Everspell (22 page)

“I have my moments, I guess.”

Eden had composed herself enough to move onto the next topic. Gypsy and Finola and Cordelia had joined us and some of the others had finally broken away from Jade and Sully, giving them some air. She gazed over at the two of them, watching the way Sully lovingly poured Jade something to drink and made sure she wasn’t uncomfortable and had everything she needed. Finally she spoke.

“I know Jade had her heart set on having the baby shower at one of those fancy restaurants you girls had seen on your shopping day, but Prudence and I have decided that wouldn’t be advisable. Given the tempting nature of Jade’s circumstances, we feel it would be best if the shower were thrown here at the house.” Here, she turned to Gypsy and me. “I’d like it if the two of you could express to her how much better it would be here. Make certain she sees the… well, the benefits of having it in a controlled and protected environment.” Now, she addressed Logan. “And you, my dear, you have done such a masterful job recently in turning the back yard into a wonderland, I’m certain you can help the girls to do it again.”

Jade wandered over since now the group hovering near us loomed larger than the one crowding her.

“What’s going on over here? I thought
we
,” she patted her belly, “were the main attraction.”

I decided I’d better start running spin control early and fast. “Jade, Eden has just come up with the most wonderful idea. Why don’t we have the baby shower for you and the twins here?” I watched doubt cloud Jade’s face, and jabbed Gypsy in the side for backup.

She jumped in. “I think that’s a terrific idea! We made the patio and terrace sparkle for Serena’s engagement. We can make it absolutely adorable for a baby shower, Jade. Just leave it to us, it will be precious.”

Prudence chimed in, too. “We’ll take care of everything, the food, the decorations, the games, everything. Oh, Jade, it is going to be the best baby shower ever. You will love it!”

Jade searched our faces, one by one, going from mine to Gypsy’s, over to Prudence’s and finally back to mine. I watched the doubt fade from her eyes as she got caught up in our forced enthusiasm. Logan stood beside me, not daring to say a word. The magic had worked, and he didn’t want to ruin it. Finally, Jade broke into a huge smile.

“We can have barbecued ribs, right? Those are my favorite. And I have such a craving for them!”

I laughed and threw my arms around her huge, pregnant tummy. “Of course, we can. We’ll have all your favorite foods. This will be a party for you, sweetie, all about you. We can have anything you want.”

Logan laughed too. “Make us a list, Sis. I’ll barbecue anything you want.”

Jade gazed up at him. “Make one? Brother, I’ve had a list for a month!” And we all started laughing then. It was so like Jade. If we had only known it would be the last time we would be together for a happy reason, I would have stayed longer and laughed more. Christophe was much closer in our future than we would have guessed.

Chapter Thirty-six

LOGAN

“Honey? Where do you want me to put the ice chests?” Sully stood in front of my sister, holding a loaded cooler, patiently waiting for her to tell him where to put it. She was directing people all over the place, and her husband was no exception. He shifted his weight, one foot to the other, while he waited. As I suspected, Jade snapped at him.

“Sully, I told you already–put all the drink chests by the table on the right. I don’t want people tramping water all over the kitchen every time they want a drink.” Jade pointed Sully to the table setup, then stomped back into the house.

I sighed. I had told her she didn’t have to be involved in the planning or setting up, but I may as well have been talking to a wall. She had awakened early, grabbed a clipboard, and hadn’t sat down since mid-morning. In good news, Serena and Eden had brilliantly decided to have the party catered. While bummed not to be manning the grill, it seemed I would have my hands full peeling Jade and her attitude off of everyone anyway. Forget bride-zilla….she’d turned into preg-zilla.

