An Angel All His Own (The Gifted Realm Book 5)

by Jillian Neal

  “Mother, he’s not even two. He is going to get food everywhere, and he doesn’t know any manners yet. He’s just now successfully using this,” Meredith jabbed the plastic spoon towards her mother.

  “En guard,” Dan drawled under his breath. Fionna and Kara began giggling hysterically.

  “Meredith, if you don’t teach them early, they won’t learn.”

  Dan and Kara shared a sympathetic glance with their little sister.

  “Now, I really went all-out this year. I even used the Internet,” Mrs. Vindico announced proudly.

  “Dear God,” Dan grimaced, as Fionna choked back more laughter.

  “Arthur, would you get the tuna loaf?”

  The Governor grimaced and then moved to the refrigerator. He revealed something that looked like it had come from a sub-freshman chemistry lab.

  “Fionna, I didn’t know if you were watching your weight, so I prepared several options,” Mrs. Vindico patted Fionna’s right hand. Unadulterated wrath exploded in Dan’s shield. Fionna looked stunned, and Kara scoffed.

  “Mom, why on earth would Fionna be watching her weight? Most women would give their right arm to look like that,” she gestured to Fionna only furthering her deep embarrassment.

  “I think she’s put on a little since she and Dan started dating. I read an article in Women of the Realm that said that, if you want to have children soon, you should maintain your weight in the months before you conceive, so that your uterus will be ripe when the seed is planted.”

  Rage ignited in him. Dan’s mouth dropped open in abhorrent shock as Fionna glowed crimson. “Mother! Fionna can eat whatever the hell she wants to. She’s perfect. Look at her! And we are not having children any time in the next several years, so would you please pick a new topic!” His shouting echoed off of the glass china cabinet.

  Zach and Tim both offered Dan sympathetic gazes as they joined in his fury. Mrs. Vindico ignored Dan’s diatribe. In true Marion Vindico fashion, she simply went on with the explanation of her dishes.

  Fionna was thoroughly shaken and seemed to be walking a thin line between breaking down in tears and asking Dan to take her home. He was about to offer to do just that when Governor Vindico appeared, carrying a platter containing a semblance of a turkey that looked like it had been in the oven for approximately three days.

  “Now, I did something a little different this year,” his mother clapped her hands together to applaud her own efforts. “I decided to stuff the turkey, so I made a liver and sausage stuffing that your father and I used to like when we first married. I just crammed it full.”

  Fionna looked horrified, and Dan fought not to gag.

  Kara rolled her eyes dramatically. “Mother, I cannot eat liver. I’m pregnant.”

  “It’s Christmas, Kara, you’ll be fine. If you don’t want that, then eat the tuna loaf.”

  “I can’t have tuna either. I am pregnant!” Kara shrieked.

  “Kara Ann, stop being overly-dramatic right this moment!” Mrs. Vindico scolded Kara as if she were Olivia’s age.

  “I also made a Kris Kringle salad.” She gestured to the small salad plates at everyone’s places. Dan glanced down at his plate with an angry scowl. There were two slices of apple and one slice of a brown avocado, covered in a bright red liquid.

  “You just melt those red cinnamon candies in water and pour them over it. Doesn’t it look festive?” Mrs. Vindico beamed at her creation as all of her children shuddered. “We still had a bag of those candies from when you kids were little. I finally got to use them up.”

  Dan and Kara shared a horrified expression.

  “And these are mint-glazed carrots and peas.” She pulled the lid off of a Pyrex dish and proudly exhibited the odd combination for everyone.

  “And here’s the Jell-O salad that’s Daniel’s favorite. I made it with sugar-free Jell-O this year. That should save some calories. And I used grapes instead of the can of fruit; less sugar.”

  Dan felt his stomach roll, as the green salad, with greenish white grapes suspended throughout it jiggled ominously. The fat grapes gave the impression of eyes that stared up at them.

  “Let’s start passing, and then we’ll just make Lindley a plate,” Mrs. Vindico ordered.

  “Bet Lindley wouldn’t mind if we didn’t,” Meredith sneered to Dan, who nodded his morose agreement.

  “Dan, I don’t really like liver. I don’t eat organ meats,” Fionna whispered. She sounded terrified that she was going to offend someone.

