Mordon's sister, what was her name, Mordon just said it—Nieve—stood beside me. “Just the same way that you enjoy the first meeting of the parents.”
“It might have been better if they'd known they were going to meet,” I said.
“Oh I don't know about that. It's an interesting meeting in any setting.” Nieve compared her child to Anna. “I remember when he was that small.”
“And how long ago was that?”
“Eight months. He's crawling already, trying to stand. It'll be the end of all peace once he succeeds. It seems only yesterday when he was so tiny.”
“Great.”
Nieve smiled. “You couldn't ask for a better partner. Besides my own mate, but he's mine.”
I laughed, feeling that perhaps I could have a new friend in Mordon's sister, if she didn't get sick of me just because I was with Mordon. Nervous, I asked, “Do you know...”
“The truth behind her?” Nieve frowned, worry lines marking the area around her mouth, making her own child lose his smile. She put on a grin and tickled his belly, so he wouldn't fuss and wake Anna. “I have a few ideas of what she might be, if she's not human.”
“She isn't.” At her expression, I explained the result of the test we had just done on her. Nieve pursed her lips and considered what I'd said, but before she could say anything, I was drawn into the center of the room to greet a few people I'd met in the market whom Lilly had seen fit to invite, heavens only knew why.
A lady appeared at the bottom of the stairs, calling, “Knock, knock. Is this the right place?”
“Fera's Aunt Linnia!” Lilly said. “I just got your RSVP. Yes, come on up. Who is that with you, your husband?”
Aunt Linnia came to meet me under the firefly lantern, gave me a hug, and behind her a man in old-style raggedy clothes shook my hand.
“Lyall Limber. I was not expecting to see you.”
He took off his hat and half bowed over it. “When I heard the occasion, I could not stand to miss it.”
A letter burned into the air, which Lilly snatched and opened. “It's Leazar. He says...I don't know what it says. I think he's coming. Since when did he have poor handwriting?”
“No matter, if we're mostly all here, let's get people started on the food,” I said. For an instant, no one moved. It was that moment when the crowd wanted to eat, but no one wanted to be the first or even one of the first to risk offense by breaking into the dishes. I supposed I was the guest of honor, so I grabbed a paper plate and slapped whatever looked appealing on it. That turned out to be a fair deal, and I ate freely. Mordon was some distance behind me, and likewise had avoided the pastries and sandwiches, going for the fruits and meat and cheeses instead. To my surprise, he had six truffles.
“Chocolate?”
“They're dark. That one has a chili pepper slice, that one's walnut, that one's got white chocolate in the center, and the rest are filled with cream brew.”
I looked to Lilly, baffled at how she'd hit on what was his favorite sweet.
“When I came out of hibernation, I lived on them,” Mordon said. “Your body undergoes a lot of changes before and after hibernation. The cravings are unique.”
“You sound like a pregnant lady.”
A tinkling laugh came from behind me, and my sister-in-law's voice said, “The drakes are a strange kind of people.”
“Simbalene?” I turned but didn't get up. She was already hugging me, then my brother dropped a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey, sister. Where's the runt?”
“I don't know.” I scanned the room. “Ah, Nest has her. What kept you two lovebirds?”
Leazar sat down next to me on the couch, squishing me up against Mordon. I called it a couch but this was better termed a 'loveseat', with room for two, not three. Leazar had Mother's green eyes, and his brownish hair had endured yet another batch of dyes. It looked like he had joined a punk rock band and named himself Spike Rainbow. Simbalene sat in his lap, putting her carrot red ringlets right in his face. He grabbed her hair and braided it while he talked.
“I was 'kept' because I was modifying the cabinets in your house.”
“My house?” I repeated. “I understand that for Nest and the rest of the drakes, it would be easiest to get here by going in through an open door, but how did you find your way in?”
“There are advantages to having a certain immunity to the law?” Leazar shrugged as if it did not matter and continued to work on his wife's hair.
“And what modifications did you make to my cabinets?”
Leazar grinned, so it was either a prank or something nice. A prank was not beyond him, especially since I thought I'd played one on him last. What had it been? Did he even remember?
“Oh stop with the teasing,” Simbalene said. “It is our gift, a little something that you will no longer need to do now. We made it so the doors would not open to an infant's hands. In this way, things you keep within the cabinets are safe from the child, and the child is safe from whatever may not be wholesome to consume.”
“Child locks?” I asked, stumped. “I'd forgotten about those. Hey, remember when Father put those mechanical ones beneath the sink where Mother kept her cleaning chemicals, and she couldn't open the doors up but we knew how to do it within the half-hour?”
“Father was so mad!” Leazar laughed. “It took him an hour to put in.”
“So is that what you did to my cabinets?”
“No, no. We're not trying to hide magic. It's a spell, it'll wear off eventually, after a decade or so.”
