“Is that a superhero or—”
“More like a lurking forest monster, who is now my husband,” she says. I lean in, wordlessly begging her to fill in the gaps for me. “Okay. So, I met Moth a few years ago, right?” Heather scoots close, like she’s about to drop the hottest gossip I’ve ever heard. “He landed on my roof during this big storm, so I obviously dragged him inside and nursed him back to health. We both just kind of fell for each other. But there was this guy. He’d been hunting Moth down for years—trying to, at least. When I got caught in the crossfire, well, Moth saved me and I became this. It hasn’t all been easy—dating a forest monster, finding out he’s a faerie prince, making our life together—but it’s worked out pretty well.” She trails off, letting her hand run down the length of her stomach with a contented smile. “It’s better than I ever thought.”
I blink.
She just dropped a lot of lore. I don’t even know what to start with…
“I’m guessing this is all like really new to you?” Heather asks, her tone dipping further into a Valley Girl accent; it’s endearing considering how otherworldly she looks.
“New and moving so fast. I met his family yesterday,” I say, “at the Festival of the Four Sisters.”
“Ugh, I wanted Moth to take me, but I got the dates confused—pregnancy brain!” Heather sighs, shaking her head. “How long have you been together?” she asks, grabbing a cookie from the recently filled tray and taking a bite.
“About … two, three days?” I admit. But there’s no judgement in this kitchen. If anything, Heather seems to understand entirely. “I keep second-guessing things, but there was something about being in the other realm with his family. It’s… well, it just feels…” I pause, struggling to find the word I’m looking for.
“Right?” she offers. “A whirlwind. Not only are you meeting someone and falling in love, but you’re coping with the existence of faeries and castles. I’m stillfullydisappointed that unicorns don’t exist in any of the realms.”
“No unicorns?” I put on a show of gasping, holding my hand to my heart. “That honestly seems unfair.”
“I know. Like what even is the point, right?” She rolls her eyes, glancing toward the rest of the party.
“Is that why you decided to stay in the human realm. The lack of unicorns?” I ask. “No offense, but our world kinda sucks.”
“Friends, family, my mom—she’s like kind of a big deal. No way I could convince her to pack up everything and move, even if it’s to a castle. She’s got a big online brand, and for a while, I followed in her footsteps. But life in the Moth Court felt a lot like being back online—too many judgmental whispers. Moth never wanted to be king. Plus, he’s kinda becoming like a big, accomplished author. We like our little life in the woods.”
Gil isn’t royalty. There’s no weight, crown, or pressure there, but the thing I could never leave behind? That’s my Grams… The last 24 hours are the longest we’ve gone without talking and hell—I miss her.
I wonder what she’s up to today.
“I was so stressed early on, thinking I’d have to pick between worlds. We grow up with people telling us we can’t have everything, right?” Heather says, shaking her head.
“And we can’t…” I shrug. It’s a lesson I’ve learned again and again. The world is an unfair, terrible place.
“But what if we can?” she asks. Reaching out, she takes both my hands and squeezes lightly. “Don’t you think you deserve it?”
Deserve?
When has that ever mattered? I swallow hard, unable to answer.
But this girl married a shapeshifter from another realm, and they’ve built something warm and steady together. It’s the way it felt when I walked into Gil’s house for the first time.
She draws in a deep breath. “The bigger thing I wanted to say is, I would have loved to have a friend to talk to about all this paranormal stuff, and like, I know we just met, but now you have me, okay?”
Mom energy radiates from her, as present as the glitter on her cheeks. I squeeze her hands back.
“I think you’re going to be really good parents.”
“Aww!” she says. “Decided! We’re going to keep you, and you’re obligated to come to our next movie night. Although, fair warning, it’s Moth’s pick next, so it’s definitely going to be some regency romance, if you’re into that.”
I should be annoyed with the way she says “We’re going to keep you” as if I’m a stray cat Gil tucked in his shirt, rather than a whole person. But I’m not—not in the slightest.
They want to have me around, and I carry that feeling for the rest of the party.
We play a ridiculous game involving guessing baby food, in which neither Gil nor I win—but we also don’t throw up, so I’m taking it as a personal victory. Gil, however, did guess howmany tiny plastic baby figures were in a glass jar, which was only a little creepy—not that he could guess, that’s a fair game of chance, but the little figures with their painted eyes all crammed in there? 0/10, did not like.
The prize, however, is a gift card to a chain coffee shop that Gil proudly slides into my hands—and well I’ll never say no to caffeine.
“Guess we’ve got a spot for our next date,” he whispers, as his shoulders knock into mine.
