Page 79 of Myths and Shifts

That was a great start really.

“He seemed open-minded too. Wren needs that and it seems like the guy has someone who can answer his questions now.” Wren probably liked being able to teach his Daddy how to be a Daddy. “That’s good too.”

Nodding slowly, Daddy stood straighter. “Yes. He was clearly curious about the kink stuff and nothing we’ve heard from Wren over the past couple of days says they’re not a good fit. Wren has been a very happy little squirrel.”

That sentence made Daddy smile, and I could feel some of his stress easing.

“See? That’s a great start.” Squirrel acceptance wasn’t always easy. “I have questions about that part, but I can ask them later.”

And I got an even bigger smile from Daddy as he shook his head. “Yeah, that should be the most interesting part of the conversation but it wasn’t.”

The more I got to know Daddy’s family, the more I realized that did not surprise me.

“He even figured out when to gag Wren. That shows he’s open-minded and smart.” And had the ability to handle his mate. “He also hasn’t pissed off the locals yet either. He said he was from…from somewhere else, right?”

Had he said where he was from?

“I should remember that but I’m giving myself an out because I’d just met you.” That had been slightly distracting, so I didn’t feel bad about it. “I remember he was nice, though, and he was curious. Steady even when things were weird.”

“Things were weird, alright.” Daddy started shaking his head. “And yes. I don’t think I gave him enough credit for being steady under pressure.”

“This town is weird and the portal just makes everything more confusing right now.” I liked chaos and crazy, but not everyone was used to it. Just because I had a high insanity tolerance didn’t mean other people weren’t more sensitive.

Daddy barked out a laugh and anotherStar Trekimage flashed through the bond. One of the blue aliens from the early show if I was reading the image right.

Why was he…

Daddy hadn’t…

“Daddy?” As we approached the building where the council met, I slowed us down to nearly a crawl.

“Yes?” Daddy kissed my head but I heard him quietly mumble about not giving the guy enough credit as he straightened.

“Where is Wren’s mate from?” I really should’ve asked that question more clearly and sooner.

Daddy sighed.

“Merritt.” Wren’s bubbly voice had us coming to a halt and had Daddy sighing again. “You have to see my costume. Daddy got it for me. Meet my Daddy. I’m so cute. You missed it but that’s okay. You were busy.”

Dragons above.

“No.” Wren’s Daddy frowned at his happy boy and gave him a perfectly firm Daddy voice. “Even I know we don’t talk about any of that around other humans.”

Humans.

“Have we decided when we qualified as humans?” I ignored the rest of the obvious fun and focused on Pierce. “I remember hearing a discussion about if we’re aliens or not. I know the deputy has decided we’re aliens but I also know not everyone agrees with that.”

I was pretty sure the human locals were debating that too, but I wasn’t going to bring up some of the weird conversations I’d overheard. If the local dragons and mages were happy believing they blended in, I wasn’t going to burst their bubble.

Daddy shrugged. “Some people think it’s still up for debate but we’ve been living here several generations and some of us are even assholes. I think that qualifies us as human. Just human plus.”

“Like an upgrade on your subscription.” Wren was bouncing on his toes and then rocking back down on his heels. “I think that’s a good way to describe it. I’m an upgrade. We have to tell the men at the diner we’ve figured it out.”

That was going to be fun…but I couldn’t decide if I wanted to see the original discussion or watch for the fallout.

“I feel special.” I ignored the way Wren’s Daddy was trying to decide if we were cute crazy or strange crazy, but since he was trying not to smile, I decided it didn’t matter. “I’m human plus.”

I didn’t feel like an alien, so that might’ve been what counted.

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