My future father in law walked in, kissed me on the cheek, and went to the kitchen to set down a bowl full of fresh blueberry muffins. My parents were agents devoted to the Order of Veritas, but they cooked and baked like a couple of professional chefs. I followed the heavenly smell wafting off the baked goods like a cartoon character riding the scent to its beckoning source.
“Emma, your wedding is only a few weeks away.” Regina started in on me while Phillip handed me a muffin with kind knowing eyes. I love how they matched Calan’s cobalt blue ones. Phillip pulled out a bag of gourmet coffee from his pack and showed it to me. I mouthed a heartfelt thank you. He didn't waste time, throwing out the little coffee I had made and started on making a new pot before storing the rest of it in the cabinet next to the crappy generic java I bought.
Regina paced back and forth in the living room. Apparently, she’d worked herself up on the way over. “If you aren’t going to follow through and take the details seriously, you might as well let me know so I can take point and make the decisions.”
I shoved the muffin into my mouth taking as large a bite as I possibly could to avoid answering. If I had answered, I would have pointed out that she would just love that. Just because I wasn’t hyper critical, didn’t mean I didn’t care.
There was another knock at the door. Why the hell was everyone at my apartment this early? As I went to open it, Regina continued to give subtle digs about my choice of chocolate cake versus a classic white cake with raspberry filling. Opening the door, my eyes flew open wide.
Okay, I really should check my messages even when I don’t feel like it.
Leaning over, my dad gathered me in a big bear hug.
I hugged him back but asked, “What are you doing here?”
“They didn’t tell you?” my dad said, looking over me to Phillip and Regina.
Regina stopped her pacing. “If someone read their texts—”
Phillip took pity on me. “We are going to Washington DC on business. Your father has been an enormous help and support. Since we were coming to check in on you anyway, we asked Gregory to meet us here. We’ll be heading to the airport directly after.” Phillip handed a fresh mug of coffee to me. My dad, like Calan, wasn’t much for caffeine. Chevalier didn’t appreciate the appeal of legal addictive stimulants. Something…something…their body is a temple.
My dad grinned at me. “I’m their consultant.” An invisible band squeezed around my heart. It wasn’t long ago that my dad was little more than an emaciated vegetable, but Phillip had found him the help he needed to undo whatever magical curse had jumbled up his brain.
Where he had turned frail, thin, and pale under the curse, now my dad stood tall again at six foot three. He’d packed on muscle again and his bushy beard was well kept now. Some gray had started to sneak into his auburn-colored hair and beard. My dad was every ounce the Colorado mountain man he looked. I still remembered pointing at the Brawny man on the paper towel wrapping and back at him when I was four years old because I couldn’t figure out how’d he’d gotten on there.
Knowing now that he had once been a Chevalier, I couldn’t help but see the resemblance to Calan now in his bearing. He’d left the Luxis before I was born, but I noticed now how he always quietly assessed his surroundings, devoted himself to physical training, and wasn’t afraid to step up and help someone in need, like Calan.
When my dad’s eyes landed on my muffin, I jerked my head toward the kitchen for him to follow. He might not drink coffee, but he loved good food more than most.
Phillip’s phone rang. He answered it but paused to shake my dad’s hand with a formal greeting. “Gregory,” he said as he stepped outside to take the call.
“What are you consulting on?” I asked, after I swallowed another hunk of delicious muffin. My dad had gone back to our old house in Smoky Badger, but drove down to Denver to be at my mom’s bedside several times a week to read to her in the hopes she would wake up to one of her favorite books. She had been the one to teach both him and I to read since the Order of Luxis made a point of not teaching the Chevalier to read.Jackasses.
My dad looked to Regina, as if seeking permission.
She was hesitant in providing an answer. “We are going to Washington to discuss some...issues. Your father has graciously agreed to help.”
“Do I want to know?” I asked.
Instead of answering, Regina launched right back into wedding details, which told me whatever they were doing in DC was ‘need to know’. That was fine with me. I had enough on my plate.
Her tirade about the centerpieces and what the DJ considered music didn’t phase me or my dad as we rested our elbows on the counter, eating fresh hot muffins and watching her spin herself up and down over different things.
My dad had always been the strong silent type. Even though Regina was going nuts, I enjoyed just standing next to him. Growing up, I’d only had him, and I still wasn’t over the novelty of getting to spend time with him again. I’d always been a daddy’s girl. He caught my eye and shot me a wink.
The sound of a flushing toilet drew my attention. Counting Regina, Phillip, and my dad, no one was missing and Calan could only come home through the front door. Looking at Snarp’s cage, I noticed the door was hanging conspicuously open.
“Oh crap,” I said, racing to bathroom.
The toilet flushed a second time and as I walked in, a torrent of feathers floated in the air. Droplets of water hit me in the face.
Snarp dove headfirst into the toilet water but was thrown out by the current of the flushing toilet, causing him to flap as fast as he could to get control of his trajectory to try again. Realizing it was toilet water that hit my face and lips, I wiped at them quickly. “Gah, Snarp! Stop trying to drown yourself in the toilet, you dumb demon.”
Snarp regarded me for a frozen moment, our gazes locked in a standstill. I waited for a tumbleweed to blow by or for a Western whistle to play.
Then Snarp jumped on the toilet handle again before taking another header in the toilet. I dove for the dumb parrot. My fingertips brushed his tail but failed to grasp him. Snarp took a sharp turn, smacking into the wall before furiously flapping the opposite direction. Changing direction, I tried to follow but only ended up with a hand full of feathers. Fluff exploded off his body as he pinballed around the small bathroom. Snarp finally landed in the toilet again, spraying me full on in the face as he flailed in the porcelain bowl as he tried flush himself again. The scuffle between us went on for several minutes until I finally managed to get my hand on his soaking body.
Snarp protested, bobbing his head rapidly. “Give me snacksssss.”