“Excuse me! You in the white! Please bring those chairs over here!” She barked orders at the event set-up people. I went over to rescue them. My dog Charlie, followed. Eden had decided to allow the caterers and event planners in only because the guardian dogs were all over them, confirming they weren’t demons in disguise. And we expected some. Jade had unknowingly chosen an unfavorable date for her baby shower, June twenty-first. In any other world, that date would celebrate the beginning of summer. In the world of witches and demons, the summer solstice equaled a time of magic, when evil spirits were most likely to appear. Throw in the impending birth of super-powerful twin warlocks created from the DNA material of a genetically-gifted witch, and you could nearly guarantee that appearance. We weren’t being just cautious, we were being wary. We had Zena stationed at the door, River in the kitchen, and Charlie and Sage out in the back yard. No personnel got in or out of the house without going by at least three of the guardian dogs. On top of that, Sheba and Astrid, the guardian cats, were lurking about as well. Demons might be able to hide from one of the coven sisters, but they would never be able to camouflage themselves from the hyper-sensitive olfactory receptors of our protective animals. Just like dogs and cats could sense an earthquake moments before it hit, they would be able to sniff out the foul stench of an evil fiend long before I, or one of the coven sisters would ever be able to. We were more than safe with the supernatural animals around us.

Serena came outside, her arms full of baby shower decorations. Gypsy and Skylar trailed after her. I could barely see him under the pile of pale blue streamers he carried.

“Let me help you with those.” I grabbed a handful of the paper decorations from him. Gypsy reached over before I could get all of them.

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not ruining these delicate streamers with your big ol’ meaty man fists. I barely wanted Skylar touching them. You’re both going to tear them. Now, gently hand them to me.”

I did as told and handed over the cheap paper decorations to Gypsy. I wondered why she worried so over them. I didn’t have to for long. As if she had radar, my sister came charging over.

“What happened to those?” she cried, and looked as though she might burst into tears.

“Jade, you are overreacting. Nothing happened to your colored paper thingies. See?” I pulled some from Gypsy’s hands and showed them to my sister. “They aren’t torn or anything.” I used my most soothing voice and it appeared to work. Jade stopped yelling and gathered herself. It gave me time to ask her another question.

“Why are you even here, anyway? Isn’t the baby shower supposed to be a surprise to the guest of honor?”

Jade made a face at me. “You’re my brother, Logan. You know I hate surprises. Anyway, I want to make sure everything is perfect.” She turned and started to walk away. When no one followed, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Um, Serena? Gypsy? You guys going to help me? These streamers aren’t going to string themselves, you know?” I muffled my laughter watching the girls scurry after my sister. Man, she could be a handful.

Stepping back, I watched the progress of the party as it came together. I had been pleased with the way the coven sisters and I had been able to make the patio look pretty for the night I asked Serena to marry me, but it paled in comparison to how it had been converted for today. The event planners and caterers were professionals and they had helped the coven sisters
transform
the back yard into a baby shower fantasyland. There were tables set up all over the patio and terrace area, decorations in varying shades of blues stretching from the trees to the house itself, and all over the place there were baby items, like giant baby blocks, rattles, and pacifier.

Serena came hurrying back over to me. “Logan, hadn’t you better get over to the bakery?” I checked my watch and freaked. My sister had only given Skylar and me one job, picking up the cake. And I had nearly tanked it. I scanned the crowd of workers and spotted him hovering at the corner of the garden with Gypsy, still tangled in the streamers. About to holler his name, I didn’t have to when he glanced up and caught my eye.

I jerked my head toward the door and he understood immediately. He kissed Gypsy goodbye, and we picked our way through the servers and caterers. I wanted to get out of there before Jade saw that we were leaving three minutes past the hour. As tightly wrapped as she looked now, the slightest thing would cause her to blow like a volcano. Successfully dodging her, we ducked out the front door with my dog Charlie in hot pursuit, jumped in my car and headed down the road.

“Man, don’t you feel sorry for Sully?” Skylar leaned over and punched my radio buttons until he found a song he liked.

“I don’t know. Jade’s just got a lot on her mind. And in her stomach.” I didn’t want to admit though, putting the baby shower circus in the rear view felt great. We drove for a while listening to music, joking around and enjoying the freedom of being a couple of guys on a honey-do errand. Charlie hung her head out the back window and I knew she, too, loved the feeling of being out of the house for a change.

Skylar and I handled the cake without incident, except for the bakery being choked with customers and it taking longer than we expected. When we finally got the cake and loaded it in car, we had been gone almost two hours.

