Page 7 of Magic and Mayhem

That was the hardest part about being a good grown-up.

I could put bills on autopay but there was noautofoodto help me remember to eat real meals with vegetables.

“I have cereal. That’s real food. It has vitamins.” Not quite enough fiber unless I bought the yucky kind but that was the only downside. “It works for any meal.”

Daddy pinched his lips together like he was trying not to laugh, but after a moment, he shook his head. “Is your tummy hungry?”

That was a good question.

Scrunching up my eyes, I tuned out the work that was waiting for me and how Daddy sounded and how warm he was and listened to me instead of everything else.

There was a lot of everything else…and a lot of tummy rumbling.

“Yes.” Well, that was good to know. “I think I had some chocolate kisses earlier?”

So it hadn’t been too long since I’d eaten.

“I think that means you need some real food.” Daddy was looking at me like I’d been silly when I opened my eyes. “Would you like a snack or an early dinner?”

“It’s afternoon already?” That was unexpected. “Oh, I think I knew that. A snack, please.”

Probably shouldn’t tell Daddy how distracted I got working. He’d worry…and telling him I had no idea how close it was to dinner probably wasn’t a good idea either.

“Yes, of course you did.” He was still trying not to smile as he looked toward the door and kind of frowned. “Let’s…let’s go inside and get you a snack and make sure you have a plan for dinner later.”

How much later was that?

Phone.

I knew I had my phone because I didn’t lose it like Lorne did. No, I was a good grown-up and paid attention to things.

In my pocket?

Wiggling my hips back and forth, I realized I could feel it in my back pocket.

“That’s a very good plan.” I was good and didn’t call him Daddy yet. “Thank you.”

Manners.

“Good boy.” Daddy squeezed my hand and started leading us out of the shop and toward the back of the house. “What’s your favorite snack?”

Oh, probably shouldn’t say kisses.

Either kind.

“Cheese?” Was that a better option than chocolate?

For some reason it made Daddy smile. “Let’s go see what you’ve got and you tell me if you have something you don’t want to eat.”

I liked that plan much better.

“Yes.” Could I say Sir?

When was it appropriate to call him Daddy?

I was planning on keeping him, so I thought now was fine, but what would he think?

Humans might not like to be kept in a hoard…well, the humans I knew would like to be kept but they were different. They knew about dragons and knew how special hoards were. But Daddy was smart. Everyone said so. He’d understand.

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