Page 129 of Phoenix's Fire

"And now you're helping," Emerton told me. "Just be careful tomorrow, okay? Our family has been lucky when it comes to the Moles, and we'd like to keep it that way."

"And any friend of our boy's is part of the family," Ahmik said.

Farina reached over to lightly touch my arm. "And when Cailyon starts talking about grandchildren?" She made a face and shook her head. "Just tell her no, because she would love to have a dozen to spoil."

"My friend is going to have a baby soon," I told her. "Meri. She was a Mole, but now she's a refugee, and Naomi said it's going to be soon."

"How soon?" Ahmik asked.

I shrugged. "Our calendars aren't the same, and Naomi said it could come early because she's too thin and weak."

Farina caught Emerton's eyes. "I'll talk to Naomi this evening. You can handle Cailyon."

"Or at least try," Emerton said. "It's part of her charm, though - and her son is just like her."

"It's part of his charm too," I said.

Which made the three around me laugh. Cailyon noticed.

"Are you hoarding that girl all to yourselves?" she asked. "Come here, Ayla. Let me see you?"

"Mother!" Rymar warned.

"Well, she's cute, sweetie."

Rymar shifted over, placing himself between me and his mom. "Mom, Mole women wereabused. Please have some sensitivity, okay? Ayla's my friend, and she knows I'm not going to hurt her, right?"

"I do," I promised as I made my way to him. Then I looked at his mother. "I also don't want children."

"But you're tailless!" she said.

"And I'm a Dragon," I told her. "That means I'm allowed to make my own decisions, I'm equal, and I don't have to do things I don't want to, right?"

"It does," Rymar agreed.

"And I don't want to have children. I don't want to get married." Then I looked up at him. "But I do like having real friends, and Rymar is one of those."

"Yeah, I am," he agreed, dropping his arm over my shoulder. "Mom, if you wanted more kids, you should've had them. I'm not in a rush, and right now, this one is keeping me busy. She's going to stop the Moles, you know."

"I'm trying," I said.

He rubbed my shoulder. "And you look tough today, Ayla. I bet those men won't even recognize you."

Which made me smile. "If they do, they won't be alive long enough for it to matter, right?"

"Exactly," he agreed, lifting his head to look at his entire mess of a family. "She's just one of the guys. We lost Tasult, but we got Ayla." He paused, then laughed once. "And that works better than I realized, because she's actually Saveah's sister."

"What?" Cailyon asked, sounding shocked.

"My mother was taken," I explained. "She had four children in the compound. I didn't know she was a Dragon. I didn't even know Dragons were people!"

"Tiesha?" Cailyon breathed, lifting a hand to cover her mouth.

I nodded. "She was my mother too."

"And my friend back when I was a girl," she said, looking at Rymar, then back at me. "Ayla, did you know you have a grandfather?"

I looked at Rymar. "What?"

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