Including taming a fire elemental to create a steam engine for vehicles and boats.I called home the next day, and dad told me Dee and George were fine... and would be home the next day. The labor was smooth, and no complications at all. He also told me that my column was starting in two months, and he had negotiated how much I would be paid, and I was on a two year contract. I had to go and told him to give my love to Dee and my new brother, and went back to work.On Tuesday Frannie took me to the. I feel much better: refreshed and more like myself, and hardly notice as the wings unfurl from my back and blanket me in shadow.I’m not in the least bit sleepy. Perhaps I could try harvesting some souls then? A wicked grin spreads across my face as I lift my wings and take off silently into the night.***From the air: everything looks like it’s laid out on a game board. All the little pieces moving around to the tune of a set of rules…. But some pieces don’t follow the rules. It’s those pieces. I had to spendpractically all day padding my nipples dry with a cloth. I wasn't annoyedor anything. It was just inconvenient. A big part of me, however, wassavouring the moment, being a woman and a mother next to my man. For theoccasion, Mustapha was acting in a much less authoritarian way, helping mecope with the physical and psychological aspects of this change. In hiseyes, I could see Love with a capital L. The Love of a Man who had justbecome a father and longed to live his fatherhood next. What did she mean by "having her little boyback?" Oh no, she isn't going to start playing *the game*, is she?"Mom, we've got to talk." Of course dear, let's sit down and have a nice chat," She replies.She sits opposite me and slowly and sensuously crosses her legs,allowing my eyes to feast on exquisite thighs as she hypnotically rocksher leg back and forth. I am lost in the swaying limb, then quicklylook up, only to see her smile *that* smile. That teasing grin thataccuses: I caught you.