Nathan Poole is ready to become Sarah's Warden, but a long lost family heirloom changes his life and future.     Trial and Heiress Chapter 6 By Amethyst

Thanks as usual to Eof for a great universe to play in and to Eof, Maggie F and Donjo for their input. And thanks to my readers for reading what I put out here and being patient when new chapters are delayed.

I sat impatiently in the waiting room. I was doing what one would expect in a waiting room, waiting. It would have been fine with me had I been waiting for something I was looking forward to, but sadly that wasn't the case. Instead I sat in the waiting room of Dr. Sandra Brand, flipping through a two year old copy of Woman's World and trying not to cringe at the thought of my first doctors appointment as a girl. The only good thing about the situation was that I had been allowed to leave school early for this.

I wished, not for the first time, that Sarah or my mom had been able to come with me today. Rick had offered to come with me but that would have just been weird. I was shaken out of my thoughts by the sound of my name. “Natalie Poole?” The receptionist repeated, “Dr. Brand is almost ready for you, please come with me to the examining room.”

“I'm Natalie,” I answered as I rose and put aside my magazine with a sigh before following the receptionist past two examining rooms.

She gestured to a third examining room with an open door. “Please remove your clothes and put on the gown on the examining table, Dr. Brand will be with you in a few moments.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, not really feeling grateful at all as I entered the room and closed the door behind me. I took one look at the flimsy paper gown on the examining table and cursed. “Shit. No, this isn't going to be awkward and embarrassing at all. Thanks a lot Mom.” I reluctantly removed my clothes, put the stupid gown on and sat on the bed to wait. I ended up waiting another ten minutes in that cold room before I heard a light knocking at the door.

The knocking was followed almost immediately by the door opening to allow Dr. Brand to enter. My mom’s doctor, I guess she was my doctor now too, was a bit on the short side with light brown hair and such light brown eyes that they almost appeared amber. She smiled at me, “Hello Natalie, Dr. Dennis and your mother informed me about your unique circumstances. I'll try to make this as painless as possible.” I think her smile was supposed to reassure me but I was decidedly not reassured.

“Let's just get this over with,” I muttered.

Dr. Brand began by checking my breathing, and heart rate with a very cold stethoscope. Once both were seen to be okay, she checked my weight, height, reflexes and pretty much everything else she could think of. Finally she performed some more detailed examinations that I would rather not think about, let alone divulge here. Finally she finished and went outside while I changed back into my clothes.

I had barely finished putting my hoodie back on before she once again knocked and entered the room. “So will I live?” I asked, to hide my discomfort over the very personal examination she had just finished putting me through.

Dr. Brand smiled and nodded, “You seem to be a perfectly healthy and normal sixteen year old girl, Natalie. Have you had your first period yet?”

I blushed beet red and looked down at my feet as I answered, “No.”

She didn't seem overly concerned, “Well you've only been female less than two weeks. You seem to be fully functional though so I imagine you'll have it before long.” She paused and I looked up at her, only to want to look at my feet once again when she spoke again. “Which brings me to the topic of sex. You are aware of the consequences of unprotected sex?”

“I don't think I'll ever be needing to worry about those since I have no intention of ever letting a guy do anything like that with me,” I mumbled.

“Nonetheless,” the doctor responded seriously, “Please remember to practice safe sex if you ever do. Should you find that you become interested in boys in that way, come and see me so that we can discuss birth control options.”

I left the appointment feeling extremely embarrassed as I made my way straight to the shop for my after school magic lessons. Being a girl really sucks and having Dr. Brand talk so casually about my new body's inner workings and the subject of sex had made me far too self conscious. I spent the entire walk to the shop trying to not think about being a girl. Sadly this proved impossible since the appointment had made me far too aware that I now was one. Dani wasn't helping either with all her questions.

I arrived at the shop in a grouchy mood and quickly buried myself in studying the big book of herb lore. Mom wisely did not ask me how my appointment went but left me to my work. After an hour of losing myself in reading I checked the supply of all of our herbs and spell components and ordered what we were low on. I took my time examining everything so that I could try and remember what herbs did what and how those herbs looked when we sold them.

Mom left me alone until closing. Then when it was time to lock up for the night she tapped me lightly on the shoulder, “Time to close sweetie. Hurry up, I want to get to the bakery for some fresh bread before Molly closes.”

