Leaf

  —

  I was frowning as the three of us followed mom down the crowded streets of Saffron, tall buildings obscuring most of the sky around us. Frowning, but not for any real reason… yet. We were following mom, who was following my… grandpa.

  He looked like he fit the description, at least. The suit was a little baggy on him, except for his stomach… His hair was more grey than brown, and thinning on the top. The glasses were kind of thick, honestly. They made his eyes look huge, and probably helped his request.

  "Why don't you all join your mother and I for lunch?"

  Mom had looked back at us questioningly when he asked, but we were just sort of following her lead, honestly. Alex was technically not part of the family, yet, and Erin was… Erin. They didn't exactly have a whole lot of opinions on this that… mattered, I guess? No, this was mom's decision… and mine, but I was staying quiet for now.

  "-the next time we met, actually! Todd's son actually owns the Hall back there…"

  My scowl didn't fade as we kept walking. He was seemingly trying to be friendly, and kept trying to pull mom into conversation after the three of us had said hello and basically ignored him… He had already talked about the state of the streets, the congestion from too many cars, the abundance of Pidgey scat, anything but personal questions. He hadn't even asked about Erin or Alex, just nodded at them before fixating on mom… He had tried to hug me, but that wasn't happening to someone who was basically a stranger…

  I didn't get madder, though. He was failing miserably, but he did seem like he wanted to reconnect with her…

  "Here we are! Your mother should already be inside…" I frowned as we entered the same diner mom was going to take us to. He had called my 'grandma' earlier, but considering how close we were to the diner? She had already been here… So this entire thing was planned.

  I mean, obviously it was! Still, the way he made it seem 'coincidental' that he had met mom outside of the Contest Hall, that my 'grandma' got here ahead of us… It was frustrating, but not bad…

  The diner was huge, half full, and as we walked in it was easy to see where we would be eating. Not at the large counter that ran along the back, no. One side of the restaurant was sunken into the ground, adding a lot of headroom to go with its huge booths, and we curved that way naturally enough.

  My 'grandpa' looked confused, though, looking towards the non-Pokemon friendly section.

  "Oh, your mother is over here…" Mom just stared at him for a moment, though, a blank expression on her face.

  "Yes, and our Pokemon are hungry as well, and some are quite large, so we're going to the Pokemon-friendly side of the diner." She brushed past him and we followed her to a nice large table in a huge booth, one with some stools arranged near the short walls that surrounded it. We almost got to sit down, too, but of course…

  "Oh, is that Leaf?! Leaf! It's so good to see you!" I took a deep breath before I turned around, Alex and Erin quickly retreating to some chairs on one side of the table.

  The older lady standing there with her arms open for a hug was kind of shocking, in some ways. She looked like mom, or mom looked like her, I guess. She was the same height, the hair was the same color and length, if styled differently… Age and eye color aside, they looked almost exactly the same… It was mildly creepy, honestly. Like mom got hit by some 'aging ray' and bought the frumpy clothes to go with it…

  Seriously, what was it with old ladies and floral patterns? Tons of old ladies in Pallet Town dressed like that, too, Mrs. Maple included!

  I managed to keep my voice neutral when I responded, but it was kind of hard. Excited to see me now, huh? It wouldn't be hard at all to get transportation to Pallet Town, or to find our house, even before it got turned into a Ranch… I mean, yeah, not on great terms with mom, but your only granddaughter? As far as you knew?

  "Hi. Yeah, people are usually happy to see me." Mom and Alex both snorted at that, Erin studiously staring at a menu. 'Grandma' looked a little stunned at my response, and by me ignoring her arms and sitting next to Erin, before she brightened right back up.

  "Patricia, come here, give me a hug!" Mom looked very uncomfortable, but she still gave her a hug, and then… 'grandpa', before she retreated to the chair next to me. Grandma was looking around with slight unease as they sat down, though.

  "Must we sit here with Pokemon, though? I kind of wanted to have a nice, relaxing family lunch…" I think she realized how badly she screwed up when we all frowned at her, including Meowstic on moms shoulder, but she rallied easily enough.

  "I mean, that Dragonite you somehow have is mostly fine, I guess… I remember that Mankey you had when you were a little girl, though. He was so dirty!" I burst into laughter. Wait, scratch that, we all burst into laughter. She looked a little uncertain, but smiled as all four of us laughed.