  “Don’t eat it, baby. I will find you something if I have to drive to Maine tonight.” He kept a cold glare leveled at his mother for her earlier comments about Fionna’s weight. He happened to deeply appreciate her curves that had broadened just a little in the last few weeks.

  “I’m really sorry you can’t drink, Care,” Zach leaned and whispered in Kara’s ear. He angled his head so that Dan and Fionna could hear him as well. They all chuckled as Kara nodded her agreement.

  “Turkey, Fionna?” Governor Vindico cut a slice of the very odd-looking poultry concoction.

  “Yes, sir,” Fionna managed to choke out.

  “Hey, sweet car, man,” Zach complimented Dan.

  Dan nodded. “You and Kara can take it for a spin if you want.”

  “Thanks,” Zach looked shocked.

  The bowls and platters went around the table. Everyone seemed to draw steady, bracing breaths before they allowed any of the creations to come in contact with their forks.

  Kara’s plate contained the carrots and peas, some Jell-O salad, and nothing else. “I am starving,” she fussed quietly to Fionna.

  “I’m so sorry. I’m sure you are,” Fionna looked devastated as she glanced around as if something that would be safe for Kara to eat might appear out of the thin air.

  Dan checked the other end of the table. His parents were engaged in a somewhat heated discussion as to Lindley’s whereabouts.

  They had to at least make it appear that they’d eaten something, so Dan slid his fork through the carrot and pea mixture. He brought it to his lips with a slight shudder. Trying to hide his grimace, he felt the heavily over-cooked peas mush in his mouth. The carrots were effectively raw. They were so severely undercooked they had to be chewed numerous times.

  Kara had decided to try the same dish, and stared at Zach in horror as she forced her mouth to keep moving. Kara was an Occamy Predilect and an excellent cook, though her mother tended to downplay her abilities.

  “I don’t like it,” Olivia fussed to Tim. She looked confused by what her grandmother had put on her plate.

  “Smart girl,” Dan quipped under his breath.

  “Olivia, we need to try everything on our plate, okay?” Meredith tried to guide her. Everyone at the table was well aware it pained Meredith to say the words.

  Looking thoroughly put out, Olivia lifted her carrots from her plate with her fingers and chomped down on one dejectedly. “May I have Ranch dressing please?” she turned her pleading green eyes on her Aunt Kara.

  Before anyone could object, Kara leapt. “Of course, sweetheart.” She bound into the kitchen and returned with the dressing. She poured several helpings onto Olivia’s plate.

  “Kara, the carrots go with the peas and they have a mint sauce,” Mrs. Vindico corrected her.

  “I was aware,” Kara left the dressing within Olivia’s grasp.

  Dan watched Fionna delicately cut the turkey away from the liver stuffing and then place a hesitant bite in her mouth. Dan did the same. He tried to taste what Fionna was tasting. He wanted to know if she was going to lie and tell him it was good.

  Truthfully, it was without any flavor at all. It did require a great deal of jaw strength to work through the dry meat, however.

  Mrs. Vindico was not impressed with the lackluster response to her preparations.

  “Fionna, did you get a chance to go through any of the catalogs I left for you?”

  Dan reached for her hand. She’d been there when he’d needed her the mos
t, and he would do the same. Concentrating, and trying not to let anyone else at the table know what he was doing, he began supplying her with his fierce strength, his love, and his protection.

  She began to draw from him in heavy doses. He fought not to drop his fork and revel in the heady sensation. A hungry groan filled his lungs, but he kept it at bay.

  He watched the tense edges around her beautiful face soften. With an extended blink, a timid smile played on her lips. She continued her draws of his energy, in the offered, steady supply.

  With a sigh, she turned back to Dan’s mother. “I’ve flipped through a few of them. I was a little busy this week.” She splayed her hand wider in Dan’s to be able to pull more from him.

  “I read in the paper that the Angels had this week off,” Mrs. Vindico pressed as if she’d caught Fionna in a lie.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Fionna agreed, “but I worked at my dad’s bakery this week because the week before Christmas is so busy. Then, Emily and I took anything that didn’t sell to the homeless shelters. Yesterday, I baked Christmas cookies and took them to the children’s home that the Angels volunteer at in D.C. The whole team spent the afternoon with the kids.”

