Topic: Of Whispers and Plans

Lyneth Granger

Date: 2015-10-30 09:56 EST
"....down came the rain and washed the spider out; out came the sun and dried up all the rain, and itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again!"

Piper glanced up from her laptop as Dylan's by-now-familiar squeal of laughter erupted at the end of the nursery rhyme, not needing to look to know that Lyneth was tickling her baby brother to within an inch of his life again. She smiled fondly to hear them playing together, sliding her glasses down from her nose as she leaned back to look through the kitchen door to where the two little people were on a soft quilt on the living room floor under their father's supervision. "Are we having fun in there?"

"Why don't you take a break and come join us?" Des called from the living room. He was sorting through their movie collection for something to amuse at least one of their children. He had flatly refused to let them watch Frozen again, insisting there had to be something else that would interest them. He didn't say so, but he thought Piper might be able to help.

"I'm saving now!" Piper called back with a chuckle. She'd been working on the next manuscript for a couple of hours, but that was all she would allow herself over the course of a day at the moment. Dylan was too small to be left for long, and to be honest, she enjoyed her time with Des and their children too much to sacrifice it for work. Snapping the computer closed, she tucked her glasses back into their box, and rose to her feet, laughing as Loki crept out from under the table with her. "Oh, you daftie, I didn't even know you were there," she told the Malamute fondly, bending to scratch his ears as they made their way into the living room.

The big dog immediately loped over to lick Lyneth's cheek, taking advantage of Knip not being around to chastise him for it, making the little Fae giggle wildly as she wiped her cheek dry. "Mummy, Daddy says we can watch a movie, but not Frozen," Lyneth piped up, dropping Des right in it as usual with her charming smile.

As much as he loved his daughter, he didn't think he could bear to watch it again, but he was willing to compromise. "Lyneth, you've seen it a million times," Des argued. "Besides, I'm taking you to see the ballet, remember?" He had been informed that The Snow Queen ballet was based on the same story as Frozen, but for a few important differences. "Your friends Maggie and Doran are in it, I think." How did he know all this" Simple ....Piper had told him. "You don't want to get sick of it before we see the ballet, do you?"

"Can we tell Maggie when we're goin' so's she can come and see us in the indy-well?" Lyneth asked hopefully, one hand in Dylan's grasp as he sucked on her fingers. No matter what her little brother wanted to do, she was more than happy to oblige him, which had admittedly taken a good deal of the pressure off Piper and Des when it came to entertaining two children of very differing ages.

Piper grinned, leaning against Des' back to look down at the boxes in his hands. "I'll have to remember that one," she murmured against his ear. "Jon's fallen down the indy-well again."

"You mean the intermission?" Des asked, tossing a few more possibilities into a small pile in an attempt to narrow the movie selection down to a few. "Of course, you can tell Maggie!" He looked over at Piper, knowing who wore the pants in the family. "When are we going?"

"The indy-well, yeah," Lyneth nodded absently, wiping her now wet hand on Dylan's t-shirt as he flailed and kicked on the quilt next to her. "I fink Dylan did a poo."

Piper rolled her eyes with a smile, kissing Des' cheek. "You're going on Saturday, in the afternoon," she reminded him fondly. "I'll deal with the stinky bottom."

"On Halloween?" he asked, wondering if that was such a good idea, though it would keep a certain little miss busy until it was time to go Trick or Treating. He wondered if the stinky bottom might be easy to deal with than picking a movie. "Okay, I've got it narrowed down to these three," he said, spreading the three movies out on the floor for Lyneth to choose from.

More than happy to let Mummy handle Dylan's stinky bottom, Lyneth came pottering over to Des to inspect the movies he had narrowed down for her, one arm slung about his neck to prevent him from standing up again. "Not that one," she immediately dismissed Winnie the Pooh. "Dylan's too little to sing along and he likes Poohbear." Leaning into Des, she considered her other options. "What's that one?" she asked, pointing to The Princess Bride. Her reading still wasn't quite up to snuff, but they were getting there slowly. She was only just coming up to four, after all, despite her physical appearance.

"That is The Princess Bride," he replied, picking it up so she could have a better look at the cover. "Have you seen it yet?" he asked, unsure if she had or not. "I think you'd like it. It's got romance and adventure and comedy. No fairies, though," he warned.

