Page 57 of Her Dragon Daddy Disaster
Jakub settled down and once again focused.
“Find that funny feeling,” I urged. “Grab it with your mind. Make it do what you want. Tell it you want fire in your hand.”
“I want fire in my hand,” he said quietly to himself, over and over.
“Wow!” Jakub yelped as fire exploded out from his hand like a firework.
I reached out with my mind to the flames, grabbing them and bringing them under control before they could hit me or him.
“Good!” I said. “Good job!”
From off to the side, Sarah clapped excitedly. “Jakie! Good job, baby! Good job! Mommy is so proud of you! You did it!”
“I did it, Mom!” he called back. “I did it! Fire! I fired!”
“Yes, you did! You did it so well!” she called back.
“Did you see, Mom? The fire wasn’t there. Then I said it, and then it was in my hand! I did it!”
“I saw, baby! I saw. Way to go. Can you do it again?”
Jake put on his fiercest frown and settled in to try again.
That time, flames bubbled over like an overflowing pot. I smiled as they dribbled onto the roof between us, hissing and sizzling as they faded into nothing.
“Good job,” I said, putting my hand out for a high five. “You’ll be an expert at it in no time. Soon, you’ll be able to do this.”
I clapped my hands together, and as I pulled them apart, fire dripped from between them like glue. It fell, swirling around itself until it hit the ground, moving faster and faster until a flame-tornado spun off across the roof and into nothingness.
“My turn!” Jakub cried.
Gesturing for him to give it a try, I leaned in to give him some more pointers on creating fire and what could be done with it after that. We worked for nearly twenty minutes before Jakub declared he was tired and got up to go do something else.
Following him over to Sarah, I smiled at her, trying not to be tight. Judging by her look, I failed.
“Go on inside, I’ll be there in a minute to help you with some food,” Sarah said, giving Jakub a little push to get moving.
She didn’t follow, instead staying put and blocking me from going down the stairs.
“Can I go inside?” I asked, pointing past her.
“No.”
I arched an eyebrow. We both knew I could just move her if I wanted. But she had a reason, so I gestured for her to get it out.
“Last night was rude of me. I’m sorry,” she said. “I won’t lie to either of us and pretend it was something it wasn’t. It was exactly what it was.”
“Okay. This isn’t the best apology ever, but …”
“You have to understand it from my side, Levi. For most of the last year, dragons have been the enemy. The bogeyman in the dark. We’ve come to fear your people and for good reason, I think.”
I licked my lips, not sure what to say to that.
“I didn’t think I felt that strongly about it,” she said softly. “But apparently, I did. And I’m going to work on that. Because I knowyoubetter than that. Logically. But emotions power many of our responses in moments of high tension. I don’t want to tell you it will never happen again because it might. I am going toworkto try not to. I hope it won’t. But these things take time to undo. I can’t just snap my fingers.”
“Okay.” I stroked my jaw. “Thank you for your apology and honesty, Sarah. I appreciate it. It’s refreshing to hear things laid out as they are, no pretending.”
She nodded. “You deserve that much.”
