Chapter 5.1

Chapter 5.1
Single Parenthood
Greg

Pandora had been gone for weeks, and Serene even longer.

It was a miserable time for Greg. Not only did he have to watch over three young dragons, but he had to feed, teach, and comfort them. All four of the remaining family members were pining away for those that were missing. Part of Greg missed Topaz and his loud, hostile personality. It kept things with the hatchlings interesting. Rubio and Star just could not hold a candle up to the sensitive stone dragon.

What was worse than the tiring rat race of care and tutoring was the time he was alone. He hated it more than anything. The silence brought about thoughts of Pandora and everything he wish he had said to her. Now he could not speak to her. Now he missed her more than ever.

When Serene was gone, things were far more peaceful between them. Pandora was not forced to go between Greg and the wily half-elf and she could focus on the hatchlings well being. He wondered if Pandora really understood how he felt.

“Greg?” the familiar voice of Star said, puncturing his dark thoughts. He welcomed the distraction and smiled at the girl.

“What is it, sweety?” he asked and held his arms out to her. She stepped into them and hugged his neck almost too tightly. He let out a tiny strangled noise and she loosened her grip.

“I miss Momma and Mother,” she told him. “When are they coming home?”

“When they have finished their business in the city,” he said and pushed back one of her golden curls. She was going to be a real heart breaker one day. He smiled at the thought of her dating. He would shoot someone. It would be great. If only there were guns.

“They haven't abandoned us, have they?”

“No, sweety,”he said and hugged her close. “Momma and Mother love you very much. They just have some business to take care of right now.”

“But when will they back?” she asked. Her sapphire eyes were watering up a bit.

“I don't know,' he admitted, “But I'll be here with you until they do get back.” He pressed his forehead against hers and she smiled slightly. “But I'm sure they miss you as much as you miss them. Do you feel all that longing in your heart?” he asked.

She nodded.

“It feels like so much because they are thinking about you when you're thinking about them.” He leaned back and tapped her nose. “You know you're loved.”

“Are they thinking about you?” she asked.

“I'm not nearly as dear to them as you are,” he said, “And I know that at least one of them is thinking about me.”“You mean Mother?” she pressed.

Greg felt as though she had just hit him hard in the gut. He knew, because she had hit him before. It was nothing to scoff about. After a moment he caught his breath and smiled weakly. “Well, I don't think Momma likes me as much as Mother does.”

She twisted her lips in that cute way that little girls did and it made his heart melt with all sorts of paternal feelings. They were almost his children now after so many years of caring for them. “Well, I love you and that is all that matters,” she said and hugged him as if to comfort him.
He held her tight again for a moment before his knees started to hurt so much he hand to stand up. He shook out the feeling. “It's time for your meditation with your brother and sister,” he said. “Where should we go today?”

“Oh! I know,” she said and clapped her tiny hands together excitedly. She bounced on her toes and her blond curls danced on her slender shoulders. “We should go by the river and sit on the stones.”

“Do you think so?” he asked.

“Yes! It would be the perfect place and it'll almost be like Topaz was there.”

Greg ruffled her hair, but it fell back into place as if he had never touched it. “Go get them and we'll discuss it,” he said and thought wistfully of Pandora's fingers turning into stone claws right before his eyes. The things she had a natural propensity for were beyond his comprehension, but he loved her anyway.

Star hesitated to watch him for a moment and then darted off with the fresh prospect of bossing her hatchmates around. Greg sighed as he watched after her and straightened his tunic. Yet another day.

He needed a vacation. Even his parents got a vacation from him every now and then.
Thoughts of his parents paralyzed him. How long had it been since his memory recalled them. They were shadows lost in the being he once was. Now he belonged to another world and another time. A numb, leadened feeling overcame his limbs as if to empathize with his mental discomfort.

He wondered if he would have forgotten his name—Greg White—if there were not two people willing to remind him on a regular basis. They learned his language as they taught him theirs, but they never mentioned his origins. They never asked about his parents or his childhood. That was his past. His language had been their one and only interest in it.

Slowly he worked his fingers until they could move again and rolled his neck and shoulders. He wiggled his toes in his boots for good measure.

“Thank you for breakfast, Greg,” Emerald said as she entered the room. Greg was not sure if she was enigmatic on purpose or if it simply was her nature, but sometimes Emerald freaked him out as he floated about in her own surreal nature.

“You're welcome, Emmy.”

“Star says she wants to go to the rocks by the river,” she said dispassionately. Her intense green eyes found his face in a slow, deliberate motion. “The shade there is nice, so I think it is a good idea.”

Greg nodded. “Where are the other two?”

“Oh, Star and Rubio are arguing again,” she said. “He desires sunlight and warmth. I cannot blame him. Star steals so much of his heat.”

“She is not that bad,” Greg said without much conviction. Star would sap out heat from Rubio just to make him angry. Both derived their power from heat, but Star did not use it as Rubio did.

“Greg, could we bring things for a picnic?” she asked. “I think we still have some good cheese in the larder.”

He nodded. “Certainly. Would you like to go get some then?”

She nodded. “You should probably check on Rubio and Star,” she said.

He agreed without a murmur or motion and entered the hallway that connected the living area to the bedrooms. He could hear the muffled voices of the children. Serene really did an astounding job with her dampening spells. He could not make out what they were saying until he was in a certain proximity of the room.

“You aren't the boss,” Rubio said. “Greg is and you can't tell me what to do.”

“You can't wear your nice clothes to the river,” shes aid.

“I can do what I want,” he said. “Don't touch me!”

“What seems to be the problem?” Greg asked.

