Page 105 of Gift from the Source
I pinch the bridge of my nose and cut my eyes to Tillman’s ridiculous snickering. I almost wish he’d leave on a mission, then see how Draken reacts when he gets back.
Purring starts up in the dragon’s chest and that makes me cave instantly. No way will I allow him to sit here and purr at me in front of people.
“Fine. I love you very much. Now stop that,” I bark as everyone laughs.
“I knew it. Whew, that gave me the warm and fuzzies,” he cheers, faking a shiver.
At least I hope he’s faking.
“On me.” Tillman laughs, and I have half a mind to shrug his hand off my shoulder, but my need to see Willow outweighs my annoyance.
The five of us pop out of the transport in front of the double doors to my parents’ gym and my shoulders sag. The tension in my body flees me the second I hear her laughter coming from the other side.
I pull them wide but then freeze as soon as I take a step in. The bright smile I was wearing slowly slips away and turns into a narrowed glare.
Willow and Oakly are in the middle of the gym floor in long, flowy dresses and doing what looks to be practice curtsies. My eyes find my mom, who is also not in workout clothes, but rather a dress. My stomach sinks with the realization of what she meant by switching up training.
“Nope, not doing this,” I declare and attempt to turn around and walk out, but my ankles are trapped in shadows. “Caspian.”
“I don’t think so, big brother. If I have to do this shit, so do you.”
“Oh, come on, you two. This isn’t shit. This is just like old times,” Mom says happily and I cross my arms over my chest.
“You lied to me, and I don’t appreciate that. You know how much I dislike this.”
“A lie by omission, I will admit, but you and Caspian wouldn’t have come, and I wanted to surprise the girls.”
Speaking of the girls, I turn my head to Willow again and find her already looking at me. Her soft gaze and sweet smile force the breath from my lungs. I cross the room to her in just a few strides and pull her in close to me.
“Did you know about this or were you surprised?” I ask as I brush my lips against hers.
“I’m still not one hundred percent sure what’s going on, although I have a good guess. We came in workout gear and Aurora told us to change into dresses. That our training today was Spring Ball training.”
“Spring ball training. Of course that’s what she said. It’s code for we’re going to spend the next hour dancing and practicing our manners.”
“Really?”
The excitement in her tone seals the deal for me. As much as I loathe this with every fiber of my being. We’re about to spend our afternoon…dancing.
“Yes,” I say, attempting to fake my own excitement.
She sees right through me, though, and giggles as Draken spins her out of my arms. My mother claps her hands excitedly and orders my fathers to get the music ready.
After my brothers shower Willow in kisses, I tug her back to my side as my mom calls for our attention.
“You kids have no idea how happy this makes me. We haven’t done this in years,” she says, shooting my brothers and me a soft smile that hushes our grumbling. “It’ll be even better now that I have two daughters, extra sons, and I get to teach Willow fresh.”
“The Primary knows how to dance, Mom,” Cas says, earning an elbow from Willow, and we all whip our heads to her.
“What? You do? How…oh.” Mom’s realization hits me square in the chest.
Uncle Orien.
It makes total sense.
He loved to dance.
Cas, Tillman, and I would sit on the couches in the central foyer while my dads and uncles played music. We’d watch, laugh, and tease like rotten kids about how Uncle Orien would spin my mom and Aunt Tilly around until their legs gave out.