  "Well, we won't have to deal with his hair getting everywhere, at least. Honestly, he was the worst Pokemon on your team! He did one thing right when-" Moms hand crashed onto the table, cutting her off. Mom was mad, and it showed as she growled out her next words.

  "Mother. Kindly shut up. Now." She turned the glare on grandpa for a moment before staring at her belt and smiling.

  "Does anyone want to come out?" I grinned.

  I grinned so much wider when moms 'team' came out. Alfred popped out first, at moms side as usual, glaring murder at my grandparents. My grin couldn't grow any wider when I saw them reel back as he painlessly slapped the absolute hell out of them, but it tried. Petals was next, but she came out with a simple chime. Meowstic had been out riding on moms shoulder, and he continued his own glare at them.

  Maddy was next, and the entire restaurant grew quiet momentarily as she cracked her neck. She didn't glare at them, but she was certainly not happy with them, either. Probably a good thing she was restraining herself a bit, though. Maddy was… absolutely terrifying, honestly, especially when she was close enough to reach out and rip your arm off with her huge, sharp beak…

  Midir was next, and he huffed at my grandparents before settling onto a huge stool that still creaked from his weight. He was also kind of half-glaring at them, but not viciously… He still grinned a little as they gulped under the gazes of so many powerful Pokemon.

  My grandma cleared her throat, looking very nervous.

  "Are they… under control? You hear stories of-" Midir's growl shut her up, and then mom smiled.

  "Oh, but they aren't all out! Meet Wukong!" She manually triggered his Pokeball, aiming it to the side.

  Wukong came out meditating, and I knew that startled mom as well as everyone else. She looked embarrassed for a moment as Wukong continued to sit there cross-legged, fists pressed together in front of his face, elbows braced on his knees. She reached out and poked his head and he growled a little, lightly swatting at her hand.

  "Wukong, say hello." He growled again, louder this time, before opening his eyes, only to find my grandparents staring at him in utter shock. He blinked in surprise a few times, because apparently he hadn't been paying any attention at all.

  Then he smiled.

  Wukong smiled at home, sure… He even smiled for nice, happy reasons. Wukong usually smiled right before chaos erupted, though…

  He hopped to his feet and loomed over my seated grandparents, smiling widely, only a slight amount of rage on his face. His fists flexed a few times as their faces went pale, while Mom smiled widely from our side of the table.

  "Meet Wukong! He used to have a more… unfortunate name, but you've met him before! He's the… what was it you said? Dirty and dumb? He's the 'dirty, dumb' Mankey that saved my life when I was a little girl!" Wukong wasn't growling, but his wide smile turned a little snarling at that, and he ran his fists across the huge, faint scars on his front.

  I had never asked for the details, but Wukong must have looked rough when that happened if he was scarred that badly. Or scarred at all when you factored in Pokeballs, stasis, auto-healing, Pokemon Centers, and Evolution… None of our Pokemon had picked up scars yet, at least not on skin. Ahab's anchor had a few scratches he hadn't buffed out with his Ability, scales certainly got scratched and chipped, and Honor especially lost plenty of scales from his arms, they just regrew quickly… Erin was saving them, of course, and she wouldn't tell us what for… Probably some stupid, useless armor she thought would look cool or something, honestly.

  Well, technically Leto had plenty of scars. Her, Artemis, Seraphina, Cerberus, Kallen, and Yanmega… Those were from fights in the wild, though, before they had a Pokeball.

  Mom happily stood up to give Wukong a huge hug from behind, grin more than a little vicious. Erin may not have corrupted mom like she worried about, at least not single-handedly, but Leto may have. Leto, Maddy, and Wukong…

  Grandpa took a huge breath, because he apparently forgot to with an Alpha Primeape in his face, and shook his head.

  "Ah, well, dirty is such a strong word, you know… Good to see you again, ah, Wukong?" Wukong was kind enough to nod at him, before his huge grin turned to grandma. She looked like she was still stunned, though, and his shoulders slumped a little as he realized he couldn't continue to scare her. She was maxed out right now.

  "Girls, want to let the rest out?" We all grinned and looked at Erin, but Erin… was shaking her head.

  "I don't think Artemis has the ability to be non-destructive right now. It's hard enough keeping her in her dam- Pokeball as it is." Huh, she was holding Artemis' Pokeball with her left hand… Luxury Balls couldn't be locked, so Artemis could just come out whenever she wanted to… She wasn't insane with rage or anything, though, because Erin couldn't have kept the ball closed with one hand, or most of a hand, if she was.