Rubio and Star both jumped and stared wide eyed at Greg. He leaned casually against the door frame. Star looked guilty and Rubio appeared righteously angry with a hint of smug.
The red half-elf dragon puffed up his tiny chest and said something in Draconic Greg could not understand. He shook his head and Rubio tried again, “She was going to take heat from me!”

“Star, is that true?”

“No!” she said, but Greg could tell that she was lying. She pressed her chin hard on the top of her chest and peered at him from under her brows. It was an adorably pathetic expression, but Greg was too used to it to be moved. “Well, only a little. Just to make my point.”

“It is not nice to take Rubio's heat from him. He's already given too much of it away. You'll have to get yours just like he does.”

“But it doesn't work as well!” she insisted.

He shook his head. “Your magic demands a price unlike the others, I understand, Star, but you cannot syphon off Rubio's without his permission. You have lost your chance to get a gold piece today. If you misbehave again I'll take something back.”

She gasped with her mouth wide open, but it snapped shut and her sapphire eyes glimmered and glowed with rebellion. She simply nodded her head, however. She did not like to talk back to Greg, and he was glad for it.

“And Rubio, you will wear your play clothes, not your nice cloths.”

“But Greg, we don't go anywhere! What do I need good clothes for if I can't wear them?” he asked.

“You know you wear those when you go to see Grizzle or if we have guests.”

“The only guest we ever have is blind old Tokyo,” he said with a huff and kicked at the stone as if there was a pebble there to send flying across the floor and against the wall.

“You must always be prepared,” he said. “Now, get ready to go. Emerald is packing us a picnic and you can tell me about all you read yesterday.”

“Do you think we could go egg hunting?” Rubio asked.

“No, you know how we have to be careful about that,” Greg said. “We have taken what we can this season.”

“We need chickens,” Rubio muttered. “Get out, Star, I can't change with you in here.”

“Greg is here,” she said.

“Greg is a boy. You're a girl.”

“Yeah, so?” she asked. “It's not like you have anything I haven't seen before.”

“Just leave,” he said.

“Why don't you go help Emerald, Star,” Greg said and she nodded. She paused beside him as she was leaving so that he could put his hand on top of her head. With that done she vanished around the corner.

“Your Mother does not want live stock around,” he said. “We have no means of tending to any such creatures.”

“Mother worries too much,” he said glumly. “We would figure something out.”

“Not without drawing attention to ourselves,” he said. “Remember what happened the last time people knew about us?”

“That was so long ago!” he protested. “Just because Mother almost died last time...”

“That is important, Rubio. Let's not put the family in undue trouble because of your fondness for eggs. In a couple of weeks we can go see grizzle and see if he has anything for us. That's the best I can do.”

Rubio pouted and with some more prompting pulled on his work clothes. They were a strange assortment of fabrics and leathers. His leggings were made of deerskin, but his boots were made out of boarskin and carefully cured and layered skins from varying animals Greg could no longer remember. Nothing was well made, but it worked well enough.

Emerald and Star were waiting at the entrance to the complex when Greg and Rubio found them. Star looked as though she were a pressure cooker that had too much in it. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes were narrowed into thin slits. Her little mouth was smaller and whiter. Emerald looked as calm and uncaring as ever. Greg eyed them suspiciously, but said nothing on the subject. He could guess what happened, and did not need any details. No one was hurt, after all.

“Come on, ladies and gent,” Greg said, “But the snows will be falling soon so lets enjoy the last warm day we may get.”

“I hate snow,” Rubio said with a preemptive shiver.

“We'll have to double check the heating stones for you, Rubio,” Greg said.

“I think we should move some place warmer,” he said, grumbling. Greg knew full well that Rubio could regenerate his own heat quickly, but he preferred to be brimming with warmth.

“Snow is not so bad,” Emerald said. “It makes for great fun.”

Star and Rubio both made disgusted faces. They were twisted to such a point they should be ugly with their curled lips, but they still managed to look adorable. Emerald came alive in the stone...in some ways.

It would be her first snow in human form, and he could only imagine the terror she would wreak on everyone. She loved to burrow through it and startle her siblings. Rubio was always a wreck. He loathed the cold as much as Emerald enjoyed it.

The walk to the river was a cool one and probably less appreciated than it deserved. When they first moved to the valley it was a harsh place for them. They were city dwellers through and through and they had to use their magic and limited science in innovative ways to survive. I was not until a couple of years later that Greg took the time to admire the woods and meadows around his home. By now the beauty rarely struck him.

The children named birds and plants and their discovered properties as they walked along narrow path. They wove around trees and bushes in an attempt to disturb as little as possible. It was a fun game for Rubio and Star as they tried to joke with Greg.

When they reached the stone formation by the river Greg had them all settle down. Rubio was reluctant, but after an insinuation that he may lose his gold piece for the day he slumped down and sulked. His wild red hair flapped in the small breeze in a sad little display as if to empathize with him.

“All right, clear your mind and reach out to your elements,” he said. They took very little coaching anymore. He used to rattle on to them for ages to get their minds to clear, but it was only a moment before the world seemed more attuned to them and them to it. Greg could always feel the change, but Pandora and Serene always seemed to miss it.

He sat down and dangled his feet over the side of the stone and allowed his feet to dangle as he pondered how to survive winter without Pandora there to help replinish the food stores. She had filled it as much as she could, but without a dimensional spell it was impossible to store as much as they needed. It always had been.

He watched the water ripple and swirl, and the pattern lulled his mind to rest. He sighed softly with a wistful smile before the water flattened out before him in a circle. The rest of the moving water rushed around it. He choked his heart back down from his throat as he peered down into the image. Serene was not what he wanted to see.