Marissa smiled. “That’s a brilliant idea, Dad! I’ll ask him before I go to bed tonight. He should be just waking up over there then.”
“Well, I think that brings things well in hand. Let’s eat,” Celine declared. She was well pleased with the evening’s work. Celine glanced around the table and smiled.
Marissa called Declan in Ireland through the mirror late that evening. He was just rolling out of bed when he heard the mirror chime.
“Morning, Marissa. What’s up?”
“Did I wake you, Dec? I know it’s early.”
“No, I have an early class this morning, then working for Mom. How’s it going?”
“We’re great. I have a huge favor to ask you, if you don’t mind. Malia and I are having a joint hand-fasting at Yule, and we wanted to know if you would be in charge of the music for the ceremony, and in between sets at the reception?”
“Of course, I’d be honored to. Thank you for asking me. We should talk about what kind of music you guys want. Can we do a conference call sometime soon?”
“That would be great, Dec, thank you!”
“Does Mom know yet? Can I tell her?”
“I don’t think she knows yet. Go ahead. Formal invites will go out this week. Tell Grandma and Grandpa too, will you please?”
“Of course. We’ll be seeing you again soon, then. Looking forward to it.”
Marissa closed the connection, feeling very proud of herself. Mission accomplished.
30
Suzette came down that Friday and stayed for the weekend. She happily agreed to accept the position of Healer at the Valerian’s Cove clinic. She was excited to have access to the Casey greenhouses for her potions ingredients, and to the Potions Master at the Academy who was renowned for her innovation in potion creation.
Suzette and Marissa went out for lunch after Suzette’s interview Friday morning. They went to Thai Star. Ben Ma gave them a seat by the window that looked into the garden and made sure they had plenty of food.
“I’m going to be rolling around like a ball after living here for a few weeks!” Suzette laughed. She pushed her plate away from herself and sat back.
“And then there’s Cooke’s Deli, the Baker’s Delight, the Sweet Delight Ice Cream Shoppe….” Marissa teased.
Suzette groaned. “I’m going to have to take up yoga, or running or something,” she said.
Marissa laughed.
“Have you thought about where you are going to live?” Marissa asked.
“Not yet. I guess I have to get serious about that now. Well, actually, I have a couple of months. I graduate at Yule, and with your handfasting, I’ll be here anyway. I’ll start looking now. I’m sure I can find something by then.” Suzette shrugged.
“I’m sure you can stay with us if you want to. You know how Mama enjoys having a full house.”
“The house is already going to be full of guests for your handfasting. I don’t want to add more work for Aunt Celine.”
“Well, Tony is turning his town house into a boarding house for single Pack members. Maybe there will be a room there you can have. We’ll figure it out,” Marissa said.
“I’m not worried. Have you talked to Mama about your cake yet?”
“Malia and I have decided that we are each going to have our own cakes. We’ll be keeping Aunt Luna quite busy while she’s here.”
Suzette grinned. “She’ll love it. She’s always best under pressure. You guys will have the most beautiful cakes in the world by the time Mama’s finished with them.”
“I know we will.”
Theo had been thinking about living arrangements too. He knew that both Marissa and the children were happy living at the Casey house. Theo, however, felt like a guest. Celine and Brendan went out of their way to treat him as family. That wasn’t the issue. He just had the strongest urge to create his own home with Marissa and their children. Their own nest. Maybe that was the Dragon in him coming out.
The house that Theo had been staying in in town was too small for a growing family. There was only one bedroom, and one bathroom. On his breaks at the clinic, Theo began looking around at properties that were for rent or for sale in Valerian’s Cove. He wondered what Marissa would like best.
Marissa came back from her girl’s trip to the City refreshed the following Sunday evening. As they were getting ready for bed, Theo asked her about her mind-healing session with her old school mentor.
