Gypsy Moon

Chapter Seventy-four: Sinah

. . . . . . (late July)

Gyam growled softly and Tia laced her fingers between his. I giggled at his obvious irritation and pressed my forehead against his.

"If it helps, I think you look very handsome."

"I LOOK like a fool."

The limo stopped in front of the casino and the valet opened the door for us to climb out. Gyam scrambled out, grumbling about his tie strangling him. Aiden chuckled.

"Poor kid, stuck in a penguin suit for the first time."

"It's not funny!" Gyam growled at him and tugged at the offending garment.

Aiden winked at me and stepped out of the limo gracefully, perfectly comfortable in his dinner suit. I grinned at Tia as we sat in the limo, waiting for the boys to decide it was safe for us.

"I feel like a princess." Tia giggled.

"Or the president," I laughed softly. "The way they act like secret service agents." Aiden reached in and I took his hand, sliding sideways on the seat so I could step out of the limo. My dress glittered in the casino's flashing lights, a pale, green satin, backless drape with tiny crystals sewn along the plunging neckline and short train.

I snickered as Gyam helped Tia out of the limo. He refused to let her wear heels while she was pregnant, so she had settled for laced sandals to go with a gauzy chemise and a fitted bodice with a long silk jacket. Boho-formal is what Lilian called it. She barely came up to his chin, and her dress made her rounded belly the center of attention.

A pair of ladies exiting the casino cooed at our group. We looked like a bunch of high schoolers going to prom, especially little Tia, and Gyam puffed with pride as they fawned at her stomach.

Delbert walked out of the casino doors to meet us, followed by another gentleman, both very dapper in their evening jackets.

"Aiden Soleis, I would like you to meet Edward Crista." Edward held his hand out and blinked at the chorus of growling. Delbert chuckled. "I should have mentioned they get tense around their ladies."

Tense wasn't really the right word, Gyam was practically shaking and his eyes had gone black. Tia had his hand in hers and was standing slightly behind him. I stepped away from Aiden to hold his other hand and he calmed visibly. Aiden chuckled and moved to accept Edward's handshake.

"So then I take he's the happy father of the little one's bun-in-the-oven there?" Gyam practically swelled with pride and Aiden smiled fondly.

"I was just as bad, just had our first two months ago." Aiden's voice was shameless and I giggled as Edward looked at me skeptically.

"There is no way you were pregnant two months ago!" He motioned for us to move into the casino, leading the way to the restaurant within. "My Bonnie never did get her figure back that nicely!" His booming laughter carried over the din and I smiled.

"Thank you for agreeing to dinner, rather than drinks, Mr. Crista." He bowed gallantly and signaled the maitre'd, who led us to a private room. Gyam stopped at the door and glared at Edward suspiciously.

"No. No private room." I squeezed his hand and glanced around quickly and tapped the waiter gently.

"Hun, would you be a dear and set us up in that pretty little alcove by the fish tank, I just love watching them swim around." The man bowed and had my request fulfilled within minutes, a small team of waiters appearing to assist.

Aiden and Gyam both looked sharply at one of the waitresses passing by. A quick sniff told me why. She was a Kinfolk, she had Dei's scentmarker on her. Aiden stopped her with a touch and requested she tend our table exclusively until we left. The maitre'd agreed readily, the five hundred dollars Aiden handed him for our private waitress would easily make up for any inconvenience.

The waitress stood quietly near our group as we settled into our seats, a knowing smile on her face as she pulled her order pad out. Delbert snickered and Edward looked confused for a moment, then the waitress turned to Aiden, who grinned mischievously.

"Lamb polenta, caprese salad, lobster ravioli, and the oven roasted halibut, please." The waitress scribbled dutifully, nodding at each item. She flipped to a new page and turned her attention to me. Edward coughed in surprise and Delbert laughed.

"You thought he was ordering for the group, didn't you?" His vacant nod made the waitress smile brightly.

"Wait until they order the main course, that's when they go nuts." Edward blinked and we all laughed.

By the time she'd gotten the orders from everyone, we'd ordered almost everything on the menu at least once. Edward was speechless. Our waitress proved herself exemplary, keeping plates coming at the perfect pace, with not a single item delivered to the wrong person.

Our conversation was amusingly jilted because of the constant activity in and out of the kitchen our group demanded. Introductions were passed around with appetizers. Entrees were delivered amid an easy conversation about children.

"I've got three, myself." Edward grinned. "All three of them are just like their mom, I was completely outnumbered."

"Selene wants us to break her record of eleven." I laughed as Aiden choked on his champagne and spent several minutes coughing. "Be grateful she only wants us to break THAT one." Edward shook his head.

"What other record is there to break?" He chuckled wryly, the look he gave me was expectant though. He was getting used to us raising every bar we came across.

"Twenty-eight pups." I smiled at the look Aiden gave me. "Unbonded." He shook his head.

"Bonded or not, we are not breaking either of those records!" He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the table. "Eleven..."

"Now she's mad at you, thanks hun." I giggled at the sheepish look on his face. Gyam grinned at Aiden.

"Challenge accepted." Aiden snapped his eyes up to Gyam and narrowed them.

"Bring it on, little man." Delbert and Edward began laughing and Tia squeaked in alarm.

"Hey!" She swatted Gyam playfully. "Don't you dare make this a competition!"

