When Lenora and James arrived in New Orleans, it didn't take them long to reach where they were supposed to be.
"You would think that I'd have known about this," James said as they looked around at the shops. "Why didn't your grandmother ever tell me about it?"
"I don't know," Lenora shrugged. "Probably because there's never been a problem with it until now. Just what do you plan to do while we're here? You can't arrest anyone. They aren't doing anything wrong."
"I'm not just around to arrest people," James told her. "I can be of some help for them too, and that is exactly what I intend to do. You're not the only one who is allowed to be helpful."
"I wasn't saying that you couldn't be helpful," Lenora told him. "I'm just curious how."
"I'll come up with a way," James said. "But first, we need to figure out just what is happening." He and Lenora strode into the first shop and the woman at the counter's eyes widened. "Mr. Black!" She cried. "Whatever you're here for, I promise I haven't done anything wrong!"
She dropped to the floor and James let her cower for a bit before finally ordering her to stand up. "I haven't come to punish you," he said. "I'm not in that business anymore. I'm in law enforcement now. I've come to try and help."
"Oh," The woman relaxed. "Well, then why did you let me be so scared?"
"Old habit," James smirked. "There's still a part of me that enjoys the fear I used to instill in others. What's going on here?"
"What do you mean?" The woman asked, still nervous.
"He wants to know what's going on with the witches," Lenora told her. "We're here to sort the whole thing out. I figured that since he's law enforcement, he could be of some help."
"I didn't see you there, Lenora," the woman said. She looked very relieved. She took a deep breath and was finally able to look at James. "I don't know much," she said. "But Laurette and Chloe a few shops down know more than anyone. You should go see them."
"All right," James nodded. "Thank you."
They left and James said to Lenora, "Couldn't you have just told me that?"
"Yeah," Lenora sighed. "I could have." They walked into Laurette and Chloe's store and like the woman before, the sight of James, even with Lenora alongside him, put everyone in a panic.
"Everyone stay calm!" Chloe said. "We can deal with this. There is no need to worry." She grabbed Lenora and took her into a corner. "Are you crazy bringing him in here?" She asked. "What did you have to go and get everyone worked up for? Isn't worrying about your dad enough for us to go through?"
"James is in a new line of work now," Lenora told her. "He's law enforcement, here to protect you all, not to harm you."
"What?" Chloe asked. "Really?"
"She's not lying," James replied. "But if you insist on being scared, keep going. I enjoy it."
"You're not helping," Lenora told James through her teeth.
"So," James continued, ignoring Lenora. "Who do I have to talk to to get some information around here?"
"Me," Kol replied, striding out of the back room. "It all depends on who's asking."
"Kol, this is James," Lenora told him. "He's magical law enforcement. You can tell him stuff."
"Are you sure?" Kol asked. "I think I might want a second opinion." He turned and shouted over his shoulder. "Darling! would you come out here for a moment?"
"Sure!" Helene's voice called. "Coming!"
"Is that my mother?" Lenora asked, eyes wide. "What are you doing calling my mother that name?"
Kol grinned as Helene came out and put an arm around his shoulder. "Let's just say we have an understanding," he said and kissed her. "That doesn't bother you, does it, Lenora?"
Helene grinned at her daughter. "Hello, Lenora. What brings you here?"
Kol stroked Helene's neck. "They've come to ask for information about what Adrian's up to," he said. "Lenora brought her husband and thinks he can be of help. Is that true?"
"Now he'd probably be a better help to her than us," Helene said. "Lenora, you don't look well. Is everything okay?"
Lenora had gone white as a sheet and James had to grab her before she passed out. "We'll be back tomorrow," he said. "And you better have something worthwhile to tell us."
"Or what?" Kol asked. "What will you do to me?"
"I'll think of something," James told him as he carried Lenora out of the shop. "Believe me."
Lenora came to shortly after they reached the place they were staying. "You're up!" James said. "I can't say our little foray into the city went as well as we'd hoped, although I did enjoy seeing people still fear me. That was delightful."
"Please tell me that our seeing my mom with her arm around Kol was some sort of shared hallucination you and I both had," Lenora begged him.
"I wish I could," he said. "But it was real."
Lenora groaned. "I don't know why this bugs me so much. Mom and Dad aren't getting along, Mom should date whomever she wants. But it bugs me so much!"
