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Cosmo’s eyes went wide. “How many is this?”

“Seven, but three are adopted. So it’s pregnancy number four.”

“Wow.” He put his hand on his belly. “I can’t even.”

“I know.” Devon’s grin was totally conspiratorial. “Arielle and Jasper are enough, especially now. There’s so much here to explore. This is a whole new way of life, and we have two more families in our little clan now. I’m actually building a store in the village with Ollie. We’re remaking Marks and Reaver!”

“Oh, wow. You have such a library. And I can keep looking on the other side for you, if you want. Or Cullen can, I guess. He’s better with the online sales auctions.”

“That’s it. We’re going to be careful, though. I don’t want to destroy the culture. I want to become a part of it, you know?”

“Sounds good. You just let us know what, if anything, you need.”

“We will.” Devon beamed at Arielle, who was passing out pizza like a little matron at an orphanage.

“So has she made any friends down in the village?” Cosmo basically remembered that there had been a girlfriend that Arielle was desperate to see back in the winter. Someone with a merman best friend if he recalled correctly.

“Oh yes, Siren. She’s quite charming, even if her parents are a bit… concerned with her dating. ‘Her’ being Siren, not Arielle, who would like to be known as Sparkle.” Devon rolled his eyes. “Sparkle. Because that suits. At any rate, Siren’s parents are very concerned about their amazing daughter dating someone who’s, you know, a mountain dragon.

“A mountain dragon.” He blinked, not sure what to think of that.

“A fire breather even.” Devon lowered his voice. “This is where you clutch your pearls.”

“Pearls. This is the one with the merman best friend named Bubbles.”

“Yes.”

“So the pearls is a pun?” Cosmo teased.

“Yes,” Devon deadpanned.

“So how’s the rest of this whole thing going?”

“Well, besides the Sparkles thing, Siren is actually quite sweet and dear and gentle, and we all adore her. We have not yet met Bubbles. We have met the parents. Not Bubbles’s. Siren’s.”

“Is it always this confusing?” he whispered. “This is a lot of names.”

“I’m assured by everyone in the village who has more experience with teenagers than we do because she’s our first, and the oldest, that this is all perfectly normal, and that yes, it’s always this confusing. Apparently, she’s acting in a way that is appropriate for her age. And so I am trying to be Zen.”

“I think they’re right. I mean, Arielle’s not the most humble child on earth to begin with. I think she’s trying very hard.” Brand sat down with a thump. “Either trying very hard or trying very hard to be trying. There was a really cool little wordplay in there, and I just missed it, but you know what I mean.”

Cosmo had no idea what Brand meant, but he nodded. “Like working hard or hardly working, right?”

“Exactly. Thank you. I appreciate it. Is there more pizza?”

“Your daughter is doling it out.”

“Yo, Sparkles,” Brand called. “I want one with sausage.”

“On it, old guy.”

“I’m not going to kill her. I’m not. Not at all. Even though I’m fairly sure that she’s the one who recently attempted to give J-bot a robot tattoo.”

“Ouch.” Hawk chuckled. “That seems extreme.”

“She’s always been a little extreme with her brother,” Brand said with a world-weary air.

“This is what you have to look forward to,” Devon put in.