Lyneth frowned thoughtfully. It wasn't that she wasn't adventurous when it came to watching and reading new things; it was more that she was rebelling against the colder weather keeping her inside so much for the next few months. "Is it a good one?" she asked her father hopefully, turning those beautiful turquoise eyes on him for his opinion.

"I think so. Tell you what, we'll watch it for a little while and if you don't like it, we'll switch to something else. How's that sound?" he asked, thinking it would probably only take her about ten minutes to get hooked.

The little face looked thoughtful for a moment longer before she nodded, a smile creasing her features as she hugged him affectionately. "And it's Dylan's nap time, so I get you and Mummy all to myself!" she declared happily. As much as she loved her little brother, she did resent how much time he got with their parents right now, as any child would. A frown crossed her face. "Daddy ....why hasn't Nanny come to see me again?"

Desmond frowned at the question, gathering up the rejected videos and reaching over to return them to the shelf where they belonged. He had heard her refer to Tiernan as "Nanny" enough times to know who she was referring to. "I don't know, sweetheart," he replied honestly. He had been wondering the same thing. "Maybe he has and you just haven't noticed," he suggested, knowing her half-brother had the ability to change form, though Desmond wasn't sure what forms he could change into.

"Maybe." She bit her lip, still frowning. "I hope the horribubble hunty man didn't get him, 'cos that's mean," she said worriedly, one hand clinging onto Des' shoulder as he tidied up. "Should I try and talk to him, like with the birds and stuff" 'Cos he can be a bird and a woof and maybe he got stuck like he said he might if he stayed not a human for too long."

"Hunty man?" Des echoed, arching a brow as he straightened and turned to draw her into his lap. Whoever the "Hunty Man" was, it didn't sound good. "Maybe," he said. "Maybe if he knows you're worried about him and you miss him, he'll come to visit." Now Des was worried. Though Des hardly knew Tiernan, he was Lyneth's brother, and he had risked his own life to defend them against the Fae threat.

Lyneth Granger

Date: 2015-10-30 09:57 EST
She nodded, cuddling into him as he drew her onto his lap. Though Des was certain there was nothing special about him, Lyneth was convinced he was magic in his own way, simply because he always knew what to do and what to say to help her with her worries. She smiled, reassured that she'd had the right idea about finding out whether or not Tiernan was stuck as an animal. "Love you, Daddy," she said quietly, nestling into his arms. "Even when you smell like Dylan's poop."

He chuckled at her remark, hoping he didn't smell like poop too often. He did make sure to wash his hands. "Love you, too, Lynnie," he said, touching a fatherly kiss to the top of her head. "Can I ask you something?"

She paused in the act of inserting her thumb in her mouth - a habit she had picked up from Emily, of all people, and which Piper was trying hard to train her out of - and looked up at her father, her eyes trusting and warm. "Yes, Daddy," she nodded. "Only I might not know the answer, 'cos I am very little and cute."

"Yes, you are," he agreed with a soft smile, though they both knew better. Desmond knew Lyneth could grow herself up and appear to be any age she wanted to be. He knew there was a full grown Fae inside her somewhere, but that she preferred the life of a child for now, and who was he to argue" No one seemed ready to let Lyneth grow up yet, including Lyneth herself. "Who is the Hunty Man?"

"He's the bad daddy," she explained with a decisive nod. "Only he's not a daddy, not really, and Uncle Wufust showeded me pictures, and he said that the picture I pointed at was called the Hunter, and that must be what the bad daddy was. So I don't have to call him the bad daddy anymore because I know what he is, and he's horribubble."

Des sighed. He'd thought the threat was over, but it seemed he'd been wrong, at least, as far as Tiernan was concerned. That explained why he'd been staying away. "Maybe we should ask your brother to stay with us a while. Do you think he'd like that?" Though Desmond didn't want to bring any danger to his own family, he owed Tiernan a debt that he could never repay. Then again, if the half-Fae was staying away on purpose, he probably had a good reason for it.

Nibbling on her thumbnail, Lyneth considered this for a moment. "Maybe he would," she said finally. "Only he's not used to being all cuddled and stuff, and he might say no 'cos I'm too cuddly, and I don't mean to be too cuddly, but he's my big brother, and that makes him fambly, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does," Des agreed. "You remember when we first met' I wasn't very cuddly then either, but I'm cuddly now, aren't I?" he asked, trying to make her see that if there was hope for him, there was hope for Tiernan - at least, in theory. "Would you like to go see if we can send him a message" The movie can wait."