"I know what we can do to make you forget," James said with a grin. "Let's pretend that you're a bad witch, you've committed the worst crime imaginable, and I have to punish you."
"All right," Lenora sighed. "But I doubt it will work." She undressed and James used invisible restraints to hold her on the bed. "Are you ashamed of what you've done?" He asked, coming toward her.
"No," Lenora shook her head. "I'm not! I'll do whatever the hell I want and you can't stop me. I can just leave. I know how."
James smirked, climbed onto the bed and unzipped his pants before brushing her stomach and breasts and leaning close to her face, his beard brushing her cheeks. "You'll never leave me!" He said before pushing into her and kissing her before releasing her arms so she could kiss him back and put her arms around his neck. "You're right," she said when he pulled away. "I won't."
"It was so nice of you to spend all day at Enid's today," Laura said to Edward. "It's been so dead there lately and I have no idea why."
"It's because there's been an outbreak of werewolf rabies," Edward told her. "It's a really contagious thing."
"Werewolf rabies?" Laura asked. "Is that seriously a thing or are you making it up?"
"No, I am not making it up. It's a disease that werewolves get," Edward told her. "Lots of the same symptoms as rabies and there are some other symptoms too, but just to keep things simple, we call it rabies."
"But you don't have to worry about getting it, right?" Laura asked. "I mean, since you're not an active wolf?"
"I don't know," Edward replied. "I don't think there's ever been a case of an inactive werewolf getting it, but there's always a first time for everything."
"And it's contagious, right? Spread from werewolf to werewolf?"
Edward nodded.
"Well, it's a good thing you moved out of your parents' house and live with us now then," Laura replied. "No chance of you getting sick that way. Although, if you did get sick, I would be more than happy to nurse you back to health."
"You would?" Edward asked with a grin and then kissed her. "Aren't you sweet?"
"Yeah," Laura replied. "I am. And then, after I was a nurse for you, you could thank me by playing doctor with me! And you can't say no to someone who saved your life."
"Well, that's only if I get sick," Edward said. "We can't even be sure that will happen."
Thus assured, Laura continued working and seeing Edward every day at the bar, until one day, he came with some news. "I have to make a quick visit home," he told her. "My grandparents are coming and they're some of the few family members I have that I like. But I promise I won't be gone long."
"Are you sure you should go?" Laura asked. "What about the rabies thing? What if you get sick? I don't want that to happen!"
"If it does," Edward told her with a wink, "you'll be able to play nurse for me, just like you wanted. But I think everything should be all right."
"When are you going to leave?" Laura asked.
"Not too long from now," Edward replied. "I'll have a quick drink of something and then be on my way."
"All right," Laura nodded. "How long will you be gone? Dad will want to know. He's going to miss you."
"Yeah," Edward grinned. "I'm sure he will." He paused. "Don't worry. It won't be for too long. Just a couple of days and then I'll come running back to your house where people are actually sane."
"All right," Laura nodded. "I'll be sure to let Dad know."
"Edward's gone," Elijah remarked when Laura came back to the house after work. "Did you know that?"
"Yeah," Laura nodded. "He came by the bar and told me. But don't worry, Daddy. He said he's only gonna be gone a couple of days. His grandparents are visiting and he wants to see them."
"Well, that's all right," Elijah told her. "Did you think I'd have some sort of objection to that?"
"No," Laura shook her head. "But I knew you'd miss him, so I just wanted to be sure you knew he was coming back, that's all."
"Well, thank you," Elijah told her. "I'll remember that."
But as much as Laura wanted to believe that the only person who'd really miss Edward was her father, she found herself tossing and turning in bed for the next few nights, and when the day of Edward's return came, she found herself more excited than she expected. At least until she got a phone call from him.
"Are you coming back soon?" She asked him excitedly. "You said you were coming back today!"
Edward's voice was weak. "I got sick," he said. "I don't know if my coming back is the best idea based on how I'm feeling right now."
"Can you not move at all?" Laura asked. "That's the only reason I can think of that is valid for you to not come home. None of us will catch what you have. I'll even come and pick you up if you tell me where you are."
Edward was quiet for a long moment and then said, "Fine. Come and pick me up. I just know you won't let me do anything other than come home." He told her the address and gave a hacking cough.