  Everyone at the table was visibly impressed. Fionna shook her head. She wanted no praise for her volunteer work. With care to remove the later part of their evening from her memories, she smiled. “Dan came by after work yesterday. We read to the kids.”

  “Yeah, Mom; somehow curtains just didn’t seem to be more important than homeless kids at Christmas,” Dan sneered.

  “I wish you’d called me. I would have loved to help.” Kara looked deeply impressed.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. We work up there all year, so I can call you next time we go.”

  Kara smiled and nodded. She looked excited by the prospect.

  “That really is a lovely thing to do, Fionna,” Mrs. Vindico was sincere in her compliment.

  “The Angels do almost as much volunteer work as the entire Auxiliary department of the Senate,” The Governor smiled at Fionna, who was still running a steady shade of crimson.

  “You’re playing in that big exhibition in Vegas, aren’t you?” Zach commented as he ate his Jell-O. He didn’t look nearly as offended by the dish as Dan felt.

  Fionna smiled. Talking about Summation was a topic she was extremely comfortable with. “Yeah, we leave early Saturday morning. Teams come from all over the Realm. We’re all excited to try to bring the cup back to Arlington again.”

  “Stephen told me that Garrett and Rainer are flying out for the exhibition, as well,” Governor Vindico tried to keep the Summation conversation going. “He’s hoping the press will leave Rainer and Emily alone while they’re there.”

  “Yeah, poor Emily; they’ve been all over her about the wedding,” Fionna wrinkled her nose.

  Governor Vindico nodded. “That poor kid; Joseph would turn over in his grave if he knew the hell that the press puts Rainer through now.”

  Fionna and Dan both nodded their agreement. “Emily really wanted to get married on the beach, but Rainer told her there really wasn’t a good way to secure the oceanfront, so they couldn’t.”

  Dan was impressed that Rainer had realized that, and had convinced his bride of the fact in some way that hadn’t upset her.

  “I’m certain that Stephen and Lillian will put on quite the show for the Crown’s baby girl,” Mrs. Vindico tried unsuccessfully to hide her jealousy. The wedding of the decade would have nothing to do with her.

  “Fi’s going to be one of Emily’s bridesmaids,” Dan announced while trying to hide the Jell-O and tuna under his turkey.

  “Really?” Kara and Meredith’s eyes lit excitedly. Fionna seemed more comfortable with the attention now. “They’ve kept everything so hush-hush. I know the papers must be begging for any information they can get.” It seemed Kara was looking for a little information herself.

  Fionna chuckled. “Yeah, and Emily has such great taste. It’s really going to be beautiful.” She gave nothing away.

  “I hope we get invited,” Kara was nearly bouncing in her seat.

  “Of course you’ll be invited. Your father is one of the Governors,” Mrs. Vindico huffed knowingly.

  “So, what? I don’t really know Emily or Rainer.”

  Mrs. Vindico scoffed as if the fact that Kara knew neither the bride nor the groom would keep her from the wedding.

  “Can you tell us what colors she’s using?” Meredith begged.

  “I’m sorry. Emily swore me to secrecy,” Fionna looked concerned that she was hurting Meredith’s feelings, but Dan was impressed with her dedication to her friend.

  “Is your father making the cakes, dear?” Mrs. Vindico asked pointedly.

  “Mom, she just said she couldn’t talk about it,” Dan deflected. He knew that Mr. Styler was, indeed, making the cakes and that Fionna would have a difficult time working her way out of that particular question without lying outright.

  “Well, speaking of cakes, I decided to try a recipe out of Women of the Realm,” Mrs. Vindico used her segue quite liberally.

  Dessert meant that they were one step closer to leaving, so Dan welcomed the advance. “Great, let’s have it.”

  Fionna giggled. She realized why Dan was anxious for dessert and why his mother had asked about the wedding cakes.

  Mrs. Vindico moved through the kitchen to the laundry room. Everyone braced for what she might be carrying. She emerged with a three-tier cake that was leaning precariously to the side.

  “This way everyone can have whatever kind they like,” Mrs. Vindico announced proudly. “The bottom is a pumpkin cheesecake. The middle is a chocolate cake with banana frosting, and the top is a red velvet cake with chocolate frosting,” Mrs. Vindico looked quite pleased with her extremely odd-looking creation.

