Page 7 of Dragon Charmed

She held up her hands. “Don’t throw me into the middle of this. For once I’m an innocent bystander.”

“Miracles never cease,” Marcus muttered.

“I heard that!” Tessa said, laughing harder. “Hand Bella over to her favorite auntie.”

“Don’t let Sienna hear you say that,” Marcus and Megan proclaimed at the same time. True. Tessa didn’t need to upset Eric’s younger sister and new clan leader. Sienna was turning into a force in her own right.

Bella smiled as Marcus set her in Tessa’s lap before heading back into the house. “There’s my sweet girl. Did you wish Momma a happy birthday?”

“Bah!”

“Did you hear that? She said ‘birthday.’”

Megan shook her head. Tessa nodded to the bag she had set next to the chaise. “There’s a surprise in there for you.”

Megan opened the bag and pulled out a brightly wrapped box, which Bella homed in on and leaned forward, reaching for it. “That’s for your momma.”

Megan opened the box and gasped as she pulled out the sundress. “It’s beautiful.” She held it up in front of herself. “You didn’t abscond with this from work, did you?”

Tessa shook her head. “No.” She looked down at Bella. “Auntie Tessa wouldn’t do that. No she wouldn’t. There is something else in the box.”

Megan held up the lacy bra and panties Tessa had also gifted her. “For you and Eric.” She covered Bella’s ears. “I sense some dirty dancing in your future. Nobody puts Baby in the corner.”

Megan smirked before setting the box and dress out of Bella’s reach. “Thank you.”

Bella rested her head against Tessa’s chest. “Can you believe how much has changed? Do you miss working at the museum?” She remembered how driven Megan had been after pursuing her master’s degree.

“Sometimes. But meeting John and agreeing to exhibit the Death of Magic painting at the museum led me to Eric and my sweet baby girl, and I wouldn’t change that for anything. Right now, being the clan’s historian is important. I can always work for a museum later down the line.”

“Maybe when the director retires, you can take her job.”

Megan shook her head. “You have me jumping right into the director’s seat.”

Tessa nodded. “Of course you could be director! No doubt in my mind.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Bella sat up and looked over the valley.

“What is it?” Tessa asked.

Megan smiled. “Eric must be coming.”

Tessa looked out as well. “I don’t see anything.”

“I don’t either. But he’s coming. Bella’s never wrong.”

A minute later Tessa could just make out a mark in the sky. The mark grew, and as it approached, she could see Eric flying toward them. Tessa wasn’t sure she would ever get used to seeing a man with wings. And he wasn’t even in full dragon form. The clan had been losing their powers for generations. None of them could turn into their dragons anymore due to the curse. Which was why Megan and the clan wanted to figure out how to break the curse before they lost everything that made them dragon.

“Holy cra-croutons.”

Megan’s eyes danced. “Croutons?”

Tessa smiled. “I plan to teach Bella a whole host of things, but cursing like a sailor is not one of them.”

Bella giggled as Eric drew closer and landed on the cliff, furling his scarlet wings. He jogged up onto the deck when he saw he had an audience. Bella raised her hands, and Eric scooped her up and blew a raspberry on her belly, making her squeal.

He leaned over and gave Megan a kiss as well before nodding to Tessa.

“You behaving, dragon boy?”