"Don't worry," Laura told him. "I'll be there in a jiffy!"
When she finally arrived at the address he'd given her, his mother came to meet her. "Have you come to pick up Edward?" She asked. "Be careful with him. He's weak." Laura was then faced with watching Edward being helped out of the house by two of his burly brothers. He looked pale and sickly, and seemed to be weak. They got him in the back of the car and then Laura drove away with him.
"You're gonna be okay," she assured him. "We're gonna take you home, and make you all better."
Edward gave a wheezing laugh. "Will you be wearing a short nurse's outfit while you do it?" He asked.
Laura smirked at the rear view mirror. "Sure," she said. "Why not? Now stop talking. You have to rest or you'll probably make yourself sicker."
They drove the rest of the way home in silence and when they reached Elijah and Selina's, Laura got out her phone and called Elijah to help her bring Edward inside. They got him in his room and Laura tucked him in.
"I'm sorry if I don't do the best job caring for you," she told him. "I've not dealt with sick people much in my life. Can I get you anything, or do you just want me to leave you alone?"
"I think I just want to sleep," Edward replied. "Thanks, Laura. Don't forget about the nurse outfit."
"I won't," Laura promised him. "I mean it."
It took much longer than it should have since Edward was around people who weren't accustomed to dealing with sickness, but eventually, Edward got better because Laura gave him her blood. They weren't sure that would work, but Laura came in to check on him one morning and found him sitting up in bed and grinning. "So when are you going to put on that nurse's uniform?" He asked.
Laura gave him a look. "Did being sick suddenly make you super horny or something?"
Edward shrugged. "Something like that. Somewhere between when I was foaming at the mouth and choking on phlegm, I realized that life is short, you know? If it weren't for you finally realizing that your blood could cure me, I probably would have died. People often do with this sickness."
"They do?" Laura asked. "Really? I had no idea!"
"Believe it," Edward nodded. "It's true."
"So are you saying that you actually want to have sex with me?" Laura asked, sitting next to him on the bed. "You better not be stringing me along."
"I'm not," Edward promised. "But it will only be this one time, at least for awhile. Are you on anything?"
"You mean birth control wise?" Laura asked. "Yeah. I've been on the pill since I was thirteen. And by the way, you really know how to ask a girl for sex, I mean really. It's so hot to be practical."
"Were you just expecting me to throw you up against a wall and rip off your clothes?" Edward asked, eyebrow raised.
"Well, yeah," Laura nodded. "I was."
Edward grinned, got out of bed, pulled her to him and kissed her deeply. "You know what you have to get if you want me to be really fun," he whispered and turned her around, giving her a spanking. "Go on and do it."
Laura giggled and went out to her car. She had to drive to three different costume stores but eventually she returned with the nurse costume. "Are we gonna start playing now?" She asked Edward.
"Oh, no," he said, grinning wickedly. "Not until tonight. I think it'd be more fun to do it under the full moon, don't you?"
"That is just cruel!" Laura replied, stomping her foot as Edward dressed. "Do you know how hard it will be to focus on other stuff knowing that I have seeing you naked to look forward to?"
Edward grinned. "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger," he said. "You'll pull through. I have no doubt."
Laura rolled her eyes and went about her day, despite how difficult it was. And then, around nightfall, she told Elijah that she and Edward had some astronomy homework to do.
"All right," he told her as she left his room. "You two go out and do your homework. And be sure to work hard so you get a good grade."
"Oh, we will," Laura nodded. "I swear." She left his room and ran to hers, quickly changing into the nurse outfit before going to meet Edward. "I told Dad we had astronomy homework to do," she said. "We can be out there as long as we want and he won't question it. And he's in his room with the door closed so we don't have to worry about him catching us."
They sneaked outside and actually did look at the stars for a bit, but then once the moon came up, something came over both of them. They looked at each other for a long moment and then Edward took her in his arms and rolled her onto the grass. He took off his shirt, then pushed up her skirt and rolled down her panties, throwing them aside before unzipping his pants and grinning down at Laura as he pushed into her. Clutching each other, they rolled around in the grass, the bodice of her dress ripping as his hands roamed over her breasts, giving them each a squeeze that made her gasp. He flicked his tongue over each of her nipples, his breath feeling hot on her stomach. He pushed into her a couple more times and by then, both he and she were breathing hard.
