sports?”
“Maybe I should have Jerome start a new betting pool.”
“He’d give you lousy odds. Sit down and shut up, Big Brother. Join me in a little stargazing.”
Griffen did as he was told, pulling up a lawn chair and setting it next to Valerie’s. He stared upward, watching a light cloud drift over a sliver of moon. It seemed to glow and sparkle as it obscured and revealed stars in its passing.
“So what does it look like to you?” Griffen said, looking for a shape in the cloud.
“Perfect timing,” Valerie said.
It was such an odd comment that Griffen looked over at her. She knew that she was worrying him but couldn’t help it. Even in the darkness, he could see the twin trails of tears that had begun to streak her face.
“Val!” Griffen sat up straight. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… everything. No, nothing. I’ve just made a decision I should have made a while ago.”
“And that would be?”
“To tell you something. Relax, Griffen. Lean back, look at the stars, or at least not at me.”
Again, Griffen did as he was told, though this time it was obviously a lot harder. She watched the tension in him as he leaned back and looked upward. The night went silent, but for the soft sounds of Valerie crying. It wasn’t sobs, it wasn’t sniffles, just the gentle flow of emotion too long pent up. Griffen watched the cloud and waited.
“I’m sorry I held this back… You’ve just been so busy. So many things going on. Romance, the conclave, so much pressure, so much responsibility. I wanted to be strong for you, Big Brother.”
“You are one of the strongest people I know, Valerie. Even though I’m still ticked that you could hide something like Lizzy from me, the reasons you did it for… Well, stupid as it was, strong and brave and self- sacrificing doesn’t cover it. I’ve always admired that. Hell, I’ve always envied it, a little.”
“That’s because you’re a dope.”
“Well, of course.”
Griffen’s eyes flickered to his sister. She smiled a bit, so he did, too, then looked back up.
“I’m pregnant.”
Griffen opened his mouth and closed it, as if he couldn’t find the words. When he finally managed to find his voice, it was strained. Valerie couldn’t sort through whatever mixed emotions filled that voice and doubted he could either.
“So that’s what Lizzy meant. How long?”
“I’ve known for over a month, but… It was Nathaniel. No one else possible.”
Valerie watched him out of the corner of her eye, and to his credit he kept his eyes firmly on the clouds above. Again, his mouth and throat worked, as if he were tasting words before letting them out. Still looking up, he reached out, and managed to find her hand in the darkness.
She tightened her grip around his and silently hoped he didn’t say the one thing she couldn’t stand to hear just then.
It was a long pause before he spoke.
“I want one thing perfectly clear,” he said, “it is Uncle Griffen. Uncle Grifter sounds too much like a bad forties cartoon character.”
Val laughed and dropped his hand. She reached out and affectionately smacked Griffen on the back of the head. Griffen somehow managed not to get knocked out of the chair.
“I can’t believe you just said that,” she said.
“Yeah, I’m pretty unbelievable.”
Griffen took her hand again and looked over to her face.
“You know that it’ll be all right. I’ll be here for you. God, Val, I should have been here for you from the beginning, and you should have known that. Lizzy I can understand, kind of. But this…”
“I did know that, but you had to be here for a lot of other people, too. And I had to be here for you.”
“Family comes first, Valerie… Or at least, you come first.”
“And what about this?” She touched her hand lightly to her stomach. “Does this family come first?”
This time, he didn’t pause for a moment.
“Yeah. If you have decided to keep it, then I’m Uncle Griffen. And if I kill his father, we won’t tell him till his sixteenth birthday.”
“I get dibs.”
“We’ll talk.”
The two shared a glance, and Griffen gave back Valerie’s hand. Then he reached out and smacked her on the back of the head.
“Hey! What was that for?” Valerie said.
She smacked him back, on the shoulder. She didn’t want to give him a concussion.
“For the ‘this is my fight’ routine when you are pregnant? Getting bashed around a ballroom is not motherly behavior,” Griffen said.
“Like I had much choice?”
“Not knocking me out of the way and keeping me from the fight sounds like a pretty valid choice to me,” he said.
Valerie sighed.
“Yeah, well, maybe next time,” she said.
“Next time?!”
Valerie smiled at his shocked tone. She shrugged.
“Truth be told, I expected her to go for the stomach a lot more. Guess she really was conflicted over the whole mess.”
“You expected it, and still jumped into the deep end without looking. You got lucky, sis, real lucky.”
“Me and you both, brother. Luck seems to be keeping us afloat these days. Almost as much as skill. Must be in the blood.”
“Dragons’ luck? Would explain a few things,” Griffen said.
The two lapsed into silence again. Valerie looked over at her brother, and saw the deep frown. He shook his head, a little too hard, and she watched him force the expression away. Though he couldn’t completely hide the look of concern in his eyes.
“I just can’t let it go. Why, Valerie? Why keep this much from me?”
“I thought I had to. Mai pointed out how much trouble you were in right then.”
“You told Mai instead of me?” Griffen didn’t try to hide his surprise.
“No, she figured it out and came to me. I would have probably told you if we hadn’t talked. But she made a lot of sense.”
“Did she now…?”
Griffen looked back up at the clouds, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. His sister knew him well enough to know that he was suddenly very angry with Mai. The two stared up at the sky together. Val broke the silence first.
“A puppy dog with one club foot.”
“What?” Griffen blinked, not sure where that came from.
“The cloud, stupid. It’s a puppy with a club foot. Pay attention,” Val said, grinning.
“You pay attention, it’s clearly a duck with a hat.”
“What kind of hat?”
“Cowboy hat.”
“You’re crazy, Big Brother. I think you are suffering from lack of alcohol.”
“Yeah, probably. How about we go out together?”
“Why not, it’s early. For this town.”
“Yeah. It’ll be nice not to have to worry about what supernatural nut I’ll run into at my favorite watering hole,” Griffen said.
The two stood, and Valerie grabbed Griffen and hugged him as tight as she could. He didn’t comment as his back popped, just hugged her back fiercely. She let him go finally, smiling hugely, and turned toward the
