Page 30 of Color Chameleon
“Then he covered me up!”Charma almost sounded affronted, and Darcy laughed again.
“I was trying to be circumspect.”
“His clothes were way too big for me, but at least the T-shirt was rainbow.All that was missing were some sparkles.”
“You provided those,” Darcy said quietly, and Charma met his gaze and smiled.
“Oh, you are both too cute.”Belia waved her slice of bacon around, encompassing both of them, and then took a bite.“It was clearly kismet.”
Darcy was happy to nod to that.He thought it was interesting, though, that Belia believed in kismet and had called her son Charma, even if she had given it a cutesy spelling.
He stole another piece of bacon and pondered having a second biscuit, they were so good.But just the bacon was filling him up, so he figured if they were going to be walking around at this festival, he’d be better off not overfilling his stomach.
“Breakfast was amazing, thank you so much, Mom.”He tried the word out, liking how it felt.He really did feel like he was part of a family here, and he hadn’t had that in a very long time.
Belia beamed at him.“I’m so glad you liked it.Are you sure you don’t want another biscuit.”
“No, I’m not sure, but if I have another one, my stomach might explode.They are the best I’ve ever had, though.”
“Such a sweet boy,” she told Charma, who laughed.
“I know, Mom.”
“Good.Now, I’ll pack you up some biscuits to take home with you.So make sure you stop by the house before you leave, okay?”
“Okay.”He wasn’t going to say no to that.In fact, they might have to pick up some butter for them because they deserved butter and all they had at home was margarine.
“Well, if everyone has had enough, I’ll just clean up and then we should go.”
“Really?”Darcy asked, surprised that that was it.
Belia tilted her head.“Yes… what am I missing?”
Darcy’s cheeks heated.“Oh.I.Uh.Well…” He was not going to throw Charma under the bus.“I was expecting to be grilled and I didn’t get grilled.”
She laughed, and the sound was close to her son’s bright notes.Charma’s laugh was better though.
“And I was totally expecting to give you one.But I can see from the way you look at each other that you’re totally smitten with each other.And the fact that you saved Charma’s life without even knowing he was actually a shifter, well that speaks volumes about your character.Besides, I’m sure everyone else will make up for it.”
Charma groaned.
“That’s right, son, they’re going to have plenty of questions for you, too.After all, you left the compound.”She gave them both a sharp look.“Are you planning to stay gone or come back here to live?”
“Uh.”This time, Darcy didn’t actually have an answer.It wasn’t something they’d discussed.
“I didn’t even know that was a possibility,” Charma told her.
“Of course it is!There will always be a place for you here.”
“Good to know.But it’s not something we’d ever talked about so that will have to happen before we even consider it.”
He nodded to Charma, glad they were on the same page there.Moving had never even occurred to him.They were both going to be doing better now that they were sharing rent and expenses, but that didn’t mean they had the available funds to move.And he would bet the homes in this community were not cheap, family or not.
“Well, it’s always an option.Now who’s helping me clean up?”
Darcy stood immediately and started gathering their plates.“Always happy to help.”
She grinned and patted his arm.“See, a good man.”