"Wow," Laura breathed. "My god!"
"Can I just tell you something?" Edward asked.
"It depends," Laura replied, turning around to face him. "Will it ruin the moment?"
"Possibly," Edward replied, electing not to tell her that most of what she'd experienced he'd learned how to do from the internet. They rested for a moment, looking up at the stars, before Laura said, "What do you say? Wanna take one more tumble?"
"We should probably go back inside," Edward told her. "We don't want your father to come out." He paused, his eyes widening. "Oh, my god," he breathed. "Your father!"
"Yeah?" Laura said as she hunted around in the grass for all the clothes she'd been wearing. "What about him?"
"What am I gonna tell him if he asks what we did?" Edward asked. "I can't tell him the truth! The only reason why he let me near you in the first place was because he thought that I would never do what we just did, at least until we got married! I'm never gonna be able to face him again!"
Laura sighed. "And on that note, the mood is officially broken." When the two of them were dressed, they went inside. Elijah met them at the door with a smile on his face. "So, you two," he said. "How did the astronomy homework go?"
"Great," Laura replied. "Wonderful."
"Actually," Edward said, "We weren't doing homework. We were having sex. I'm gonna go pack my bags now. I assume you don't want me around anymore." He scampered away before Elijah could do more than looked shocked.
"Did he just say what I think he just said?" Elijah asked.
Laura avoided his eyes. "Yes, sir," she replied.
Elijah shut his eyes tight. "Well, that explains that outfit. And why it's so dirty. I have to say, I expected you to pull something like this, but for him to go along with it...how did you convince him?"
"I didn't have to," Laura replied, meeting Elijah's eyes now. "When he got better, he said that it made him realize life was short and that he wanted to have sex with me, so we did."
"Well, it was a smart choice of his to move out, then," Elijah said. "I thought he would be a good influence on you, but he's no better than any other boy, is he?"
"What's going on?" Selina asked, coming into the living room. "Why is Edward packing his things?"
"He's decided to live elsewhere," Elijah replied. "And I think that's not a bad idea, given the circumstances."
"What circumstances?" Selina asked. She eyed her daughter. "Laura, what's happened?"
Laura sighed. "Edward and I had sex," she said.
"Can you believe that?" Elijah asked Selina, his voice full of indignation. "Right under our noses, our daughter, who wants us to believe she is trustworthy, had sex without telling us!"
"And it's no wonder she didn't!" Selina said. "Cause she knew you were gonna blow it way out of proportion!"
"Well, and why shouldn't I?" Elijah asked. "I suppose we'll have to go to the courthouse now and get them married before anything else goes wrong."
"No!" Laura shook her head. "I'm not gonna do that! You're acting like what I did is something to be ashamed of and it's not. I should be able to make decisions about what to do with my body. It's not your business!"
"Oh, of course it's my business!" Elijah told her. "You're still a child and it's my job to look out for you, including stopping you from making horrible decisions that could ruin your life!"
"How could this ruin my life?" Laura asked. "I had sex with the guy I love while I was on birth control. It's not like he's some loser that's gonna dump me tomorrow. He's Edward, the guy you picked for me! And now that he's acting like a guy who has hormones and feelings and does the occasional stupid thing instead of being absolutely perfect, you're gonna turn your back on him? Daddy, that is just disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself!" She stomped off and then Selina gave Elijah a long look before leaving herself so that Elijah was standing alone in the living room. When he went to bed, he found that Selina had moved to the spare room so he would be sleeping alone. Growling in frustration, he sighed, punched his pillow and tried to get to sleep.
Despite pleas from Laura, in the aftermath their having sex, Edward still felt he had no choice but to move out of Selina and Elijah's and go somewhere else.
"You really don't have to do this, you know," Laura said as she helped him move into his new apartment. "Daddy has no right to be mad at you."
"Yes he does," Edward told her. "He trusted me to be good to you and I betrayed that trust. I couldn't look him in the eye without thinking that I betrayed him."
Laura sighed. "I still don't think you did anything wrong," she told him. "But if you want to be somewhere else, I obviously can't stop you."
"Thank you for understanding," Edward told her. "And it's not like you won't see me ever again. We just won't be able to see each other as much as we used to." They pulled the covers over the bed and Laura said, "Is there any other furniture we need to bring in?"
