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He sat down on the leather couch, and I did the same, sitting at an angle so I could see him.
“I wanted to apologize for the Cadogan House Novitiate thing. I’d meant to talk to you about it before it came up with the Ombudsman, but I didn’t, and that was my fault, and it was a really crappy thing to do. And I’m really sorry.”
“I appreciate that,” he said.
And a heavy and awkward silence filled the room.
“Did you have a good childhood?”
The question startled and appalled me. “What? Of course I did.”
“We didn’t exactly have good role models for parenting, your mother and I. And we tried so carefully to think of everything a human child would need, and everything a vampire child might.”
Tears blossomed and I worked to push them back, afraid if they fell I’d slip into full sobbing. “I had a great childhood,” I said again. “I know I was loved and supported. That if I fell, you’d help me back up. Mom helped me get past my chocolate chip cookie phase and learn the joy of a balanced diet, and you helped me understand the joy of rules and procedures.”
He knew I meant that mostly seriously, and his grin was full and utterly relieved. “Without rules, chaos.”
“No argument,” I said, thinking of Connor and his penchant, at least as a kid, for doing whatever the hell he wanted.
“I was thrown,” my father said. “We didn’t fail to Commend you because of an oversight, because we forgot. We believed—considered—you to be a full member of the House. And I am monumentally sorry that we were wrong, even if only technically.”
He cleared his throat. “Do you want to be Commended?”
And I thought we’d gotten through the awkward part. For a moment, silence hung heavily in the air. I didn’t have an honest answer, and I didn’t want to lie.
Finally, he held up a hand, smiled. “Don’t answer that. I will apologize for putting you on the spot. I love you and I love your mother with all my heart. I love this House, as well. It is neither my child nor my wife, but it is...” He seemed to struggle with the word.
“It’s yours,” I said simply, and offered him a smile. “And that’s all there is to it.”
“Yes,” he said with a relieved smile. “It is mine. And while your mother and I would both love to have you as an official member of this House, that decision is yours to make as you prefer.”
“And if I choose Navarre?” I asked with a grin.
He was silent for a moment, lip curled just a little bit. “There’s no accounting for taste.”
I grinned at him. “Typical Cadogan response.”
“Come here,” my father said, and opened his arms. And I went willingly.
• • •
The tension had evaporated when Margot, the House’s chef, rolled a wheeled cart into my father’s office. It was stacked with gorgeous trays of food and smelled like sugar and bacon.
My mother stepped into the room behind her.
“As always,” my father said, “your mother’s timing is impeccable.”
“She followed the scent of bacon,” Margot said, offering me a wink as she began placing trays and baskets on the conference table.
“You’re all hilarious,” she said, snatching a piece of bacon from one of Margot’s baskets. She glanced at us as she chewed, and I gave her a nod and a smile.
Outside there was chaos. But our family was okay.
• • •
Since coffee would only improve things, I fixed myself a mug and moved to the sitting area while we waited for the cavalry to arrive. They showed up in increments. Petra and Yuen, then Theo, then Gabriel, Connor, and Miranda.
I wasn’t sad to see that Dearborn had skipped the meeting, and assumed we’d have to invite the press and the mayor to get him to actually attend. I hadn’t expected to see Miranda, and was surprised she’d walk willingly into a House of vampires, given her issues with us.