“That is eventually.”
I didn't get anywhere near finishing my food before Lilly started the parade of presents. Exactly who gave what I had a hard time remembering, particularly as it was not custom to label who gifts came from in this community. There were receiving blankets, swaddling blankets, diapers, wipes, a few pacifiers, “in case she likes them”, a bassinet, “let us know if you would prefer a crib”, from Nest, bottles with a tub enchanted to clean the bottles within, bedding, a diaper bag, various clothes, a changing pad, burp cloths, sippy cups, bibs, a high chair, and even a first-aid kit.
“I will talk with you about how to use the lotions,” Mother promised. Quite a few things were second-hand, brought from the ladies in the market such as the clothes and blankets, but that suited me all the better.
Father gave me a doorstop made of heavy metal and embellished with a sea horse.
“Thank you,” I said. “It's...decorative?”
Denise reached for it and turned it over in her hands before exclaiming, “It's a baby gate! You put it down like this and it forms a barrier.”
She put it on the floor. Tendrils of seaweed emerged from the sea horse, spreading out wider and wider, a solid net which was slowly expanding to reach the edges of the room. Denise picked it up again. “It'll grow forever. But won't be that high.”
A short time after, Lilly's market friends left, saying their good wishes and farewells, taking the empty food trays with them. Next left Lilly and Barnes, to go to some meeting. The rest of us talked for a time. Aunt Linnia pressed into my hands a slim book.
“It's a collection of potions and lotions the Swift Clan has used for infants for quite some years now. I have my own copy, but I made this one for you.”
I smiled at the pages. They were made from an assortment of tree leaves and pressed flowers, written in Aunt Linnia's handwriting. Each letter was perfect, as if printed, and I said, “Did you use a spell to record the copy?”
“Do you want to learn it?”
“Yes.”
“I thought so. It's on page 75.”
Denise, Enaid, and Nest must have been the ones to bring the blankets and bedding, because it was hand-woven, fuzzy and very soft. Father sat with a blue blanket in his lap, running his thumb over the fabric. Uncle Don proved to be the mastermind behind the tub which would clean and sterilize the bottles. Lyall produced from his pocket a pair of socks, which he placed over her feet.
; “She'll never need another pair, but I made a second pair. They'll grow with her, and she won't have blisters or tired feet.”
I held the tiny things in wonder. “I'm almost jealous.”
Lyall's eyes shone with merriment. “Come back to the Wildwoods and learn how to weave with spider silk. There will be no end to the wonders you can do with it.”
“I'll bear it in mind, thank you for the invitation.”
The Wildwoods wanted me back. That was probably the reason Lyall had bothered to come—or perhaps, the reason he had been allowed to leave the borders of the woods. Seeing him had been a definite surprise, but I truly was glad for his gift, and glad that his invitation was heartfelt.
Nieve had been behind the pacifiers, and a teething ring, but I didn't get to talk with her before her child was ready to go to sleep in his own bed. When she stood, so did the rest from Kragdomen. It took us several minutes to say good-bye. Even Leazar and Simbalene had to go, since they'd come during a lunch break and “if we don't return soon, we'll have to find the centaurs again.” What that meant, they didn't stick around to explain. One day, if I remembered, they might tell me.
Just like that, the party was whittled down to Mother, Father, Uncle Don, Aunt Linnia, Leif, Mordon, and me. Aunt Linnia handed me Anna, and she went with Uncle Don and Leif to clean up and take down the decorations. Mordon draped his arm over my shoulders in a possessive display which he never felt inclined to do when my parents weren't around. We talked about nothing in particular, who it was nice to see, nice to meet, comments on how I was supposed to use this or that, Mother showing me how to swaddle. Me not saying that Mordon had already shown me. Father announcing that he wanted to check my house over for safety hazards. Me not saying that Constable Barnes had already done it.
Then an arduous discussion about legal stuff which I didn't understand, didn't need to, sign here, here, and there. Agree not to talk about what happened to anyone except those who already knew. Endure a brief bit of a spat between people who were all too tired to think straight.
“Anna is ready for bed now,” I said as a way to avoid further sharp words. “Mother, Father, are you two staying with me or going home?”
It was said out of habit, from a time when travel involved driving somewhere. Mother smiled. “No, we'll take a portal home. Let's get these things into your house before we leave.”
And so it was that I didn't have to make a dozen trips in and out of the commons lounge. When everything was stashed away, there was more hugging and words of farewell, words of being to see each other again soon, Uncle Don saying that he would be burning the midnight oil for all the work I was giving him. Aunt Linnia promising to send potions plants soon.
Then, blessed relief, I was putting Anna in the bassinet, and—yes, yes—laying down in bed. The door creaked open, and I flung out my arms. “Come to bed, Love. I'm so beat.”