  The cheesecake being on the bottom would explain the leaning. The center layer was decorated with sliced bananas, that were quickly turning brown, and the top layer had small candy canes pressed into the sides.

  “It looks like it was attacked by some kind of deranged clown,” Zach gasped under his breath. Dan and Kara cracked up.

  “The magazine said to use artificial sweetener, so every layer is sugar-free, and I used egg substitutes to lower the cholesterol. And I got this lovely silver platter from the magazine for ordering more subscriptions.”

  “Oh no,” Fionna mouthed. She was unable to hamper the words flowing from her lips. Dan smiled at her, certain he could never love anyone more. His mother set the cake on the sideboard and pulled out the engraved silver cake server from her and the Governor’s wedding.

  “Fionna, which kind would you like? I’ll just cut you a little piece.” She patted her own abdomen as if to indicate why Fionna would only be allowed a small portion. It was not the first time in his life that Dan’s mind had invented images of him choking his mother.

  “I’m really full from dinner,” she gestured to her plate, which was still brimming with food. “I’ll just have a little of the cheesecake.”

  Mrs. Vindico went around the table, taking requests.

  Dan commanded himself to use his fork and to cut into a small piece of the cheesecake. He brought it to his lips and shuddered. It tasted like artificial, pumpkin-flavored cough syrup.

  “It’s really hard to cook with artificial sweetener,” Fionna whispered in explanation, “and cake doesn’t require many eggs but you need the yolks to bind them.”

  “Oh,” Fionna smiled, “I almost forgot. I brought a tin of the cookies that I made yesterday.”

  “I’ll get them,” Dan stood quickly and moved to the living room. He returned with the cookies just as Oliver’s tongue gave protest from his mouth. He pursed his little lips and shook his head. “No cake! Yuck!”

  Meredith and Tim tried hard not to laugh.

  “Here, buddy,” Dan popped open the tin of cookies and supplied Oliver with a snickerdoodle. He beamed up at Dan as he attempted to inhale the cookie and thank his uncle simult
aneously.

  Dan scrubbed the top of his head, which made him laugh. Cookie crumbs spewed from his mouth. Mrs. Vindico rushed for a wet washcloth.

  “May I have one, too, Uncle Dan?” Olivia begged.

  “Sure, sweetheart,” Dan leaned down and offered the tin to Olivia for her to choose. She picked up a delicate snowflake cookie that was covered in powdered sugar.

  When Mrs. Vindico returned with the rag, she looked highly irritated. Dan ignored her as he passed the tin around.

  A fierce knock sounded on the front door. “Oh, there’s Lindley.” As if there was a spring in her chair, Mrs. Vindico leapt back up.

  “Mom, when’s the last time Lindley knocked?” Dan pointed out as he moved to the door ahead of his mother. He pulled the sheers away from the windows surrounding the door.

  “What the hell now?” He flung the door open and glared hatefully at Lindley, and what Dan assumed was her new boyfriend. They were both in cuffs, standing between three Iodex officers who were on call that evening.

  “Picked them up downtown, sir,” Officer Sanders informed Dan.

  “Yeah, what’d she do now?”

  Lindley scowled, but her companion seemed to be too high to recognize the verbalization of words. Either that, or any intelligence had leaked out of the many holes he’d placed in his face and earlobes.

  “That patrol we were working out on Third; seems they were looking for a little fun before Christmas, I guess. She didn’t have enough on her for anything more than a misdemeanor, sir, but he had quite a bit,” Sanders informed Dan.

  “Pot?” Dan asked morosely.

  “No, sir, Angel Dust, and I think she downed something when she saw us coming though.”

  Dan shook his head in disgust. “Take her to Felsink. Lock them up. I’ll look over the case next week. Time she realized there are consequences to her actions.”

  “Daniel, no!” Mrs. Vindico was outraged as she and the Governor joined Dan at the door. Lindley smirked, getting her way yet again.

  Infuriated, Dan spun to his father. “You want it swept under the rug? You sign her out. I’m not doing it anymore!” Dan stomped back to the table, spurned by the injustice of it all.