“Go to Miley and tell her what you said to me. Tell her you messed up. Or whatever way you’d say that to her. I know you well enough to know that you can add color where it’s not really needed.” Piper kissed the older woman on the cheek. “Go on now. Take care that you hug her as well. She’ll need that.”
“I will.” Piper started out the door and returned to hug Molly once again. When she pulled away, Piper told her something she knew the woman would get a kick out of. “Mercy had triplets. Two daughters and a son.”
Then she left. Piper laughed as she shifted back to her bird then headed to Miley. It was just too much—the look on Molly’s face was one that Piper would remember for the rest of her days.
Miley and Tracy were still at the dock. As soon as she landed and became her other self, Mil
ey came to her and gave her a very strong hug. Piper hugged her just as tightly. Tracy joined them, but she was more gentle with hers. Piper knew the girl was still getting used to having people touch her. Tracy was shy for all her mouthiness.
“I’m stupid.” Piper told Miley what she’d done in going to talk to Molly. “She told me Tracy was coming and that she was going to knock you around. I hope she didn’t hurt you. This is all my fault.”
“No, it’s not. I mean, it is, but not really. You’re going through some shit that I don’t understand. I’ve never been a teenaged girl.” They all laughed. “I’m sorry. I truly didn’t mean anything I said to you. You hurt Mercy, and I wanted to make you hurt too. I should have stayed out of it and left it to the two of you.”
They made their way back to Mercy. She still hadn’t told the girls about what had happened with Mercy, nor that Miley now had two sisters and a brother. She wanted to see the look on her face when she realized she had more than enough family for the three of them to care for. Sitting on the bed while they sorted out the gifts that were coming in, Piper watched Grant as he kept an eye on Joel. He was a little freaked out.
“I’m glad we have money.” Grant asked Joel why that was going to be a problem. “The girls, they look like their mom, don’t you think? Beautiful already. We’re going to have to hire a full time crew to make sure that no boys come around them. That would include Miley. I’ve decided that none of them are leaving the house until I’m ready for them to date. Which will be never, I’m thinking. I’m not having anyone around my little girls until they’re in their forties. Or older. That’s why.”
“What about your son? He’s a handsome little guy.” Joel growled at Grant when he spoke. “You do know that once he starts to notice girls, not a soul in the world will be able to keep him from them. You remember, don’t you, Joel, what it was like to be a young man learning the ways of women?”
“That’s precisely why none of them are going to go out with boys. Or men. Never.” He looked at Miley, who was telling her sisters that Daddy was a poop head and that she’d show them the ropes. “You are forbidden to speak to your sisters and brother. That’s it. I’m putting my foot down.”
“Well, you’d better be picking it back up because I’m going to be with them as much as I possibly can.” Miley stood up to her dad, toe to toe, and it was then that Piper realized how tall she’d gotten. “Don’t try and do it, Dad. If you do, from what I’ve heard, you’ll only make me want to disobey you even more. Now, we’re not going to fight today. This is a great day for a celebration. Right, Dad?”
Joel looked at her and frowned. The poor man had three daughters he thought he could protect from everyone. Didn’t the man realize he was married to the worst role model there ever was? Laughing when she stood up, she took the baby from Grant and sat on the bed again.
“Whatever the other aunts and your mom don’t teach you, you can depend on Aunt Piper to teach you.” She looked at Grant as she continued. “Now that your mom has shown us it’s not that big of a deal to have a baby, then perhaps I can have you a cousin or two—”
“Holy shit. I just figured it out.” Everyone turned to Duncan, who had been quietly standing back while the rest of them traded off babies. “Sorry. I was just thinking about the fact that you’re all birds.”
“Well, good for you. We’ve been birds for a long time now, dummy.” Piper laughed when Mercy spoke. “Now that you’ve established what everyone else in this room already knew, what the fuck are you talking about? Or have you had a stroke? That would be a better reason than you just being tuned into the fact we’ve been—”
“How many eggs do you suppose a falcon would have, Mercy? In the event you’re going to give me a smart assed answer, which you always do, they have three to four. You had three this time.” He looked at her. “Piper? How many do you suppose a phoenix has? Again, three to four. You six, you’re having children, but you’re going to, I think, have them in batches.”
“Batches? Did you just call my children a batch? You moronic fuck. I’m going to—”
Duncan backed away from the bed, holding the baby he had up as a shield.
“Hush, Mercy. I need to think.” They all turned to Blaze, who had only just returned from her honeymoon with Bryson. “Hawks can have four to five eggs, I believe. Are you suggesting that I could have as many as five at a time?”
“I’m not sure. There aren’t any books or information out there on birds, or for that matter, any kind of creature such as you guys are. For all I know, it could just be a coincidence. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how many the next of you have. Is anyone here going to have a batch of babies?” Blaze raised her hand, as did Jude. Piper didn’t know, didn’t have the slightest idea how to tell if she was having a baby too. She looked at Grant, who shrugged. “Well, I guess in less than a year, we’ll know for sure. I, for one, am happy about this. But then, it’s not my body that is going through birth.”
“Way to bring down a room, Duncan.” He told them all he was sorry. As he made his way to Jude, Joel spoke again. “The thing we need to figure out is who we go to, to figure out this thing. As Duncan said, we are working with a lot of unknowns here. I think we were all wondering if there would be eggs born or not. That has been cleared up.”
“Not necessarily.” They then looked at her. “I mean, we are none of us the same sort of bird, right? For all we know, one or the rest of us could have eggs. Holy shit, this is scarier now than it was before. Too many unanswered questions if you ask me.”
“Does this mean you don’t want to have children?” She looked at Grant and smiled. “Good. I’m glad to hear that. However, there is nothing to worry about. Eggs or live births, one or five babies at once, we have the means and the magic to make it work out for all of us.”
There was that. Piper went to Grant to have him hold her. She looked down at the bundle in her arms and wondered if she really cared how many she had. Or, for that matter, what their sex would be. She wanted to be a mom now. But it scared the shit out of her that she’d be terrible at it.
~*~
Grant was working on some paperwork when he realized the house was quiet. Not that it wasn’t like that most of the time, but he knew that Piper had been in the kitchen when he’d come in here, and she was then going to work. He reached out within the house and found nothing out of the ordinary. Reaching out beyond his home and to the castle grounds, he felt the presence of someone he didn’t know. Getting up, he made his way into the front of the castle. The person standing there was very close to where the first squatter had been living. The ground was still bearing the marks of the trail of fire coming from Piper.
When Grant reached out to the man, he turned and looked at him. Grant hadn’t any idea who the man was nor what he might be doing there. Walking slowly toward him, the man started in his direction as well. When they were still several feet apart, the stranger put out his hand.
“I’m Harold Bennington. Everyone calls me Harry. You and your wife own this land and the castle, I was told.” Grant only stood there. “Yes, well, I don’t blame you for being suspicious. I believe I would be, as well. I’m a professor at the college. Or I was until I retired recently. I wanted to find myself some sort of hobby that would take me around to places that few have been to before. When I was flying above this place a week or so ago, it just looked like barren land. It wasn’t until I came by boat that I could see it’s covered in magic. It’s to keep out the unwanted.”
“Yet here you are.” Harry laughed as he nodded. “You are here for what reason, Mr. Bennington? In the event you didn’t understand the magic or the lack of a welcome mat being put out for you, you aren’t welcome here.”