empty chair.
Daisy slowly slid into it and asked, "What's going to happen, Mum?"
"I'm not sure yet, Daisy." Her daughter opened her mouth to say more, but Dawn beat her to it. "I wanted to talk with you first before making any decisions."
Daisy scooted forward in her seat. "But you know what I want, Mum. I've always wanted to live here, and I know you always wanted another baby. I thought you'd be excited."
Dawn searched her daughter's eyes and asked something that had been on her mind since finding out about the mate-claim frenzy and all that it entailed. "Did you know that Mr. Whitby was my true mate all along?"
Shaking her head, Daisy's hair bounced back and forth. "No. I just thought you were getting along, and both of you were smiling, and that maybe a kiss would help. Like it always does in the movies."
Right, like the movies. If only it were that easy in real life.
Dawn rubbed her forehead a second before deciding on honesty. "This is a bit more complicated, Daisy. I know how much you love dragon-shifters. And I'm glad you made friends with Freddie. However, I'm still a little afraid of them. Not to mention moving here would mean never seeing Lucy or your other friends at school."
Daisy swung her feet above the ground. "I'll miss Lucy, and I'll always want to see her. But, well, you know, she hasn't been talking to me as much ever since my first visit to Stonefire."
Dawn nearly blinked. Lucy and Daisy had been inseparable for years. Instead, she frowned and asked, "What?"
Daisy looked down at her dress and picked at the skirt. "I didn't tell you because I was trying to fix it. But Lucy's mum told me to not talk to her anymore."
Fury roiled in Dawn's stomach. The fact Connie—Lucy's mother—hadn't even thought of talking to Dawn about something so important made her want to call her up and demand why. Not only because Dawn thought they were friends of a sort, but also because Connie was fully aware of how certain drastic changes could negatively affect Daisy.
And to tell Daisy not to talk with Lucy was also the cowardly way out. Dawn was nice and friendly most of the time, but if someone mistreated her daughter, her temper flared spectacularly. Connie probably knew that and didn't want the confrontation.
Her emotions must've shown on her face because Daisy blinked. However, before she could say something, Daisy added, "We did chat sometimes, during classes. But we never play after school or on the weekends."
Okay, now her anger turned more into worry. Since Lucy lived a few houses away, Daisy had been allowed to visit her friend since turning ten years old. Anything could've happened to Daisy if she'd gone wandering.
Dawn forced herself to ask calmly, "Then where did you go every time you said you were going to Lucy's house?"
Daisy shrugged one shoulder. "Well, I usually just went behind the shed in our garden and wrote letters to Freddie. If it rained, then I'd go to Mrs. Smythe's house next door and she'd give me tea and biscuits." She bit her lip and asked, "Are you cross with me?"
For a second, Dawn didn't answer. While she was a little upset at the fact Daisy had lied to her—she hated lying more than anything—it was more fear for what could've happened that she struggled to control.
Daisy was far too trusting. One slightly crooked stranger could've taken her little girl away from her for good.
Daisy added quietly, "I won't do it again, I promise."
The words snapped Dawn back to the current situation. Needing to feel the comfort of Daisy's touch, she took her daughter's hand and squeezed. She said slowly so as to keep her voice calm, "I don't like that you lied to me. But you did tell me the truth and I hope you'll honor your promise to not lie to me again." Daisy bobbed her head a few times, and Dawn continued, "I do wish you would've said something sooner, Daisy. Are other kids or teachers treating you differently, too?"
She shrugged as she swung her feet above the floor again. "Some of them have been meaner. But I didn't like most of them anyway. Those of us who went to the dragon camp became our own group of friends. I also have Freddie and Emily."
Oh, Daisy. Her daughter had suffered on her own and never shown it.
She really was growing up.
Not caring that Daisy was eleven and