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you about something else. What’s the deal with
Z Team? You have some bad history with them?”
    “Not exactly. I just think that bestowing
knighthoods on them is ludicrous. It makes a laughing stock of us
all.”
    “Why?”
    “Because, Elora, they’re loose cannons.
Rebellious anarchists who are proud of their non-conformity, and
their first loyalty is to their teammates and not to The
Order.”
    Elora laughed in his face. “Storm! You just
described B Team. It sounds like the only difference between them
and us is that we dress better, sometimes, and don’t wear ink.”
    “ You know what the other
knights call them? Team Fuck Up! Say what you want, but B Team
didn’t end up in Marrakesh, the last outpost before you fall off
the Earth.”
    “Okay. Okay. Calm down. You just act like
they’re a personal affront.”
    “They are. That’s what I’m trying to tell
you.”
    “You resent them.”
    “Yes.” Elora tried to make her features as
blank as possible. “You think I’m being a self-righteous
prick.”
    “I did not say that.”
    “Well, you didn’t have to. I know you.”
    “Not that well.”
    “Really? Then tell me I’m wrong about what
you were thinking.” Elora opened her mouth to argue, but ended up
laughing because he’d nailed it. “Like I said. I. Know. You.”
    “Kay. Have a good day.”
    He smiled and saluted.
     
     
    The next morning Storm and
Litha awoke to the sounds of a happy little girl coming from the
next room. As they lay in bed and looked into each other’s eyes,
each wondered if the other was reading their thoughts, which were a
conflicting mixture of delight and dread. They couldn’t wait to see
what changes in Rosie the morning might bring. At the same time,
they were in no hurry to see what might have happened
overnight.
    When they heard the
sweetest voice in the universe say, “Momma. Daddy,” they watched
each other as they mirrored a reaction that went from slack-jaw
surprise to smiling eyes. Okay. So it wasn’t going to be an average
family living an average life. Had either of them been naïve enough
to expect that? Well, maybe. But people who were extra-human,
married to other people who were extra-human, should be smart
enough to know better. These were the thoughts that ran through the
minds of Rosie’s parents as they watched each other silently come
to terms with their unusual circumstances.
    Storm pulled Litha close for a quick snuggle
and a smooch on the lips.
    “We better go get our
little girl before she starts calling Child Protective
Services.”
    Litha smiled. “Go ahead
and joke, but she probably knows how to use a phone.”
    The two of them rolled out
on opposite sides of the bed and then raced each other to the
nursery giggling, eager to see what the day had in store for the
three of them. As they suspected, it was an adventure in parenting.
A unique adventure.
    Rosie was standing up
holding onto the end of her crib, laughing at them as they came
through the door. Her dark curly hair was a tousled mess, three
inches longer than the day before and her eyes had settled into the
deep emerald gemstone color of Litha’s.
    “Hey, little girl.” Litha
reached to pick her up.
    Storm said, “Are you sure you should be
lifting her? I don’t think your body is healing at the same rate
she’s maturing.”
    “I’m fine,” Litha said smiling at Rosie.
    Rosie hummed and leaned
toward Storm. She reached a fat little dimpled hand toward his
cheek and patted. He was already a fool for the child, but that
affectionate little gesture tightened the bindings around his heart
making fatherhood feel almost painful.
    “Oh. So you like the big guy, do you? Well,
who could blame you? He’s one of a kind. And you could certainly do
worse.”
    He swallowed a lump that
caught in his throat while he listened to Litha massage Rosie’s
little spirit with soothing mother talk. She got the baby out of a
tight wet nightgown to ready her for a bath. While they were