"Ooh, yes, please!" It didn't take much to make Lyneth excited, and with Piper going through the motions of changing and feeding Dylan before his nap, they had time to kill, besides. The little girl beamed hopefully up at Des. "I can't turn into a thingy, but maybe there's a bird or a woof that lives near us that can take him a letter, like the letters I writ with Maggie?"

"A thingy?" Des echoed, chuckling. He set The Princess Bride aside, for now, and moved to his feet, scooping Lyneth up with him and starting toward the back door. "Maybe," Des agreed, thinking a bird was more likely than a wolf, or so he hoped. "What about a fairy' Can you send a message with one of your fairy friends?"

If they'd lived on Maple Grove, a wolf might have been a good prospect, but in the middle of the city, a bird was definitely more likely. Tucked onto Des' hip, Lyneth held on trustingly as he scooped her up, fingers gripping his shirt as he headed for the back door. "You know, a thingy. Like what he did when he stealed my sammich." She giggled at the memory, still just as delighted at the whole episode as she had been when it happened. It wasn't every day a bird of prey stole a ham sandwich out of your hands, after all, even if he was your brother in disguise. "The dandelions are seedin'," she said thoughtfully. "Maybe one of them could do it."

"Oh, you mean a hawk," Desmond corrected as they made their way through the living and kitchen to the back door. "A hawk is a bird of prey. That means it has to hunt to find its food." He paused a moment, a worried look on his face. "You don't think he got stuck in his animal form, do you?" he asked, remembering her having mentioned that possibility. He hadn't seen any wolves around, and birds were a dime a dozen, but a hawk was a particular kind of bird and not the kind that seemed inclined to hang around the backyard.

"He said he might if he stayed in it for too long," the little girl agreed quietly. "But he didn't say what too long was, and I don't know how to find out, and he didn't teach me how to change yet because he hasn't been here." She looked at Des worriedly. "What if he's hurt and he can't tell anyone 'cos all he can do is go caw?"

Desmond didn't want to think about that, though he couldn't help but bite back a chuckle at the way the little girl phrased it. He cleared his throat to banish the chuckle that was threatening. This was serious business, after all. "Ahem, well ....You're his sister. Don't you think you'd sense it if something was wrong?" he asked. Though he wasn't sure how it all worked, he thought she must have some connection with her brother, especially since they were both Fae.

The look she gave him was all child, with very little of the grown Fae he knew was in there evident at all. "I don't know," she admitted. "I'm not a very good magicker, 'less it's wiv plants and fairies and crystals and stuff." She considered this for a moment. "Do you think the trees would know if Nanny's hurted?"

She knew more about these things than Desmond did, and child or not, he trusted her instincts. Those instincts had saved his life once upon a time, after all. "I don't know, sweetheart, but it wouldn't hurt to ask, would it?" Or maybe to ask the fairies who made their homes in the trees. It stood to reason that Tiernan had far more mastery of magic than Lyneth did, considering he was older, though Desmond had no way of knowing what exactly that magic was capable of. They reached the back door and Des set Lyneth on her feet so he could wrap a jacket around her against the autumn chill before doing the same for himself.

"No, 'cos I know the trees talk to each other when it's all windy and stuffs," she nodded, feet dangling for a moment before he set her down. She held out her arms to be helped into her jacket. "You know when it's windy and all the trees go shhhh' That's them talking to each other. They talk about silly stuff mostly, but sometimes they make sense, too."

"But you haven't heard them mention your brother," he said, more a statement than a question. If anyone had overheard them, they might think them both crazy, but then this was Rhy'Din and Lyneth was no ordinary child. He drew her arms into the jacket and carefully zipped it up to keep the wind out.

She shook her head, lifting her chin obediently as the zipper came upward. Behind them, her Kneazle was watching with interest, although it couldn't have been more obvious that there was no way in hell he was going outside when it was nice and warm in here. Loki, on the other hand, was already by the door, never one to let anyone go outside without his company, no matter what the weather was like. "No, 'cos if they were talking about Nanny, they would of told me," the little half-Fae nodded once again. "And I can't ask Pinea, 'cos she's still a bit sleepy-like, but maybe I can ask Leucobala, 'cos she's still awake and not all baldly yet."

