'Yes, of course.'

'You are delaying. Why?'

I had to think about it for a minute, and then I gave him the out-loud, honest answer that once I would have died before admitting. 'I don't know if I'll get a chance to talk to you again, and I'll miss you.'

'That makes me happier than I can say, my love. You have quite surprised and pleased me.'

'If I don't say it enough, Jean-Claude, I love you. I love seeing your face across the table while we eat, and watching you root at Cynric's football games, and watching you read bedtime stories to Matthew when he stays with us, and a thousand surprising things, all of it, it's you, and I love you.'

'You will make me cry.'

'A smart friend told me that it's okay to cry; sometimes you're so happy it spills out your eyes.'

'Jason, Nathaniel, or Micah?' he asked.

'One of them,' I said with a smile.

'Smart friends indeed. We must go and do our tasks, ma petite. Je t'aime, au revoir, until we meet again.'

'I love you, too, and see you soon.' I hung up before I could get any sillier or more romantic. But a little bit of squirming embarrassment was totally worth it for the happiness in his voice. If we'd dropped our metaphysical shields we could have felt every breath and emotion, even some thoughts of each other, but it was still good to say the words and to hear them. No matter how weird and magical we might be, having the people you love tell you they love you and mean it ... it never goes out of style. Since we're made in God's image, this must be from Him, so even God must need an 'atta boy,' an out-loud, in-your-head 'Thank you, great job on that sunset, and the platypus was a brilliant fun idea.' Maybe that's why we're supposed to pray the way we do, because without it God would be lonely. Sometimes I thought my friends who were Wiccan had something with this whole God and Goddess thing. If people worked better paired up and in love, and we were made in God's image, then logically it seemed like God needed a Goddess. As I got happier in my own love life, I'd started wondering if God was lonely without His Goddess. Maybe I was hanging around with too many pagans?

I said a prayer of gratitude for my own happiness, and a prayer for Micah's dad, and let God go back to taking care of His love life as He saw fit. I called Fredo to arrange the guards and shook my head at my own weirdly romantic religious thoughts; so girly, to wonder if God needed a Wife. That was above my faith pay grade. Picking out dangerous men to guard our backs, that I understood.

CHAPTER 4

Micah texted me that he'd called Nathaniel to pack for us so he could meet us at the airport. I let him know I'd gotten his message and called the other third of our couple. Nathaniel answered on the second ring.

'Hey, Anita.'

'Hey, pussycat.' No, most men wouldn't have liked that as a nickname, but he wasn't most men. 'Micah told me you're packing for all of us. Can you bear in mind we're meeting his family for the first time, with the clothes?'

'I am,' he said.

'I need some shirts that aren't low-cut, okay?'

'We love your breasts,' he said, his voice holding that upward lilt that said he was smiling.

I smiled. 'I appreciate that, I even approve, but let's not overwhelm his family with my assets the first time.'

'Would I pack so that all that creamy goodness was on display in every shirt?' he asked in that fake innocent voice.

'Yes,' I said, and laughed.

'I promise to pack some regular T-shirts, but most of your dressy tops are low-cut.'

'That's because the plain silk shell blouses don't lie right when I wear them,' I said.

'They aren't designed for someone with a triple-E cup, Anita. I didn't even know that you could have that big a cup size and be as lean as you are without surgical help.'

'Genetics is a wonderful thing,' I said.

'Yay, genetics!' he said with so much enthusiasm it made me laugh. 'I'll pack so we'll match but won't embarrass Micah. Promise.'

'Thank you. You're the only one I'd trust to pack for all of us.'

'I'll even wear a suit so we all match when we get to the hospital.' Nathaniel had beautiful designer suits, but since his regular job was as an exotic dancer he didn't have to wear them to work like Micah did. The suits were for special occasions like weddings and certain business meetings where all of Jean-Claude's main people had to show up looking businessy.

I realized that Nathaniel was strangely happy. It didn't quite match the reason for the trip. I thought about asking why his mood was so up, but my phone let me know there was another call trying to come through. 'I've got another call; let me make sure it's not Micah.'

'I'll wait,' he said, and again it was cheerful. Was it too cheerful, or was he just better at handling these emergencies than I was?

It was Jean-Claude on the phone. 'Hey, what's up?'

'Are any of the guards you have arranged werewolves?'

'Yes, it's Micah's rule and yours that we try to use as many wereanimals for our public bodyguards as possible.'

'You will need to make other arrangements, ma petite.'

'Why?' I asked.

'The local wolves have requested that you not bring anyone in who could challenge them. If there is need of a funeral, then they will understand us bringing in our wolves to call, but until that sad necessity they would like none of our wolves, as a sign of good faith.'

'Are you letting them boss us around too much?' I asked.

'If you want this initial visit to be about Micah and his dying father, no. If you want to have to deal with the local werewolves politically, and perhaps even frighten them enough to have it turn to violence, then by all means keep your wolf guard.'

'Okay, I'll switch the guard roster.'

'Good,' he said.

'Is there anything else I need to know?'

'The master vampire of the area has forgone the usual politics and wishes our Micah well. In fact, he offered to put his people at our disposal for transportation and errands so that you could all concentrate on Micah's family.'

'That was very nice of him,' I said, and couldn't keep the suspicion out of my voice.

'It was nice of him, ma petite, but we are no longer just visiting masters from out of town. We are council members, or their people, and thus we are owed both allegiance and a certain deferential treatment.'

'So, now that you're on the council we don't have to do all the vampire political shit?'

'In part, yes, but on the other hand, it means we have to be even more conscious of other masters and their egos, unless you wish to feed the whispers of rebellion among them?'