The Goddess Gets Her Guy

by Ashlyn Chase

  “Wait a minute. I was going to let people fill their tummies and have some pleasant conversation first.”

  “There’s no time like the present, Sister.” Ah, Fate chimed in.

  Gaia shifted from foot to foot. She looked over at Fate and said, “I would have gotten around to it.”

  Fate just raised one eyebrow and folded her arms.

  “Fine,” Gaia sputtered. “You’re all here because, as Karma hinted, I have something to say.”

  Her words were followed by a long silence. Eventually, Aaron gave her a little hip check. She narrowed her eyes at him and said, “I’m getting to it.” Then she took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. “I’m here to say I’m sor—I mean to say, I may have made a mis—” She cleared her throat and said, “I’m trying to apol—apol—I’m trying to say, I may have been—”

  Everyone remained silent but glanced at each other, looking confused. They were clearly waiting for her to finish her sentence.

  “Okay, let me try this again,” she said. “I apol—I mean to say apolo—”

  A young, handsome god appeared out of nowhere with his arms crossed and his legs apart.

  Oh shit. It’s Apollo.

  “Did you call, Great-Grandma?”

  “Apollo! I told you never to call me that.”

  Apollo shrugged. “Well, I’m here now, Goddess. You called me. What do you need me for?”

  Gaia shut her eyes and slapped her own forehead.

  Fate leaned over to whisper in his ear but everyone heard her say, “She’s trying to apologize, but it’s not going well. She could only spit out ‘apolo’ and then stopped.”

  Apollo laughed hard, then leaned back and watched as Gaia struggled again.

  “I’m trying to say I’m sor—sor—”

  Apollo jammed his hands on his hips. “What my beautiful great-grandmother—I mean, Goddess—is trying to say is she’s sorry. She wants to apologize. I don’t know what for, but I can’t wait to find out. This is a first!”

  Gaia pointed to him. “Yeah, that.”

  Aaron tipped his head and looked at her with narrowed eyes. “You’re going to let him do it for you? Are you sure you can’t say it yourself? I think everyone would rather hear it from you.”

  Her posture deflated somewhat. Then she straightened her spine and announced, “I’m sorry. I may have been wrong about not allowing paranormals and humans to mix. I can see how difficult it was to expect paranormals to only match up romantically with other paranormals. Some managed to do it, but it was rare.”

  Aaron kissed her cheek. “You did it. I knew you could.”

  She let out a sigh of relief. “Yes, I did. And now I can rest easier, knowing that I’m not going to be a hypocrite by dating you.”

  There were surprised murmurs from the crowd.

  Mother Nature faced the group and said, “Yes. I may have found a human mate. Just like many of you did. That’s why I called you all here. Bliss was kind enough to arrange for this lovely tea party and send out the invitations. She was once human, and after falling in love with a dragon, she’s now a modern muse. This is how I started getting around the whole paranormal/human thing. I had to make some humans supernatural.”

  Bliss joined the god and goddesses at the front of the room. “It was my pleasure, Gaia. And I can honestly say it was worth it. But I wasn’t the first.”

  “Oh! That’s right. Where is Brandee?”

  “Here, Goddess!” A redhead hurried through the side door, wiping her hands on a towel. “I was doing all the prep. Is it time to take pictures?”

  Bliss shook her head. “No. We were just talking about how Gaia solved the problem of humans mating with paras by making us muses.”

  “Oh!” Brandee giggled. “Yeah. My werewolf marked me, so there was really no going back. And I wouldn’t want to. As a reward for taking the position, Gaia made one of my fondest dreams come true.”

  “She did that for all of us,” Bliss said. “Even though my modern muse job can be difficult at times, it’s worth it.” She looked at the crowd. “I’m the modern muse of email. I lean over people’s shoulders and whisper, ‘Don’t send that boneheaded reply.’”

  Many chuckles and laughs erupted.