I nodded and stood up, jostling Dandelion a bit where she sat on my shoulder. “Okay Mom,” I said as I put away the herbs I had been inspecting and then put the book away for the night before joining my mother at the front door. As soon as I got to the door she set the alarm and ushered me outside. Verbina was waiting for us outside where she was keeping a careful watch on the passersby. She had taken her duty as my guardian very seriously and was constantly on the lookout for possible attacks from the Winter Court. Once she gave us the all clear we walked two doors down to Sugar & Spice.

As usual the smells wafting from the back of the bakery were heavenly. As soon as the bell over the door rang at our entrance Jason's mother Molly came out of the kitchen with a big smile. “Hello Nora, Natalie, how are you both this evening?”

“I'm good Molly,” my mom replied, “Could I get two loaves of bread and half a dozen cinnamon buns please?”

Jason's mother smiled and nodded, “Sure thing Nora.” She set about gathering the requested goods and turned her smile on me, “How did your appointment go today Natalie?”

I shrugged, “Dr. Brand says I'm a healthy and normal sixteen year old girl. Hooray for me.” I said the last with a good dose of sarcasm.

Molly bagged my mom's purchases and set about giving her change for the twenty dollar bill she had given her. “It's good to hear you're healthy Natalie, that counts for something. But since you don't seem too happy about it, how about a little something to cheer you up, hmm?” How about something chocolatey? I have a very tasty mousse.” The last was an old joke she used with a lot of the island's Unseen.

“Yes, I'm sure you're very happy with your husband,” I joked back weakly, “But I'm not interested in going out with your son.”

She laughed at my little twist on the joke before giving me a smile “I know just the thing. Your favorite, ever since you were a kid this has always cheered you up.” She went into the back and came out a few minutes later with a small pastry box, which she handed to me after wrapping me in a hug. “You wait until after dinner to eat it okay?”

I hugged her back and took the box, “Thanks Mrs. McGreggor, you're the best.”

“You know you're like family Natalie. Now I think I better close up so I can get back home myself. Have a good night you two.” She waved us off and started getting ready to close while we said our goodbyes and headed out.

When we got home I worked on my fighting techniques a bit with Rick and Dad while Mom made dinner. Dinner was a brief affair as Rick was going out with Gwen and Dad was going to shoot some pool with some buddies at the local Unseen pub, On the Rocks. I helped mom to clean up the dishes before happily eating my chocolate eclair, which did cheer me up a little. It was after that that Mom decided to drag me down to the workroom.

I had been avoiding the workroom since my transformation, the paintings were just too big a reminder of my current situation. I was reluctant to head down those stairs but my mother just gripped my arm tighter, pulling me behind her down the stairs and into the center of the room. My eyes seemed to wander on their own, drawn inexorably toward the paintings. Mom took my face in her hands turning it to look straight at her own serious face. “Today my daughter,” she spoke gravely, “You begin to learn to control your magic.”

October 28th 2011

I stuffed the books from my final class of the day into my locker and began loading my backpack with my homework for the weekend. It had been a long week and I was glad it was over. My month long grounding had ended last week but between working after school, magic lessons with mom taking up most of my free time and the rest being spent training to defend myself in more mundane ways I was too tired to enjoy my freedom. It also didn't help that I was feeling like crap. I had been through my period once before this but it didn't seem to help make it any easier this time around. I was grouchy, feeling like hell, and I hated being a girl more with every cramp.

I suppose it wasn't all bad. I was actually getting used to my new body and the only time I really loathed it was times like right now. There were some positives about my life at the moment. For one thing I had successfully adapted my fighting style and was doing much better at moving naturally in my new body. Secondly, people had stopped trying to get me to be girly. I had made it clear that I may be female but I wasn't a girly girl and people were beginning to just take me at face value. Finally, I was no longer the new kid in school with all the attention that goes along with it. That dubious honor now belonged to a girl named Erin Brand who had moved to Sena Island with her parents to be closer to their family here.

I shouldered my backpack with a wince and securely shut my locker as Jason and Sarah made their way over. “Hey guys.”

“Hi Nat,” Sarah smiled at me, “I'm glad this week is over, are you feeling any better?”

I shook my head with a frown, “Ugh no. I hope I don't feel like this for the party tomorrow night.”

Sarah shrugged, “Take some midol and try to take it easy. Who knows maybe the party will take your mind off of it.”

