“It tingles. What is that?”
“The charm’s enchanted. As long as you wear it, the maternal magic I put in it will keep you and the lil’ rug rats safe from any magical mischief that comes your way. And if I know you, that’ll happen, well, about any second now,” Grandma quipped.
“You enchanted it?” I asked, too stunned to acknowledge her joke. The last time I’d seen Grandma, she’d barely been able to use her magic at all. The fairies must’ve been working hard with her.
Grandma beamed and raised her chin proudly. “You bet your keister I did. You didn’t think I’ve just been sittin’ around on my hands while I was gone, did ya?”
I laughed and pulled her in for another hug. “Thank you, I love it.”
“You’re welcome, Sugar. This way you’ll always have a part of me and your mother with you.”
Heath cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t think any of us can compete with a gift like that, so maybe we should just leave ours and let these two catch up?” he suggested, reminding me that there were other people present.
“Oh, Lilith, I’m sorry, everyone! No, you don’t have to go,” I insisted. “Beau has games for us to play too, so please, have a seat.”
“She’s right! Don’t go scurryin’ away like scared bugs on account of me. I ain’t goin’ nowhere for a while. Zoe and I will have plenty of time to talk,” she said and paused. “Er, assumin’ it’s all right with you and Beau if I stay with y’all for a while?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said and reached for her hand.
Grandma smiled and nodded. “Well all right then, let’s get our game on!” she said and headed to the table where Beau had placed all the supplies. “Oh, I know this one. Who Knows Mommy Best is a classic,” she said and picked up a stack of clipboards equipped with pens and sheets of paper and passed one to everyone but me. “It’s easy enough. I’ll ask y’all a question about Zoe, you write your answer on the paper, and whoever gets the most answers right wins.”
Everyone pulled up a chair to form a circle around me, and Grandma sat right next to me. We started the game, but I couldn’t focus on any of the questions or answers. The only thing I could see and think about was Grandma.
I reached for her hand, determined never to let her leave me again, no matter what. She’d raised me from the time I was five after my parents died, and I wanted my kids to have the same gift of her presence in their lives.
“Well, this one oughta be easy,” Grandma said as she held up the piece of paper with all the questions. “Who’s Zoe’s favorite person in the world? Besides Beau, of course.” She winked at Beau and his face flushed.
A chorus of voices screamed the answer: “Grandma Elle!”
They had no idea how right they were.
Chapter Two
By the time we finished several rounds of games, most of which I didn’t have the energy to focus on, a fog of exhaustion had clouded everything — but we hadn’t even gotten to the rest of the gifts yet, and I would’ve been the world’s worst witch if I sent everyone home before they got to watch me open the things they’d carefully selected for me and the twins.
As in tune with my feelings as ever, Beau appeared at my side and bent over to whisper in my ear. “You okay? You’re looking droopy.”
I nodded. “That’s because I am. Today has been, well, draining,” I said and stole a glance over at Grandma just to make sure she was still there, that she hadn’t disappeared as abruptly as she’d re-entered my life. She offered me her crooked, devious smile to reassure me.
“I can tell everyone you need to rest,” Beau said.
“No, no. Let’s at least get to the gifts first.”
“Sure,” Beau said and kissed my cheek. When he stood straight, everyone looked to him — he had that effect on people, probably from years spent in front of a camera on PV. He cleared his throat. “Well, as I’m sure you can all imagine, today’s been long for Zoe so I think we should probably start unwrapping some of those presents before she falls asleep at the table. What do you say?”
Applause and cheers answered, the greatest sound in the world, and one of the twins kicked in my stomach as if they were clapping along. Raina noticed my grimace from where she sat directly across from me.
“I know that look. I suppose the babies are as ready as we are,” she said with a warm smile.
I mouthed a “Thank you” to her for her help in covering up my discomfort, and she stood and stepped to the nearby table piled three feet high with all the gifts everyone had brought. She reached for one and brought it to me in a swish of robes. With her auburn hair pulled into a meticulous bun on top of her head, she looked as beautiful yet serious as she always did.
“These are from me and the rest of the staff at Veilside,” she said as she handed me two small boxes, one sea-foam green and the other pastel yellow, tied together with a single golden bow.
“Thank you,” I said as I began untying the bow. Raina watched with a twinkle in her eye as I removed the bow and lifted the lid off both boxes. Inside each box, a tiny pacifier rested on equally small cushioned pillows, each matching the color of their container. The yellow one sported a cutesy, stylized drawing of a wand with a sparkling tip on its round grip, and the green had a drawing of a puppy sitting on its haunches.
“Since we weren’t sure whether the babies would be boys, girls, witches, or shifters, we figured we’d cover all the bases,” Raina said.
Tears tingled at the corners of my eyes. “They’re so cute! Thank you.”
“They aren’t just for looks. I charmed them to soothe the babies when they use them, so I have a feeling you’ll be thanking us for them a lot more later.”
“I’m sure they’ll get more than their fair share of usage then,” I said and reached up to hug her.
“All right, who’s next?” Beau said as he rubbed his hands together over the pile of presents. He reached for one at random, and Mallory’s eyes lit up when he picked up the square-shaped disaster she’d brought with her.
“Oh, that one’s mine!” she shouted and jumped out of her chair to take it from him and bring it to me. She pushed her coke-bottle glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Sorry about the wrapping job, I’ve been busy since graduation working on my new app and I kinda forgot about the shower until, um, today…”
I laughed and waved her away. “Who cares? It’s the gift that matters, not the presentation.”
“Right,” she said and gestured toward it. “Open it.”
It didn’t take much effort at all to tear off the wrapping paper, and it didn’t surprise me in the slightest to find the title of a book staring back at me from a leather cover: Babies on Broomsticks: A Practical Guide for New Parents of Magical Children by Dr. Miranda De Vil, PhD.
Mallory shrugged. “I haven’t read it myself, but I’ve heard it’s one of the best books out there, and considering your record of taking care of yourself, I figured you’d need some help.”
I knew she meant no harm, so I burst out laughing. “Yeah, you’re probably right — especially since I’m gonna have two little magical monsters to watch.”