I tell you love, sister, is just a kiss away Who: Fable and Ziggy Where: Morrison household When: Afternoon
Fable was probably the only person Ziggy would have woken up at 3am for so he could get on the earliest flight to Detroit and get to Scarlet Oak. He had been desperate to leave home since graduation, knowing that staying back in Redding wasn’t going to do him any good. As much as he wanted to chill out in LA, it wasn’t the same. He needed someone to cling onto and a lot of the SoCal girls weren’t into that, regardless of his charm. Cue in Fable, stage left. At the very least, he wanted props for getting a job before coming out to Michigan. Teaching positions were always available, so there was no trouble with that. He’d meet with this Amelia Ridgeway later on, but for now, he had a certain someone to catch up with.
What if she doesn’t let you stay? Boo was just as talkative as Ziggy was and it didn’t help that the poor hamster was locked in a cage since the morning. He’d let the little guy out in a bit, but right then he was double checking the address and the house that was before them. At least the cab drivers in Michigan were more proficient than the ones in LA. “She’ll let me stay.” What? How do you know that?! You haven’t seen her in how long? “Dude! Chill! I got this under control.” That’s what you said last time when you went out bar hopping with your friends back- “Whoa whoa whoa, totally different scenario.” Ziggy sort of grinned to himself. “There were ladies involved.”
With that out of the way, he dragged his luggage to the front step and began abusing the hell out of the door bell for a good ten seconds. Hopefully Fable would still remember his dramatic tendencies and know who it was. Regardless, she would find out in a second.
Fable was home, of course. Once the Morrisons had learned about the demon attack, Mary Anne refused to let Fable to return to work for the rest of the week. The daycare would run fine without her, and Fable knew she couldn’t leave the baby right now. She was dealing with a lot - Michael was her great-uncle, and to top it off, he was an angel. Which, in turn, made her and Ainsley both angelic blooded. No one had ever made mention of that to her before, not her parents, not her older siblings, and she didn’t even think they knew.
She’d contemplated calling her parents, but her stubbornness got the best of her. If the Redleafs weren’t going to call her, weren’t going to respect Tim enough to attend his funeral like decent human beings, then she wasn’t going to be the one who broke down first. Her priority right now was the baby, and regardless of what happened, that hadn’t changed. She’d just gotten Ainsley down for her afternoon nap when the doorbell rang - and rang, and rang, and rang some more. Though she wasn’t dressed to have people over, she still went downstairs anyway, hoping the baby would sleep through it.
“Hold on a second!” she called, tying her hair back into a loose ponytail as she moved. The face she saw behind the door all but floored her - Ziggy. Her Ziggy, her little brother, who last she knew was supposed to be causing trouble back in California. It was one of the few times when Fable legitimately squeed, threw open the door, and grabbed him in a hug. “Ziggy! OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
He recognized that voice through the building and couldn’t help but grin. Yup, definitely Fable and it only cemented that when the door opened. It made his inner fire do flips and shit over her squeeing and pulling him into a vicegrip hug. Ziggy was totally not minding. He let out a heart laugh while squeezing his big sister, then finally looked down to eye Fable. “What, isn’t it obvious? To see you, silly!” He joked around a lot, but he was actually dead serious about this matter. Actually, this shouldn’t have surprised anyone in the Redleaf family that much. “I take it you’re happy to see me, at least?”
She needed that kind of hug right now. The Morrisons tried, but they weren’t Ziggy, and he always gave the best hugs. “You are ridiculous,” she said, shaking her head as she pulled back enough to look up at him. “You could have called, I would have come to get you at the airport.” It was only then that she saw the luggage he was carrying, and she waved him inside. “Come on in, you can’t just stay on the front porch all day. How long are you staying?” It would be like Ziggy to stop for a visit just because he missed her, but she knew he probably didn’t have enough money to do that on a whim. Still, the thought was nice, and it had her smiling.