  Grandma apparently rallied at that, though, looking at Erin with a frown.

  "If you can't even keep your Pokemon under control, then-" Erin growled, releasing her aura for a split second and freezing both of my grandparents, and I knew that hadn't been intentional. She kept her aura out when she wanted to stomp on people…

  "Artemis is perfectly fine not being… under my control. She just experienced her first loss, and a humiliating one, not even an hour ago. Right now she wants to destroy, to tantrum, and that is her right. It's also my right to stop her… until we leave town for a bit, honestly. I'll let her blow off steam later." They both looked very judgemental, and I had a thought… Then I spoke up for the second time, their gazes snapping over to me.

  "You don't know what our teams look like, do you?" They looked confused, and I sighed.

  "If you had looked up anything at all about us you'd know our teams. You at least know who Erin is, right?" They looked even more confused now, and I sighed even harder. Mom looked amused, though.

  "Let me guess, one of your friends told you about Lance and I dating, and… Todd? Todd told you that I was at his son's Contest Hall, and you saw the perfect opportunity to reconnect with me? You even had mom wait here, so sure I would say yes…"

  Grandma cautiously nodded, and mom sighed heavily.

  "Were you at least aware that Erin is my other daughter?" Their heads snapped to Erin, but she was focusing on the menu again… She glanced up, shrugged, and idly spoke, even as she cleared some room around her… and stood from her chair, sliding it away.

  "Other than Leto and Artemis, is anyone feeling hungry?" It was obvious she was trying to be nice, or at least neutral, to them. It was also obvious what would happen, considering the time and when we usually ate…

  Because of course her entire team popped out. It was still very startling to me to see Kallen towering over everyone, especially with how much meaner he looked these days! He was still basically the same Pokemon even with his Type changes, though, thankfully… Also regretfully, because he was still a huge prankster… Seraphina came out with a small glare, but quickly focused on the menu in Erin's hands. Stabby landed on her shoulders and grinned at my grandparents over Erin's head as Hecate waved at mom.

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  Cerberus' heads, however, were quickly snatched up by Erin, and he became a living, breathing seat as usual. He wasn't all that aggressive towards people anymore, but still, better safe than dead or missing a limb. I went to glance at my grandparents, to enjoy their terror, when Ahab popped out behind her. Gently, thankfully. He didn't have to crash into the ground, he just enjoyed the destruction…

  Erin stared up at him with a frown.

  "Buddy, no restaurant sells live prey, we've been over this… You just want a snack, I guess?" Ahab nodded, draped some kelp over her shoulder, then glared at my grandparents, ghostly energies visibly radiating out from his compass-eye.

  My grandparents looked like they were both experiencing heart attacks right about now, but I was highly amused by their pale faces.

  Alex spoke up for the first time, trying to avoid looking at my grandparents. She had been ignored, but then again, so had Erin, and I'd only gotten a brief hello from them, even if I avoided the hugs.

  "Yeah, come on out, team. Well, let Dignity come out first, please. She's kind of long…" Yes she was…

  My grandparents grew even paler as all twenty feet of Dignity came out with a small trill, before she curled around Alex's chair and the rest of her team came out. Honestly, they barely reacted to most of Alex's team. Compared to Dignity's size and beauty, even a Hakamo-o wasn't as impressive, and Joy flapping over to Dignity's head was barely worth a glance in comparison. Unity and his gang of hissing serpents certainly got some looks, looks that they were happy to return, but Duncan got the most fear-filled looks. Even more than Yanmega!

  Fair enough, though. Dragons, and gigantic dragonflies, ate people. Fairies… usually didn't eat people. At least, not their physical bodies… Most people would rather run into a Dragon than into something like a Clefable.

  They were both literally clutching their chests, faces pale, so I figured there wouldn't be a better time to do this…

  "Come on out, then, so we can all get situated…" The huge booth we were in felt quite a bit smaller, now…

  It got even smaller as my team came out.