"None that I can think of," Edward told her.
"Well, all right," Laura said and handed him a bag. "It's for you," she said. "It's a blanket, and a bunch of Mom's cookies, and a picture of me. Put it where everyone can see it." Her voice broke as she said the last sentence. Edward took her in his arms and hugged her hard. "I got something for you too," he said.
"Oh, yeah?" Laura asked. "What is it?"
Edward left and came back with a big smiling teddy bear. "Push his stomach," he urged her.
Laura pushed it, and Edward's voice emitted from the bear. "I love you, Laura," it said. This just made Laura start to cry again.
Edward hugged her. "I'm sorry!" he said. 'I didn't want my present to make you cry! I wanted it to make you happy!"
Laura nodded. "It does make me happy," she said. "Thank you, Edward. He'll have a special spot in my bed until we're married and you can take his place."
"Who knows if we'll be able to get married now?" Edward asked.
"Don't worry," Laura told him. "We will."
One night, Margaret had trouble sleeping because her dreams were full of a scary, red-eyed purple dragon that wanted to eat her. Shaking, she finally found the courage to get out of bed, leave her room, and go to Henry's room. She knocked on the door and when he answered it, he was frowning and rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?" He asked. "I was sleeping!"
"I'm having a scary dream," she told him. "A giant purple dragon is trying to eat me!"
She expected him to have the same sort of unamused reaction that her father did whenever she brought up her bad dreams, but instead, Henry's eyes widened and he pulled her into the room. "You don't have to worry about the big, scary dragon," he told her. "I'll protect you!"
"But he breathes fire and he could kill you too!" Margaret replied. "Be careful!"
Henry took one of her hands and pushed her behind him. "What does the dragon look like?"
"He's big, he's purple, and he's got red eyes!" Margaret replied, then let out a shriek when the figure of her nightmares appeared before her, filling up the whole room. "Kill it!" She cried to Henry, her voice desperate. "Kill it, kill it, kill it!"
"I will," he said. "Just a minute!"
The dragon roared once and fire shot out of his mouth. As Margaret shut her eyes tight and clutched Henry tighter, a sword appeared in thin air in front of him and he urged it forward, right into the dragon's belly. The dragon let out an angry shriek and disappeared. Afterward, Henry cleaned up the messy room, just in time for Elijah and Selina to come storming in. "What's going on in here?" Selina asked.
"Is everyone okay?" Elijah added. "Margaret, what happened?"
Margaret put her arms around Henry. "Henry killed the dragon, daddy. He's my hero!"
"You were having nightmares again?" Selina asked her sympathetically. "I'm sorry."
Margaret shrugged. "Thank you," she replied. "But I think I'll be better now." She hugged Henry again. "Thank you for killing the dragon," she said.
He grinned. "You're welcome."
"All right, all right," Elijah said. "Now that everyone is all right, I think it would be best if we all went back to bed.
"All right," Margaret replied as Elijah nudged her toward the door. "Goodnight, Henry!"
"Good night, Margaret!" Henry called back.
The next day, Elijah went to Margaret's room so they could have their usual Saturday afternoon tea party, but when he opened the door, Henry was sitting in his chair.
"I'm sorry," Elijah said. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No," Margaret replied. "I was just having a hero tea party for Henry because of what he did with the dragon. We can get another chair for you if you want."
"No, it's fine," Elijah told her. "You children have fun." He left and went looking for Selina. He found her in the kitchen and cleared his throat a couple of times until she finally turned around and acknowledged him. "Well, well, well," she said. "Look who's wanting my attention now. What brought this on, since you're not the type to apologize or admit you did anything wrong?"
"I just wanted to ask for your help but if you don't feel inclined to give it to me, than I'll just go and lock myself in my office and not bother you," Elijah told her. He was walking away, she said, "Wait!" He turned around. "Are you willing to help me?"
Selina sighed. "Only because it's not healthy to keep feelings bottled up inside of you. What's the problem?"
"You know how Margaret and I usually have tea parties on Saturdays?" He asked.
Selina nodded. "Yeah," she said. "What about it?"
"Well," Elijah swallowed. "I went in her room and Henry was in my seat. She'd started everything without me, and was calling it 'hero tea party'. She never gave me a hero tea party." He scowled.