Jason looked like he'd rather be doing anything else at that moment other than listening to our conversation. “So girls, you decided on your costumes for tomorrow night yet? I think I'm going to go as a cowboy.”

Sarah took my hand as she thought about her own costume. “I don't really know, but I thought that maybe as a joke I could go as a Witch. How about you Nat, any ideas?”

I sighed as I lifted the hand which bore the Glove, carefully concealed in the sleeve of my hoodie. “I have no clue, this makes my costume choices a bit limited. Some of the girls have been asking where I got this 'slave bracelet'. They've been asking if I'm going to show it off with my costume.”

Jason looked at me strangely, “Show it off?”

I nodded, “Yeah a lot of them think I've been keeping it hidden and that I dress like I do because I want to show it off and shock everybody with a sexy Halloween costume.”

Sarah looked thoughtful at that, “You know that's not a bad idea. Have there been any suggestions?”

I frowned. “Yeah, most the girls who have asked think I'm going as some sort of sexy Vampire though a few have guessed something like a warrior in a chain mail bikini, a sexy elf or a sexy sorceress.”

Sarah grinned, “That's a great idea!”

“I m not going as a Vampire Sarah,” I grumbled, “Let alone a sexy one. Vampires give me the willies.”

She shook her head, speaking in hushed tones as we left the school and began walking toward Nature's Blessings.“No Nat! We can pull one out of Becky's book. We dress you as an Elf sorceress and if anyone asks we say that the Glove is a magic item that makes you even more powerful.”

I stared at her. “Sarah even if we could manage the makeup and the ears, how would we find clothes that look like a costume an elf would wear. We'd need to go to a renaissance fair or something. We'd have as much luck finding a matching glove and armor.”

We all turned to stare at Dandelion as she looked at us confused and said, “But that wouldn't be difficult at all. You'd just have to ask Her Majesty for the rest of the armor from the set that the Glove came from.”

“That might be a little hard Dani,” I told her, not believing it could be that easy.

“Of course it's hard, it's armor silly,” the Pixie replied, giggling.

I sighed, “I can never be sure when you're joking. I would think that the armor is pretty valuable Dani she couldn't just give it to me as a Halloween costume. Besides what if she needs it?”

Verbina looked me over as I spoke and seemed lost in thought for a moment. “Her Majesty hasn't used that armor in a long time. It's probably sitting in the royal armory somewhere. What you saw her wearing when you met her was fairly new. You are close to the same size as Her Majesty so it would probably fit you. We are to keep you safe, that would be easier if you had armor you could change into should the Winter Court decide to launch an offensive.”

“Assuming I had time to change into it,” I muttered darkly.

We all parted ways once we arrived at the shop. Sarah headed home while Jason went to Sugar & Spice to help out his mom and Verbina took it upon herself to go to the Valley. Dani stayed with me while I worked and studied my herb lore. I didn't get much time to study since the shop was pretty busy that afternoon and the time until closing seemed to speed by. Mom and Dad were going out to a party that night at my father's office and Rick and Gwen were going to be spending the evening together. Mom, knowing how crappy I was feeling, mercifully gave me a night off from studying while they were gone. I spent most of it on the sofa feeling miserable.

Reshin waited in a dark cave for the rest of his scouts to return. The Duergar was far from happy. He had been tasked by Ly Erg to watch Titania's pet Witch and report when the time was right to take her. Reshin was no spy, he was a warrior, a fact proven by the muscles which covered his stout frame. He had to corrupt a small group of brownies to keep tabs on the girl and even then they could only watch from a distance, certainly not worth the blood price he had paid.

The girl was too well watched by Titania's underlings and it seemed that even now she was sending her most trusted protector to check on the girl. The brownies had proved useless but he might have one last use for them. They could serve well as fodder when he and his warriors attacked. He was tired of waiting for the right opportunity, he would make his own opportunity and take the girl. Perhaps rather than giving her to Ly Erg he would keep her for himself, after all, fortune favors the bold.

I woke up to a knocking at the front door. I was still on the sofa. The clock on the wall said eleven thirty and as I yawned and made my way to the door I wondered who could be coming over so late. Looking through the peep hole I saw Giselle standing out in the rain wearing a dark colored cloak with Verbina flying just over her shoulder. I quickly opened the door and ushered the pair inside.

