Unspeakable

Chapter 68: Comfort

It didn't take long for Danny and the kids to settle into their new home, the larger house thrilling the older kids because they could share rooms between them instead of all sleeping in one room together. Danny seemed shocked at the size of the house, frowning a bit when he wondered how he could afford this.

"Don't worry so much, I worked it all out already." Poppy smiled, resting her hand against his back reassuringly.

He looked back at her in surprise, wondering how she knew what he was thinking about. She seemed to have an uncanny ability for that.

"This doesn't have anything to do with our deal, does it?" He raised a brow, wondering if she was intending on actually living with them. God help him, he didn't know what he would do with a woman like her in the same room as him. Or the next room. Or any fucking room. She was like a magnet for him for some reason.

"No." She laughed, as if amused at the idea. "Though later tonight we'll settle that bet."

He let out a small snort of disbelief, and rolled his eyes. Right. A unicorn. As if he would actually believe that. And there must be dragons and pixies and elves, too.

He had always loved fairy tales as a kid, his mother talking about fanciful stories from far away places to help him forget about the hell inside their home. Tales of dragons and great deeds done by knights, adventures where good was always triumphant over evil.

Real life wasn't quite so easy, but he'd always loved the escape that fairy tales had provided.

Now he found out magic was real, and his world had been turned upside down. He was living a fairy tale. He felt woefully unprepared. The fight had shown him just how serious this magic could be, fireballs and blasts of magic flying through the air as Connor had battled Diane's relative. The stick he'd grabbed from her hand- a wand, apparently- hadn't felt like anything special. Just a stick with twisted patterns along the length of it. Connor had taken it pretty quickly, telling him they could be dangerous for those who didn't know how to use them.

He glanced back at Poppy again, reminded of their bet. The fact that she had even mentioned living with him... it made him feel things he'd never felt before. His whole life had been devoted to his family. Every fiber of him had been to protect his siblings and mother, though he'd ultimately failed the latter.

That day haunted him. It would always haunt him.

"Later tonight, huh?" He ventured with a little smile. "When you'll show me a unicorn?" He almost wanted to laugh again, but the laughing seemed to irk her quite a bit.

"Yup." She smiled confidently.

He did like that confidence she had... she seemed confident about anything she did. Always planning, always calculating and watching. She was a force to be reckoned with, a natural born leader. Beautiful, fearless, intelligent...

"Dannyyyyyyyy-" a little voice called out from the back. "Michael won't leave me alone!"

Danny sighed and smiled helplessly to Poppy before he went to go solve the fight.

Who was he kidding? No one would want to deal with this every day. It was his burden to deal with, and he didn't expect to ever share it.

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Poppy watched Dan walk into the back with a soft sigh, running a hand along her arm anxiously as he left the room. She'd felt so brave in the train when she'd made that dare, but now that the possibility was here she was so nervous. It was ridiculous to feel like this, but she couldn't seem to help herself.

She of course knew she'd win the bet. Finding a unicorn was simple, she already knew where they liked to bed at night. The alternative she'd given had been unrealistic, meant to shock him and it had definitively worked.