“Mommy and Daddy are home!” squealed Mira as she ran and jumped into her mother's arms.
“Hi baby girl! I missed you so much! Were you good for Grandma Dee?”
“Yes Mommy! She said I was the best helper ever!”
In the meantime, Cordell was reconnecting with his son.
“Stone, my man, how were things? Did Mira behave?” asked Cordell as he pulled his only son into a hug.
“Hi Dad. Welcome back. Mira was fine. Grandma Dee spoiled her, but she kept her busy so she was outta my hair, so I guess she spoiled me too." replied Stone with less enthusiasm than Cordell expected.
“Well, we will try to keep it that way,” laughed Cordell. Then he noticed Stone seemed really uncomfortable, “Stone, are you okay? What's wrong?”
“Umm," stuttered Stone, " Well, Dad, I heard things while you and Mom were gone. I mean I wasn't trying to, but, ummm, I just couldn't help but overhear Dee talking to Donnovan. She mentioned a, ummm, a spell and a ritual. Grandma Dee told him she called you and Mom and ya’ll said you had everything except the - uhhh - dragon’s blood - is what it sounded like - and would be picking it up before you came home.”
The blood drained from Cordell's face. That was the last thing he wanted Stone to know about. It was hard enough his only son was a fairy and he wasn't able to properly help him learn to use his abilities without relying on Dee. “Son, you probably misunderstood. Did you ask her about it?”
“No! I walked out as soon as I heard them. But - well, I do know how to use a search engine Dad. I looked it up - witchcraft? Are you and Mom witches? I never really thought about my wings before - well because of Grandma Dee. She has them too, but you and Mom don't. What’s really going on around here?”
Holy hell Dee - what have you done? was the first thought that popped into Cordell's head. He would banish that old fairy if she weren't Delia's grandmother. He took a deep calming breath before answering, “First, your mother and I are not witches. But we do need to talk. You go upstairs to our room and I will get your mother and be right up.”
Stone studied his shoes, “Okay Dad,” he said nervously thinking he might be in trouble but he figured he deserved to know what was going on so instead of saying anything he turned around and trudged upstairs to his parents bedroom.
Cordell joined Stone on the couch while they waited for Delia to join them.
“Mom is putting Mira to bed. Just so you know, what we are going to talk about is not to be shared with her. She is too young to know any of this. I had hoped to wait until you were 16, but I guess 13 is old enough to know about your heritage.”
* * *
Downstairs, Delia read to her daughter, who, much to her delight, had suddenly decided she liked her again. Delia cherished these times with her children when they were vulnerable, innocent and trusting and allowed her to take care of them. It wouldn't be long before Mira would be too old to be tucked in at night. And now something was up with Stone.
She read until Mira fell asleep. She sat and watched her daughter sleeping peacefully thinking about her life now and how lucky she was to have her beautiful children, a loving husband and unbelievably, her father. God she had her father! But she didn't really know him or her grandparents. Not really. She wondered if she was wrong to try and bring her mother back. What if I don't survive? She would once again hurt the very people she loved most and those that loved her including this precious angel with her whole life ahead of her. The fact that Cordell loved their children as much as she did was a huge comfort. He would care for them and make sure they knew she loved them very much.
Once Delia reconciled herself to the fact that they were indeed going to perform the ritual that very week, she leaned in to give her daughter a kiss. "It's all going to be okay Mira. Mommy promises," she whispered. 
Then Delia kissed Mira gently, not wanting to wake her but needing to feel close to youngest child. The unconditional love of her daughter gave her strength. She left Mira's room and headed upstairs to deal with whatever crisis Stone had developed while they were gone.
* * *
“Okay boys. I am here. The party can get started…” then noticing the somber looks on both their faces added, “or not,” and sat down in the empty chair.
Cordell began, “So Delia, Stone overheard a conversation between Donnovan and Dee regarding the ritual….”
“I wasn't eavesdropping!” interrupted Stone.