"I agree!" I laughed at the men. "Since we are the ones that have to do all the REAL work."

The waitress popped up to deliver our desserts and to let us know she had to take a break, we would have a non-Kin waiter if we needed anything before she got back. Edward looked after her thoughtfully.

"What did she mean by 'non-Kin'?"

"People like you." Gyam growled softly.

"Not you specifically, she's from a family that is used to our kind, we can relax more around her, like the way we ordered." Tia offered gently.

"It goes deeper than that though," I added. "But you have to dip into geneology." Delbert perked up and scooped up a spoon of his gelato.

"Careful, we older fellows get awfully excited about geneology." Edward nodded enthusiastically and both men fixed me with attentive stares.

"Lilian would be better at explaining it than me." I smiled at them. "In a nutshell, they have a better chance of passing on the more UNIQUE characteristics to their offspring in the case of a crossing of the breeds." Aiden snorted.

"She was telling us to watch what we say." He looked at Edward deliberately. "Specifically, so people exactly like you don't learn something that could endanger us." Gyam growled his smothered laughter into his chocolate lava cake, making Tia look at her hands in shame and I blushed and bit my lip. Edward had the good grace to look ashamed of himself as well.

"I never thought I'd say this," Edward shook his head. "I've been wrong. Ms. Roth wasn't far from the mark when she accused me of being a blind follower." He scratched the back of his neck. "I can't say I'm happy about losing my nephew, but I also can't promise I've never harmed your kind in the past, and I'm sure we are far from what any of us would call 'even'."

"Bygones," Delbert replied. "Not even, not fair, but let bygones be bygones and we make a new path from here." Edward played with a slice of fruit on his plate.

"Bygones, then. Can I ask something?" Aiden raised his eyebrows and nodded at him. "Why did you really agree to meet me?"

"I suppose we should get to the point, now that we're full." Aiden nodded slowly. "One of the men your nephew was working with was one of our ilk. We had dealings with him in the past." Gyam growled and Tia put her hand on his cheek.

"These dealings went poorly, I assume?" Edward nodded thoughtfully. "For you?" Aiden shook his head.

"For him." He leaned forward to emphasize his point. "Exceedingly poorly. I was certain I would never have dealings with him again. Ever." Edward frowned and thought for a moment.

"Interesting." He sipped his drink. "And yet you did."

"I did indeed." Aiden nodded solemnly. Edward leaned back in his chair and hummed, absently chewing on a cherry stem. He seemed lost in thought as the rest of the table quietly finished their drinks and our waitress returned with the check. Aiden pulled his bank card out and Edward blinked and sat up straight.

"No, please." Edward smiled at Aiden. "Bygones be damned, I think it's fair to say I owe you at least the dinner." Aiden smiled mischievously.

"Are you SURE you want to pick up the tab for a teenage BOY, a pregnant woman, AND a nursing mother?" Aiden laughed. "Oh and me, and let's face it, I ate almost as much as Gyam." Delbert chuckled and Edward grinned.

"I think those are all the more reasons for me to take this one." He extended his hand to Gyam. "I've been a new dad, and I thought it was hard enough with three, I don't know what I would have done if my best friend dared me to have a dozen!" Aiden laughed as Gyam grinned and took his hand.

"I'm gonna win, too."

"Hey!" Tia growled playfully and set her hand on top of their clasped hands.

"What? We can have three before we're their age."

/:Told you so! We need to have triplets next.:/

I laughed at Selene's sudden interjection, turning everyone's attention to me.

"Gyam, sweetie." I gave him a toothy grin. "Thank you so much, Selene wants triplets now." Aiden blanched, making Delbert chuckle. Edward took the opportunity to take the check from the waitress and began laughing.

"I see why you were worried, but, no. I'll take this one." He smiled broadly. "The next one? Oh yeah, next one's on you." Aiden snickered and matched his smile.

"Deal." He held his hand out to Edward, who accepted it without hesitation. I repeated Tia's gesture, only making fleeting contact before Gyam growled and I withdrew my hand with a grin.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Crista." I smiled.

"All mine, I'm sure." He grinned and we walked together to the front of the casino while bantering playfully. The valet called our limo as soon as he saw us and we made idle chit-chat while we waited.

"No offense," I grinned at Edward. "But you didn't have our limo rigged or put tracking devices in it or anything, right?"

"None taken!" Edward's laughter was heartfelt and he wiped a tear from his eye. "No, I promise, for what it's worth. I can't afford to have you lighting the casino on fire." Aiden barked a laugh in spite of himself.

"Particularly after taking that check." The limo pulled up while we laughed. Gyam unapologetically checked with the driver to insure the vehicle hadn't been tampered with. Delbert just chuckled as the valet took his ticket and called for the car he'd brought Edward here in.

Even so, we had the driver deliver us to a hotel on the outskirts of town, in case someone tried to follow us. Dei was waiting patiently on a bench across the parking lot and we walked with him into the desert a while before we shifted and ran across the foothills towards home, Tia riding comfortably astride Gyam.

An idea flickered in my mind and I skidded to a stop, my rapidly wagging tail erasing any concern from the others. I opened a link between the group.

/:Gyam, will you and Dei please take Tia home like we planned? I would like to go for a run with my mate.:/

Gyam huffed in irritation but nodded and he and Dei loped off together. I turned to my mate and let Selene take control.

. . . . . .