“It went really well,” she told him. “I am really glad that I went. I am going again in a month. I think, with everything that’s been going on, and all the continued plans and the fact that the danger may not be completely over yet, that it will be good for me to have regular sessions for a while. Plus I get a girl’s weekend away with Val in the City once a month. I knew I missed doing things like that. I just hadn’t realized how much.”
“I am so sorry that I haven’t been here until now to help you raise the children,” Theo said.
“I know, Theo. It wasn’t your fault. Just, now that you are here, I am going to take advantage and get some me time in on a regular basis. I really need it.”
“Why didn’t you ask your parents to help you with that before this?”
“I guess I felt that as the twins’ only parent, it was more responsible of me to stay close in case they needed me. I felt guilty even going out for an evening with Mariellen every once in a blue moon. The idea of going away for an entire weekend on a regular basis scared the crap out of me. What if something happened to me, and they were left alone?”
“Your family would have taken care of them. They would have missed you immensely, but they would have been okay.”
“I know that, intellectually. Emotionally, though, I just couldn’t handle it. So it was easier to stay home and make taking care of the children my life.”
“Well, I am here now. I will help all that I can. And I can promise you, the children will never be left alone. Neither of our families would allow it.” Theo drew Marissa in for a hug. After a moment, she pulled back and gave him a soft kiss.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Speaking of family,” Theo said, “I’ve been thinking. I know that you and the twins have lived here with your parents since before the children were born. It’s an awesome house, and for them to have the treehouse and the field to run around in is amazing. I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you ever consider us getting our own house? Either finding one in town, or building one nearby? I just have this urge for us to have our very own space. Something just for us. Does that make sense?”
Marissa thought about it for a moment.
“I guess I hadn’t really considered the idea,” she said. “I can definitely see the attraction. Malia and her kids will be moving in with Tony after the handfasting as soon as their house is ready. I’m almost afraid to leave Mama and Dad alone.”
“They are still fairly young witches. And they will still have Shari-Beth living here for a couple more years, before she goes off to college or does whatever she chooses to do next.”
“I know. I just hadn’t really thought about it. Give me a couple of days, ok? Let me talk to the kids and see what they think.” She looked up at him suddenly. “You’re not thinking of moving closer to your grandparents, are you? Because getting our own house is one thing, but I could never leave Valerian’s Cove. Especially now, with the children’s Gifts becoming more apparent, and the new classes and teachers at the Academy that are basically being created for them. They need to stay here.”
“No, I agree with you. We need to stay in Valerian’s Cove. We can visit my grandparents, and they can visit here. I think they will be doing that fairly often, to be honest with you. We will definitely stay here.”
“Okay. Let me talk to the kids. Just so I know, what would you preference be? A house in town, or building our own place out near here?”
Theo thought about it.
“I mean, there are advantages to both. If we are out here, we can still bike i
nto town whenever we want. And we could have our own gardens, and the space for the kids to run around in. I think I would actually prefer to live out here, if we could get land close to your parents. Who owns the parcel next door? Do you think they would consider selling?”
Marissa smiled. “My parents own it. And I think we have an excellent chance of convincing them to let us build on it.”
“Well, that makes things easier. We could stay here while the house is being built. Then we move right next door. You would still be close enough to come over every day if you wanted to, and we would have our own space. I think that sounds great.”
“Once we talk to the kids, we can talk to my parents. Actually, let’s talk to my parents first. That way the kids won’t get excited about something that may not happen. I don’t want to disappoint them.”
“Okay. Let’s talk to them tomorrow, after the kids go to school.”
Celine and Brendan agreed enthusiastically to the idea of Marissa and Theo building their home right next door. They would leave about five hundred feet between the houses, and plant apple trees between them to give the illusion of privacy. Marissa and Theo talked to the architect that was working with Malia and Tony on their house. He blessed the day the Caseys contacted him. This was turning out to be a very lucrative association for him.
Marissa’s world was spinning. Between handfasting preparations, house building, and training, she had barely a single moment to herself. And she was still seeing clients at the clinic. She found herself needing the once-a-month weekends in the City more than ever and was extremely proud of herself for taking them.