“I know! But it was way more fun to surprise you like this.” Ridiculous was his middle name as far as he was concerned. All his older brothers and sisters called him that on a daily basis, so might as well. Ziggy had no shame in it, either, even more so now that he knew he was a fire elemental. That was on his to-do list when it came to updating his sister, but for now he was being ushered inside. Grabbing his belongings, he followed Fable on inside and took a second to examine the interior. Not exactly what he was used to, but it was nice. A bit too suburban for his tastes.
Now for the matter of how long he was staying. About that... “Um... as long as you’ll let me?” He gave her a nervous smile before moving his sunglasses to the top of his head. “I doubt mom and dad called you at some point today, seeing I left at what-the-fuck o’clock in the morning, but I may or may not have flipped them off and told them I was leaving home. Sooo.... yeah.” Leave it to Ziggy to always be on eggshells with their parents. The guy did it like his life depended on it.
“I really wouldn’t expect anything else from you.” The look on Fable’s face said she honestly didn’t mind. It was one of the few times in recent memory when a surprise visit turned out to be a good thing - not an angel showing up to fight off a demon, not Army officers telling her that her husband was dead. It was obvious that Fable hadn’t decorated the majority of the house, but she didn’t mind. The Morrisons were kind enough to let her stay, and that was enough for her.
She blinked. Ziggy wasn’t visiting, Ziggy had moved. To Michigan. To be near her. Fable grinned and gave him another hug. “You and I both know Mom and Dad will never call me,” she said. “And you can stay as long as you want.” She’d figure things out with the Morrisons, but they knew her well enough to know she’d never turn away family. On the corner table, a little wail came from the baby monitor, and Fable’s smile grew bigger. “You woke your niece. Do you want to come meet her?”
Ziggy knew he could count on Fable to be there for him. His big sister always was. “Thank you so much. I owe you big.” And now that their parents were at odds with both of them, they could paddle in the same boat together. See? See? What did I tell you? Boo just sighed in his head while gnawing at the cage. Fine, we’re staying, now let me out. At least the familiar kept his thoughts to just Ziggy. He would drop that into his sister’s lap in a second. Adorable kids totally took priority right now. “You really had to ask? Of course I do.” A couple pictures didn’t do justice and it had been around the time of his senior show, so her probably just glanced at them. Grabbing Boo out from his cage, he nodded to his sister. “Lead the way!”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she reminded him. Really, having some of her family around was payment enough. Though Fable had been hoping that Ainsley would stay asleep for a little while and let her get a few things done, that totally took second to introducing Ziggy to her daughter. Ainsley was something of a secret among the Redleaf family - some of her sisters had been there for the birth, but beyond that, she’d done most of this on her own. Pity Ziggy had his senior show and all that going on, because she knew he’d have been there otherwise. She led Ziggy up into her bedroom and into the nursery beyond, reaching into the crib to pick up the little girl. Ainsley was crying, yes, but she settled the moment she was in Fable’s arms. “You’re an uncle again, Ziggy,” she said, beaming. “This is Ainsley Rose.”
He was right behind Fable the whole way, eyes scanning the area as they went upstairs to the little girl’s room. Might as well get used to the place he was probably going to be staying at for a long time. He let Boo take a seat on his shoulder once they reached the room - hamsters fucking rocked in that regard - and watched Fable pick up his baby niece. It felt outright odd to be called an uncle, but he knew it would happen eventually. And Fable? She looked so happy with Ainsley in her arms. His sister practically glowed while holding her and that in turn just made Ziggy smile. “She’s absolutely adorable.” He wiggled his fingers at the bitty. “Always knew you’d be a good mom.”
