Chapter 5

"Welcome to our home," Dave greeted Kip and Zara several days later. "It's nice to meet you, Christopher."

"If you would just call me Kip, please, I would appreciate it," Kip told Dave who nodded. "I've never gone by Christopher. It's much too long for one thing and Kip is just easier and far simpler."

"I'm surprised you just didn't choose Chris since it's the more common nickname," Dave said as he led the way into the living room where the rest of the family was waiting.

"I could have," Kip said easily, "as you're right, it is the common nickname and my family just decided that Kip was more unusual so I wouldn't be confused with my Aunt Christina who I was named after doing family gatherings. My aunt uses, Chris since it's a name used by both sexes nowadays. Once I was out on my own, the name just stuck, and I didn't see any point of changing it, since there are numerous Chrises in the world and far fewer Kips."

"That's a very good point," Dave agreed, as they all three of them entered the living room.

"What's a good point?" Jazz asked her husband since she had heard Dave's last comment.

"Kip was just explaining why he decided to use that variation of Christopher and I agreed with him once he had," Dave said.

"Well, it's certainly a more uncommon nickname then Chris," Aaron commented smiling.

"Which is one reason, my family decided on it, and not only because I was named after my Aunt Christina," Kip said. "My aunt uses that particular nickname and it just prevents confusion whenever we're all together for holidays or family events. I just never bothered to use Chris since Kip is what my family always called me."

"Well, nicknames from childhood do tend to stick," Shonda said.

"True," Jazz commented. "I was born Jazzlyn, but I use Jazz for a very good reason."

"In any case, everyone, this is my mate Kip Whitethorn. Kip this is my family. You met my father David Rossi, and seated beside him is my mother Jazzlyn Lincoln Rossi. The other couple are my aunt and uncle and godparents Aaron and Shonda Hotchner," Zara introduced.

"It's nice to finally meet you young man," Jazz said, even as she rose gracefully to shake Kip's hand.

"Nice to meet everyone," Kip said, shaking everyone's hands except for Dave's. "Zara talks about her family all the time."

"We understand that you already know about immortals and mates," Shonda said, and Kip nodded.

"I found out about the magic thing first, as I heard Zara conversing with someone in her office and I'm afraid I eavesdropped on her," Kip admitted sheepishly.

"I usually listen for footsteps, but I guess I was so distracted talking to Jerry that I didn't hear the footsteps coming up the stairs or down the hall to where my office is located," said Zara.

"Jerry is a ghost," Jazz explained to Aaron and Shonda

"He's been haunting that building ever since it was built right after the Civil War and while he is capable of leaving the premises, he prefers to stay somewhere he's familiar with," Zara explained. "He's always urging me to settle down and even though I have explained about immortals and mates on numerous occasions, he was just a simple soldier and doesn't really understand why I can't settle down with just anyone. I suppose though, I should say, didn't understand, as he finally passed over right before Kip and I came to see you."

"So you were caught in the act of talking to a ghost and you're lucky it was only Kip that caught you and not one of the other two people that work there," Aaron said, and Zara nodded.

"That's true and I'm usually more careful, but Kip managed to sneak up on me. He accepted it, because he's also is magical just like our family is," Zara said. "I got lucky, I know that."

"I have to admit the immortality was a bit of a shock as I had no idea such a thing existed," Kip spoke up.

"Most people don't though," Dave commented, "and that's on purpose."

"I've already explained why we live so quietly and don't cause any trouble," Zara said.

"Yes, Zara did explain why you want to remain beneath the government's notice," Kip agreed.

"Not just the government, everybody's," Shonda noted. "There are plenty of greedy, evil people in the world that would want what we have for themselves and wouldn't care what methods they used to get it. Immortals have remained unknown for many of the same reasons that magic users went underground back during the dark ages."

"I understand that," Kip agreed, even as he and Zara sat on the loveseat, facing her family. "I've already promised I won't breathe a word not even to my own family about the immortality. I do understand your views on this, because I know the way the world works."

"You would have a different perspective than most people since you do have magic just like we do," Jazz said.

"We were bound to get another magic user in our family at some point," Shonda noted. "Considering how many children we've had it was bound to happen more than once. I'm only surprised it hasn't happened before now."

"I agree," Aaron spoke up, "the odds being what they are. We were bound to get somebody else with magic that was the mate to one of our children eventually. That it happened in your family not mine at least not yet, is surprising though," Aaron told Dave and Jazz who simply smiled.

"So having another magic user join, your family has happened before because they were the mate to one of your children," Kip spoke up.