  Gaia smiled. “I didn’t catch everyone. Brandee’s mate, Nick, has a twin brother, Konrad, who flew under my radar when he met his mate, Rosalyn. They were very quiet about it, so I never confronted them for doing what came naturally. Falling in love and taking it to the next level. There may have been a few others I missed. However, those of you that I did challenge a tiny bit…”

  Karma interjected, “She means threatened, punished, or otherwise intimidated.”

  “Yes, yes. All of that.” Gaia huffed, glaring at her sister.

  Karma just chuckled.

  “Anyway, I managed to find a way to make everyone happy, including myself. I do love my modern muses. They address problems the original muses couldn’t understand. Brandee is the muse of modern photography and videography.”

  Brandee joined Bliss at the front of the room and said, “I’ve had to do everything from rescuing photographers from dangerous situations to making it difficult for people to upload certain recorded acts of stupidity, then whispering, ‘You might want to think twice about sharing that. You were told not to try it at home.’ Kind of like Bliss does with email.”

  More chuckles filled the room.

  Mother Nature smiled and said, “There are a few other modern muses who are not here, because they are paranormal and always were. Dragons Chloe Arish and Kristine Scott for instance. They both found paranormal mates—phoenixes Ryan and Jayce Fierro.”

  “They also did not get dragged into your courtroom,” Fate reminded her.

  “Right. That. However, as muses, they have been instrumental in helping me with modern problems that the old muses were useless at. Pardon me. I mean the old muses were struggling with.” She looked to Aaron, and he nodded, smiling.

  A witch whispered to her neighbors, “I think she’s trying to be nice now.”

  “Nicer,” Gaia said. “I was always nice as long as humans cooperated with me. As they became less and less cooperative, I became less and less nice. But it seems as if my sisters were correct. Not only are my muses helping me and thus making me happier in this modern world, but finding Aaron has also helped tremendously. Looking around at all of you, I’ve become reacquainted with my own initial intentions when I invented love.”

  Many of the couples gazed at each other or held hands or kissed.

  “That said, I would like to introduce you to our newest modern muse, Gabriella Fierro. Gabriella, would you please come up here?”

  The diminutive matriarch of the Fierro family stood and trotted up to the front of the room, joining Apollo, goddesses Karma and Fate, and minor goddesses Brandee and Bliss.

  “She is taking over for Misty as my muse of modern parenting. It no longer ‘takes a village to raise a child’. Apparently now it takes playdates, pediatricians, parenting books, and a lot of Disney movies.”

  Again, laughter filled the room.

  “It was too difficult on my darling daughter-in-law, Misty,” Gabriella said. “She has her own tiny ones to birth and raise. I’ve raised seven sons and welcomed many daughters-in-law. And they all turned out beautifully. I couldn’t be prouder of my family. I hope to use what I’ve learned over the years to help parents deal with their own frustrations without taking it out on innocent children who are just being children.”

  “And what about Misty?” someone said from the back of the room. “Is she going to be human again?”

  “Well, no,” Gaia said. “Misty initially wanted to be the muse of dance, and I already had one of those. Terpsichore is her name.”

  Another goddess appeared. She swirled around the room, holding her long, flowing skirt out on ei
ther side, dipping gracefully every few steps. “You called on me, Goddess?”

  “Ah, no. But you can stay if you wish.” Gaia refocused on the group at large. “Apparently, there are whole new categories of dances. Some even involve acrobatics. And some of these new types can get dancers hurt! Misty is going to be the muse of modern dance. She’ll make sure people know when something is too advanced for them and suggest they try it only with expert supervision—or not at all.”

  Misty rose. “I couldn’t be happier. Thank you, Gaia.” She turned to the crowd and explained, “I always wanted to dance professionally, but I developed MS, which spelled the end of my own dance career. I’m very fortunate to have been given the gift of complete health as my reward for taking the muse job. Now not only can I dance again, but I can enjoy watching others without envy or sadness. Again, Gaia, my heartfelt thanks.”

