Page 46 of Returning to Everton

“Yes!” she screams.

“Well, that settles it then. Hudson your bakery is about to sell unicorn poop,” I smirk at him.

He just shakes his head at me. “Whatever you say, Sugar.”

I smile at him. “Alright, let’s go! I’ll see you at home Violet, be good for Hudson and Nate please.”

“I will Mommy! Can Logan walk with us?” She looks at Declan with puppy dog eyes, and he can’t say no to her.

“Yes, Logan be good for Uncle Hudson and Uncle Nate please,” Declan instructs.

“I will Dad.”

With that taken care of, we all head to the entrance of the park. The kids head to our house with Hudson and Nate, while I head to Declan’s car. When we get there, he opens the door for me. These guys really are just too sweet. I get in and buckle up as he walks around the car and gets in the driver’s seat. He starts the car, after buckling up and we head home.

“Thanks for coming today Declan. Violet had a blast playing with Logan. It’s good for her to have friends close to her age, and Logan is the nicest little boy. Y’all have done a good job with him,” I compliment him.

“Thanks Rowen, you too. Violet is the sweetest kid I’ve ever met. And I’m a teacher, so I’ve met a lot,” he chuckles.

“Oh, you’re a teacher? Where do you teach?” I ask.

“At Everton Elementary. I can teach any grade level, so they like to bounce me around. I still don’t know what level I’ll be teaching this year, and school starts in a couple weeks!” he complains.

“Wow, you’re that good huh?” I tease.

“Better,” he winks at me.

“Well, maybe you’ll get to be Violet’s teacher. It would be nice for her to already know and trust her teacher, since she has hardly any experience with magic. I’m sure the other kids her age know a lot more magic than she does. I know she learns quickly, but I’ll take any advantage she can get.”

“I bet she’ll be a great student. She’s very enthusiastic when it comes to magic. If she mastered teleporting in one lesson, I’m certain she’ll be a star student.”

We pull up at my house and go inside to wait for the others. We walk into the kitchen and I offer Declan a drink. He accepts and I get him a soda out of the fridge. I walk over to hand it to him and see he’s moved to look out the glass door.

“That’s a nice-looking playhouse you got there.”

“Oh yeah. Nate conjured it for Violet. It’s pretty great actually. A lot bigger than it looks,” I chuckle.

“Oh it’s a magic playhouse is it?”

“Yup. Wanna go see it while we wait for everyone else?” I ask.

“Sure, lead the way,” he says as he opens the door for me yet again. Seems like Declan has a thing for opening doors. Such a gentleman.

We walk over to the playhouse and I open the door. When we step in, I notice it has completely changed. This is no longer the cute little room Violet was playing in earlier. It's an altogether different kind of playhouse now.

There’s a giant bed in one corner, with mirrors on the walls and ceiling. There’s a swing... hanging on the other side of the room. As I keep walking looking at all the new... um toys... I see a bench that has cuffs on it. There are comfortable looking chairs on the far side of the room, away from the swing and the bench, and a small kitchen with a fridge and snacks.

I turn to look at Declan with wide eyes. I can tell my face is on fire. “It wasn’t like this earlier,” I sputter.

Declan is walking around inspecting all of the new furniture and toys. He looks like he knows exactly what to do with this stuff. When I catch his eye, they’ve got a mischievous glint in them. He slowly walks up to me, like a predator stalking its prey. That’s exactly what I feel like right now.

“You know what this house is designed to do, don’t you?” he questions me.

“Um no. I have no idea. Why? What is it designed to do??” I ramble nervously.

“This house is magical Rowen. It’s designed to be exactly what you want it to be,” he informs me.

“Well, it must be broken because I didn’t ask for any of this!” I screech.

---