Giselle bowed slightly and smiled in greeting, though it looked a bit awkward with the large bundle of greenish grey cloth she was carrying. Verbina flew over to land on my shoulder, shaking her wings out and getting my hair a bit wet in the process. “Hi Giselle, come in, would you like a hot cup of peppermint tea or something?” The Aos Sidhe nodded and smiled and I quickly ushered her into the kitchen where I started the kettle.

“It's nice to see you again Giselle, how is Queen Titania?” I asked, half-forgetting that the Sacred was mute.

Verbina answered from my shoulder, “Her Majesty is well and sent Giselle to bring you a package.”

I nodded as I took some dried and crushed peppermint leaves from the cupboard and placed some in a stainless steel tea ball. “Thanks for coming all this way Giselle, especially with how cold and wet it is out there.” I placed the now sealed tea ball in the tea pot and sat down to wait for the water to boil, gesturing for Giselle to do the same, “Have a seat and make yourself comfortable.”

The mute Aos Sidhe sat across from me and placed the very large wrapped bundle on the table between us, pushing it toward me and motioning for me to open it. I carefully unfolded the water resistant cloth to reveal what I assumed was clothing sitting atop a stack of bronze chain mail. On the top was a pair of brown suede ankle boots with a low heel which I set aside followed by the dark green tunic. Both were similar to what Giselle herself wore and the tunic looked to have a golden tree embroidered upon the chest.

Beneath the tunic was a chain mail wrist guard which looked to be the match to the Glove as well as a matching long sleeved chain mail shirt, chain mail leggings, and a sturdy leather belt to match the boots with both a sheathed longsword and dagger. Once I had looked through it all in stunned silence, Giselle reached forward to take the grey-green cloth it had all been wrapped in and shook it out to reveal a cloak like the one she herself was wearing.

“Wow,” I said, as I swallowed the lump in my throat, “Is this all for me?”

Giselle nodded and extracted an envelope from her own cloak, which she handed to me. At that point the kettle began to whistle so I quickly got up to turn off the heat and pour the hot water into the kettle. Once I had the kettle, two tea cups and the cream and sugar on the table I returned my attention to the envelope and the note inside while the tea steeped.

Natalie,

In keeping with my part of the promise to give you what protection I can until you can properly protect yourself, please accept this. Contained is the complete set of armor that your Glove was originally part of, as well as suitable accessories for one in service to the Summer Court. May it protect you as well as it did me.

Titania

P.S. Don't worry, this armor can be removed.

I rolled my eyes when I got to the postscript but had to stifle a giggle. “Thank you for bringing it to me Giselle and please give Queen Titania my heartfelt thanks as well.” I poured us both a cup of the peppermint tea, adding a bit of cream to my own. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

The Aos Sidhe shook her head as she smiled and took a sip of her tea, but motioned to the clothing and armor sitting on the end of the table. Verbina spoke from my shoulder. “You should try it all on Natalie so we can be sure it fits.”

“Good idea,” I replied with a nod, “I might need your help Giselle, I've never put on armor before. Let's go up to my room and I'll change there.” After we finished our tea I led Giselle upstairs and into my room where I quickly shed everything but my bra and panties. After using the showers for gym class for over a month I had lost any embarrassment I once had about changing in front of other girls. Once I was down to my under things I put on a pair of spandex leggings and a tight t-shirt to keep the mail from rubbing against my bare skin. Giselle nodded her approval at this as she held out the chain mail leggings.

I had to wiggle a bit to get into the leggings but they fit well, going from my hips to my ankle. I had been worried about them falling down until Giselle showed me how to tighten them so that they fit comfortably but snugly using some cleverly devised locking hooks. The shirt was next and went over my head easily though my right hand had a bit of trouble with the long sleeve. Luckily it was roomy enough in the arms for me to manage and the Glove and the sleeve had no noticeable gap between them. It also overlapped the leggings by a few inches. Once I had it on we fastened the neck protector with the same clever hooks as were on the leggings.

Next I placed my hand into the wrist guard and used the little hooks on the underside to fasten it on before I started to move around the room experimentally. The armor was a lot lighter than I had expected it to be. Sure the weight was going to take some getting used to but I found that I could still move pretty easily. I sat on my bed and slipped my feet into the suede boots. They were a good fit and very comfortable to wear even with the low heel. The tunic was large, fit easily over the armor and extended to the middle of my thighs.

