Page 2 of Pixie Problems

"Tor, I need help with something," Aspen said, tossing her phone back onto the bed as if she no longer needed it. "Can you show me how to alter some paperwork? Like, um, government records stuff?"

Torian flicked a finger at me. "With him here? Isn't this one of the things that'll get us grounded from each other?"

"First off," I said, "I don't think that's possible. You have agateinto her bathroom - "

"Out of," Torian corrected. "Only works if the door's open so I don't walk in on her or Rain."

I couldn't stop the chuckle. "Not sure walking into her bedroom will prevent that."

"In their rooms, they aren't showering," Torian countered.

"Guys!" Aspen barked, silencing us both with the high pitch. "Focus! Tor, the favor's for him. He needs some records altered, and I need to learn, right?"

Torian turned to me again as a sly smile curled his lips. "What will you give me for this, Bracken?"

"Nothing!" Aspen groaned. "You're helpingme, Torian." She walkedover and grabbed his chin, making him look at her. "Me. I'm helping him. I owe Bracken a favor, and this is you helping me pay it back. So, how about you start helping?"

The moment he looked at his sister, Torian's attitude changed completely. The arrogance slid off him as if it had been nothing more than a figment of my imagination. A tender smile replaced the smirk, and even the boy's shoulders softened.

"What do you owe him for?" he asked.

"That's none of your business," she said.

"It's always my business when it comes to you," he countered. "Just tell me already?"

"He's the reason I'm allowed to grow the plants," she mumbled. "When I overran the bathroom with them? Bracken helped me clean it up and didn't say anything. I told him I was in his debt, and now I am. Please, Tor?" she almost whined. "He convinced Ms. Rhodes I needed these because there wasn't anyone else here from the Winter Court, and she gave in because he promised I'd be responsible. Now I'm trying to repay that debt."

"Ok," Torian gave in, turning back to me. "What am I helping you with? I need to know what we're doing so I can show her how."

Fuck. This wasn't really what I wanted. If it had been anyone else, then maybe, but Aspen was already too close to this, and I certainly didn't want it getting back to Rain. Shoving my hair back, I tried to quickly think of some way to be vague about this, but nothing came to mind.

"I need an official adoption," I finally admitted.

"Of Rain," Aspen added gleefully. "She told me after the big fight. Bracken and Liam are going to be her dads!"

Torian's mouth dropped open in shock. "Because she's the Morrigan?"

"No," I said, making the single word clear, without any modifiers to blur my meaning. "We'd been talking about it since she got here. Liam feels a connection to her, and since I've gotten to know her, I've grown close too. The fact that she's the Morrigan just means this can't wait. It's not our reason why. It's our reason for when."

"Does she know?" he asked.

I knew exactly what he was talking about - although most wouldn't - so I shook my head. "No. We promised. That is your secret, just like we'd prefer this is ours."

"Which part of this?" he pressed. "Because if you're going to start adding stipulations, then so will I."

I was in so far over my head, and I knew it. I didn't have enough magic to slap this boy down, not even on my best day. I might be able to block Aspen, but only if she didn't fight me. Even worse, I was one of the stronger instructors.

I was supposed to be in charge here, but I wasn't. We both knew it too, and while Aspen might ignore it, Torian wouldn't. Being humble wasn't in his nature. That meant my best course of action was to simply treat them like my betters - and hope like hell they didn't take advantage of me.

"I don't want her to know either of you were involved," I said. "This isn't her debt; it's ours. Liam and I want this to be real. We want to be a family, and we want her to be our daughter. Not some child, but her. She knows there will be magic involved, since she's not a stupid girl. She knows this could take a bit, but we didn't tell her how long. It's just that Liam thinks it's important for her to know we're not going to change our minds. That we're really her dads, and that if she needs us - especially with everything that just happened - she can talk to us."

"And my sister?" he asked.

This time, I was the one smiling. "That they're dating? Oh, Rain told us. She asked for advice, actually. We're not about to say a thing as long as we can pretend to ignore it."

"I mostly mean how she has a future ahead of her," he corrected.

I murmured in thought. "That has nothing to do with me. I have no intention of making someone else's decisions for them - either of them."