I stepped carefully off of the ladder and took a breath to steady myself. How much trouble could she have cooked up by herself for the few minutes we were up there?

I heard familiar loud laughter from the workroom.

Oh boy.

Mom was sitting on the table. She was in the middle of telling her favorite story, she held her hand up to show off the ring Dad proposed with. "So there I am, hands glowing, picnic decorations floating around me, struggling with this darned blanket and he's just standing there staring. Not a single change in his expression and I stare back trying to find a way out of this mess."

Vivian was sitting in a chair looking up at her very unimpressed and amused at the same time. She didn't say anything.

"So I say 'Hi,' and everything falls because my concentration is completely broken. And Victor just says, 'Hello' back. Like he hadn't caught me lighting up like a firefly." Mom's imitation of Dad's voice was pretty bad, but she did get his inflection right.

"How long had he been standing there?"

"I don't know. Long enough to see way too much."

"You're usually more observant."

"It was our anniversary, two years since we had met. I wanted it to be special. Just not that kind of special."

"And then what happened?"

"We both just stare at each other for like a minute. And then he says, 'You glow.' And I start scrambling to find an excuse. He continues, 'Is that why your mother doesn't like me?' I'm a mess at this point. And guess what his response was."

"Well, he couldn't have minded that much."

"He proposes! Just, 'Marry me.' Like everything wasn't about to fall apart around us." Nearly twenty years later she still told this story with very real disbelief. Like something as benign as magical powers would be enough to change Dad's mind.

"And yet you said yes." I wasn't sure how I felt about the hint of judgement in Vivian's tone.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Actually, I didn't. I told him, 'You can't be serious.' And Victor being Victor told me he would meet me at the hotel later."

"And what did you do?"

"I spent the next three hours being yelled at by Larae for being so reckless while Ruby was laughing at me." I hadn't heard this part of the story before. She had always just described this part as her panicking.

Mom probably deserved their reactions.

Mom continued, "And then Victor does show up, like half an hour early because he's Victor. And guess what he has?"

Vivian sighed, "Another proposal?" It was a little validating to hear someone else be a little exasperated with Mom.

"A ring! One he made himself! He got it to propose again to show he was in fact serious and me having weird powers made no difference to him. He's prepared it like a week earlier, after teaching himself how."

The jewelry making setup was still in the garage. Dad used it once or twice a year.

"Were Ruby and Owlcourt-"

"They heard the whole thing. Victor isn't the least bit embarrassed but I'm losing my mind. He then starts to explain that he made a ring because he couldn't find one somewhere else that he thought was as special and unique as me."

No matter how many times I heard them both talk about it, it was still overbearingly sappy.

And more importantly, Vivian was listening.

But all three of us had places to be.

I knocked on the door to get both of their attentions.

Mom's face went from Vivian to me. Her face broke into a wide grin, "And there she is, see? I told you she wouldn't be long. Have a nice talk with your friends?"

"Something like that," I told her.

"What'd you guys talk about?" She asked as she jumped off the table.

"Secret," I teased.

Mom gasped dramatically, a very clear act. "What? Since when do you keep secrets from me? I thought you loved me!"

I didn't respond beyond blinking twice at her.

"Do you see this?" She turned to Vivian with mock indignation.

"I can't imagine where she could have learned that." It was still a little strange hearing Vivian use sarcasm.

Mom gasped again, this time clutching her chest like she had been stabbed or something. All theatrics.

Vivian looked amused by it, which was probably why Mom was being extra hammy.

"Don't we have somewhere to be?" I reminded them both.

"Serafina likes punctuality, you can blame Victor for that," Mom ruffled my hair again.

I made an obligatory noise of protest.

"I suppose it's a little too late to ask you to be on your best behavior?" Vivian commented as I pushed Mom's hand away.

"Please remember that I have to interact with these people for the rest of the school year," I added.

"I suppose I've been out-voted, I'll play nice." It was the best we were going to get out of her.

"Set's been nice and helpful," I told her that because if she had to traumatize anyone, I'd rather it not be the one person on the council that I actually liked.

"He has, he was a big help when Anubis tried to force Serafina out of the Representative role."

Why did Vivian tell Mom that? That was asking for trouble! "I think we really need to go now, come on."

She hadn't even met the others yet and I was already going to have to be on damage control. Any hopes I had at Vivian helping me rein in Mom were dashed.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.