Fable rocked the baby back and forth a little, the little wolf blinking up at her mother and then settling her eyes on Ziggy. Ainsley was a smart little girl, and she always knew when she was the center of attention. “She’s going to look like Tim a bit, I think,” she said, “and that’s a good thing.” In more than one way, but she wasn’t sure how to approach that part with Ziggy quite yet. Her family was not in on the Morrisons’ secret, but if he was going to be living here, he had to know. “And thanks, I’m doing my best. She’s everything. Here, hold your arms out.” Because like hell Ziggy was going to get out of holding his niece. It was only then that Fable noticed the hamster sitting on his shoulder, and she stared for half a second. “...You have a friend,” she said. Like she had Yoko.
The fact that Fable actually trusted Ziggy - the guy that couldn’t a paintbrush for a minute without dropping it - to hold her daughter said something. Ok, so he doubted he would be holding Ainsley for over an hour, but still! He got to hold the bitty! Completely overjoyed by this he carefully held out his arms, waiting to hold this precious little niece of his... and then Fable went and said that. “...hmmm?” She means me. This time Boo didn’t hold back with who he talked to. “...OH! Right, that!” He picked Boo off of his shoulder and held him out to Fable, as if they were swapping bitties or something. “So true story! After college and everything, I go back home, right? Mom and dad are still getting on my case about work and not putting flowers in people’s hair on the streets... you know, nothing new and then one day this little guy came along!” I have a name you know. “Right, right. His name is Boo and he’s a freaking talking hamster.” Ziggy was way too excited about this. About a second later, he added on, “Oh, and by the way, I’m a fire elemental.”
Ziggy wouldn’t drop her daughter, Fable was sure of it. And besides, he was the proud uncle, why shouldn’t he get to see his niece up close and personal? Besides, she’d be right here if the two of them needed anything, and Fable could already see the baby’s eyes light up around Ziggy. Probably helped that Ainsley just loved the necklace he was wearing, too. And then the hamster talked. Holy crap, Ziggy had a familiar. Fable had never told her family what she was, and as such didn’t know if anyone else had found they had special abilities recently, too. She had her suspicions, but never confirmed. “Hello, Boo,” she said, grinning. “And I have something to tell you, too.” She went over to the open window and held out her hand. “Yoko! Where are you?” Less than a minute later, a dove fluttered onto her arm. You called, sweetheart? “Yoko, this is my littlest brother, Ziggy. He’s come to stay with us for a while.” She beamed, “You’re not the only one who found out they were something special. You’re fire. I’m earth.”
Holding Ainsley in his arms, Ziggy let Boo settle onto a nearby table so he could focus on the weeboo. She was so precious and her eyes just lit up around him. That and she instantly took a liking to the various necklaces he was wearing. Ziggy didn’t mind one bit. He loved kids and was overjoyed to have a little niece to spoil the shit out of. Hi! Boo squeaked in response to Fable, twitching his tiny ears about. The tiny hamster seemed to like Fable so far, especially now that she let them crash at the house. But what Ziggy and Boo didn’t expect was for Fable to summon her own familiar to come on in. Oh wow... so she was an elemental, too. Back home, Ziggy had been the only one, thus far, to receive a familiar, but Boo still mentioned that the whole family had an affinity towards earth, except him. Whatever that meant. “You too?!” Seriously, Ziggy was more excited about the fact they had talking animals with them instead of what they could potentially do. “So... wait... does anyone else know about this? Because no one told me.”
Of course Ainsley was fascinated by his necklaces; she loved anything shiny. There were a few beads hanging off one chain and she latched onto those, giving a good tug on it, harder than a baby her age should have been capable of. Fable would get to telling Ziggy what the Morrisons were eventually, but right now she was caught up in the fact that she wasn’t the only elemental in her family, and how relieved it felt to know she wasn’t alone. “Me too!” she said, grinning. “And it’s lovely to meet you, Boo, you and Yoko will probably be spending a lot of time together.” Or not, but it would be nice if their familiars got along, right? “And no, they don’t.” A small frown crossed Fable’s face. “I haven’t talked to Mom and Dad since I left California. Since I found out about Tim.” Her hand went to the dog tags she wore, rubbing over Tim’s name imprinted in the metal. “I’m sure someone told them I have Ainsley, but we’re not on speaking terms.”
