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Magnus said, “Kaitlyn helped her tae deliver safely. You have another grandson.”

Lady Mairead nodded and met my eyes. “Well, Kaitlyn, that is excellent of ye, I thank ye for the help ye gave tae her.”

“I — you’re welcome.”

Magnus squeezed my hand.

She picked up a fork and knife. “I regret that while Sean has taken after his father, Lizbeth has taken after me. I fear she haena embraced motherhood as she should have, twould be an easier life for her if she could manage the work of it better.” She sighed. “I sent ye away Magnus, because I dinna feel up tae the task, and I think our trouble comes in a great deal from my lack in those capabilities.” She chewed a bit while we all sat stunned.

I ate a bit of pork.

She said, “What was your mother like, Kaitlyn? Was she a particularly caring sort of mother?”

I said, “Um, no, um...” It was a little like getting called on by Snape in potions class — it sounded like a benign question, but would probably lead to death by magical spell. “I wouldn’t say she was very caring, she wasn’t mean or anything, just sort of preoccupied with other things.”

“Oh.” Lady Mairead chewed and swallowed another bite. “Bella, what was your mother like?”

Bella flipped her hair over her shoulder. “My mother was very loving towards me. She raised me to be an excellent mother someday.” She looked at Magnus, “I intend to be a wonderful mother to your child, My... I mean, Magnus.”

I threw my napkin to the table.

Lady Mairead cut another slice of meat. “Yes, motherhood is nae easy for some — Kaitlyn, I have been wondering, next time ye go tae see Lizbeth could ye take her some birth control? You have access tae it, I am sure ye use it, and considering she daena have the temperament for motherhood, twould be for the best. Daena ye think?”

“I already left her some, I didn’t have a chance to explain it, but there are some instructions. When I go back I will show her how to use them.”

“Good good. It’s important for women tae ken what they are good at and tae ken when they should give up⁠—”

Magnus said, “Lady Mairead, that is enough. I winna have ye lecturin’ Kaitlyn on motherin’. Ye thanked her for her help with Lizbeth, let us leave it at that. I want tae ken the details of the plan.” He shoved a bite of food in his mouth and chewed furiously.

She glanced at the gold watch on her wrist. “Yes, Minister Donahue will be here in a few minutes to discuss the matter, so luckily we have time for dessert.”

A moment later our plates were whisked away and new ones arrived with something like a molded custard, not at all my style of dessert. It was very pretentiously served.

47 - KAITLYN

We stood from the table to go to the living room to meet the minister. Bella seemed to wait for Magnus but he was putting his attention on me, so she finally followed Lady Mairead from the room. She looked petulant about it which made me furious.

Tyler asked, “So this is the kind of shit your family does all the time?”

Magnus said, “Och aye, tis a regular dinner for the family of Donnan.”

Tyler shook his head. “I want to go to my room, but I also don’t want to miss anything, is that wrong? But I really want to go to my room.”

Magnus clapped Tyler on the shoulder. “Ye have been a stalwart friend through this, I thank ye. Go tae your room. Would ye like some ale or wine sent there?”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

“I’ll arrange it. And I’ll arrange your way home first thing.”

“Good,” he smirked, “Because I wouldn’t want to have to charge you guys with kidnapping.” He put his finger and thumb together. “I’m this close.”

I said, “That would be great. That’s exactly what we need, police involvement.”

“You already have people coming at you from all directions.” He said, “Okay, as long as you promise to get me back to Florida in time to take my finals. I’ve been studying, I don’t want to miss it.” He left for his room.

Magnus wrapped me in his arms. “I am grateful for ye, mo reul-iuil.”

“For me? I haven’t done anything but spit on my plate. That was embarrassing. Oh and I sat there and got insulted. I look like poop and she’s really pretty and I thought of ways to get rid of people with a time machine. I’m thinking I could take Lady Mairead to the Jurassic period and introduce her to a dinosaur. Or get her tickets on the Titanic. Or take her to Europe in the Middle Ages to catch the plague. There’s Vesuvius too. That would be cool.”