The Platinum Dragon's Mate - Zoe Chant Page 0,42

been after he and Sage had caught their breath, gotten up, and washed up thoroughly—and the arm seemed to be healing well enough that getting up for a meal likely wouldn’t be a problem.

Sage had put something together out by the campfire while Reid had done his examination, and so now they were sitting down together to eat, just like any other family would in the morning.

There was porridge sweetened with dried apples, milk, and eggs. “Where do you keep the animals?” Reid asked.

“A pen in an open field a ways away,” Sage answered. “If we keep them right around here, they spook every time we shift.”

The food was all delicious, and Reid told Sage as much. “You really are a fantastic cook.”

She blushed and shook her head.

God, he wanted to wrap her up in compliments, shower her in them, so that she could understand how amazing she truly was.

“Do you have any more books?” Rhiannon piped up, clearly not interested in talking about breakfast.

Reid smiled at her. “I sure do. I brought a lot with me, and back at home there are more. I’ll give you as many as you want now, and then hopefully by the time you finish those—” What? Hopefully by the time Rhiannon blew through the box of books he’d brought, the two clans would have brokered a peace, and—

And what? Reid would visit? Reid would move out here into the woods? Reid would bring Sage and Rhiannon back to Oak Ridge with him? Would Sage even want that? Rhiannon clearly needed to go to school, but how would—

“I’ll finish them really fast,” Rhiannon was saying. “I’m good at reading.”

“You sure are,” Reid said. “You’re going to finish A Wrinkle in Time today, I bet.”

Rhiannon nodded emphatically. “They’re traveling through space! With a tesseract!”

“How’s your arm feel, sweetheart?” Sage interrupted softly.

Rhiannon made a face. “It’s okay. Still hurts, but not a lot. Maybe it’ll be better today?” she appealed to Reid.

He shook his head. “Tomorrow, probably. Today’s another day to stay in bed with A Wrinkle in Time.”

She considered that. “Well, okay. I want to finish it anyway. But I miss playing outside.”

“Soon you’ll be able to play as much as you want,” Reid promised.

“After you do chores and your schoolwork,” Sage interposed, and Reid caught her quelling look. Whoops. Clearly there was a thing or two to learn here about parenting.

But one of Sage’s words had caught his attention. “Schoolwork?” he asked.

Rhiannon nodded vigorously. “Mommy gives me schoolwork,” she said. “It’s not like real school. There aren’t any other kids. But there are workbooks and math problems and stuff!”

Reid looked over at Sage. She blushed. “There’s an old homeschool curriculum that Shiloh and I used. I’m sure they’re doing different stuff in human schools by now, but I didn’t want her to grow up without knowing how to read, or do math, or anything...”

So Sage was homeschooling her daughter, as well as parenting her, cooking and taking care of animals for her clan, and—it sounded like—working as hard as she could to manage the aggressive personalities of the male members of her family. Reid shook his head. “You amaze me.”

“Why?” Rhiannon broke in, before Sage could say anything.

So Reid looked at her. “I’m amazed that your mom works so hard, and cares so much about her family and her clan. She does so many things every day for all of you, even when no one’s asking her to.”

Rhiannon’s face went through a series of expressions that made it clear that she’d never quite thought this way about her mother. “Like what things?” she asked finally.

“Well, she cooks for everyone, and she takes care of the animals, and she gives you schoolwork and takes care of you, and she helps your uncle and your grandfather when they argue,” which Sage had never said outright, but Reid was certain was true, “and she keeps the house clean. That’s a lot of work.”

“That is a lot of work.” Now Rhiannon looked worried. “Mommy, is it too much work?”

“No, honey,” Sage said immediately, with a warning look at Reid. “I’m happy to take care of you and our family and our home. I want all of us to be safe and warm and well-fed,” and she tapped Rhiannon on the nose with one finger, “and smart! So we can all grow up to take care of ourselves, too.”

Rhiannon giggled. “Okay. I’m going to be really smart.”

“I believe it, baby,” she said.

Apparently satisfied, Rhiannon went back to her breakfast.

Sage