Boo just looked on over to Yoko, his bitty hamster instincts telling him that anything bigger than him meant it could eat him, but Yoko seemed friendly. If Ziggy wasn’t worried, then Boo didn’t have to either... half of the time. “Still?” Ziggy scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Seriously, you’d think they’d give it a rest after a while.” Family got old real fast for Ziggy. Hence why he moved. His eyes glanced over to the dog tags and a sense of sadness overwhelmed him. Tim was an awesome dude and it was such a shame the rest of their family didn’t appreciate him for who he was. Idiots. “Well, if there was one person to do the job of blabbing about, it’s me, and I haven’t told them a single th- HOLY SH-” Another tug at one of his necklaces and Ziggy was certain Ainsley was going to take his head with it. The fire elemental just laughed while looking down to the bitty, then back to Fable. “What are you feeding her? Steroids?”
Yoko was, as far as familiars went, fairly laidback and easy going, more motherly than some of the other familiars Fable had met. She had no worries about Boo being safe in the house; she just hoped the two of them got along well enough. “They haven’t called me, and I won’t call them.” Though it hurt to talk about it, the stubbornness overrode the pain in her voice for a second. “They wouldn’t even come to his funeral. Said it served him right.” Her hand tightened around the dog tags. “If that’s what they think, then fuck them. They can never see Ainsley either.” Fable never swore, so when she did, it had much more of an impact. She blinked, glancing up at Ziggy and noticing what Ainsley was doing. “Sweetie, you have to be careful with Uncle Ziggy,” she reminded the baby, reaching over to loosen her fingers from Ziggy’s necklace. “Just like you have to be careful with Mommy, remember?”
Ainsley just blinked, face scrunching up at her mother. Ziggy had shiny necklaces, damn it, and she just wanted to play with them! The baby werewolf had no idea of her strength, and wouldn’t until she was a great bit older. Fable was used to it by now, dealing with it every day. Behind her, Yoko stirred. Let me guess, your family don’t have any idea about Tim, do they?
“No,” Fable admitted, having the good grace to look guilty. “It wasn’t my secret to tell.” She glanced back up at Ziggy. “We’re not the only ones who are different.” If he was going to stay here, then he needed to know what happened on the full moons. The Morrisons weren’t open about their were nature, this was true, but Ziggy was family. And she trusted him with her life.
Wait... seriously? The fact that their own family didn’t stay by their daughter’s side when her fucking husband died just pissed Ziggy off. Ok, not like he went either - senior art show did hold a bit of a priority over everything in his life that - but at least he called Fable every day and sent her flowers and sympathy cards. He was there for her just like she was there for him. The babies in the family had to. It was always a rare occurrence for Ziggy to not talk and that was never a good sign. The furious fire in his eyes spoke for him, though. At the same time, he couldn’t hate his parents - they did support him most of his life. Minus the whole him leaving that morning thing.
Enough about Tim, now the topic was focused on Ainsley and that anger disappeared when he saw some sadness washing over his sister. If his hands weren’t full, he would have given her a huge, but instead he kept Ainsley close and just raised an eyebrow. But giving him an answer that vague just made him tilt his head to the side. “... so... what does that make the weeboo here? A mud elemental?” Oh come on! He didn’t know!
Fable never blamed Ziggy for not coming. Not once. He was still there for her, calling to check on her every day, stayed on the phone with her when she cried. Ziggy kept her from feeling like she was totally alone, and that was worth everything to her. And she knew, just from looking at Ziggy, that he was pissed on her behalf. But his anger and her stubbornness weren’t going to change the Redleafs’ minds about the situation. As far as they were concerned, Fable had disowned herself because she married a military man, and that was that. They’d never seen how good she and Tim had been together, or how happy they’d been. How happy they would have been, if he was here now to see how his little girl was growing up just like him.