  Hazard came out at my side, and while he wasn't growling, he was glaring at my grandparents. Noibat came out next, flopping onto Hazard's head. They seemed to get along well enough, Noibat's lack of drive aside… I need to name him! Grace was next, and she stood on my other side, glaring at them. I didn't see them reel back, though, so no slaps from her… Hope came out behind my chair, reaching around to hug me, and I smiled. I smiled wider as Tinkatink released herself into my lap with an adorable babble. They looked half-catatonic now, like they were literally about to pass out, and I felt mildly bad as my last Pokemon came out.

  Morgrem came out already sauntering. Sauntering was supposed to involve movement, but he somehow managed it standing still. His hair rose to form a single huge blade, and he sneered at them.

  "Morgrem, chill out. I haven't decided how to feel about them yet, so be nice." His shoulders slumped a little as he looked over at me, but I just chuckled a little.

  "What, I know you're not going to attack them, so you're just standing there looking all smug about… startling two old people. Oooh, such a big strong fae, scaring the elderly…" He frowned at me, but I was still chuckling.

  My grandparents were stiff with nerves now, still clutching their chests… I was mildly worried about them, actually, and I caught Grace's eye. She glanced at them and shook her head, though, so I assume they were… Not okay, not at all, but they weren't dying.

  I looked at my menu and frowned.

  "Is it too late to get pancakes? Late lunch, sure, but do they count as lunch food?" I could really use some pancakes right about now… I wasn't exactly upset, so far, but comfort food would be nice…

  Erin snorted from her seat on Cerberus.

  "Leaf, who told you pancakes were breakfast food? Eat them at night and they become dinner! Just get what you want, especially if mom is paying!" She did that on purpose, and it worked. My grandparents jerked when Erin said 'mom', seemed to regain a bit of color, and stared over at Erin.

  She glanced up and smiled at them like Leto, light purple eyes slightly narrowed.

  "Hi, I'm Erin Greenwood! Older adopted sister to Leaf, Dragon Master, the Savage Trainer, Tiny Tyrant, and probably a few more I've forgotten about." I couldn't resist.

  "You forgot Erika's nickname! You're also the Tyrant Princess!" Erin went red as Alex and mom burst into laughter, while my grandparents just looked… so confused.

  Mom smiled widely, happily. A tiny bit vindictively, too, sure…

  "Girls, I think we broke them!" I got the feeling she's been wanting to say that for a while instead of just hearing our stories…

  It was also true, so…

  —

  —

  I felt kind of bad for the kitchen here when we ordered. Well, it was a Pokemon friendly restaurant, of course, but we had a lot of Pokemon out right now, and quite a few large ones. I also felt bad for Leto and Artemis, but we did order three huge buckets of takeout. Luckily we had Erin's Storage Balls, because there was no way we could have carried them… Hecate could have, sure, but still…

  My grandparents were quiet as they ate, and it didn't surprise me. They seemed to… dislike and fear Pokemon in general, not just Wukong, and he and Maddy were intimidating with their auras that they weren't bothering to reign in. Midir, too, but Dragonite were known as the kindest, gentlest dragons for good reasons. Friendly disposition aside, they looked chubby, even if I knew there was a lot of muscle there, and it threw most people off. He could still throw them into the atmosphere, sure, but he looked more likely to cuddle.

  I had a devious thought, and I rolled with it.

  "Hey Alex, does Lance sleep with his team?"

  She looked up from her plate with a confused expression.

  "Uhh, like, at home? No? Gyarados can't fit into most rooms, and the rest… Well, if you had the option of sleeping in a human room, even with cushions, or a place designed for your specific species, which would you choose? Why?" I grinned at her, even as my grandparents turned curious, calculating gazes towards Alex.

  "I mean, we sleep with our Pokemon… I had the thought that Midir looks cuddly, and I wondered if Lance cuddled with his Dragonite. Dragonites, plural." She burst into laughter at the mental image. Her, mom, and Erin, while Midir grinned at me over a deep-fried Miltank leg. My grandparents looked so confused, though.

  My grandma finally spoke up, looking uneasy.

  "You all sleep with your Pokemon? Why would you sleep with such-" Erin's glare shut her up, and she cleared her throat. "I mean, isn't that… dangerous?" I shrugged.

  "I mean, if they roll over, sure, but we've never had that issue. Mom's kind of huge, but she's never rolled over…" My grandpa glanced over at mom- Oh, yeah… Two moms…

  "Why is Patricia… huge?" We all burst into laughter again as mom's face grew red. Red like a Tamato Berry! Dexter took that chance to slip out of Erin's jacket, already grinning.