Devra and her bodyguards dropped back in at least once a month to check on the progress of the plans for the Academy and to evaluate everyone’s progress in their training. At the end of their visits, Marissa found herself to be exhilarated and completely wrung out. She planned her City weekends for the weekends following Devra’s appearances.
Ciaran had found a Fae Illusionist to help Milena with her new Gift, and a strong Fae Earth Mage to help Mikey. Both new Fae would take positions at the Academy in the Spring. Marissa liked the woman who would be teaching Milena. Her name was Fionnuala. She had the same stars in her eyes as Milena now did. Milena adored her, and the two of them kept up a lively correspondence via mirror. They met together once a week via mirror to begin Milena’s training in her Illusion Magic. Marissa was extremely proud of how dedicated Milena was to learning about her new Gift. Seeing Milena so happy and excited brought tears to Marissa’s eyes. She was so proud of both her children.
Mikey’s Fae Earth Gift complimented his Witch one. There were bound to be a few hiccups, while they figured out which Gift was strongest, and which techniques worked best in any given situation. Having both meant that Mikey would be incredibly strong in Earth Magic once he was all trained up. The Fae Earth Mage that would be training Mikey, and any other people they found with Fae bloodlines in Earth magic, was a solid, dependable Fae with curly dark brown hair and bright green eyes. Ronan was older than Ciaran and Siofra. Maybe the Fae equivalent of Celine and Brendan’s age. He was infinitely patient with Mikey and seemed to enjoy helping the boy work through his problems with quiet deliberation. Mikey’s talent in using his Gifts was already coming along in leaps and bounds.
Malia and Tony’s house on Pack lands was coming along in leaps and bounds as well. Tony was fielding a steady stream of new Wolves petitioning to join the Pack. Among them were several skilled tradesmen, two carpenters and an electrician. Tony arranged for several of the younger Pack members to apprentice with them. The confidence that they were gaining from learning viable skills under the considerate tutelage of the recent additions to the Pack was obvious to see. The Wolf community was flourishing, both in numbers and in healing. They were well on their way to becoming a strong, healthy Pack.
Allie continued to train with Grandpa Luc in her Fire magic. Siobhan continued to join them after school and on weekends. Luc worked them hard, and the results were showing. Both girls were already proficient at the level of most Witches years older than them. Siobhan’s grandfather came from Ireland for a visit and was extremely impressed with what he saw. He thanked Luc profusely for teaching Siobhan. The two older men hit it off straight away and became the best of friends.
Ian continued to train his Empathy with Malia, Marissa, Milena and Aldona, who would pop in whenever her royal duties allowed. She was fast realizing that as much as she adored teaching them and visiting with them, she would have to find another Dragon to continue their training on an ongoing basis. She approached the Crystal Waters clan, the clan her grandmother had come from, for help. They sent a young male Dragon, Wu Donghai. After spending some time meeting with him, and testing his Gifts herself, Aldona agreed that he would be the perfect candidate, and sent him to Valerian’s Cove with Devra. Donnie, as the children soon began calling him, fit right in. He moved into one of the rooms at Tony’s house in town until the new faculty housing at the Academy was ready for occupation.
The new wing of the Academy was completed just before Samhain. The Academy held a dedication ceremony that included Guardians, Dragons and Fae as well as the people of Valerian’s Cove. Work on the new faculty and student housing was progressing as well and was expected to be completed by Yule.
Suzette took over Theo’s cottage in town, three doors down from the clinic. She started moving her things in on the weekends towards the end of the semester. By graduation, the week before Yule, she was completely moved in. Marissa, Malia and Shari-Beth helped her unpack and decorate.
“Thank you so much for taking the time to help me,” Suzette said. “I know you guys are so busy with the handfasting. It’s only a few days away, can you believe it?”
