Naomi watched their interactions with something akin to jealousy. She’d never been able to have close friendships. Her only friend… her best friend… growing up had been her sister Beth, and she was gone now. Turned Rogue and imprisoned far away in some Shapeshifter prison. To cover the longing surging in her chest, she bit into a Snickerdoodle, and was immediately sidetracked.
“Oh, my God!”
Katerina beamed at her. “I know, right? Okay, wow, now I want one, too.”
“I’ll get it for you, kitty cat.” Troy strode past them into the dining room. Naomi hadn’t realized how big he was until now, standing beside the petite Katerina. Well over six feet, he was a giant of a man. He looked at Katerina over his shoulder.
“What do you want?”
“A couple Snickerdoodles, like Naomi, and some hot cider.”
“You got it, babe.” He returned balancing two cups of cider as well as a plate of cookies, which he put on a low table between two armchairs. Handing one of the cups to Katerina, he sat in one of the chairs and took a drink of his own cider.
Katerina accepted her cider in one hand, waving her phone in triumph in the other. “Okay, the order’s in. It’ll be here in about forty-five minutes.”
“I can’t stay much longer after we have the pizza,” Jacinth told them. “I promised Talya a girl’s afternoon out. I think we’re going bowling, unless she’s changed her mind by the time I get home.”
“Talya is a teenager living with Jacinth and Douglas,” Liam said, seeing Naomi’s curious look. “Long story, you’ll hear all about it, though.”
“I’d have brought her and the children… Ben and Molly are six and four,” Jacinth explained, “but we didn’t want to overwhelm you when you’d just gotten here. You’ll meet them all later.”
“Saturday at our place,” Katerina nodded. “Command barbecue. No excuses. Liam can bring you, so be there.”
“Isn’t it getting a little cold for barbecues?” Liam wanted to know.
Troy nodded. “It is. All the more reason to have it now, before the weather turns even colder. This will probably be the last one this year.”
“Plus, we don’t have an inside space where we can fit everyone once it gets too cold,” Katerina said on a note of complaint. She nudged against her fiance, her eyes glowing golden as she gazed, smiling, up at him. “Troy’s been wanting to get the barn renovated, and I thought maybe we could do it up with heat and have a gathering place for winter.” She paused, pouting. “But he insists he wants the barn for the horses.”
“The horses need some place warm for the winter, too,” he reminded her.
Jacinth waved one hand in the air, her chocolate brown eyes dancing with merriment. “We had our backyard pool covered over once it got cold. I can put out a Djinn tent atop it. There can be as much space as we want inside it.”
Naomi gazed at her in something akin to awe. “Seriously? Like a… a Tardis or something?”
“Or something,” Jacinth agreed, laughing merrily.
“Awesome!” exclaimed Katerina. “Let’s do it!”
Naomi looked from one to another of them. “How many of you are there?” she asked, bewildered.
“Well, let’s see. There’s me and Troy,” Katerina held up a hand and began counting fingers.
“Troy and me,” Jacinth corrected her.
Katerina stuck her tongue out, while Troy rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“Stop that, you two.”
Katerina just grinned, and continued naming. “Jacinth and Douglas, with Benny and Molly, and now Talya. There’s my brother Kester and his Chosen, Tamera. Then sometimes Julian and Alessandra come up from Staten Island.”
“Don’t forget that Suzanne and Mac know about us now, we can invite them,” Troy reminded her.
“Oh, right! And then you two,” Katerina beamed at them. “So that makes, um…”
“Fifteen,” Jacinth supplied. “And sometimes my mother.”
Naomi blinked at her. “Your mother?” Djinns had mothers?
