Charlotte handed her a robe, which Jillian slipped into and slumped into Bael’s side. He lowered his huge head to gently touch the top of her own. She laughed and kissed his snout.

Not for the first time, Charlotte felt like an intruder in a very intimate experience for this little family. She missed Leonard. Even though things were still unsettled between the two of them and she wasn’t even sure if he would use the removal potion when she made it–she missed him desperately. She wanted to text him, to let him know she was thinking of him, that she’d slept badly the night before, worrying that she’d ruined a relationship that was only starting. But she figured, “taking some time to think” probably meant a break in communication. She didn’t want to overstep again. But she missed feeling that growing connection between the two of them, the feeling of being understood, even when they disagreed. With seeing his face, her hours seemed just a little bit darker.

Of course, she was in a cave, which could have something to do with it.

She tried to give Jillian and Bael some privacy, disappearing into the shadows of the cave to fluff Jillian’s “nest” of pillows Bael had prepared and dig into Zed’s miracle coolers. She noticed a box marked, Books for when Bael is playing penguin.

Charlotte burst out laughing. “Because male penguins sit on the eggs, right?”

“Yes!” Jillian’s face brightened and made grabby hands for the books. “You get me.”

Charlotte eyed Dragon-Bael carefully as she passed Jillian the books. She held up a jar of dark golden broth swirled with flecks of sediment and bubbles of oil. “Apparently, Zed’s maman swears by this bone broth, according to the label. She makes it for every new mother in the parish. You’re supposed to sip it to restore all the stuff you just lost in labor.”

Bael grumbled, constricting tighter around his family like the great reptile he was. They stayed, cuddled together like that, for what felt like hours, while Jillian sipped her broth and read from a book titled Dragon Tales of Scandinavia. A lot of the stories seemed to involve human heroes being tricked and eaten by the dragons, but Jillian’s warm, gentle voice made them sound magical. Jillian read until Bael fell asleep and her own voice seemed to go hoarse.

“It just occurred to me why the egg is made out of metal,” Jillian said, leaning into Bael’s side. “It’s so tiny compared to the dragon’s body. It’s way too easy to crush. This whole magique thing is just full of amazing little intricacies like that. It almost makes the world make sense. Ours, at least.”