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brACKEN

W e were going to be dads.

The morning after our big Christmas with Rain, Liam decided to schedule a meeting with his brother.

I tried to talk him out of it, but he was adamant.

After the Winter Solstice, he'd told Rain we wanted to adopt her.

When we'd had our big holiday as a family, the girl was obviously excited about the whole thing, but also guarded.

Liam said that was why he needed something tangible to show her it wasn't a pipe dream.

Foster kids knew the pain of being let down, but rarely the joy of someone truly loving them.

He simply wanted to make it clear he was completely serious - enough to tell his own family.

On the Sunday before New Year's Eve, he'd scheduled a meeting for him and Rain to go on a lunch date with John and Nancy Sparks.

The goal was to let her see exactly how committed we were to making her a part of our family.

I waited until he made it down to the atrium, then headed around the building. I loved that man with all my heart, and Rain was the perfect addition, but I couldn't stop worrying about what would happen if this didn't work. What if we couldn't get the paperwork done?

Neither of us lived in a suitable home to raise a family.

We were floor chaperones for an "elite private college.

" In truth, it was a magical training school for fae and part-fae children.

I was the weapons instructor, not the gym teacher.

Liam was her caseworker in the foster system.

None of this looked good on paper, but Liam didn't care.

He wanted this to happen, so I had to make sure it did.

That meant using my last favor.

When I finally reached the first door on the girls' side of the building, I lifted my hand to knock. My fingers barely rapped on the wood before a horrible cawing came from the other side. Behind that, I could hear someone moving. No more than two seconds later, the door opened.

"Bracken?" Aspen asked, pulling the door wider to invite me in. "Is something wrong? Rain just left."

"I know," I assured her. "I actually came to talk to you."

When she nodded, I stepped in, letting my eyes run across the veritable forest of fae plants she kept in here.

The magic from them leaked into the air, making it smell more fresh than anywhere else except the atrium.

Behind me, she shut the door, so I took the chance to close my eyes and simply breathe in.

She'd perfectly captured the smell of Avalon.

But inhaling the scent of fae flowers wouldn't get me out of this. Turning to face her, I said, "I need a favor."

Aspen's eyes narrowed. "I owe you one. What is it?"

Yeah, this was the hard part. Licking my lips, I tried to ignore how our roles were now reversed. I was supposed to be the teacher. She was supposed to be the student. We both knew that wasn't true, but we tried to pretend otherwise when we could.

"I don't have the power to adjust government-level paperwork out of sight." This time, I pushed my hand over my lips, hoping she wouldn't ask me to grovel - because I would.

I loved both Liam and Rain enough to hand over every last scrap of pride I had left.

I might not know Rain well, but for two months, I'd watched her bloom and flourish in my world.

The way she and Liam had bonded so tightly, so quickly?

I knew she was our little girl. She needed us, and the truth was, we needed her. Nothing else mattered but that.

"What papers?" Aspen asked, moving toward her bed. "Bracken, I've never done anything like that."

There, she reached down to grab her phone and began typing with both thumbs on the screen. I could hear the digital clicks of the keys. I also couldn't convince myself to move from my spot just inside her room.

"Adoption papers," I said. "Liam told Rain we're going to adopt her. That's what they're doing right now: going to tell the Sparks she won't be going back. I need to make sure it's the truth." I almost stopped there, but couldn't. "Aspen, I will pay anything for this. "

She pressed the button to send her message. "I can't do that," she admitted.

"Shit," I grumbled, turning for the door.

But a black streak flew between me and it, angling to land on my shoulder. "Jack!" the bird cawed. "Rain-Jack. Rain!"

"That's what I'm trying to do," I assured the wildling. "I just don't know how to make this happen, Jack."

"Jack!" he screeched into my face.

"Hey!" Aspen snapped. "Manners. You might be a prince, but that's my uncle!"

Jack just ruffled his feathers back into place like he was annoyed.

What he didn't do was leave, which meant I couldn't go anywhere until I convinced him to get on a perch.

As I turned back towards Aspen, something white flashed at the edge of the bathroom door, and then Torian stepped into the room.

No, he didn't come from the hall. Aspen's brother walked in from the bathroom door, which only led to Rain's room on the other side. I knew he hadn't been there a moment before. The guy's eyes landed on me, yet instead of looking guilty for what he'd done, he simply smiled.

"Bracken," he greeted me.

"Torian," I said in the same tone.

"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 a gate into 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 helping me , Torian." She walked over 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."