All that was left was the sword belt and the cloak. I took the former and fastened it just above my hips, then adjusted the sword so that it rested comfortably on my right side and the dagger on my left. The cloak was last and Giselle wrapped it around my shoulders and fastened it with the clasp around my neck. The cloak was long, reaching down to the back of my shins, and the hood deep enough to hide my features in shadow and keep me dry in the rain. I turned to look at myself in the full length mirror and smiled at my reflection. “Wow, this is incredible.”

Giselle grinned at me and motioned toward the sword and dagger. I slowly drew the sword. It was a well made blade of what looked like bronze and had great balance. The blade was more slender and a bit longer than I was used to, but it was fairly light and I was sure that with practice I could manage it. The dagger, when drawn, proved to be of similar make and was also well balanced. I almost dropped it when I heard a noise from downstairs.

“Natalie,” I heard my mom call out, “Are you home?”

“Ummm yeah Mom,” I called back. “I just had some company come while you were gone.”

I could hear her coming up the stairs as she replied, “Is it Sarah? And how are you feeling? Any better? You were sleeping on the couch when we left.”

I was so distracted from Giselle's visit and the gifts she brought that I had almost managed to forget about how awful I was feeling. “No Mom, it's Giselle, she brought me something from Queen Titania. I was just trying it on.” I quickly sheathed both blades. “I'm still feeling awful but Giselle has helped distract me. We were having tea before we came up here.”

Mom came to my doorway and just stood there for a long moment looking at me before shaking her head as if to clear it. ”I assume that's to protect you? That's impressive looking armor sweetie but what do you do if someone tries to shoot you? If I remember correctly you said Ly Erg had a gun.”

I shrugged causing the armor to jingle. “I'm not quite as big in the ummm... chest as Queen Titania so it's a bit roomy there. If we get word that the Winter Court is launching an attack I think I should be able to manage to get a kevlar vest underneath to protect me from getting shot in any vital areas.”

“What about your head Natalie? That's a pretty vital area,” my mother retorted.

“I'll have to think about that Mom,” I said as I thought it over, “But I don't think Ly Erg would aim for the head.”

She arched an eyebrow at me, “Why not?”

“Because he could have just shot Jason in the head and he didn't, he aimed for the shoulder.” I took another look at myself in the mirror as I spoke. “I think Ly Erg is the type who likes to drag a killing out and make his victim suffer for a while before ending it. Besides, he wants me alive.”

Giselle nodded in agreement and my mother raised her arms in defeat, “Okay, you're probably right, you both have more experience with his kind than I do. I still worry though. Lets go downstairs and show your father, he'll want to see this.”

There are two major Halloween parties thrown every year for the teens on Sena Island. The first is the party at the school which is usually pretty tame and ends around ten o'clock. Only the Norms and those under sixteen ever stay that late though. The other party is called Unseen Teen Halloween, for obvious reasons, and usually gets going around nine o'clock. The Unseen party is a chance for all the Unseen teens in town to relax and just be themselves for a bit. It's usually hosted by one of the teens parents with a secluded home, and Jason's parents were hosting it this year in their back yard.

I had begged off going to the school party since I was still having my monthly visitor and spending the evening having jerks like Eric asking me to dance just didn't appeal to me. Sarah had decided that if I wasn't going, neither was she so around eight o'clock she came over to help me with my costume. I hadn't told her yet about Giselle's visit so when she arrived dressed in a black dress and pointy hat she was a bit flustered to see me wearing my usual jeans and hoodie. “Nat, I know you said you wanted me to help you look like an elf, but so help me if you just do the ears and go to the party dressed like that I'm going to scream. Did you even try to find something to wear for this costume?”

I just grinned at her, “I'll have you know I have just the thing, I just need you to to help me with the ears and some makeup to make me look more feminine. Let's go upstairs so I can change before you work your magic.”

Sarah sighed, “Okay, I'm not gonna argue. I've been trying to get you to look more feminine for the past month, so I'll take what I can get.”

I led Sarah up to my room and gestured for her to sit on my bed while I changed out of my clothes and into the spandex leggings and t-shirt I had worn under the armor last time. I thought briefly about trying the kevlar vest underneath tonight but there was really no reason to since it was just a party. I figured that the only work out I would be getting was some dancing. “Okay Sarah, I might need a bit of help with the rest.”

“What? Did you manage to find a gown or something to go as a sorceress?” she asked.

I giggled at that and silently cursed myself for doing so. “Something like that. Giselle brought me something from Queen Titania last night.”

