Andrae - Chapter 9

Some time has passed since we last looked in on Andrae and Meaghan. Jaxon is now a teen, Ezra has grown into a child, and there is a new addition to the family - little Mica.

"Hehehe!"

Mica giggled uproarously as I tickled him. 

"Do you want to come with Ezra and me to see your cousins? Hmm?"

"Cuzins! Yay!"

"Okay then. Ezra!" I yelled for my middle son. "Let's go see Alick and Ella!"

It was a short trip next door to my brother's. Rudy had requested a toy for little Ella, and I was happy to oblige. 

It was funny to watch Ella and Mica practice their howling together...

...while Ezra and Alick engaged in a game that Aster had taught them. It was called rock-paper-scissors, and usually ended up with the two of them rolling around on the floor in an all-out play battle.

We returned home as the sun was setting to find Jaxon engaged in his favorite activity - playing the guitar that Mandrake had given him for his birthday. I wasn't sure that a teenager should be entrusted with the precious instrument, but Mandrake had insisted.

"He has the talent for it, and besides, you're the one who found it in the first place - there were a few of them stored in the crates under the library, remember?"

Tonight Jaxon was showing off a few new songs he had learned. He soon gathered a small crowd, a phenomenon that was occurring more and more lately. Meg's parents had come, and her brother and sister as well, along with Mandrake and Sharee and their little girl.

I groaned inwardly as Sharee approached as the concert ended. I just knew she was going to either flirt with me or freeze me with that chattering teeth spell of hers. It was always either one or the other. I really don't know how Mandrake puts up with her. But tonight I was in luck.

"I saw the toy you made for Ella. Do you think you could make one for Freya, too?"

"Of course. It's the least I can do to pay back Mandrake for everything he's done with his school."

The next full moon I took Ezra out to teach him the ways of the wild - how to howl at the moon...

And hunt for the rocks and metals we needed to provide the island's children with my silly toys.

I always invited Jaxon to come, but he preferred going off on his own. He claimed to have found a unicorn. He tried a few times to show me, but it always ran off whenever I approached. I never saw more than a waving black tail disappearing into the distance.

Jaxon had a way with animals, though. He always returned from his nocturnal visits practically glowing with inspiration for his music.

Ezra, on the other hand, was fascinated by my workbench. He loved to watch as I worked, and before long he was begging to try it himself.

"That's right, son. Give it one more twist and it should be tight enough."

One of the few things both boys enjoyed was helping me track the stars and the moon-calendar. Oakheart had sadly passed on, but we faithfully updated our records, while the strange yellow-haired man kept watch from his place on the wall as the stars danced around him.

"Who is that man?" Ezra asked for the umpteenth time.
"I wish I knew," I replied. "I bet he'd have some stories to tell about this room, if he could talk."

The other thing the three of us had in common was our love of delicious mouth-watering steaks.
"I'm hungry, Jaxon. What shall we make to eat?"
"Dunno, Ezra. I think there's some of Ma's fruit parfait in the cupboard."
"Yuck. I'm thinking of a nice juicy steak."
"Good luck with that. I'm busy. And Pa's upstairs with Mica."
Actually I wasn't. I was right at the door. I stopped to listen, ready to step in when the inevitable battle started.

"Bah, I don't need you, Jax. I can get my own steak."
"Hah. You don't know how to conjure, you're a wolf."
"Do too!"
"Nuh uh!
I wondered what Ezra was talking about; as far as I knew, he was all wolf. But then I watched in amazement as Meg's and Jaxon's familiar conjuring sparkles lit up his fingers.

"See, told ya! One yummy rare steak, just for me. You want some?"

"Ewww gross. Not after you've slobbered all over it. Can't you eat like a normal person?"
"But it's fun to eat like this. You should try it sometime!"
I laughed merrily to myself, and hurried off to find Meg. She'd be thrilled to know that Ezra had inherited some of her talents.

'It's her, isn't it."
I squinted at the tiny golden haired figure that was inexorably growing larger as it made its way down the beach toward our bungalow.
"I'm afraid so," Meg muttered, a miserable frown gracing her pretty face.
"Maybe we can pretend we aren't home," I suggested.
"But Freya's with her, and Ezra wanted to play with her. Besides, she's the wife of our children's teacher. We have to be nice."

As usual, the 'being nice' part lasted only until Sharee started getting flirty.
"You know you're always welcome here, Sharee, but please remember that Andrae is my husband."
Sharee just giggled inanely.
"Oh, hehe. You know I'm just playing. Can't you take a joke?"
I just pretended to be very interested in the picture on the opposite wall. Best to stay out of the whole conversation.

But my efforts to ignore her just made it worse.
"Hehehe. I'm gonna get you, Andrae!"
"Stop it, Sharee!"
I couldn't stand it anymore, and began to bat at the tiny ball of light. Unfortunately, that was just what she wanted. Shrieking with laughter, she darted in and out, tickling me unmercifully.

If it weren't for Ezra, I'd have sent her away long ago. But he loves playing with Freya. At least.. hmm.. I think he does...

"Sharee and Freya are finally gone. And Mica and Ezra are sleeping. Now's our chance."
"Our chance for what?" I teased.
"You know.." she whispered, that seductive smile on her face.
With a house full of boys, it was hard to find the time for 'you know', so we made a bee-line for the bedroom.

"Ma? Can you read me a bedtime...Mama? What are you doing?"
"Ezra! You're supposed to be in bed! Ask Jax for a story if you must have one. Mama and Papa are busy.. um.. busy.. playing.. wrestling."
 "Can I play too?"
"You are supposed to be in bed, young man. Now out! Right now!"

I listened until I was sure he had climbed back in bed.
"Now, where were we? Oh yes.."

Despite the constant interruptions, we managed to find time to make this cutie - our little Kody. Four little boys! Who would have thought?

Ezra's birthday was coming up soon, and so was Freya's. Ezra and I made the short trip to Mandrake's and Sharee's place to talk to Mandrake about the upcoming birthdays. Freya had a new game to show Ezra and they were soon both engrossed in playing dominoes.

Fortunately, Sharee was off somewhere, so I didn't have to deal with her drama. Mandrake had an idea for a project for Freya's birthday that he wanted me to work on. It sounded much more complicated than the toys I normally produced, but it was exciting as well. If I could figure it out, it would open up such possibilities.

"I think I can have it ready for her birthday. And I was thinking. Their birthdays are so close together, we should have one big party at the playground. What do you think?"
I gestured to the two children, soon to be teenagers. Mandrake agreed, and so it was settled. I needed to get to work. I had a lot to do before the big day.

The first stop was witches' alchemy shop, to borrow their gem cutter again. Lavender had taken over the running of the place after Moonflower's passing, and after I explained my project, she was happy to give me full access. I choose the clearest, most flawlessly transparent stones I could find, and cut them into a curved circular shape - one large one, and another smaller one. Of course I gave Lavender the leftover gem dust. The witches love that stuff for some reason.

Then I got to work shaping my metal scraps. This was the tricky part - trying to form a uniformly even metal tube. Almost there - I gave it a few more careful whacks with the hammer, then gently fitted the lenses into the tube.

Viola! Finished! It wasn't nearly as fancy as the telescope the witches had found at the library, but it was serviceable. I couldn't wait for the big day to arrive!