Page 42 of The Monster at the End of This Molt

"It's fantastic. Now get your kids home so they can sleep!"

He laughed. "Will do, Doc."

Ugh. I hated when my parents' friends, or anyone really, called me Doc. It was better than shrink, but not by much.

The night progressed, and more friends and family said their farewells. Ernie made some excuse about making up the couch for Lemon. I pulled my new friend aside on his way out the door. "No one will care if you share his bed tonight."

"What about your parents?" he asked.

"We're all adults. If anything, they'll be thrilled."

Lemon grinned. "Is the couch really that uncomfortable, or were you joking?"

"It's bad, I promise."

His cheeks flushed pink, and I swore his stripes looked a little darker than they had before. "Thanks for the advice."

"That's what friends are for!"

"Friends." His smile showed most of his teeth. "You're my first."

"Get ready. You'll have tons of friends here. Ernie is friends with everyone."

It was true. Ernie could get along with anyone who wasn't too offended by his sex jokes, and kobolds tolerated them better than the humans I'd met.

Finally, it was only the two of us and my parents.

"Did you see Clementine leave?" Dad asked Papa.

"Shit, no. Do you think …" Papa whipped out his phone.

"We need to go," Dad shrugged apologetically. "Sorry to drop this on you and run, but I was hoping you'd come back to my classroom."

Weld blinked. "Me?"

"I would never make it as a teacher," I teased. "Too many kids talking at once makes me queasy."

"Me?" Weld repeated.

"We made a great team," Dad said. "I still get visits from those kids. They’re so grateful for our skits and can’t stop talking about how much we improved their anger management skills."

I had a few letters from those same students in the folder Weld still had to read through.

"I … yeah. I'll stop by tomorrow to see where you are."

Weld tried to stick out his hand for a shake, but Dad hugged him instead. "You're part of the family now, Dumbass."

Weld laughed at Dad's old nickname for him. "Fine … " Weld looked pained. "Nope. I'm fucked no matter what I call you." He shook his head. "Fine, Lark, you win."

We followed him onto the porch. Papa was halfway across the yard, still texting furiously on his phone. In a flash, they both vanished, and a light flipped on inside their house. No one screamed, so I took that as a good sign.

"We should get to bed." Weld tucked me under his arm. "We both have big days back at work tomorrow."

* * *

It wasn't as hard as I expected to fit into my old routine. Yes, my life had completely changed in the last two weeks. My office, comfy chair, and tablet spelled with note-taking dictation grounded me firmly in my new normal. I scheduled my meetings during the school day while Weld was in class, and afterward, we walked home together.

Most of my repeat clients were the first generation after the re-emergence, like me. Yes, it was weird to have clients close to my own age or a little younger, but our parents still said things like, "That's not how I was raised," and "Earth kids would teach you a thing or two."

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