“It's okay Stone," said Cordell and continued, "Anyway, he heard her saying that we were bringing dragon’s blood back with us and he looked it up online. He asked if we were witches which I have already told him we weren't. I figured it was time we explain the other supernaturals to him including myself."
“Not just fae? There really are real witches?” asked Stone.
Delia looked at Cordell. It was her turn for all the blood to drain from her face. She quickly began to speak, “We knew this time would come. It has for all of our children - well except for you and Mira. Please Stone, whatever you do, don't tell Mira.”
“Dad already said that. I don't know what I am not supposed to tell her, but Mom," said Stone as he placed his hand over his heart, "I won't tell her, I cross my heart.”
“Okay sweetheart. So, Stone...Oh God, Cordell where do we begin?" Cordell just looked up like he had no idea, so Delia continued, "well, let's begin with you," she said as she looked at Stone, "You already know that you, Grandma Dee and Grandpa Niall are like you - fairies. My mother, Dee and Niall's daughter was a fairy. You also know my father, Newt. He is human. So I am half fairy and half human. You inherited your powers from me. My powers are latent, but for some reason, you have them. And they are strong. Stone, you are the only one of my children that inherited the power of the fae. None of your sisters did. However, several of them did inherit your father's powers.”
Stone turned to Cordell, “You have ‘powers’ too Dad? But you said you weren't a witch.”
Cordell responded, “No son. I am a - well a genie. There a few things I can do. But nothing as exciting as what you will one day able to do.”
“Genie?" asked Stone fascinated, "Like a magic lamp Genie?”
Cordell and Delia exchanged a look. She would let Cordell answer the question however he felt best. “Sort of," continued Cordell, "there is some truth to all legends. I could grant wishes but only when bound inside a lamp. So since I am not bound, I can’t grant wishes and my powers are limited. I can conjure food and magically clean the house. Quite boring. Mira - yes Mira - also Corrie and Angie inherited my powers.”
Stone’s eyes got wide and said worriedly, "OH NO! Does that mean they are genies too? Dad, could someone put them in a lamp? How do they get bound to a lamp? ”
Delia gasped. She had never even thought about that possibility - Angie was living on her own and Corrie had hooked up with that lazy Pete Lancaster. Delia would definitely have to speak to Cordell about that and soon. Her sweet Angie and little Mira bound in a lamp would be horrible. She figured that of all of her girl's Corrie ran the biggest risk of pissing someone off enough that they would relish doing that to her. She wouldn't be able to bear it knowing what Cordell had suffered.
“You don't need to worry about that. No one knows they are Genies except our family. They are safe,” Cordell reassured him and shot Delia a glance knowing what must be going through her mind.
Stone, satisfied with Cordell's answer, looked at his mother, “What about the ritual.”
Delia quickly made up something before Cordell could speak. She just couldn't tell Stone they were trying to bring someone back from the dead. “It is a cleansing ritual to remove any negative energy from our home. Quite harmless. You see, witches are real. In fact, your sister, Jewel and her husband Donnovan are very powerful witches as are both of their children.”
“Wait, you mean Cheyenne is a witch? Cool!!!” Delia and Cordell both breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't even question that Jewel was a witch and neither of his parents were witches. It seemed the worst was over. They would just have to let Jewel and Donnovan know that they had told Stone.
“Yes darling. She is. What you must understand is that the human population knows nothing about the occult except for the legends. If they find out they are mostly true, they will be afraid and try to harm you. People are afraid of what they don't understand. That is true of witches, fairies and genies. They are very private and don't really know a lot about each other. Our family is very unique in that we have these different supernatural people living together. So Stone, it's okay to share with Cheyenne that you too have powers too, but only after I speak with her parents. But you both MUST swear to keep it to yourself.”
Stone stood up and hugged Delia, “Thanks Mom for telling me! This is so cool. I can't wait to talk to Cheyenne!”
“Baby, please, just wait until we talk to her parents. We will do that tomorrow. Now, off to bed with you. Goodnight sweetheart. Don't ever forget that we love you.”
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