Lyneth Granger

Date: 2015-10-30 09:58 EST
Though this conversation seemed perfectly normal to Desmond these days, only a few short years ago, he wouldn't have believed it. "We'll ask Leucobala then," he replied, or rather, she would. He wasn't a Fae and had no idea how to talk to the plants and trees or the creatures that abided within them. He grabbed a jacket from the coat rack and drew it over his shoulders, before opening the back door and letting Loki head out in front of them.

The Malamute loped outside happily, bounding into the garden to snuffle about in search of his favorite rope toy, as Lyneth inserted her hand into her father's to pull him outside with her. Their garden was enviably well-maintained with very little effort needed on the side of the family who lived in the house; out of love for their little faery-child, the fairies made certain to keep the weeds out of their garden with a certain ruthless efficiency. Little voices piped their hellos in their own language as father and daughter made their way over the lawn to where the big oak tree was rustling softly, what was left of her leaves stubbornly clinging on in defiance of the winter to come.

Desmond was privileged enough to be able to see the fairies and hear them voice their welcome, but when it came to communicating back, he was at something of a loss. Oisin was the only fairy he'd ever had a conversation with, and one could argue that Oisin wasn't technically a fairy but a house brownie. There was a difference, after all. "How do you know it's a she and not a he?" he asked, curiously as they made their approach, hand in hand.

Lyneth looked up at him, surprised by the question. "Because she's a dryad," she said simply. "Boy trees don't have dryads or fairies. They make acorns, but their acorns don't grow 'less a fairy plantses it. But a girl tree can make a special acorn once a year and that will grow into a new tree wiv a dryad in it. And it's the same wiv - with -" She tested the word to get it right before continuing. "With all the girl trees what don't make acorns, too."

"If she can make a special acorn once a year, shouldn't we look for it and plant it for her?" he asked, further. He was learning, slowly, but some of this was still a little confusing to someone who'd never believed or even known about such things before.

Lyneth shook her head, grinning. "No, 'cos she gives it to a special fairy what takes it and plants it somewhere else," she explained, pausing beside the smaller oak in their garden which had been planted there only a couple of years before. "This is one of her daughters, though." She laid a hand against the slender trunk, and the empty branches shivered for a moment. Des would remember the day that tree had been planted; it had been grown by Lyneth herself, wanting to impress him, and the little dryad within had been killed when a frightened man had stamped on her. But Leucobala had donated her own acorn to bring the little tree back to life, with the help of the other fairies that inhabited their garden.

"I remember," he said, still a little bit in awe of it all, in wonder at how much of the world he had taken for granted without seeing or knowing about the magic of nature. "You've been taking good care of her," he said, partly praise and partly simple observation.

"She's asleep already," the little girl told him with a giggle, removing her hand from the trunk to let the young dryad sleep. "Oops." Still, there was a certain amount of mischief in her eyes as she looked up at her daddy. "Shall I tell you what she's dreaming about' Boys!"

"Boys?" he echoed, a little surprised. He assumed she didn't mean human boys, but what kind of boys then" As he understood it, dryads could only be female. The more she told him, the more confused he became.

"She's a bigger, but not a growed up," Lyneth informed him sweetly, as though this explained everything. "Here we are." Letting go of his hand, she made her way to the thick trunk of the large oak and wrapped her arms as far about its girth as they would go, nestling her cheek against the bark. The big tree shivered, just as the smaller one had done, and above Lyneth's head formed the image of the smiling dryad who lived within it. One branch lowered to touch the little half-Fae's back gently as the two communicated in a series of strange whispering sounds that almost sounded like coherent language on the edge of hearing.

It didn't really explain anything, but he had a feeling the time for questions was over. He watched in undisguised wonder as the dryad who lived within the heart of the oak made herself known to greet Lyneth and then it seemed the two of them were communicating in some way, though Desmond couldn't make out a word of it. He felt privileged to be able to witness this, to know without doubt there was so much more to the world than met the eye. He nodded a greeting to the lady of the oak, but remained quiet as the Fae child and dryad communed.

