I was probably overthinking this entire thing. Which wasn't new, I had a terrible habit of that. But…I wanted to get this right. It wasn't a first impression, it was all people I'd met before. But the stakes felt…higher somehow. Ugh, it sounded ridiculous even to me.

I was going to see Jarec again, regardless of anything and everything. We went to school together, and we were both Dragons. Him meeting my father wasn't going to change anything.

Except, that wasn't fully true, was it? His understanding of me would almost certainly change. He'd know for sure my lack of expression wasn't an act or me being shy. This was just how I was. There'd be no ambiguity anymore. Whatever he thought of it, he'd know the cause. And then it was only a matter of tine before he told everyone else.

And then there was Vivian. Her initial reaction to Dad was so bad Mom thought she had to raise me on the other side of the planet. What if less changed than I thought? What if whatever delicate balance they'd found crumbled?

Maybe…

No. It would be fine. It had to be. If my friendship with Jarec was going to survive long term, then he would have to face the real me. Whatever that meant, whoever that was.

They'd wanted to see it, right? Well the parts of me I got from Dad are half of that. If he can't see or understand that, maybe it was best to break all our hearts now.

I remembered the last time I let tension sit in the sake of preserving something destined to break. It had hurt so much worse. I should have just…

No. Jarec wasn't Ethan. Ruby Flare wasn't Mrs. Archer.

It would be okay. Just be yourself Serafina.

I took a deep breath. It would be okay. You can handle this Serafina. I had the benefit of them all wanting this to work just as badly as I did.

I glared at my hair in the mirror. It had grown longer since I'd had most of it cut off in September. Not back to its old length, but would probably get there before summer. It was almost long enough that I would have to start tying it back. It was the only way to really keep it under control. It was like Mom's, wilder and harder to tame no matter what I tried.

I couldn't prove it, but I was certain that her and Vivian both used magic to do their hair. Vivian's was too neat and I'd seen what Mom's looked like when she'd just rolled out of bed.

It would have to do, I supposed.

I stepped into the kitchen where Mom and Dad were waiting.

"You don't need to be nervous," Dad commented.

"You look so cute!" Mom cried and pulled herself from where she'd been fidgeting with the collar of Dad's shirt.

I wasn't sure how I felt about being cute. I'd defaulted back to just being comfortable. A black hoodie that was the right kind of soft inside with an image of a silver wolf howling at a red moon. I'd opted for red jeans that tucked into my boots.

"You said dress warm. Now I am warm and comfy," I defended.

Mom responded by deciding I was a sentient teddy bear and attempted to break my bones with a hug.

I grumbled and looked to Dad for help. It was always a coin flip to see if he would or not. Today was a day I lost that bet.

He just stood there while Mom continued to smother me. Which was not helpful.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I kept my hands tucked into the large pocket in the front of the hoodie. I was stuck just letting this happen and for Mom to just get it out of her system. Just this once, surrendering to my dreadful fate was the better option.

(*********)

Mom was fidgeting. Which was not a good sign, she never liked showing outward nervousness. She was also trying to hide it but not succeeding.

It would be fine. It had to be fine. This was going to work out.

Dad was trying his best to keep Mom calm. His hand resting between her shoulders as she leaned on his shoulder. He took a deep breath, not for himself but a request for Mom to follow his lead.

"We can handle this, you can handle this," he said lowly. I barely even heard it.

"Remind me again why I agreed to this?"

"Serafina."

"Right. Right. I can do this." And now she was talking to herself. This was going to be a mess.

I exhaled slowly and tugged on my gloves. Simple ones almost all black with little white bats on the wrists. They were warm and had a good texture and that was the most important thing.

I put my hands back in the large pocket at the front of the hoodie.

It would be okay. It had to be.

I looked up at the building in front of us. For all I could tell, it looked like an average cabin. A single-story thing made of logs with small windows on either side of a thin door. It couldn't have been more than a thousand feet inside, probably less.

Assuming the inside wasn't magical like the Towers were.

No one else was here yet. We must have been early. Mostly normal for letting Dad choose when we left. I almost wished we were late instead. Waiting sucked.

I took another deep breath.

Mom's head suddenly snapped up, making her pull away from Dad and face towards the little cabin. Her posture was stiff but the fidgeting had stopped. I didn't know if that was a sign of improvement or of something going terribly wrong already.

The door opened.

Jarec rushed out first, a gleam in his red eyes that was comfortingly familiar even as I didn't fully trust it. Less about fearing what he was up to and more of the principle now. We weren't at school therefore whatever trouble he caused wasn't my problem.

I had at least two more weeks of freedom from that responsibility.

"Serafina!" He greeted with a smile.

"Hi Jarec." I gestured to Dad, "This is my dad, Dad this is Jarec Quicksilver."

"The mysterious human uncle, good to meet you." Jarec didn't seem to be acting any differently. That was nice. I could handle that.

"It's good to see you again Victor," Ruby Flare commented from just inside the doorway.

"Hello Ruby. It's good to meet you too Jarec." I suddenly remembered why we tended to let Mom do basically all the talking.

Jarec stood there and blinked at him. "That's what you meant. I thought you might have been exaggerating, but nope he's just like you."

I shrugged.

Dad glanced at me, a silent question of it that was good or bad. I nodded to confirm it was fine.

There wasn't any point in denying it.

"Ruby!" Mom nearly bolted to her sister. Like she hadn't just seen her last month.

"Hello Lucinda," Ruby greeted with a fond smile as Mom hugged her. I was a little impressed by her not needing to take a step backwards to brace herself.

"Look at him! He's still so handsome," Mom gushed as they separated.

Ruby didn't even acknowledge that statement. I don't blame her. "Mother had a slight delay, should be here soon."

"Is she overworking herself again?"

"I told her she didn't need to worry so much. Without you to fuss over she's tried to focus that energy on Jarec and me."

"I'm not apologizing for that."

"I would be shocked if you did."

So far, so good. As long as the rest of the visit when like this everything would be okay.

Of course, there was still Vivian to worry about.

"How's your break been?" Jarec asked.

"Quiet, thankfully. It seems I'm only prone to disaster when I'm at school."

"Aww, and here I was hoping to give everyone a more interesting update."

"I have a mirror, I can give my own updates."

"I don't think Celica trusts you to call until after everything is settled."

I would be mad, but that was probably fair. "Rude."

"Yet you're not denying it."

"Do you want me to lie to you? I can. I simply choose not to."

He chuckled, "Don't pretend you haven't been holding out on us."

"I have told you everything you guys need to know."

"I knew it," Jarec was accusing me even while grinning, "You just like being mysterious."

I shrugged. Maybe, maybe not. "You'll never know either way."

"Victor, Serafina!" Mom called out. "Come inside!"

Dad left me behind with Jarec as we lingered out in the snow. I was trying to gather my limited courage.

"So. That's the human? I'm not entirely sure I get it."

"Give it a few minutes," I told him. "And he has a name."

He held up his hands like I'd threatened him. "All cool."

I looked back at Mom who was still waving me over as she took Dad by the hand. I could handle this. I would handle this. Everything was going to be okay.

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