  "Well, Ms. Greenwood here does like to bake a lot, so-" Mom's hand slapped him to the side, and he froze as one of our psychics grabbed him. Probably Hecate… Yeah, he was glaring in her general direction, not Grace, Meowstic, or Alfred's… Mom lightly glared at him.

  "Dexter, I'll let that one go… Just that one." She turned back to my grandparents. "See, when I adopted Erin, I also gained a… co-parent? I guess? Leto adopted Leaf, too." Erin grinned around a huge bite of her sandwich, swallowing heavily.

  "She also adopted Alex!" Alex went red and ducked her head down as my grandparents confused looks moved to her. They shouldn't have been surprised about Alex mentioning Lance earlier, so… Wait…

  "You two don't watch the news much, do you?" They shook their heads and I sighed. "Well, you did hear about the Saffron Extermination, right?" My grandpa cleared his throat, looking very uncertain.

  "Well, we heard about it from Maria, but only that a Team Rocket base was found and destroyed here. Why?" My grin was huge.

  "Well, you do know it was a single person and their Pokemon, right?" They nodded. "The news nicknamed that person the 'Tiny Tyrant'…" It took them a few seconds before they went pale, looking over at Erin.

  For her part Erin just rolled her eyes.

  "Yes, because that's all I am… tiny, and Leto's daughter… Still, it was necessary, not to mention fun. The bullet in my as- butt wasn't, but it all worked out in the end… Actually, remind me to do something nice for the Hypno and Drowzee, especially the old one. He made it so easy to clear the second room… It would have been much harder if they all hadn't helped me with the perimeter, and if they had raised the alarm. Not that they had any reason to be kind to their tormentors, of course…" She trailed off, thinking deeply for a moment, before her gaze found Dexter.

  "Thank's again for getting that bitc- one Rocket that shot me, too. Not a fan of how you did it, or the front-row seat for the results, but still…" Dexter laughed as my grandparents went paler, somehow.

  "That was fun, actually! Well, not most of it, just following you around and recording, but I never get to fight!" Erin looked concerned and guilty at that, though.

  "Crap, I never actually… asked you, did I? Do you want to fight?" He shook his head.

  "Not really? I'm not a fan of fighting, but it's fun occasionally. I might join in on sparring every now and then, actually. At this point I couldn't keep up with most of your teams… If I did fight in actual Battles, not just killing terrorists that shoot you in unfortunate places, I'd need a Pokeball, and that's gonna be a huge no from me." His eyes narrowed at Erin, but he was grinning. "Are you telling me you want to capture a free Rotom? That's not very nice of you, Erin. I thought you had some feelings about that?" We all chuckled a little as Erin's arm shot out, snagged him out of the air and brought him in front of her grinning face.

  "Oh, is that so? That's too bad, I treat my Pokemon like family. You're apparently just a, what was it you called yourself? A groupie? Too bad my only groupie is so annoying, not to mention kind of an idio-" Dexter zapped her and she released him with a laughing hiss.

  Mom was chuckling, too.

  "Erin, dear, be nice! Dexter is family! He may be the most annoying member of the family, even more than our pranksters, but you get used to him. Eventually. You don't have a choice." He glared at her, and I saw his little mouth open, but my grandma finally found her voice.

  "You've killed people?!" She looked panicked, and I didn't actually blame her for that. The outrage on her face was harder to ignore, for me at least.

  Erin took another bite of her sandwich, which she had ordered because she was still gripping Artemis' Luxury Ball with her left hand, and shrugged.

  "I'm at thirty three kills so far, yeah. Well, ones I know died, I didn't bother checking up on the ones I… incapacitated. Each one had the Rocket uniform on, so it was legal. It was an… experience." Grandpa was frowning thunderously now.

  "That doesn't make it better!" His horrified, angry gaze moved to mom. "You adopted a murderer?!"

  Erin rolled her eyes, and Alex looked very uncomfortable now, but mom? Well, she was glaring, of course, but even as her mouth was opening all of our Pokemon growled, hissed, or chittered at them, and some decided to speak up.

  Sarcastically, in Dexter's case.

  "Wow, you two just do not want to be in any of their lives, do you? I thought Lance was an idiot when we met him, but you two are something else!"

