“They’re going home. They do have a life of their own, mate,” Beryl frowned.
“What about your mom’s big wedding?”
“It’ll be after our mating feast. Just come on a little vacation with me, please,” Beryl said. “I don’t want to argue. I just want to take you somewhere you can relax and not have a million things to get done. Let me take care of you and Jondi for a change.”
“How soon do we have to book the reservation?” I asked.
“We don’t. It’s family property. So take a few days and get everything lined out. Talk to Jondi about it. If he doesn’t want to go, we won’t go. I’m not here to wreck your life, but I’m worried about you.”
“Fine. I’ll talk to Jondi about it but not until after his sleepover. This is a big milestone for him and I don’t want to mess it up.”
“Thank you,” he smiled and a bit of my anger melted away. “Now, you can go relax while I clean up the kitchen.”
“Actually, I’ll probably swing into town and check on things at the playroom.”
“Can’t that be done over the phone?”
“I won’t feel better until I check things out in person,” I said.
“If you must,” he sighed.
“I’m not choosing work over you,” I said.
“I never said you were.”
“You can come if you want to,” I added, standing up.
“Do you want me to?” he asked.
“I missed you when you weren’t in bed this morning,” I said and headed through the house to check on Jondi.
Chapter 16
Beryl
Guardians of Glitter Bomb Territory
I was surprised that Jade didn’t even allow Jondi onto the playroom floor. The whole place was designed with winged children in mind but I expected him to make exceptions for his own kid at least. Jondi and I waited in the office where he ate a frozen fish stick from each of his hands.
“Do you mind waiting on your dad?” I asked.
“No, I like being with him and that means waiting sometimes. He has to make sure the business is okay and safe for the winged kids. It’s how we have our money. I like being able to buy things at the store. It makes him happy too. I’m glad there is a place for winged kids to play. When I grow up I’m going to open a water park for water shifters only. There are some in other places but not here. I don’t mind, though, because the water dragons have something for us. We go there a lot. Then Dad waits on the shore for me while I go out and play. Sometimes you just have to wait on people you love.”
The kid could sure talk forever. It was hard to believe it when Jade said he was nearly nonverbal in the beginning. Not that there was anything wrong with being nonverbal, but I couldn’t imagine Jondi not voicing his thoughts.
“He learned from his dad,”my dragon chimed into my thoughts with a chuckle.
“Do you mind waiting on him?” Jondi turned the question around on me when I didn’t say anything.
“Not really, but I miss him.”
“I miss my big otter,” he said. “Only sometimes, though. I know I can’t go back and live with her because she only has the one form.”
I opened my mouth and shut it again, because what did you say to something like that?
“I don’t know my dad. So it’s sort of the same.”
“I don’t think I had a dad. I think my mom just made me on her own,” Jondi shrugged. “But I’m sorry you don’t know your dad. Did he die?”