Malia grinned. “Honestly, as much as I am looking forward to it, I will be glad when it’s over. It’s turned into a circus. A fun circus, but still a circus. I am so grateful that our new home is finished. It will be great to hide for a few days afterwards.”
“Are you guys going on honeymoons?”
“We are putting them off until the summer,” Marissa said. “With training, and everything else that’s been going on, we all decided together that when the children go to France this summer to visit Grandpa Luc and Grandma Marthe, we’ll all go too. We’ll leave the kids at the farm and go do our own things for a week before coming back. The kids will be so busy training and helping with the farm, they won’t even notice we’re gone.”
“That sounds great! Will you stay in France, or travel around for the week?”
“We are going to Italy,” Malia said. “Tony has relatives on the Amalfi Coast.”
“We are staying in France, but going to the Riviera,” Marissa said.
“Wow, I am so jealous of both of you!” Suzette said. “What about you, Shari-Beth? Are you going too?”
“Yeah, I’m going to stay at the farm. I think I want to learn more about caring for magical creatures. The farm seems like the perfect place to do that.”
“Oh, it is!” Suzette agreed. “Tante Camille will teach you everything that you could ever want to know, and a whole lot you didn’t. I think you’ll have fun there. And the nearby town is mixed, mostly paranormal but with some human families that have known who we are for centuries and have always worked with us and helped to protect us. The town is not secret anymore, outsiders can visit, but the farm is secret, and so are a lot of the homesteads in the area. The townspeople protect all of it.”
“I’m really excited to see it all. Are there a lot of Shifters there, do you know?”
“I think there are a fair few families. France is mostly Wolves, I think. There are others, of course. I am just not sure what you will find. But Grandma Marthe and Tante Camille will help you find them, if you like.”
“Thank you. I would love that,” Shari-Beth smiled.
31
Luna arrived that evening, as Suzette and her helpers were putting the finishing touches on Suzette’s new home. She admired the hou
se and brought her daughter a housewarming gift. Suzette squealed as she opened the package. There was a wreath to hang on the door containing herbs for protection, peace, harmony and prosperity. There were crystals to put around the house for protection, harmony and love. And there was a check with enough to cover rent and any household comforts and essentials Suzette decided that she wanted for the first three months.
Suzette threw her arms around her mother. Luna hugged her daughter back, crying a bit herself.
“I guess this means that you will stay in America, instead of coming home to France, now that your studies are finished,” Luna said.
“I guess so. For a while, at least.” Suzette sniffled. Marissa handed her a tissue, then offered the box to Luna.
“Well, I know that Mama is expecting us all for dinner,” Malia said. “I’m hungry. Let’s stop and get ice cream on our way home.”
“I don’t want to ruin my appetite for your mother’s excellent cooking,” Luna said.
“Don’t worry, by the time we get home, you’ll be hungry again.”
The Casey house was full again. Family and friends had already started arriving for the double handfasting on Wednesday, the Winter Solstice, the first day of Yule. Besides Luna, Rosalie and Paul, Luc, Marthe, and Camille had come from France. Luna’s son Nicholas was coming on Tuesday from Costa Rica, where he had been teaching at an eco-friendly conference center.
Brendan’s parents, Maggie and Patrick, had come from Ireland, along with his sister Saoirse, her husband Kevin and son Declan. Brendan’s brother, Tom, and his daughter Rebecca had come from Seattle. Granny Niamh was ecstatic to have the house so full of family and had outdone herself in providing accommodations for them all. Patrick was thrilled to see his mother again, as she had died young before he was ready to let her go, and spent hours talking to her.
Devra, Aldona, Dex and Sean would arrive Monday. Ciaran would arrive Tuesday, as would the Thorndikes and Rose. Siofra and Nathaniel were already there, having come in on Saturday as Siofra had some new plants to share with Brendan. They, along with Mikey, had spent the entire weekend in the greenhouse set aside for the Fae plants, getting the new additions situated.
Broken Bonds (Valerian's Cove Book 2) Page 23