you were lonely." She looked over at the sixth person in the room, hoping for an assist - it was hard to explain what you were just barely beginning to understand.
Lauren leaned forward and helped herself to a brownie. "Have you guys ever noticed what Lizard does at parties?"
Shay nodded, all ten-year-old seriousness. "She hides behind stuff."
Nell covered a grin as Mia gawked at her sister - Shay had always been the most observant of the three.
Ginia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Or she hangs out with one or two people somewhere."
"Right." Lauren broke her brownie in four pieces and passed one to Shay. "She's really fun to be with, but when she can, she likes to deal with the world a few people at a time. Even at a big Witch Central party."
"That's okay." Mia settled back, puzzled, but game. "We love Lizard."
"I know you do." Lauren handed Mia one of her mini-brownie squares. "Now tell me what Caro does at a party."
Even Mia knew this one. "She sits down on a couch in the middle of everything and knits and waits for people to come visit her."
"Yup." Lauren handed Ginia the next brownie chunk. "And how about Uncle Jamie?"
Ginia thought for a second and grinned. "Mostly he hangs out at the stove and cooks and talks to fifteen people all at once."
"Exactly."
Her daughters were smart little cookies. Which Nell already knew. She was far more impressed by how neatly Lauren had just made sure each of them had come up with an answer they could be proud of.
Basic realtor skills. Lauren's mind voice was amused. Let's see if I can pull off the rest. Her eyes never left the triplets. "So Lizard and Caro and Jamie are all really different, right? But they've all found a way to be happy here at Witch Central."
"Oh." Mia, girl of action, leaned forward, eyes bright. "So we have to find a way for Beth to be happy here."
"Exactly." Lauren popped the remaining brownie square in her mouth. Nell tried not to laugh as her three girls did exactly the same. "Each of us is a little different, and we all find unique ways to be here and hang out together. But for Beth, being new, it might be hard to figure out how to do that."
Shay wiped milk off her chin. "How do we help?"
Nell swallowed fast - ball back in her court. "I was thinking that we could try making some decorations with Beth today. Nat's going to see if she wants to come by after lunch." Via a stop at Nancy's Nuts, which was just more proof of Lauren's point - some of Witch Central's existing inhabitants were plenty strange.
Flaxseeds. Poor Jamie.
Focus, sent Lauren dryly. Or your girls are going to have this all planned out before you finish worrying about what Nat might have put in your peanut butter.
Nell shuddered and hoped dearly it was only peanuts.
And then stuck her head into the blonde collective surrounding Moira's tea cup and started making plans.
Careful ones. Witch Central on its tiptoes.
-o0o-
Some days were just magic.
Jamie looked over at his wife and smiled. She sat with Kenna in the corner of the room, offering cookie crumbs to their daughter's beloved new butterfly.
Who apparently only liked snickerdoodle crumbs. Which would have been cute enough if it were Kenna's idea - but it had been Beth's. A devious plan to get rid of her excess cookie, maybe, but it had delighted his girl.
He looked over at their guest, who had been mostly happy and at ease for two hours now. She sat very still, watching his daughter intently. It reminded him of the way a small child studied the world. "What do you see when you look at her?"
"I like to watch children. How they play." He could feel her wonder - and her nagging sense of incompetence. "You see there, how she looks at Nat?"
He tried to see his daughter through strange eyes. "She does that all the time."
"Yes. It's called social referencing." Beth talked quietly, her eyes still on Kenna. "She learns when she looks. How Nat feels about the environment, her behavior, other people in the room. It gives Kenna