking for places that were for sale in that area, but the realtor told us that it was in probate. Are you planning to sell it?

  I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I have been given a better outlook on life, you might say. Carson told her she was glad for that. I’m thinking if it was good or not. But it is nice to know I have options.

  Jamie wasn’t ready to go to the house just yet. She’d not been able to do much of anything because the deed had had both her and her sister’s names on it. It wasn’t left in a will, but the courts had set it up that way to save her, she supposed, from leaving her sister without anything. She didn’t want to think about how she might well have done so ten years ago.

  Finishing up the garden, she talked to Jangles. He was very well informed about the area, and she got caught up on all the happenings around town. Standing up, she decided she might as well go see what the old homestead looked like. Pulling out her phone, she told Pem what had happened and that she was going to stay there tonight so she could think.

  “Good for you. Call me if you need anything. If there are faeries there, you’ll be all right. But be careful. I just got you back. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  After hanging up, she and Jangles walked to the house. She’d forgotten how massive the sucker was.

  ~*~

  He was glad Jamie had called him and Pem to meet her at the house. Not that she was afraid of anything that might be in there, but she had said she wanted to bounce some things around. Theo could understand that, as well. She’d been tossed a great deal today.

  As soon as he walked into the front hall, Theo could see her living there with Milo. There wasn’t any reason for him to think that Milo was her mate. He wouldn’t be back for a few more days. But the image, so detailed, of the two of them having Thanksgiving here made him want to call his brother home right now and have him meet her.

  “This house has been in my family for generations. As you can tell, no one has done much in the way of updating anything in all that time. I think the faeries did a great job on the wallpaper in here, but I think the old flocked wallpaper went out about the time my parents were born.” Pem ran her hand over the remaining ugly paper and shivered. Jamie laughed. “Yes, I used to have that same reaction when I was a kid. Nasty shit.”

  The house was in surprisingly good condition. Asking her when was the last time she’d been there, Jamie told him it had been about the time her parents had been killed. About eight years now.

  “Even then, I didn’t stay all that long. They’d had all their arrangements taken care of, so all I had to do was come here and take care of the will. I just found out that Missy, my sister, has been handicapped since she was born.” Theo could tell she was upset about that. However, it was Pem that asked her about it. “I wasn’t home much after she was born. I would call home, or they’d call me, but we rarely talked about anything personal. As I said to Carson, they weren’t terrible parents, just not very close to me. I guess now that I know, it had a lot to do with Missy being a lot of trouble for them. I didn’t have any idea, and I feel bad for it.”

  “They could easily have told you about how much they were having a hard time of it. I knew your parents, Jamie. They were cold. I think that it had more to do with them being only children of only children. They didn’t know how to act around two children.” Jamie smiled at Pem and told her she was more than likely right as the two of them moved to another room. “I know I am. You move in here, and the two of us will have such a wonderful time of it.”

  “I can fix it up for the mistress.” Jangles was riding on Theo’s shoulder now and hanging tightly onto his ear. “I know she’s going to fit in with the family, so it would be our pleasure to have this fixed up with what I see in her mind.”

  Theo thought about what she’d said to them earlier about keeping her informed about things. “All right, Jangles, but just this room. If she has what she wants in mind, she might not be so upset with me when I tell her that I okayed it.” He nodded. “Jangles, just what you see in her mind. Nothing more. If you mess this up, she might well tell you that you’ve overstepped your bounds or something.”

  He nodded and moved into the room. Theo looked up to where he’d gone and saw that the faeries were there in full force. Shaking his head at how they were all so ready to do something for the young woman, he wondered if he’d be in a great deal of trouble with her or if she would be all right with it. Especially if it was just what she wanted.

  Pem was in the kitchen with Jamie when he caught up with them. He could hear the buzz of the wings moving in the other room and wondered what they were up to. The room wasn’t that bad, but he could see that it was out of date. The kitchen, however, was in terrible shape. It hadn’t been updated in decades, he’d bet.