It did not take long for the little conversation to be over, and the branch rose once again. The dryad lingered a moment longer to extend her smile to Des, before her image faded back into the bark of the tree. Lyneth kissed the bark gently, and drew back, pattering over to her daddy's side with a satisfied smile. "She said something about a big hunt and woofs but she doesn't know what they huntin'," she informed him confidently. "And she said she will ask inna wind tonight about Nanny."

He found the dryad to be all at once alien and beautiful, in a strange sort of way. She wasn't beautiful in the way one would judge a human woman, but she was beautiful just the same. "Hmm," he murmured. The hunt could be anything, but with luck the dryad would hear something on the wind later that night that would comfort the little Fae girl. "Did you tell her thank you?" he asked, reminding her about her manners, even when it involved a tree spirit.

Lyneth nodded vehemently. "I did, I said please and thank you and said I hoped she has nice dreams while she's sleepin', and if I don't see her again before she goes to sleep, I will see her inna spring," she assured him, pleased with herself for being a polite little person for once. Usually she pushed the cheek to the very limit of what she could get away with.

"I think you'll see her again before she goes to sleep," he said. She'd have to in order to find out if she'd heard anything on the wind, wouldn't she" Of course, one could never assume with Lyneth. "Do you want to go back inside now or would you like to stay here a while longer?" he asked, in no hurry to go back inside, knowing winter was coming.

"Can we stay out here a bit?" she asked hopefully. It was no secret that she loved the outdoors, and generally resented the bitterness of winter for keeping her inside more than usual, though she weathered it well enough. After all, if the weather was calm in winter, she was allowed to get as wet and muddy as she liked, so long as she remembered to come in when she was cold. "Only if you not cold, Daddy."

"I'm not cold," he replied, moving over to take a seat on the wooden picnic bench he'd built for them over the summer. "I've always liked fall," he told her, as he drew her close. "I'm not sure why. It just seems like a peaceful time of year."

"Everything's goin' to sleep what sleeps inna winter time," the little half-Fae told him, cuddling close on the bench at his side. "Like most of the flowers and the trees what go bald, they sleep and they dream and while they dreamin', they grow again under the ground and in spring when they wake up, they stretch, and we can see them again."

Lyneth Granger

Date: 2015-10-30 09:59 EST
"You can't see them in winter at all?" he asked curiously, though he supposed it made sense that if the fairies and dryads were sleeping, they'd be hidden from view, even from a little Fae girl who loved them so much.

She shook her head. "Not if they're sleepin'," she told him. "They go inside the ground. But there's some flowers what wake up inna winter, like snow drops and stuff, and trees like Pinea what stay awake all year and just nap."

"What if you had to wake them for some reason' Could you do that?" There were animals that slept through winter, too, but he assumed if they sensed danger or were disturbed, they might awaken early. Still, this was all very interesting, but it didn't explain what had happened to Nanny ....er, Tiernan.

She thought on this for a long moment. "I s'pose you could, if you really, really had to," she conceded, "but then they'd be all turned around and it would take them years and years to get it right again, so it's not a very nice thing to do."

Des watched as Loki poked about the yard looking for the perfect place to do his business. It was a brisk afternoon, but nothing compared to winter. "You never answered my question earlier," he pointed out, his thoughts turning back to that of her missing Fae brother. "Would you like Tiernan to stay with us a while, until he gets himself settled?" If he hadn't already, that was.

"What question?" Lyneth asked, in the process of excavating one nostril with a wriggling finger. She looked up at him as he repeated his query, pausing to chew on the bogey she'd found before answering. "If he wants to," she nodded. "And only if you and Mummy really want him to, 'cos I know Mummy doesn't really like Fae peoples."

"Lyneth," Desmond said sharply to get her attention, knowing she knew better than to, well, pick her nose. He shook his head at her, not even bothering to remark on why he was shaking his head, as he batted her hand away from her face. "I haven't talked to Mummy about it yet. I wanted to ask you first."

"Sorry." The fact that she wasn't really sorry didn't factor into it - at least she'd apologized for her anti-social behavior. "I would like Nanny to stay," she said, moving on quickly. "But only if he wants to."

He didn't mention it again. Though he often thought she knew exactly what she was doing, there was some part of her still that was just a little girl, and he didn't have the heart to scold her very often. "Well, hopefully, your message will reach him," he said, rubbing his hands together to ward off the chill. "What do you say we go back inside and make some hot chocolate?"

