Mom was examining the books in the workroom with her back to turned me again. I was sitting at the table trying and failing to not worry.

"Mother really had this place filled all the boring books. No wonder you have so much time to worry," she complained. "If I had known you would stuck with these I would have gotten you something fun." She held up a book I hadn't read. It looked like a book about plants and medicine.

"I wish I had more books on curses," I told her. If she was going to look into getting me more things to read, it might as well be useful.

She hummed and then turned to me, "Curse magic is hard to get information on. Pretty strictly regulated."

"Is that why I can't find anything here?"

"Part of it, I'm sure. And how dangerous curses can be. If a kid casts Flare wrong, the potential damage is easy to contain. The effects of a curse can be permanently life changing."

Something we both already knew.

"Are…." I struggled with how I wanted to ask and approach this. But if she was thinking about it I felt like I should know. "Are you worried we may need to talk to Merripen to get rid of my curse?"

"If I say 'yes' will you be worried?"

"I don't know."

"I don't either. I want to avoid that if possible, but everything I know about curses tells me it's a risk we may have to consider. But it's the last option I want to explore. And one I only intend to if the curse gives us a time limit."

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"I'm okay with that. I'd rather not meet him unless I absolutely have to."

"You'd think after sixteen years of helping raise you I'd remember that just saying it outright is the best way to get you on board."

I shrugged at her, "You're you. I'm me. And you had like twenty-five years of doing things entirely your way before Dad showed up."

"I never planned on Victor," Mom was smiling softly as she spoke. "Not on meeting him, not on falling in love. We didn't plan on you either. We didn't exactly try to prevent you, but being a wife and mother was never something I thought about at your age."

"Didn't you date a bunch though?"

"The Banshee boys were cute to me, a bit of fun for a few weeks here and there. None of it was serious. Mother never commented on my love life. Beyond the occasional burning of courtship requests for me."

I laughed.

Mom looked confused.

"Great-great-grandmother Serafina liked to do the same thing."

"Did she? The first I've heard of this. Echoes tell you that?"

"Yeah, she really didn't like lavender flowers. Or at least whoever was sending them."

Mom blinked, "Huh. I didn't know that. Someone must have left that part out of the story. Perhaps if we ever go to the manor."

"Manor?"

"We're a noble coven Serafina, Hearth Manor is full of old things."

I hadn't thought about it much, Mom's childhood home. But there was a possibility I could see it someday. Part of me imagined a black and white mansion from a sixty's television show. Another part imagined a costal town with tightly packed buildings.

"I don't want to go without Dad."

"Of course not. I've already told Mother that I'm not spending any holidays without Victor. Ruby seemed amicable to visiting with Jarec though."

"Not the worst compromise. And I kind of said basically the same thing to Jarec a while ago."

"Oh?"

"He was curious about Yule and I told him getting Dad invited would greatly increase our chances of going."

She ruffled my hair again.

"Stop," I complained.

She laughed.

The door slammed open. Or at least it sounded really loud from here. Mom didn't jump, but I did.

"Sorry Mrs. Stewart, but I need to borrow your daughter for a few minutes," Celica said as she came over and grabbed the back of my coat and started pulling me out of the room.

"Okay, have fun sweetie!" Mom waved with a very real grin.

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