Here's an excerpt of the beginning.
Destiny Tribune
Laccassine Parish Births
Jane Fortune, Psycho and Social Connections Reporter
Jack chuckled as he read the logline for Jane's column. His mother had called to say Chloe made the 'births' section, three months late. He sipped his cup of Community and read further down in the article discovering why.
Isn't it odd that we've had so much participation this winter? The last time we recorded this much rain, coincidentally?, was the month River Pomeroy was born, and the only time before that when his sister, Tempe, came along. Really. Well, isn't it interesting that Tempe and Jack Lang's baby, Chloe, was born on February 18th and this is the first sunny month we've had. Curious. This reporter wonders - is it just another coincidence?
Jack shook his head. Every now and then Jane put two and two together and got four.
"Jack! I can't find Chloe."
Jack went running to their bedroom where Tempe's cry had originated.
She stood in the middle of the room, her fist planted under her chin, pretending not to see the red gold curls peeking out from under the bed. And one would think she was deaf to the giggles following each flash of light from the darkness beneath the mattress.
Tempi tried again searching under pillows and behind the door. "Where's grandpa's little lightning bug?"
Dutch had taken to calling the toddler that as a referendum on her name, saying it should've been Storm, or Zephyr, something that followed the naming convention in the family. Tempe had snickered and looked at River who'd joked when they were little that theyshould've been named Flash and Flood. Chloe heard that, and now one of the few words she could say was "Fwassh".
"Chloe, wherever you are, come out. Let's go see grandpa."
She was out from under the bed quicker than Tempe could say"flash"... and gone. No one could tell Tempe what normalwas for a nearly four-month-old toddler because Chloe wasn't just human; she wasn't just djinn; just Tempestaerie, dragon or phoenix. She was all of the above. To say she was a handful was like saying there was a star or two in the Milky Way.
When Chloe wanted to go to the park, it took three family members to keep her out of trouble. Usually a team included Jack or River, his mother and Dutch, or Tempe and her mother, though having only two Tempestaeries watching a child with so many obvious potential abilities was a babysitting nightmare. The dragons and djinn and maybe Jack's mother were the only ones fast enough to catch Chloe.
Just yesterday Jack had come home to Chloe practicing her fire breath, something they hadn't known to be possible. As he'd toted her outside she'd continued to make little poof poof sounds, taking out a lamp, a bookshelf and Jack's slippers. They hadn't dreamed of this. Then Jack's father, Admiral Lang, had puffed up like the proud grandpapa he was and promised to distract Chloe from her dangerous new play pretty, until she understood better.
"Preferably when she's out of college," said Jack.
Admiral Lang was "Boo" and Boo said, "Young ladies do not play with fire, sweetpea." But they shouldn't have been surprised. She got the fire element from all corners of the family.
Tempi grabbed for her daughter as soon as she flew out from under the bed but all she nabbed was a diaper. The child was fast as lightning, or maybe she was riding lightning. "Chloe, I mean it"
"Ma-ma?" Came the sweet voice that always stole her heart and turned her anger to mushy love without fail. She spotted Chloe sitting in front of the bedroom door. She'd already donned her favorite pink knit cap and gloves and was smiling so sweetly it didn't dawn on Tempe until it was too late. She felt her own smile slipping as she realized the child was up to something. "Honey"
The little cherub grin widened and two tiny teeth winked at Tempe, then she crossed her arms, and went up in smoke.
Tempe screamed. "Jack! She's found another one."
Chloe had just discovered the ability to poof in and out like her grandfather and her uncle, both djinnis. "Zeus, help us all when she finds out she can grant wishes."
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