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My dad reaches out and tugs me to my feet so he can hug me, squeezing me tightly. “I don’t understand. You’re here, you’re in my arms, and I missed you, kid.”
That’s when I feel his tears on my neck, and I can’t stop my own, which spring forth in answer. While we’re embracing, my mom starts to stir.
“What is going on?” she cries, getting shakily to her feet. She looks good, but I can see the bags under her eyes.
“Just, enjoy it, hun,” my dad tells her, opening his arms to welcome her into the hug. It feels so reminiscent of when I met my birth parents that I start crying all over again.
“I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you,” I tell them.
“I was going to say something like, of course you didn’t mean to die, but are you dead? Are you a zombie? I don’t understand,” my dad presses when we finally break apart.
“I am a goddess, and so is Cat.”
“I know, sweetie,” my dad says, smoothing his hand down the side of my face to cup my cheek. “I always told you how amazing you are.”
“No, I amliterallya goddess. The Goddess of Spring, to be exact.” I turn toward the poor Ficus tree in the corner that my mother has killed and I’ve resurrected more times than I can count. It’s looking worse for wear, clearly neglected while I’ve been gone, but not enough for anyone to just get rid of it. With a thought, I rejuvenate it, breathing life back into the limbs until it’s standing tall again.
“Maybe we have carbon monoxide poisoning?” my mom asks my dad. “Or, I think cyanide comes with hallucinations?”
“Daphne is being serious. Would I lie to you, too?” Cat asks, stepping forward.
They look at her like they’re seeing her for the first time.
“Considering you died too, yes. I think your hallucination would lie,” Mom says.
“I don’t know if joint hallucinations are a thing, though.” My dad looks down at his wife.
“Then who are those guys?” Cat questions, gesturing to Xavier and Essos.
“Hot hallucinations,” my mom guesses with a shrug.
“Eww, that’s my husband.” I wrinkle my nose even as Essos walks over and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I also don’t think you can touch hallucinations.”
Dave barks, agreeing with me, and my parents notice the three pit bulls for the first time.
“I’m sounding like a broken record, but hear me out,” my dad starts. “I don’t understand.”
“Okay, I’m the Goddess of Spring…”
“What does that make Cat?” my mom interrupts.
“Goddess of Motherhood and Fertility,” Cat supplies with a smile.
“And the hunks?” Mom asks.
“I am Xavier, King of the Gods, and this is my brother, Essos, God of the Dead.”
Essos scowls and furrows his brow. “I amalsoKing of the Underworld. Why do you have to reduce me to less than you in front of my new in-laws?”
“Because youareless than me, brother,” Xavier says dismissively.
Essos stands up straighter. “I am the older brother here.”
“Guys,” I interrupt. “Focus. We’re here for Solarem, so maybe play nice?”
“What is a Solarem?” my dad asks, his gaze pinging between the two gods.
My mother still looks skeptical. “If you’re kings, where are your crowns?”
