Elorie met Nell’s eyes for a moment, and then she looked down at Aervyn. “When I was little like you, I wanted to be a witch more than anything. But I grew up and found out I’m not a witch. That used to make me a little sad, but now I know it’s just who I’m supposed to be.”
“Nuh, uh.” Aervyn blew off her answer with the confidence of a four-year-old who knew he was right. “You melted a computer, and Uncle Jamie and I can’t do that. You must be a witch, just like Superman.”
Oh, crap. Nell was pretty sure Elorie’s confused face meant no one had actually told her about the melted computer. She linked elbows with their visitor and pulled out the best distraction she could think of. “So, do you think my daughters have found your backpack full of jewelry yet?”
Elorie turned a little pale. Nell reached into the tin and gave her a cookie.
~ ~ ~
Jamie walked up to the door of Nell’s house, holding the hand of his lovely wife and wishing he didn’t feel like he was about to lose yet another argument. “It just seems like we should be extra careful with our girl in there.”
Nat snorted. “Babies are supposed to bounce around a little. That’s why they live inside a nice water cushion.”
A personal water balloon didn’t seem like nearly enough to keep a baby safe. “I just don’t see a lot of pregnant women doing handstands.” Watching Nat do yoga used to give his hormones a good kick. Now it just scared the crap out of him. He kept expecting her to land in a big belly flop on the floor.
She touched his face. “She’s more protected in my belly, even upside-down, than she’ll be the whole rest of her life. Relax, Daddy—she’ll be fine.”
Nell opened the door as Jamie tried to marshal his rebuttal. Maybe she’d be on his side. “Hey, sister mine. Did you ever do handstands when you were pregnant?”
“Do you honestly think I’m dumb enough to answer that question? Come on in.”
Nat hugged her sister-in-law. “Feel free to tell him the truth.”
“I don’t do handstands ever, so no. But we were in the middle of a new Realm release when I was four months pregnant with the girls. I coded sixteen hours a day and lived on Doritos and peanut butter. They turned out fine.”
Jamie remembered. He’d never been able to eat Doritos again after watching Nell dip handfuls of them straight into the peanut butter jar.
Nat’s face brightened. “Hey, do you have any Doritos? Those sound totally yummy.”
Nell laughed. “Sorry, no. I can’t even look at them anymore.”
His wife wanted to eat Doritos? The woman who made him eat vegetables and tofu for dinner? He’d Googled everything he could find on what to expect during pregnancy. When this was all over, he was going to create a new website for expectant fathers—one that told the truth. Nobody warned you about Doritos and handstands.
Both women were looking at him expectantly. He’d clearly missed something. “What?”
Nell shook her head in dismay. “Doritos, brother mine. Your job is to procure whatever weird things the mother of your child wants to eat, at whatever weird time of day she wants to eat them.”
He took mental notes for his new website. Fortunately, Doritos were easy. Closing his eyes for a moment, Jamie mentally raided the cupboard in his basement. Nell might not eat them anymore, but her three girls were all Dorito fiends, so he kept a large supply on hand.
Nat dove into the teleported bag like a teenage boy. “Thanks, sweetie.”
Drawn by Dorito fumes, several sets of feet came thudding down the stairs. “Uncle Jamie, Auntie Nat!”
A little slower than the triplets, Elorie smiled and waved in welcome.
Oh, crap. Not again. Even as he felt himself being pulled under, Jamie was aware enough to hold onto something other than his pregnant wife. He grabbed his sister instead and felt visions of the future roll over him.
When he snapped back into the present, he was sitting against the wall, Nat crouched at his feet, and way too many sets of eyes peering at him.
Once she’d decided he was okay, Nat smiled and spoke very quietly. “Are you going to have precog episodes every time you see a pretty girl?”
God, he really, really hoped not. Meeting Nat had triggered the mother of all precogs, but this one had been pretty loaded, too.