Fagan smirked. “Italy, of course.”
He bit his lip, as if holding in his thoughts. Chances were he suspected something but was too polite to bring it up in front of their guests.
Chloe cleared her throat. “Well, that is very generous of you, but I’m sure the O’Malleys have dinner planned, and we wouldn’t want it to get cold. So let’s go back down to the banquet room.”
Her subjects followed without question. The other guests lingered a bit, taking a longing look at the car and then trailing behind the rest downstairs.
The leprechauns jogged down the stairs to keep up with everyone. When all the guests arrived back at the ballroom and returned to their seats, Fagan and the other two remained standing.
Everyone lifted their champagne glasses.
“Wait. Before we begin the toasts,” Fagan called out, “we want to present our gift for the other couple. We know you’ll like it much more than a new car.”
Ryan put down his glass.
Rory and Amber glanced at each other.
“Well… Come here.” Fagan waved them over.
Brandee got herself in position to take a picture of their faces when they received whatever special gift they had coming.
Fagan spoke in a low voice so only the couple and those of paranormal persuasion could hear. “We know you can’t have children, so we found the perfect gift for you.” He swiveled, and when he turned back to them, he held a baby in his arms.
“Shite!” Rory said as he took a step back. Amber just stood there with her mouth and eyes wide open.
Jayce quickly glanced around the room and noticed the O’Malleys frozen in mid-step as they carried out trays of shrimp cocktail. The priest was frozen in place too. He checked on Amber’s mother and sister and noticed both of them gazing in the same direction, smiling and unblinking.
Brandee snapped her fingers, and her camera disappeared. She marched over to Fagan and gently removed the baby from his arms. “Now, tell me where you found this child so I can return him or her.”
Fagan looked deeply offended. “You would return our gift? Who are you to do such a thing?” He folded his arms and glowered.
Gaia appeared. “Thank goodness my muse was here to stop you from giving humans a glimpse into the paranormal world.” She turned toward Brandee. “Give the child to me. I know right where she belongs.”
Fagan bristled. “But the babe was in an orphanage. What kind of life is that for her? We were doing both her and the bride and groom a grand favor.”
Mother Nature leaned over them and rose off the floor a few inches. “I know exactly what kind of life she’ll have. In a few days, she’ll be adopted by a loving family. Yes, they’ll make mistakes, and she will probably wind up in therapy someday, but if she grew up as a human with paranormal parents, she’d be in therapy that much sooner.”
Fagan sighed. “Well, this is embarrassing… I suppose we’ll have to come up with something else now that we have everyone’s attention.”
Gaia frowned. “I’ll deal with you later, leprechaun. My muse will turn back time just enough to erase the humans’ memories. Now I’m off to do the same at the orphanage.” With that, Mother Nature and the baby disappeared.
Fagan scratched his head. “Feck. I thought we had the perfect gift for you,” he said to Rory.
Rory smiled. “It was a lovely thought. Fortunately, we have everything we need. Just that you hoped to do something special for us is all the gift we could want.” He put his arm around Amber’s shoulder, she slipped her arms around his waist, and they gazed at each other lovingly.
Fagan stamped his foot. “You see? You would have made very good, loving parents. I’m afraid I’m too upset to stay.” He turned to his brothers and said, “We shall leave now.” They nodded, and all three of them disappeared.
A collective whoosh of air suggested that more than one guest had been holding their breath. Various expressions of relief followed.
Brandee addressed Amber. “What now? How far should I back this up to cover the fact that they left?”
Amber sighed. “I wish we could back it up to before they came, but too many guests were already here and in mid-conversation. I guess we can back it up to the point where they closed the doors on the courtyard upstairs and everyone filed downstairs.”
“Then just pop them back to wherever they came from and make an excuse that they had a family emergency and had to leave—if anyone misses them.”
Suddenly Jayce and Kristine were descending the stairs again.
Jayce leaned over and whispered to Kristine, “Well, at least Amy and Conlan get to keep the Maserati.”