"Anna movie," she reminded him, wriggling down off the bench with a grin. She held out her hand to him, realized it was the one that had been involved in the nose picking, and held out the other one for him to take. "And you and me and Mummy can cuddle onna sofa."

"As you wish," he replied with a grin, though she'd likely not see the irony in that until she watched the movie. He whistled for Loki as he moved to his feet and wrapped his big hand around her little one. "Come on, Princess. We've got a date on the couch."

Lyneth beamed, giggling as Loki emerged from the bush he'd been investigating to bound over to them in answer to the whistle. The big Malamute was soggy with the dew he'd picked up from the leaves, pausing to shake himself dry as the little girl squealed with laughter. "Loki got me all wet!"

Desmond laughed, as he led child and dog back inside. "Even more reason to make hot chocolate!" He glanced at the oak tree one last time, hoping Lyneth would hear something from her brother sometime soon. If he didn't want to be part of her life, he could at least tell her good-bye.

As they left the garden, a gentle whisper from the plants waved them good-bye. Even sleeping, Lyneth's fairies knew when she was there and when she was gone. In the kitchen, they found Piper humming as she paced back and forth, lulling Dylan down into sleep. She smiled at the pair of them as they came back in. "You look like you had a satisfying outing."

"A wet outing is more like it, thanks to Loki!" Desmond replied with a chuckle. "I'm gonna get Lyneth changed and then we're gonna make some hot chocolate," he told her, assuming Dylan would be down for his nap by then and Piper would joining them.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Piper smiled, crouching just far enough for Lyneth to kiss her baby brother as he sighed in his sleep. "I'm almost done here," she promised Des with a smile, rising onto her feet while Lyneth turned her attention to getting her jacket off with Knip mewing instructions at her from his favored place on one of the kitchen chairs. "He's knackered out, but a bit resistant to actually sleeping."

"Would you like me to take him?" Des volunteered, waiting for Lyneth to kiss her baby brother before working on getting her out of her soggy coat. Maybe she wouldn't need to change her clothes after all. He could just as easily put Dylan down for a nap as make hot chocolate, and he left it up to Piper to decide.

Still rocking gently back and forth, Piper smiled. "No, we're almost there," she assured him. "You can do bedtime later."

"'Cos me and Mummy is sharing a bath!" Lyneth declared, abruptly shushed before she could split the air with another loud exclamation of sound. "Oops. Sorry, Dyl."

Desmond chuckled, unworried if Dylan awoke. This was what having a family was all about, and he was loving every minute of it. "Have you decided on a Halloween costume yet or are you going as a fairy again?" he asked, as he got her out of the coat and hung it to dry.

"Of course I'm going to be a fairy," Lyneth pouted at the suggestion of her doing Halloween as anything else. "I'm a good fairy, and this year I has a pretty dress and wings and a crown like a fairy queed."

Chuckling, Piper slipped from the room. Dylan was finally asleep enough to settle down and leave to his dreams for an hour or so.

Desmond furrowed his brows at her, unsure if she was mispronouncing queen on purpose or if she was catching a cold. He wondered when Halloween had become so tame. Where were the ghosts and goblins and zombies nowadays" Then again, here in Rhy'Din, there were more than enough of those to go around, so who was he to complain that she wanted to dress up as a fairy ....again. "You do realize that Halloween is about dressing up as something you're not, right?" he asked, though he wasn't going to push the issue.

"But I'm not a fairy queed," she pointed out, and yes, she was deliberately mispronouncing the word. "M'anda says I look like Tinky Bell." She gasped, a really mischievous expression on her face. "Daddy, Daddy, you could wear tights and we could be Peter Pan and Tinky Bell!"

Lyneth Granger

Date: 2015-10-30 10:00 EST
"Tights?" he echoed, not looking too thrilled with that idea. If anyone got wind of him wearing tights, he'd never hear the end of it. "I'm a little old for Peter Pan, don't you think?" Yeah, that was it. He was too old. And he had a bit of a beard, too. He'd make a horrible Pan. Now, Captain Hook ....That was another story.

"Or, or, or ..." Lyneth was way ahead of him on that one. "Mummy could be Peter Pan, 'cos girls play Peter Pan onna stage, she says, and you could be Captain Hook, and we could give Dyl a beard and make him Smee!"

