Page 87 of Magic and Mayhem

“I’m glad. I didn’t want to be too subtle and be confusing.” That wouldn’t help. “And there’s really nothing wrong with bodies.”

But I wasn’t going to get distracted talking about penises.

“But hoards. Yes, once a dragon figures out what makes him or her happy, then they take time to decide how to collect their special treasures. Everyone knows about my toys, so I’ll use that as an example.” I didn’t see the point in hiding it because my hoard was the best.

“Thank you.” Daddy was very patient and just took a sip of his water as he listened.

“I wanted to learn how to fix my toys so I could take care of them, and I slowly learned that while I liked all toys, my dragon side especially likes old ones.” They werewonderful. “So I found different types to collect and I studied about them and I worked to learn how to fix lots of different kinds.”

Nodding slowly, Daddy thought for a moment and cocked his head. “So, a collection in a hoard can be all kinds of different things, right?”

“Yes.” What kinds had I heard about? “Um, I know a guy whose father was a dragon and his mother was a mage and he collects orchids. He’s got a big greenhouse. I know someone whose hoard is tools and she’s got all kinds. It’s amazing but they take up a lot of space. You know about Lorne and his sparkles, but everyone does, so that’s not a surprise.”

“Yeah, the watch problem.” Daddy shook his head. “That would’ve been hard to keep from everyone.”

“But you fixed that even before you knew about dragons. You were very brave.” And probably very confused.

“Thank you, cutie.” Daddy smiled as he reached out and squeezed my hand, gettingawwsfrom people around the room. “I like fixing problems.”

“You’re a wonderful fixer.” I almost got distracted talking about how many people Daddy had helped already, but he kept us on track.

“So some dragons collect hoards that are big…like cars?” The whole room went very quiet, and Daddy was amazing and pretended not to notice.

“Yes, Daddy.” Wait. Hoards. Daddy helper problems. Oh, Daddy was so smart. “The dragon who might collect something like cars would like special ones too. Like ambulances or armored trucks. Right, Mr. Emry?”

I stretched my neck up and looked around the diner. “Oh, he’s leaving.”

That wasn’t very polite.

“I was going to ask him to tell you how he found special cars.” Because I was pretty sure he needed to tattle on himself.

Daddy’s smile was ear to ear when I sat back down. “Thank you for that good information, cutie. I appreciate you helping me to understand how things work.”

“You’re welcome, Daddy.” Wiggling in my seat, I rested my hands on the table to try to sit still. “But I’m a very good boy and would never steal for my hoard. My mother said that would be very naughty, so I don’t want you to think badly of us.”

Lorne hadn’t been able to help himself, so I wasn’t worried about apologizing for him…but Mr. Emry…well, that was a different story.

“Don’t worry about it. I know how many upstanding citizens we have around here.” Daddy was very good at making everyone feel guilty. “They’d never endorse thievery or anything like that.”

“Nope.” I did my best not to laugh, but Daddy was so proud of himself that he was almost giggling. “Never. But don’t forget, I’m very good and didn’t do anything wrong to begin with. So I should get a reward for that.”

Yes, being good without being naughty first was definitely something I should be rewarded for.

****

“Well, that went fairly well, cutie.” Daddy wrapped me in his arms as soon as we walked in the door, making me laugh. “They only stared half the time and we only got asked a few inappropriate questions.”

“It was much better than breakfast the other day.” For some reason, people were much nosier before they’d gotten their coffee.

Daddy laughed and kissed my forehead. “You’re right. It was leaps and bounds better than breakfast.”

“They’re just nosy because they like you, though, Daddy.” Kissing his cheek, I wiggled to get him to hug me tighter. “If they didn’t like you, they’d leave you alone.”

He groaned, resting his forehead against mine. “That’s insane, but sadly it makes perfect sense around here.”

“We’re kind of special.” I shrugged as he snickered. “We do things a bit differently.”

“But that’s not a bad thing.” Daddy shifted and gave me a soft kiss, smiling. “Different means toy hoards and beautiful dragons and flying.”

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