She looked at me curiously at that and then when I set the armor on the bed beside her, her eyes went wide. “She didn't.”

“She did,” I grinned as I showed her the note. “I think Verbina managed to convince her I could be better protected if I had something protective to wear.” I smiled at the two Pixies sitting on my pillow. “Thanks Vina. And you too Dani, that was a brilliant idea.” Vina merely nodded sagely while Dani beamed at the compliment.

With Sarah's help I managed to get into the armor without too much trouble. Once I had the armor and the tunic on Sarah sat me down and began working my hair into an intricate braid. Even braided my hair was well past my shoulders and Sarah left the braid resting over my left shoulder while she started on the wax to make my ears seem larger and pointed. I had trouble not fidgeting as she worked on my ears and she had to tell me more than once to sit still. Once the wax was finished she began using makeup to match the wax to my regular pale skin tone.

Looking in the mirror at this point I was pretty impressed with Sarah's work. Then she blocked my view by standing in front of me and tilted my face toward hers so she could thin out my eyebrows into a nice slim arch and do my make up. She went with light colors to keep it subtle and work better with my coloring: A bit of blush, some mascara, a bit of light violet eye shadow and lip gloss rather than lipstick. The overall effect was very nice, I could still tell I was me but I looked very feminine and the ears made me look like an Aos Sidhe.

Once Sarah deemed me presentable I slipped my feet into the suede boots, buckled on the sword belt, and carefully settled my cloak on my shoulders to avoid doing any damage to Sarah's work before I closed the clasp. Sarah stepped back to admire the final product, “You look like you just walked out of the Valley,” she said with a grin. “Should you be bringing weapons to the party though?”

I shrugged, “I wouldn't have been allowed at the school party but I asked Mr. And Mrs. McGreggor earlier and they said it would be okay as long as I keep them sheathed. If I decide to take them off they'll put them in the house for me for safe keeping. I think they add to the whole Elvish Warrior look. Besides, once I told Jason what I was wearing he wanted to see the whole thing.”

“Too bad you didn't go to the school party, even without the real weapons you would have won the costume contest hands down,” Sarah said glumly.

“Yeah, and then I would have spent the whole time there with guys telling me how nice I looked and trying to get me to dance. And the girls would be asking why I can't be more feminine. And then there's the worst part,” I said with a groan.

Sarah looked at me confused, “What's the worst part?”

I looked down at myself sadly, “Do you realize how hard it's going to be to go to the bathroom with all this on?”

Sarah stared at me for a few seconds before she started to break down in laughter. “I'll bring you a can opener,” she managed to get out before her laughing got the better of her again.

“Very funny Sarah,” I grumbled as I checked myself to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. “I guess I'm ready to go. Vina, Dani, are you both coming with us?”

Verbina nodded while Dandelion asked excitedly, “Can we wear costumes too?!”

I thought about it and then shrugged, “Sure, I don't see why not. But it's not like anyone is going to be able to see you other than Jason, Sarah and I. What would you do for costumes though?” My question was answered when Verbina's clothes changed into a replica of mine, only without the cloak and with the tunic in dark blue.

Sarah grinned, “That's convenient. What about you Dani?”

Dandelion's outfit turned into a flimsy green Pixie dress with little slippers with bells on them, while her short yellow hair was tied back in a high ponytail. The Pixie beamed up at us happily even as I groaned, “I knew I shouldn't have let you watch that movie.” Sarah just started laughing again.

Once we had Sarah calmed down enough to stop laughing she set about quickly fixing her makeup and then we headed downstairs. “Mom! We're going to head out to Jason's for the party now!” I called out.

Mom came dashing into the room to block the front door, camera in hand. “Not before I get pictures you aren't.”

I made a show of groaning theatrically, “Okay Mom. Just make sure you get my good side.”

“You're my daughter,” Mom said proudly. “Every side is your good side.”

I stifled another groan and smiled pretty for the camera while Sarah stepped closer and leaned against me. With Verbina on Sarah's shoulder and Dani on mine we stood there and smiled while my mother took dozens of photos. I was actually genuinely smiling. Sarah smelled so nice and her closeness made me happy. We might not have the relationship I wanted at the moment but she was at my side and that meant the world to me. I was still smiling well after Mom had gotten her fill of pictures and we left the house on our way to a night we would not soon forget.