Elandren gave a look of surprise. Signy, who had been surreptitiously watching the others for signs of displeasure directed their way, turned quizzical until, with a glance at Elandren, understanding dawned. There was a twinkle in her eye, but also a hint of trepidation. "She's a Druid," Signy said. "Magic just happens around her sometimes." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but held a touch of excitement and eagerness. "Oh, and the food is absolutely delicious, ma'am," she added enthusiastically.
Halle hadn't been watching the girls very closely. Instead, her eyes kept wandering back to Eric-now-Eva, striving to fully drink in the reality of her "new" daughter. It was still a little disorienting to see familiar and beloved mannerisms of her teenage son being exhibited by a mature, beautiful woman. Some of them had grown and changed: things she had once mistook for adolescent awkwardness in a boy, now flowed with confident, feminine elegance come into full flower.
Eva's family was a fractal affront to the conservative values Halle had been raised with, which she'd tried to uproot over the years. But like weeds, that was easier said than done. Every now and then, she had to remind some subconscious bit of attitude implanted by her parents that it wasn't in charge anymore. Love and warmth flowed here as palpable as a crystal blue Caribbean sea, salting those old roots and demanding that they wither and die for good. Little affections between Eva and Kennedy evinced a close, comfortable relationship. The three teenagers clearly felt safe and loved, free to be themselves without fear. And weren't those the things that "traditional family values" were really supposed to be all about?
When she did turn her attention to the young girls and saw Eva and her family through their eyes, it all became even more clear. They were like a pair of Dickensian urchins peering through a frosted window at a sumptuous Christmas family feast--except that they were inside, not quite able to believe that they, too, were welcome. They weren't just seeing family as it was meant to be; they were immersed in a miracle.
"How is it?" Eva asked.
"It couldn't be better. It really couldn't," Halle said. "I am so...so happy for you." She felt a moment's pity for Derick. He could never share the joy she was feeling, never be a part of this family or his daughter's life, thanks to a prison of rules made up by people who died thousands of years before he was born. He might see himself as the warden of that prison, with Eva and Halle as fugitives from his justice, but in truth he was the prisoner, locked in a solitary confinement of his own making.
Ronan's query, and the direction of his gaze brought her attention back to the girls. A magic trick? she wondered. She could tell there was some kind of shared understanding between the girls that carried an air of whimsy or perhaps mischief. Whatever it was, the game seemed harmless enough.
Suddenly, the front door burst open, and heavy booted footsteps came their way at a run. A tall, fearsome-looking young man swept in from the foyer. He wore a black shirt emblazoned with a red circled 'A' and a pleated kilt of spike-studded leather under a black leather duster bedecked with an abundance of straps and chains, finished off with a pair of black combat boots. His face, which could have been quite menacing, was filled with alarm rather than malice. "Omigoddess you guys!" Switch said. "You're gonna be on--"
In addition to the people who were used to his style of grand entrance were three others watching him with wide, frightened eyes. A spoon flung from one of the girls as she spun to face him (strange, since it hadn't been in her hand) and skittered across the floor. It might as well have been a knife stabbing him in the heart, because the girls weren't just startled by his appearance, they were terrified. "Whoa, sorry," he said, holding his hands up in surrender.
"I'm Switch in this mode--they might have mentioned me to you as Cherie? I'd never hurt any of you, I swear!" Oi, bang-up job of meeting the girls, Cher! The third new face belonged to a middle-aged woman he'd never seen before. Her expression went from startled to intense, almost fierce in an instant, an arm instinctively reaching for Eva as she tensed for action. Like a mama bear ready to fight for her cub. But Eva's mother was dead...wasn't she? "Sorry. I'm a friend, crazy as that sounds." Then he turned to Eva and Kennedy, worry suffusing his features. "You're gonna be on Hannity!"
Realizing he surely wasn't making any sense, Switch struggled to calm himself. "I was watching the Crotch Couch--sorry, Fox and Friends--you know, yell at the TV, blow off steam--filthy habit, I know," he explained for Halle and the girls' benefit, "--and there was this promo for Hannity's show. Laura Ingraham is gonna be on, to talk about you...and the girls...about you adopting them."