  ""Erin not murderer! Erin exterminator!"" Hecate was mad, and I was grateful she didn't broadcast that very far. It was loud, even for mental speech, even being used to it like I was… The other diners didn't deserve that.

  My grandparents clutched their heads in pain, groaning, even as mom finally got the chance to speak.

  "Dexter and Hecate are right. I don't like what Erin does, but I won't stop her. I worry about her, not a known Global Terrorist organization that traffics Pokemon and humans. One that the entire world knows is kill on sight. I'd wonder if you were sympathizers, but I know you aren't. Despite my… issues with you two, and your… distrust of Pokemon, I know that. Plus, Hecate, Grace, Alfred, and Meowstic haven't said anything, and they can hear your thoughts." She leaned over the table, a deliberately blank look on her face.

  "Insult any of my daughters one more time and we will leave. You're making such a great first impression on everyone, too, so it would be a huge shame." Grandpa flinched back, but grandma apparently wasn't done.

  "It doesn't matter if they're terrorists! They are human! Knock them out or something!" Erin burst into laughter. Loud, mocking laughter, and she grinned over at them.

  "Oh, wow, I never would have thought of that! You two are really putting the wisdom of age to work, aren't you? Next time I exterminate some Rocket's I'll just… show mercy! They will totally surrender and let us knock them out!" She paused. "Well, to be fair, I did take some alive, they were just a little… snipped. Hecate was too weak to safely knock them out against their will before she Evolved down there. Some surrendered, but less than you'd think. The perimeter guards and their backup didn't get the chance, though." She giggled a little.

  "Actually, the first Rocket I ever encountered I did knock out, it just took a lot of blows. He got healed, eventually, but have you ever tried to knock someone out? People are kind of good about not getting knocked out. Usually. The human body is weird, honestly. Tap someone too hard in the wrong place and they die, drop them from a building and they survive with bruises. Actually, maybe I could make a blackjack or sap or whatever they're called here? Like a short club with a lead-filled head, they're designed to knock people out… Nah, that's almost as bad as that first guy…"

  "Erin, dear, don't be so condescending to the elderly." Mom's glare at her parents was intense. "You aren't wrong, but there's nicer ways to put it. Like this, actually!" She grinned at them, and she looked like Maddy. Not Leto. Leto was honestly nicer than Maddy, even if she was vicious. Maddy was… kind, sure, but she was very much a Fearow, and they were known for their tempers for very good reasons.

  "As two people who have never had a Pokemon, Journeyed, battled, or fought for your own or others lives, your opinions are invalid. Your feelings? Sure, feel however you want. You don't get to tell my daughter she's wrong for killing those people, though. I know very well what they do to innocent Pokemon, not to mention humans. Too well, honestly." She was frowning as she leaned back in her chair, and so was Erin…

  I was very grateful that I had never interviewed a rescue, honestly. If I had to do it to get them to the Ranch for some reason, I absolutely would, but… Just knowing the vague details was already too much for me. Honey was still nervous around anyone that wasn't a rescue, even Mrs. Maple a little bit, not to mention Lucy. I knew that what had happened to her was… bad. Worse than a lot of the rescues, even…

  I finished my pancakes and sighed in satisfaction. I glanced around, and everyone else was done, actually. Mom stood up with a groan.

  "Well, let me go pay. Do you two…" She trailed off, staring at my pale, confused, upset grandparents. She looked at them for a long moment before sighing. She caught our eyes, and we all nodded at her. It took Alex a second to get that she needed to respond, too, but this part was her choice as well. Meeting them? That was going to happen. This? Well…

  "Do you two want to talk some more? Or really, have an actual discussion?"

  They looked at each other for a long moment of their own before grandpa cautiously nodded.

  "Yes, we would. I would like to…" His eyes darted to me, then Erin.

  "We would like to get to know our… granddaughters…"

  Mom smiled, once again like Maddy. Maddy was grinning, too. Well, everyone was grinning.

  "In that case, let's go to the girls' Pokemon Center room." They looked so confused…

  "Why there?"

  Mom barked out a laugh.

  "Well, we shouldn't leave anybody out of our family talks!"

  Erin was smirking, and not holding Artemis' Luxury Ball anymore, so I had to assume she had calmed down. At least enough not to tantrum in the room…

  She was probably looking forward to my grandparents' reactions, honestly… I know I was!

  If they had a heart attack, we'd be in a great place for it, at least…

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