Desmond laughed at that suggestion, which was far better than having to wear tights. "Or he could be one of the Lost Boys," Desmond suggested. "Marshmallows or no marshmallows?" he asked as he gathered up the hot chocolate fixings.

"Marshy mallows!" Lyneth crowed delightedly, moving to drag her little step out so she could help him putting the chocolate together. "What if Mummy was Wendy, and you was Hook, and I'm Tinky Bell, and we made Dylan Peter Pan?"

"We could," he replied, as he set a pan on the stove to heat up the milk and melt the chocolate. Though it didn't quite work to have a baby Pan, it didn't really matter as it was all in good fun. "I was thinking maybe we'd invite Uncle Jason and Aunt Bethany over for Halloween. What do you think?"

"Oooh, can we?" she asked hopefully, leaning on her forearms to watch him at work. "'Cos we could go trick or treatin' with them if they dressed up. Can we make them dress up" As ....um ....Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter and Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee."

He chuckled at her suggestion. "I can suggest it, but I think it's up to them to decide who they want to dress up as." Though he had to admit that it would be pretty hysterical to see his friend dressed up as the Mad Hatter. "I have to check with Mummy, but I think we're going trick or treating at the Grove."

"Yay! After we see The Snow Queen!" Lyneth clapped her hands happily, truly delighted with how full her Saturday was becoming. It wasn't a surprise that she had finally decided against a birthday party, with Halloween happening so close to her birthday. Saturday was the stand in for the party, and she'd have her presents on Wednesday.

"And what are you so excited about, may I ask?" Piper asked as she came back into the kitchen, bending to embrace the little mischief about the waist and hug her, both looking up as Des curiously.

"We were just talking about Halloween," he replied. "I was telling her we might go trick or treating at the Grove, and I was thinking about asking Jase and Beth to stay the night, but I haven't had a chance to talk to you about it yet." They were definitely seeing the ballet in the afternoon though. It was going to be a busy weekend!

"Well, I don't see why we can't," Piper mused, looking down to rub noses with the upturned face presented to her as she grinned. "I can amuse Jason and Beth while you two are out, and so long as you're ready to get dressed up when you get home, we can go trick or treating on the Grove. Maybe we could all stay at the big house for the night, with Humphrey and Jon and Vicki."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied as he poured the melted chocolate and milk mixture into three separate cups. He'd been thinking about that a bit lately. They were only one of a few families who didn't live at the Grove, and so far, things had been going well, but it was probably safer at the Grove, and he'd be closer to work. Now wasn't the time to discuss it though, with Lyneth patiently waiting for her hot chocolate and movie. "Ready to add the marshmallows, Lynnie?"

"Ooh, can I?" As with all small children, no matter how unusual she might be, Lyneth was very easily pleased. She shrugged free of Piper's embrace to grab the bag of marshmallows. "How many each?"

"Oh, maybe six or so," he replied. It was really a matter of personal preference, but knowing Lyneth, if he didn't give her a limit, she was likely to go a little overboard with the marshmallows. "Shall we count them?" he asked, making a game of it.

She made a face, but obediently started counting as her little hand fished out the tiny marshmallows to plop on top of their drinks. Smirking, Piper slipped to the living room to set up the movie ready to play, knowing that all Lyneth was going to want to do when they were done was cuddle anyway. "One ....two ....fwee ....four ....five ....sex ..."

Desmond smirked, pretty sure his daughter was mispronouncing the numbers on purpose, but he didn't bother to correct her. Half the time, she was doing it to be cute and the other half to be funny, and who was he to spoil her fun? Once the marshmallows were added and the movie was ready, the three of them snuggled up on the couch with Lyneth in the middle, while Dylan napped peacefully in the nursery. There had been a time when Lyneth had worried her parents might love Dylan more, but they had proved her wrong. No matter how demanding their young son might be, Des and Piper both made sure that Lyneth was never forgotten or ignored and that there was never any doubt in her mind that they loved her.

It was that certainty that had saved her when the Hunter had come to claim her as his daughter, and that certainty which had brought her back to them in the nick of time. It was also that certainty that she was loved which brought about worry for her big brother, wherever he might be - a big brother who was just like her, but who had never had the security of his loving family to protect him from becoming more fully Fae. Cuddled down between her parents, Lyneth smiled to herself, her decision made. Whether Tiernan wanted it or not, he would be a part of her family, regardless.