She shook her head. “No, Ainsley isn’t an elemental like we are. She takes after Tim’s side of the family.” Oh god, please don’t let him freak out. “She’s a were. A wolf, actually. Tim was, too.”
Not an elemental? What other options were there? He knew a couple psychics in his class came out, along with a vampire, but- OH. Turned out little Ainsley was a puppy. That was awesome. Like hell Ziggy would freak out over that. Nope, he thought this was the coolest thing since ever. Right up there with getting the talk hamster. “You’re a puppy?! Oh my god, that’s AWESOME.” Ziggy wiggled his fingers at Ainsley, way too excited about this discovery. “I bet you turn into the cutest lil’ puppy ever!” Once he was done baby talking to his niece, he looked back to Fable. “Seriously though, that’s really cool! Both with kiddo here and Tim.” Because if Tim was awesomesauce, then so was Ainsley. And probably the rest of the Morrison family. Now he couldn’t wait for the next full moon, because he was totally spending it with the puppy family. Score.
As soon as Ziggy said the words, Fable facepalmed. Ainsley might be a baby, but she still knew what the word “puppy” meant, and that was all she needed to hear. Ziggy did say she’d be the most adorable puppy ever and she intended to show her uncle exactly how right she was. Her only warning was a little baby’s laugh before she shifted, squirming in Ziggy’s arms and trying to make her way up his face to give him a kiss.
“Ainsley,” Fable tried to be stern, but failed, because she really was a cute little thing, “I liked that outfit on you.” Shaking her head, she kneeled down to pick up the shards of fabric now littering the floor. “I hope you’re not mad... that I didn’t tell you before, I mean. Not that I didn’t know you wouldn’t be cool with it, but... Tim didn’t tell anyone. I tried to honor that.”
Had it been anyone else, then perhaps they would have freaked out over the wolf that just poofed into their arms. Not Ziggy. He was all over this, smiling as his little niece showed off just how cute she was. This day really couldn’t get any better. And it didn’t help that Uncle Ziggy was buttering up Ainsley and reminding her how adorable and awesome she was. In the future he would probably be a bad influence on her, but he meant well. Back to the topic of Tim, Ziggy’s smile faded a bit. “I guess that’s understandable, at least with our family. Probably didn’t want them hating on him even more for whatever cracked out reason.” Scratching the puppy behind the ears, he finally gave the squirmy kiddo back over to her mommy, leaving Ziggy to lean against the wall. “So Tim’s family is a bunch of wolves, we’re apparently elementals... anything else we forgot to check off on that list?”
Oh, Fable knew just how bad an influence her little brother could be, but she also knew that she had a few years at least before Ainsley would learn any bad habits from him. She hoped, anyway. Either way, she wanted her brother to be part of her daughter’s life regardless, seeing as she didn’t have a lot of her own family here. “They wouldn’t understand, about Tim,” Fable said, shaking her head. “And as far as I’m concerned, it’s none of their business anyway.” Tim wasn’t coming back, a thought that always pained her, and what was done was done. All she could do now was go forward with what she had, and that was the little puppy in Ziggy’s arms. She took Ainsley and gave the puppy a kiss on the top of the head before glancing back up at him. “Yes,” she said. “And you might want to sit down for this one.” She paused for a second, “You heard about the angels coming back right? On the news?”
“Mom and dad don’t understand a lot of crap,” Ziggy pointed out with wide eyes and a finger pointed in Fable’s direction. “I like to think I have a Ph.D in the subject of shit mom and dad don’t tolerate.” Leave it to the outlandish fire elemental to set fire under his parents’ feet just to see what happened. Thankfully that had yet to happen literally. Though as for what else was going on in their world, he raised an eyebrow when she actually said yes. “Seriously? Wow, ok, that was my joke guess.” Sitting down he could do, even if it was jumping up onto a nearby dresser. What? It was right there! “So yeah. Angels. We had a couple news reports back home go crazy over that. I take it you guys have them, too?”
