“Dr. De Vil is an alum of Veilside, where she got her Doctor of Paranormality in Paranormal Childhood Development, so she’s the real deal,” Mallory said and tapped the author’s name on the cover for emphasis.
“Thanks, Mallory. I’m sure it’ll be helpful.”
“Sure thing. And you know I’m always willing to babysit if you need a break.”
I winked at her. “Don’t go making promises with your wand that your magic can’t cast.”
“No, I’m serious. Besides, it’ll give me an excuse to see you more often.”
I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thanks. I’d like that too.”
Mallory beamed, and Beau took the book and the boxes containing the pacifiers from me and set them on the table in favor of the next present. He examined the small card taped to its exterior and smiled. “Looks like this one is from all your old colleagues at the Messenger. Oh, and Ewan.”
He passed me the large box, and its contents rolled and rattled. Mitch, Flora, and Ewan pulled their chairs closer to watch, each of them smirking at whatever secret they were all in on together.
“The staff couldn’t come to consensus on what to get, so everyone pitched in something small,” Mitch said as I pulled off the wrapping paper. When I lifted the lid off the box, I found a mishmash of various baby toys inside — rattles, toy wands, balls with trinkets inside that chimed when they moved — and several teething rings, all of which looked a little more durable than the ones I’d seen outside Moon Grove. I lifted one out of the box and held it up to laughter.
“Trust me, if one or both of your youngins turn out to have fangs, you’ll be glad to have them around. I chewed on everything I could get in my mouth when I was a pup,” Mitch said.
“So did Beau, so you’ll definitely need those if either of the kids are anything like him,” Sam said, and Beau’s face caught fire.
“Thanks, Dad,” he grumbled to laughter. To change the subject, he quickly reached for the next — and last — present. “Dear Lilith, this one’s heavy,” he said as he lifted it.
“That’s from Michelle and I,” Sam said. I took the box from Beau and realized he wasn’t kidding. It must’ve weighed at least ten pounds.
“Goodness, did you guys box up a boulder or something?” I asked.
“Open it and find out,” Sam said, though he seemed more eager for me to open it than anyone else. I pulled off layers of meticulously taped paper — Michelle must’ve wrapped it — and gasped when I finally got to the box underneath.
“Is this…?” I asked, unable to finish the sentence until I tore off the rest of the paper. It was a fancy camera from Seeing Eye, one of the top electronic brands in the paranormal world. I didn’t know for sure what a camera like that would cost, but it had to be somewhere in the thousands of dollars — not to mention the package of lenses they’d included along with it.
“This is too much, I can’t take this,” I whispered.
“Please, we insist,” Michelle said. “You‘ll want to capture every little moment of your kids’ lives, and what better way to do it than with a camera like this?”
“Besides, we had a few extras lying around at the Channel 666 offices, so it’s not as audacious as it seems,” Sam added.
“Why don’t we break into it now and give it a shot?” Beau suggested as he lifted the box out of my lap and began tearing into it.
“You’re just excited to have a new toy to play with,” I said to laughter and Beau didn’t argue. I’d known him long enough to realize there wasn’t anything more tempting for him than a new piece of technology, and I could already tell that he’d be a more than willing cameraman for our new family — for better or worse.
It only took him a matter of seconds to get the camera unboxed and ready to shoot. He equipped it with the middle-sized of the three lenses Sam and Michelle had included. “Okay, everyone, crowd around Zoe! We want pictures of you all.”
“What about you? Don’t you wanna be in the picture too?” Grandma asked.
“No need to worry. It has a magically activated switch that a witch or warlock among us can trip at will,” Beau said and set about stacking the boxes of presents to use as a makeshift tripod.
My family and friends pressed in around me, Grandma on my left, Mallory on my right. Beau fiddled with the camera to line up the shot and make sure no one got cut off. While I waited, I realized that I’d never felt more belonging than I did in that moment.
When Beau finished fiddling with the angle, he darted out from behind the camera and weaseled his way between Mallory and me to kneel and wrap his arms around both our shoulders.
“Zoe, do you wanna do the honors?” he asked.
“I don’t have my wand with me.”
“Not to worry, I’ve got it,” Heath said from behind me and I heard rustling as he rummaged in his robes for his wand. “Okay, everyone, at the count of three. One, two, three!” he said, and the camera clicked several times.
Beau dashed from the group to check the results, and when he held both his thumbs up, everyone dispersed. “They turned out great! Thanks, Heath.”
“My pleasure,” Heath said, and as he tucked his wand back in his robes, someone’s phone started ringing. “Oh, Lilith, that’s mine. Please excuse me for a second,” Heath said and abruptly trotted out of the backyard with his phone in hand.
I followed him with my eyes until he disappeared, and noticed Raina had been watching him too, which couldn’t have been a good sign. All at once, the too familiar feeling of dread I’d forgotten about during the party returned with a vengeance. It coiled around and squeezed my ribcage, making it difficult to breathe.
Against all hope, I prayed the other shoe hadn’t finally dropped.
No one seemed to know what to do or say after Heath’s departure, as if they’d picked up on my reaction — and they almost certainly had. We sat in an uncomfortable silence until Heath returned wearing a too-bright smile.
“Ah, there wasn’t any need to put the festivities on hold for my sake. It wasn’t anything to worry about,” Heath said, trying to put all of us at ease. I couldn’t speak for the rest of the guests, but it hadn’t worked on me. In fact, it’d had the opposite effect.
“Who wants some cake?” Beau asked, and if I could’ve kissed him, I would. He had the rare ability to paper over awkward moments, something I couldn’t claim for myself. “I left it inside to keep it from melting, but if you’ll follow me in, I can slice a piece up for everyone.”
“Y’all know I ain’t ever gonna say no to some cake,” Grandma said and led the charge into the house. I couldn’t tell if she realized what was going on, but thankfully everyone followed her — except me and Heath. Beau winked at me from the backdoor before he closed it behind Ewan, the last of the guests to make it inside.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Heath let out a long, deep sigh. I whirled on him.
“What is it? I know something’s wrong, I can tell from the way you’re acting, so just tell me.”
He flashed me a sad smile and came to sit down next to me in the chair Grandma had previously occupied. “I’m sorry to rain on your baby shower like this, Zoe, but I suppose we don’t always get to choose the best timing for things like this.”