On cue, Melanie let out a horrendous wail. Babies were truly the best at keeping their parents from touching each other. With a rueful smile, he hurried into the nursery and found her yelling. Since she’d eaten—yeah. Judging by the smell, she needed yet another change. He handled it deftly, as he was frankly better with child-rearing chores than Leanne. To him, it seemed fair that he should do the heavy lifting now, as she’d done it for the ten months prior—swollen ankles, stretch marks, nausea, weird cravings, constantly needing to pee, birthing pain. His beautiful witchy wife had run the gauntlet making this precious—

Lights. Just like the ones Leanne had conjured for him the night he’d learned she was a witch. And they danced around the nursery, now that Melanie was clean, dry, and content. If he hadn’t already known there was a good chance his daughter would be a witch also, he might be freaking the fuck out. As it was, he stared in wonder for a few seconds.

Then he called, “You might want to check this out, Butterfly.”

She came to the doorway, puzzlement melting into a pure, incandescent joy. Sparkles and shimmers cascaded over them as Melanie kicked her chubby legs on the changing table. Trev snapped her onesie back in place and picked her up. The baby waved her fists, trying to catch the fairy lights she’d brought into being, just by existing.

“In the old days,” Leanne whispered, “before we could live freely, I’d have sewn charms into all her baby clothes. To prevent a mishap like this.”

“It’s not a mishap,” he said instantly.

“I know. It’s such a gorgeous, unforgettable moment. I’m so glad we don’t have to hide this anymore.” Eyes soft and tender, she leaned over to kiss their daughter on her soft cheek. “Welcome to the world, little witch. It’s different than the one I grew up in.”

This moment, this one—he could ask for nothing more. Once, he didn’t even have the energy to hope, let alone dream, and then this incredible woman changed his life. Forever.

Epilogue

Six months after witches stepped into the light with astonishingly little fanfare, lost amid other headlines, other paranormal communities came forward as well—shifters, psychics, descendants of the fae, and some said vampires as well, though they remained well hidden and yet distrustful of outsiders. Human governments scrambled to legislate and figure out how to capitalize on these hidden resources, while life appeared to go on as usual.