“C’mon, Logan. Jade is gonna have our hides!”

“Are you really that scared of my sister, Skylar?”

“She freaks me out when she yells, man.”

“Wow. Some warrior warlock you turned out to be.” I laughed and punched him in the shoulder. He slugged me back. I felt a warm rush when I realized he’d truly become like a brother to me. I’d had a sister all my life, but it somehow had never felt like this. I turned to thump him back when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Quickly, I shut the tailgate of my car and spun so I could yell to Skylar.

“Sky, on your right!”

“Way ahead of you, Logan!” Faster than me, already twisting to the passenger side of the car, he crouched and prepared to spring. I started to run over and join him when what I had seen suddenly stepped right in front of me. Instead of the hooded demons I had come to expect, the face of the figure sent me staggering back against the side of my car in shock. Skylar watched the change in my demeanor and instantly went on the defensive, ready to attack whoever or whatever stood in front of me. But, I ended that with five heart-stopping words.

“I think that’s my dad.”

Chapter Thirty-seven

SERENA

I gazed around the back yard and nodded. The transformation had been completed and it looked simply beautiful. The food waited in place on the tables. Elizabeth had brought huge bunches of flowers from the flower shop, and all the tables and chairs were in position. The guests had begun to arrive and best of all, Jade had finally calmed down. Aisling and Echo had pried her away from her clipboard and coaxed her upstairs to get changed for the party.

With Jade out of the way, we could bring in some of the wonderful gifts for her and the babies that we had been squirreling away. When we began to drag them out, it shocked me how many there were! It became apparent we had probably gone overboard, so excited were we to be having babies to shop for. At least two of everything waited to be unwrapped! Car seats and bouncy chairs, diaper pails and bassinettes, and more clothes than two babies could ever wear. Then, Eden and Lily proudly wheeled out the most gorgeous cribs, complete with blue lace linens, followed closely by Eve and Gypsy, who were pushing an enormous double stroller decked out in playful colors of browns and greens.

“I tried to wrap it, but it just wouldn’t work.” Gypsy wheeled the giant contraption over to the gift table, parked it and set its brake. “I went through an entire roll of paper before my mom stopped me.” Eve sauntered over.

“I told her not to try, but she wouldn’t listen.” Eve’s beautiful African accent barely hid her amusement. “She has to find out everything for herself.”

“Mama! I thought it would be more festive all wrapped up.” Gypsy tried not to sound defeated. I stepped over to her.

“I think it’s gorgeous all on its own. Wrapping paper wouldn’t have done anything but delay Jade from enjoying it. You know how easily she gets frustrated right now.”

Gypsy brightened. “You’re so right, Serena. As usual.” She seemed to think of something else. “Hey, have you seen Skylar? I thought he and Logan would be back by now.”

I tried not to let my own concerns about that show on my face. Better not to have anyone else worry about why they were so late. “I’m sure the cake shop was just packed. Weekends can be busy for a bakery.” I hoped I sounded convincing. I did think they would have returned by now, but I hadn’t received any distress signals from Logan, so I didn’t believe there was anything to be troubled about. I decided I should go upstairs and dress for the party as well.

I went into the kitchen and continued down the hall toward the front of the house. Prudence had been manning the front door and the bell rang nonstop now. Jade had invited almost every girl she knew from school and they were arriving in droves, packs of girls clumped together on my front porch, all dying to get inside our house and eyeball both the huge weird house on the corner and how huge Jade had gotten.

The dogs had their job as well, checking everyone out as they entered, appearing outwardly as overly friendly canines that craved love and affection. The coven sisters and I knew the truth; they were scanning every visitor to verify we weren’t unwittingly inviting a demon into our midst.

A familiar voice stopped me as I turned toward the stairs.

“Serena? Is that you?”

I turned to face a smiling Tamera, struggling with an enormous, brightly wrapped gift. I laughed and helped her hang on to the unmanageable package. We set it on the floor and stepped aside so others could get past us.

“Tamera! It’s so great to see you! Did Patty come with you?”