"Well, you have to admit you weren't exactly sympathetic about her nightmares," Selina told him. "All you've ever told her when she opened up to you about them was to go back to her room and try to get back to sleep. That's not exactly helpful advice. Henry took action and whatever he did, it seems to have gotten rid of her fear. You can't blame her for being happy with him."
"It's not fair!" Elijah told her. "First, I lose Laura, and now I'm losing Margaret too!"
"You didn't exactly lose Laura," Selina told him. "You're just being stubborn and throwing a fit because she's a teenager who wants to live her own life beyond the small little bubble you put her in. And why aren't you more happy that she likes Edward? I thought that's what you were hoping for when you threw them together!"
Elijah's eyes widened. "Well I didn't want them to like each other so much that that he would take her virtue! That's not what I thought he'd be like when I met him! I thought he'd just, you know, help Laura with her homework and keep the other boys away."
Selina burst out laughing. "Oh, how naive you are," she said. "Edward, in the state you liked, wouldn't have done any of that. This sexy, dangerous side of him is part of what attracts her. You wouldn't have gotten anywhere with them if he didn't have both sides of him. And stop treating Laura like she's some object that's gonna lose her value now that she's been with a guy. The guy she was with is the guy she's gonna wanna be with forever, so what does it matter if they have sex or not? You know he's not gonna dump her tomorrow. And I got Laura on birth control as soon as she turned thirteen so it's not likely she'll get pregnant from this."
"You mean like you did with Damon when you were human?" Elijah asked, his eyes flashing. "You're not exactly the best example."
"Damon and I were engaged!" Selina said. "He was going off to war! Us having sex was actually my idea and not his. I didn't want him to have died without us ever being together. And though I didn't get to raise Joshua like I should have, it would have been okay if I had, all right? So I'd say I'm a damn good example because instead of just denying Laura the opportunity to be a person and telling her that all her normal urges are shameful and wrong, I talk to her about them, tell her they're normal, and give her ways to deal with them that will minimize any consequences that might occur. I'm not telling her she should just go out and be wanton. When we went and got her pills, we did it with the understanding that they weren't an excuse to do whatever she wanted. They were a safely net in case her lycanthropy made her do something she might regret. It happens, and when it does, you have to take it in stride and move on. Harping about it will not help anything." She paused. "It's a good thing Margaret and Henry are only seven and related. I'd hate to have to go through this for two girls."
"I can't believe Margaret doesn't need me anymore," Elijah said.
"Oh, stop!" Selina told him. "One tea party with Henry instead of you doesn't mean that she's stopped liking you. It just means that she wants to thank Henry for what he did. But look at it this way; Even when the day comes that Margaret, Laura, and Annaliese have found men of their own, you'll always have me. You know that, right?"
Elijah gave her a long look and put his arms around her. "I want us to stop fighting," he said. "Can we do that? Please?"
Selina looked up at him and sighed. "Oh, all right," she told him. "I'll come back to our room because you're all lonely and sad and in need of comfort."
"Yes," Elijah nodded. "That's exactly what I am!"
Selina just grinned and shook her head, taking Elijah by the hand and leading him to their room, where she undressed him and ordered him to get on the bed, where he watched her do a striptease with a grin on his face. Then, he swung his feet around, hopped out of bed, grabbed her, and ran back to the bed with her as best he could.
"Hey!" Selina cried. "You interrupted me being all sexy!"
"Don't care," Elijah shook his head and took her in his arms. "I don't need it, as you can clearly see."
"Yeah," Selina replied, her eyes locked on his body. "I guess you don't."
He put his lips around her nipple and began sucking as she moaned and ran her fingers through his hair. Then, he moved to the other one while his hands slid up and down her inner thighs. She gasped as he slipped his finger inside her, swirling it around her center before he touched it and she let out a shriek of joy. He captured her mouth with his and she reached forward, stroking him. He growled, pulled up her hand, kissed her palm, and then after a little bit of maneuvering, pushed into her a little, paused, looking into her eyes, and then pushed into her the rest of the way, letting her shriek ring loud and clear this time.
They continued in this way until they heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Elijah called, rolling off her.
"It's Margaret," Margaret called back. "I'm done playing with Henry. It can be your turn now!"
"All right!" Elijah called. "I'll be with you in a minute, Margaret!" He then grinned down at Selina and said quietly, "After I finish playing with your mother."