In spite of the conversation, Fable gave him a laugh. “You’re right about that,” she said, the words coming out warmly. More than anything else, Fable was proud of Ziggy for standing up for what he believed in. Their parents had raised them to do the right thing, and just because they shared different views on certain subjects didn’t make them wrong, just different. She did give a little wince as he jumped up on Ainsley’s dresser, only to shake it off a second later. “Yes, they’re here too,” she said. “Ziggy... I met one. His name is Michael.” Oh, Michael would probably hate that she was telling Ziggy this, but Ziggy was a Redleaf too, and therefore just as angelic blooded as she herself was. “He’s our great-uncle. Grandpa Raziel’s twin.”
Had Fable just told her little brother that she met an angel and left it at that, Ziggy would have been cool with that, because holy crap that would be sweet. Just as Ziggy opened his mouth to say something, Fable had added in the fact that said angel was related to them. He paused, blinked, and closed his mouth to try and process all of that. He barely remembered Granpda Raziel, except his name was just as awesome as his own. He never recalled said grandfather having a twin, but Fable was never the type to be pulling his leg on a serious matter like this. And when he took the time to piece everything together, he gave his sister a shocked look and spoke slowly, “Do the Morrisons have any hard booze lying around, because I’m going to need one if you’re trying to tell me we’re part freaking angel.” And then he was going to proceed with drunk cartwheels around the front yard.
It took a lot to get Ziggy speechless, it really did. Fable had known him most of her life and even then, she could only name a handful of times when it happened. Being told you were part angel had been a shock to her too, and her reaction hadn’t exactly been the same, but she believed Michael. He’d saved her and Ainsley, and she knew he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to them. “You heard me right,” she said. “We’re angelic blooded. Strongly, because of Grandpa Raziel. And if the Morrisons have booze, you can explain to my father-in-law why you drank all his beer.” Fable rubbed at one of her temples, idly. “So yes. Welcome to the last few months of my life in a nutshell. I haven’t told our parents... I should. Maybe they already know. Maybe they don’t.”
Well shit. They were angelic-blooded and not even a little bit. Like, a whole lot. As much of a surprise as it came to Ziggy, it did make sense. The Redleafs were always kind people and looking out for everyone, even if that evolved into them becoming anti-violent beings. It also explained why Ziggy wasn’t the typical, raging, temperamental fire elemental. It was going to take a while for everything to sink in and would probably happen once he had a few drinks, but that was getting postponed only because Fable had to bring up their parents. Again. “Whoa whoa whoa! Who ever said you needed to tell mom and dad anything? Fable, they had issues trying to adjust to the fact their black sheep son was a fire elemental. Do you really think they’re going to budge at ‘oh by the way, the whole family is part angel,’ which ok, that is pretty damn sweet when you think about it, but come on. You can’t live your whole life around whether or not you should tell them something. It’s your damn life, not theirs. Besides, if they cared so much, I would like to think they would have made a call by now.” Ziggy wasn’t looking to hurt his sister, but he couldn’t shut up once someone got him going. But if their parents weren’t going to take interest in their daughter over who she fell in love for, then Ziggy would be there to fill in the gaps. That’s what little brothers were for.
Sometimes, Fable just felt too responsible, the mother in her wanting to take care of everyone and everything, as if by doing so she could make it all right again. And yes, sometimes that included her parents, too, even when she wasn’t actually talking to them. She’d been overwhelmed by all sorts of emotions since she’d met Michael, and Ziggy’s reaction could have been expected. “I’m not living my whole life around it,” she said, shaking her head. “I just - Ziggy, the angel blood makes us targets. If they don’t know, I don’t want anything to happen to them like... like it happened to us.” She and Ainsley were fine, yes. But they wouldn’t have been, if Michael hadn’t been there. Fable had not forgotten about that, and for a moment she’d forgotten that she hadn’t told Ziggy about the demon, either. She was trying to work past that, she really was. But for someone who’d never fought a day in her life, the violence of seeing Michael take that thing down still stayed with her.