A laugh met me, a laugh which was high and not at all Mordon's low chuckle. I snapped my fingers and the flame in the sconce blazed brighter with the burst of air. Peering into the dark, I bolted upright when I saw that it really, definitely wasn't Mordon with me. How could I have forgotten to keep track of him?
Lyall sat on the corner of the bed and leaned over Anna's bassinet, examining her with intense curiousity. Where was Mordon? Probably double-checking wards, knowing him.
“So, Lyall,” I said, “what is the reason behind your interest in her?”
“She's a baby, I am not interested,” he said and rolled his neck in a stretch. “The question you should ask me is: what is the Wildwoods' interest in her?”
“So particular.”
“Magic is that, and fey magic is the worst of the lot,” Lyall answered.
“So what is the Wildwoods' interest in her?”
“I come as a reserve.”
“A reserve?” I repeated, feeling dumb, feeling so tired that I would be ready to tear limb from limb the next person who kept me from rest. “What is that?”
“The woods is concerned that you have accepted guardianship of a child while you are as-yet unmated.”
Not this talk. Not now. I'd just managed to keep from this discussion with my parents. “I'm not alone.”
“Yes, the fire drake has declared that he wants to share guardianship with you, I know. That says a great deal for his character, but the fact remains that being 'engaged' is not the same as being mated. And this child is not of your flesh and bone.”
“Does that matter?”
“It does to some.” Lyall stood and straightened out his clothes. “I'm not proposing to you. I'm not here to start a relationship which is different from what we already have. What I am saying is that if you need my help, if you need help at all, you can come to me and I will do my best to provide for that need. It is the least we can do, after all that you have done for us in the Wildwoods. And for all you are still doing. Remember my words. Anything at all, just ask.”
All the kindness I was experiencing had me on the verge of tears, but I didn't want to cry. Not trusting my voice, I just nodded.
Lyall reached to a pin on his vest, took it off, and asked, “May I?”
I didn't know what he wanted to do, but gave my permission anyway.
He knelt and fastened the pin to the baby's bassinet. What was it? I leaned in close, and saw that it was a single, perfect white honeysuckle which smelled like my magic.
“Thank you, Lyall, I—”
But I stopped. Lyall was gone, more completely than a ghost, as if he had never been here.
I was thanking thin air.
Chapter Twenty
Anna woke me in the dead of the night with a soft whimper I thought I might have imagined. The bed dimpled in the center, causing me to roll against Mordon's chest whether I wanted to cuddle or not. For a minute I thought I might drift back to sleep. Another noise from the bassinet urged me up.
She needed changing. This one promised to be particularly rank. I took her out of the bedroom and to the living room, where we'd forgotten the diaper bag before collapsing into bed. Once she was taken care-of, her eyes drifted shut then snapped open again. I swayed her in my arms, humming softly, feeling bittersweet. This was what I'd expected to happen years ago. Memories surfaced, drawn out by the excitement of the day and the long restless nights.
“You knew!” I remembered being solidly shocked and downright furious with him. Two weeks after I peed on a stick and got a blood test to confirm, Sam had told me that he knew the condom broke. “Why didn't you tell me? I would have done something.”
He shrugged. “It wouldn't have made a difference.”
My jaw dropped. Fury made my heart pound. I told myself it wouldn't be good to stress myself out, not now that I took my health very seriously. “Yes, it would have. If you would have told me, I would have given my doctor a call and we wouldn't be in this position.”
He'd been so cock-sure, lounging on the bench he'd made for me, feet stacked up on the log. We were outside, basking in the garden we'd just weeded. We'd been talking about the cherry tomato plant and how to trim back its bushiness. I'd made some wise-ass joke about the tomato being as prolific as we were. That's when he told me that he'd suspected I might be pregnant and that was why he told me to see if it checked out.
He asked, “What position, honey?”
I pointed at my boobs. They were what was truly swollen. One of them in particular. The rest of me just felt tired, sick, and miserable. My belly was rather flat, owing to my diet of salty crackers and raw zucchini. Everything else smelled rank and terrible.
“It was a matter of time, doll, that's all. Better sooner than later,” he said.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Do you need me to spell it out for you?”
“Yes. Whatever it is, yes.”
“I didn't put one on if I could get away with it.”
At first I didn't understand. Then I didn't believe him.
When I did, I was so speechless that my ears popped.<
br />
“You wanted this.”
“You always knew I was a family man.”
I felt like a fish trying to breathe out of water. “Yeah. But family men get married first.”
He smirked. I hated that expression on him. It was as if he'd set out a trap and was delighted to have caught me in it the way he knew he would. “We'll be married now.”
“I guess, we...”
Lost Magic (The Swift Codex Book 3) Page 14
