I nodded, feeling him nuzzle me. "Okay," I said, more to myself than in any response to him. "Okay." I jerked back into motion, walking like a robot with Dain trailing behind me, marched up onto the porch, and rang the doorbell. From inside, I heard voices, and then the sound of footsteps. Moments later, the door opened, and I was face-to-face with my mom.

"Hi, Mom," I said, and burst into tears.

My mom had her arms around me in seconds, crying just as hard as I was, and when the query of "Who is it?" wasn't answered, my dad and David followed close behind. We stood there for a long while, crying, my parents with their arms around my shoulders while I clung to my mom, and David with his arms wrapped around my waist.

Dain must have just been standing quietly at the foot of the stairs, because eventually David disentangled himself from me and asked, in the forthright way only children do, "Who's this guy you brought home with you?"

I started laughing, rather wetly, then sniffed and finally let go of my death-grip on my mom. With a trembling smile, I turned to look at Dain. He was horrible for me to look at with all his pieces missing and painted over with glamor, but at least I'd managed to cajole him into doing amber-brown eyes instead of pale green, which were marginally less awful to look into. He'd let me pick out his clothing, and despite the uncanny misery of the glamor, it was a treat to see him in jeans, workman's boots, and a nice v-neck t-shirt that fit him well. The shirt was black, of course; it wouldn't do to put the Beast of Phazikai in too much color.

"This is Dain Sundamar, who rescued me," I said, tousling David's hair. He'd grown quite a few inches in the intervening year, shooting up like a weed; he was going to be a tall man when he grew up. "Dain, this is my family. David is my brother, and these are my parents, Debbie and Javier Escarra."

Dain bowed to them, one hand over his heart. "It is a pleasure to meet the family of such a remarkable woman," he said, standing and smiling at them. "Though the circumstances were bleak, I am grateful beyond measure that fate saw fit to place her in my path."

"Why don't the two of you come inside, and I'll get you something to drink," my mom offered, still wiping her eyes but ever the hostess. "Are you hungry?"