  Gaia bowed slightly. “You’re welcome. It’s a pleasure to do things for those who appreciate it.” She gazed around the room. “And by the way, for those of you who thought I didn’t particularly like you—well, you were wrong. I love all my creatures, great and small and dorky.”

  Aaron gave her a little side squeeze. “Perhaps now that you told everyone what you needed to, we can eat!”

  “Oh! Yes, let’s get this party started!”

  “Yay,” a few voices called out, and they dove into the sandwiches and sweets.

  Chapter 14

  “Hello, darling.” Aaron strolled up to Kizzy as she stood admiring the home Noah was building for them.

  “Hi, Dad!” She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  Noah walked out the front door. “Hey, look. Two of my favorite people.”

  Aaron’s gaze dropped to the ground. At last, he met his son-in-law’s eyes. “I’m not sure why I’d qualify as one of your favorite people. I haven’t always treated you well.”

  “The way you treat me doesn’t matter nearly as much as the way you treat my wife. You raised her to be an incredible woman, and she adores you. That’s enough for me.”

  Aaron shook his head. “You see? It’s that kind of philosophy right there that makes you head and shoulders above the rest.”

  “That and his being so tall,” Kizzy said. They all laughed, which defused whatever tension may have been left over from their dating days.

  Aaron hadn’t thought a firefighter was a good fit for his doctor daughter—until that firefighter had saved her life. He had felt like somewhat of a heel ever since.

  “So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Kizzy asked.

  Aaron cleared his throat. “Well, I’m glad you’re both here. I have some news, and I hope you’ll be on board with it.”

  “Does this have anything to do with dating Gaia?” Kizzy gave him a teasing grin. “Mother Nature herself?”

  He smiled but shook his head. “No. I’ve learned relationships aren’t anyone else’s business. Even close family can’t possibly know how another couple feels. Actually, I wanted to let you know the property up the hill from yours is available, and I was thinking about living there.”

  “There?” Kizzy pointed. “But there’s nothing there to live in.”

  “I know. The only thing left is a concrete pad. I was looking to build a hurricane-proof structure on it—unless you object to having me so close.”

  Kizzy glanced up at Noah.

  “No objection here,” Noah said. “In fact, I’d like to help you build it just as soon as I finish here. We’re in the home stretch, so to speak.”

  Aaron couldn’t have been more grateful. Not just for the help but for his son-in-law’s obvious forgiveness. “You wouldn’t mind living next door to your in-laws?”

  Noah chuckled. “As long as Kizzy’s happy about it.”

  Kizzy hugged Noah, then her father. “I’d be delighted to have you and Ruthie as neighbors, Dad! I missed both of you when I first got here and left you back in Massachusetts.”

  “You didn’t just miss your sister?”

  She snorted. “I missed you both, dummy.”

  Aaron reared back and laughed. “Well, I guess I’ve been put in my place. Again.”

  “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll keep a pin handy to puncture your ego whenever you need it.” Kizzy hugged him again, then stepped back to wrap her arm around her husband’s waist.

  “Let’s see what you’ve been doing inside that house of yours,” Aaron said. “Maybe you can give me some ideas.”

  “Sure. I’d like to show off a little.” As he led them into the home, Noah pointed to the floor. “We just put down vinyl plank flooring. It’s waterproof.”

  “It looks like real wood.”

  “Yup. It’s wider than normal wood planks. We added thick weather stripping at the bottom of both doors too. That’s where water usually gets in.”

  “Good. Good. What about windows? How do you know they won’t break?”

  “Double-paned glass. So thick a karate expert couldn’t break it.”

  “Really? They look just like normal windows.”

  “That’s the idea.”

  “Impressive. So what’s next?”

  “Kizzy picked out our cabinets and countertops. We’re waiting for those to be delivered now. When they get here, if you’d like to help, I could use a steady hand holding the uppers in place while I attach them to the studs.”