  “The Darkhouse family didn’t get rich by spending money needlessly. If it couldn’t be fixed at all, then they’d get a replacement. You do notice that I didn’t say new. I’ve never even had a new car. I drove around the one that my mom learned to drive in.” Theo laughed and told her he knew someone that could fix this for her. “I was thinking of that. Either way, if I sell or live here, it’s going to need to be updated a great deal. Especially this room. I wonder how they were able to keep staff with a stove that had to have wood put in it to use?”

  “The faeries are working in the parlor. That is what the room we were in is called.” Jamie asked him what he meant. “They’re very powerful. When they’re together and have something to do, they’re amazing. Jangles wanted to do something nice for you, and I okayed it. If you don’t like it, it’s completely my fault. I said he could do only the room we had been in.”

  “I still don’t understand.” He told her she might understand it better if she were to go back to the parlor. “All right. Is this going to make me have to kick your ass?”

  “Christ, I hope not. I like you.” Pem went with Jamie, and he knew the exact moment Jamie entered the room. Her cries of delight were just what he wanted to hear. He entered the room just as Pem was holding her friend. “I thought you liked it. I’m so sorry if you don’t. He said you had in your head what you wanted this room to—it’s very beautiful in here. I love the colors.”

  “Me too.” Jamie hugged him. “You have no idea how much I’ve dreamt of this room looking just like this. The wallpaper being gone alone would have made me happy, but this?” She shook her head and looked around. “Theo, this is absolutely what I wanted.”

  He really did love it too. Gone were the heavy couches that faced each other. The soft fabric ones that were there now looked inviting. Soft too. The fireplace was still the same. However, the marble had been deep cleaned, and it was pink, not the brown he’d thought it was.

  The pictures that had been on the wall had been replaced with nature scenes. Places he’d bet Jamie had visited on her own. Over the mantel was a painting he’d seen in a large museum if it was the artist he thought it was. He moved closer to see that it was indeed from a very famous painter.

  Other things had been added to the room too—tables with flowers on them. Theo especially loved that the curtains, heavy ones that let in no light, were gone, replaced by wooden blinds that were open to let it the beautiful scenery of the gardens and yards beyond.

  Jangles was now with Jamie, telling her he’d love to do the rest of the house for her. As they moved out of the parlor, he noticed there wasn’t a television in this room. Nor did he see any kind of computer. Good. This would be a relaxing room for the two of them.

  “Milo will live here with her, won’t he?” Theo told Pem that he had seen it. “Me too. He was co
ming down the stairs with a holiday sweater on and holding a child’s hand. It was so clear I thought that he’d beat us here today.”

  “I’m not going to tell either of them.” Pem told him that might be a good idea. “I have them on occasion. But the faeries are going to make this house just the way the two of them like it. I have a feeling that Milo and Jamie are more alike in this than any of the rest of us are.”

  She moved to the wall where she’d touched the paper before going with her friend. Pem stood there for several moments before she turned to look at him. He didn’t know what she was thinking about, but it hurt him on so many levels that she looked so very sad just now.

  “I didn’t know she was ill. She told me she’d found out about her cancer about a week before I was sent home.” Theo told her he was sorry. “I am as well. I could have been there for her.”

  “Maybe you would have, but perhaps she had it in her mind not to tell you so you’d not be any different to her than you had been.” Pem asked him what he meant. “She didn’t want your pity. She wanted you just the way you are. As her best friend, that would be there no matter what.”

  “You think so?” Theo told her he’d want that for himself if he were to have something like Jamie did. “I never thought about it that way. I would have too. Treated her differently. I’d have hurt for her. As it was, we had so much fun while together. She could pull me out of my depression better than most. Plus, she would hug me unconditionally until I had what I needed from her.”

  “That’s just what she wanted from you as well.” Theo wasn’t sure, but he thought Jamie wouldn’t have told her friend for fear of making her more depressed. Both women had had a rough life, as Jamie had pointed out. Now he could only see good things coming to them. “Something just occurred to me. Jamie said she didn’t have any money or a place to live. I did hear from Aunt Carson about how she’d fixed up the house title for her. But the Darkhouses, they had a great deal of money, didn’t they?”