Oh... When she put it like that, at least Ziggy calmed down a bit. His body stopped tensing up and his face sunk. Boo had managed to find his way over to Ziggy and proceeded to curl up in his hands in hopes to comfort him. Small, fluffy things were good like that. It was definitely going to take a while to get used to all the sudden changes and coming from Ziggy, that meant a whole lot. The thought of something harming his family, especially Fable, just made him angry. He didn’t care if he lost all his limbs in the process, just as long as he knew the people he cared about were safe. Right as he was about to tell his sister that he’d protect her to the bitter end, she went off and said that. Seriously, she was on a roll with this. “Wait, what do you mean ‘like it happened to us?’” His eyes widened once more while giving Fable a firm look. “Please tell me you didn’t bump into a demon, too.”
If Ziggy figured out a way to deal with all these changes, seriously, he had to tell Fable how to do it, because so far she was failing. As it was, the way he was looking at her just caused her eyes to well up with tears; she never wanted to worry anyone, or to be the one to say the bad news. “That’s how Michael found us,” she whispered. “He saved us, Ainsley and I.” She closed her eyes for a moment, trying not to remember that terrifying moment when the demon had ripped her baby out of her arms. “I’ve barely left the house since then, I don’t want anything to happen to her.” Fable would have gladly given her life to make sure Ainsley was safe. That little girl was everything to her. “Michael - Michael said he’d look out for us. And you’re my brother, he’ll look out for you too.”
He had been praying that Fable was perhaps joking or exaggerating or something that didn’t involve coming face to face with a demon. It was always one thing to hear the events on the news, but it was different when someone close actually experienced it all. It pained Ziggy to know he couldn’t do a damn thing about it, but he was happy that this Michael guy was around to keep Fable protected. Placing Boo on his shoulder, he slipped off the dressed to walk over to Fable and pull her into a tight, long embrace. Now that he was here, he could that. Back when he received the phone call about Tim’s death, he wanted to give his sister a hug. Shit, he wanted to give her a hug for many reasons, but couldn’t. At least now he could. With that out of the way, he pulled back enough to look down into her eyes. “I’m just glad you and Ainsley are alive. I don’t know what to do about everyone else. Maybe we can ask Michael or something, but-” He cracked a smile. “-you’re alive and that’s all that kind of matters to me right now. And I’m not going anywhere any time soon, so you better believe I’m protecting my big sis from demons.” At least it was the thought that counted.
She’d missed Ziggy’s hugs, she really did. Mary Anne was great, and she was the best mother-in-law a girl could ask for, even for being a werewolf, but still, she wasn’t Fable’s baby brother. She and Ziggy had always had each other’s back growing up, and now was no different. With everything that had happened to her in the last few months, this was a long time coming - she couldn’t believe that the last time she saw him, Tim had still been alive. In Afghanistan, yes, but alive. “Me too,” and her voice cracked as she said those words. “I’ve kind of been on lockdown ever since. I know - I know it might not happen again, but-” She couldn’t finish the sentence. A young mother had every right to be worried, didn’t she? “I’m so glad you’re here, Ziggy. Protecting us from demons or not.” A demon would crush Ziggy, but Fable refused to think about that right now. He was here. It was enough.
And Ziggy missed Fable’s hugs just as much. Like hell he was going to leave his big sister on her own like these. Not after all they had been through together. They were going to stick together through both the good and bad times. Even if it was something as simple as him going out and picking up food because Fable couldn’t leave the house. Or he could stay in and watch his niece while she went out and enjoyed herself. Ziggy was there and Fable never needed to ask twice. Hearing she was happy to have him there? Ziggy just beamed. The best thing a fire elemental could hear was that they were wanted and that had him bouncy for joy inside. Squeezing his sister a little more, he couldn’t help but smile. “Glad to be here, too, sis.”