  Uh-oh. He said a steady hand. Did he notice my tremors? Aaron changed the subject with a dumb question. “I’d be happy to lend a hand. How do you know exactly where the studs are? The drywall is covering them.”

  “He has a stud finder,” Kizzy said.

  “I thought that was every woman’s superpower,” Noah joked.

  Kizzy slapped his arm playfully. “Way to sound sexist, hon.”

  “Sorry. The joke was right there. I had to.”

  Kizzy rolled her eyes.

  “So, what kind of cabinets did you order?” Aaron asked her.

  “Solid wood. MDF swells with moisture.”

  “Listen to you. My daughter knows more about construction than I ever will.”

  “Not if you build your own home,” Noah said.

  She chuckled. “I’ve picked up a few things just by hanging around with my handyman here.” She gazed up at Noah lovingly. There was no missing the joy shining in their eyes when they gazed at each other.

  “Well, I’m glad you don’t mind my living up the hill from you. Because I already bought the land.”

  Kizzy’s dark eyebrows shot up.

  “That’s great!” Noah said.

  “I plan to build a greenhouse too. But first, a safe home for my younger daughter, newborn granddaughter, and myself.”

  Kizzy smirked. “Where is Mother Nature going to live?”

  Aaron laughed. “Wherever she darn well pleases. At least I’m betting that’s what she’d say.”

  “You’re probably right. Just do me a favor, Dad.”

  “Anything.”

  “When Ruth starts dating, stay out of it. Okay?”

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking sheepish. “I’ll try.”

  “Try hard. Remember, she is the most psychic one of the three of us.”

  “True. And I’m the least. Have you been getting any vibes about her doctor friend? What was his name? José?”

  “Yes and yes. There’s attraction there, and you don’t have to be psychic to see it.”

  “Is he a good man?”

  Kizzy shrugged. “As far as I can tell, yeah. I—I think there’s something you should know about him though.”

  “Uh-oh. What is it?”

  “Relax. It’s nothing to uh-oh about. It’s just that he seems to have the same power I do. When it looked like Ruth and Mary Ann might not make it, I saved the baby, but only because Ruth made me promise to.” After a brief pau
se, she said, “José saved Ruth.”

  “You mean—magically? I thought he just did the C-section.”

  “He did, but she was on her way out by the time we got there. He carried her in, then had to scrub up and put on a sterile gown, mask, and gloves. All that would have taken more time than she had. He saved her.”

  “So he’s a witch too?”

  “Santeria,” Noah supplied helpfully. “The way of saints. We looked it up.”

  “It’s white magic…mostly,” Kizzy added.

  “Mostly?” Aaron’s alarm bells went off.

  “It’s fine, Dad. He’s a good guy. Every religion has their rogues, but I’m betting he’s not one of them. He took the Hippocratic oath just like we did.”

  “Sheesh, Kizzy, don’t scare me like that.”

  “Sorry.” She rubbed her father’s back in a soothing gesture.

  “So when are you going to start building?” Noah asked, probably trying to change the subject.

  “The cinder blocks are arriving tomorrow. I hired a company to clean up any remaining debris today.”

  Kizzy’s jaw dropped. “And what would you have done if we said ‘Hell no. We don’t want you to live next door’?”

  Aaron shrugged. “Not sure. I probably would have reminded you this is part of the USA, so a free country. Or I’d say I taught you to ride a bike, kissed your booboos, and sent you to college…”

  “No, you wouldn’t have.”

  “You’re right. And I was pretty sure you wouldn’t say no.”

  “Hell no. Welcome to the neighborhood!” She gave him a big hug, and Noah shook his hand.

  * * *

  A few days later, Gaia zeroed in on Aaron’s energy and took a peek around the area from the ether. Good, there was no one else nearby.

  She knew he had bought a lot next to Noah and Kizzy with one half acre of available land for his greenhouse. He’d learned he could duplicate the rain forest conditions so the plants would grow where he wanted them to. However, the home had to be built completely from the concrete pad up.

  Mother Nature popped in a few feet from him.