"Yes, it's happened once before a long time ago," Dave said. "Our son Ambrose met a witch by the name of Penelope Garcia. They've been mated for a long time now and have had numerous children just like Jazz and I have."

"It was bound to happen again at some point," Shonda added.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it happened a third time, even if that's not for centuries," Zara said. "I'm actually kind of surprised it hasn't happened again before now, as it's been a long time since Ambrose met Penny."

"It might be a little surprising, but you have to consider how many people there are in the world, not to mention on the moon and Mars and Alpha Centauri," Kip said.

"And also places like Omega," Aaron said. "I don't think any of us would be surprised if they are magicals who live on the man-made planet."

Omega was one of the gambling capitals of the world, even if it wasn't precisely on Earth, but there were also shops, restaurants and every other job you could name. Omega might be an asteroid, but that didn't mean it wasn't a thriving metropolis with different activities jobs and other things that humans needed to be happy. Much like the moon, though there was no natural atmosphere, and so the humans made their living under domes.

"I suppose it's not so surprising that there hasn't been another magical who is the mate to one of our children then," Jazz said. "I mean, a mate to one of our children could live in any of those places unless they come to Earth. In any case, we can talk during dinner as it's going to get cold."

"You don't want to miss one of my parents meals as you'll regret it if you do," Zara told Kip.

"Well, then, let's not miss it," Kip said, smiling, as he held out a hand for Zara and helped her rise to her feet like the gentleman he been raised to be and then got up himself.

Everybody looked approving at Kip's old fashioned manners, as not many people used such courtesy in this century. Zara might not have needed the help, but it was still polite for her significant other to help her stand and pull her chair out for her doing meals, to let her enter a public place first before following her. It used to be old-fashioned manners to open a door for a lady, but most doors were automatic, so that was no longer possible most of the time.

"The dining room is this way," Jazz said, leading the way.

Just a minute later, they came to a large room that was obviously made for any number of guests, and there was only the six of them at one end of the table. The table, of course, was much larger and made for at least 20 and could be extended the hold up to 30.

Zara led Kip to one end of the table near her parents, and Kip pulled out her chair for her.

"At least we didn't have to go through our usual explanation, because you already had magic and Zara spilled the beans about our immorality," Shonda told Kip.

"Which you accepted easier than most who have been told, but then, you're well aware of the supernatural exists because you also share our ability to do what people call magic," Zara said.

"Which likely made it easier for you to accept that immortals exist as well," Dave said, even as he served himself a heaping plate of food from the platters on that end of the table.

"I would say you're right about that," Kip said, as he served himself from every dish. He took just a little bit of everything in order to try it before he got more as most of the dishes he was unfamiliar with, and he wasn't sure what he would like.

"Make sure you save room for dessert," Jazz told him smiling.

"You'll regret it if you fill up and miss out," Zara said, and everybody at the table clearly agreed.

"I'll have to make sure I save room then, as Zara has already told me how fantastic her mother's desserts are several times and I would hate to miss out," Kip said smiling.

"I never told you that my mother is a bakery witch, which means she uses just a little magic or whatever dessert she's making instinctively. Those desserts always turn out spectacularly. I've always regretted ever since I was hired at the historical society in Celina that there's no bakery close by to where I can get my chocolate fix on a regular basis," Zara said.

"I've heard a bakery magic, though I've never met anybody that had it until now," Kip said.

"Now you have," Jazz said simply. "You'll be meeting plenty of people over the next few decades that have my bakery magic, as probably at least 80% of Dave's in my children got that particular talent."

"Zara didn't," Kip said.

"No, that particular talent skipped her and a few of our other children, at least, one per generation, didn't get my bakery magic, but they do get other talents," Jazz said. "Quite a few talents run through my family genetics, the ability to heal, the ability to see ghosts, the ability in the kitchen, which makes them kitchen witches, the the ability to communicate with animals… And that's just a few of the abilities that run through the Lincolns family line."

"I understand, genetics can be rather tricky," Kip said. "With your ability to never get too old to have children, those talents you mentioned were bound to crop up again at some point."

"There's even been a few that didn't get any particular talent," Dave said. "Oh, they still had the ability to do magic but it was just general magic and no talent specific to them."

"That happens sometimes as well," Kip said.

Kip ate the food that had been fixed by Zara's parents and found that it was indeed spectacular. He would look forward to having meals here occasionally, if all their cooking was this good. He couldn't wait to try his future mother-in-law's dessert if the main meal was this spectacular.

"So tell us about your family," Shonda suggested.

"I have one brother and my mother is the parent that has magic in the family while my father has no talent in that area," Kip answered.

"So are you the oldest or the youngest?" Jazz asked.

"Oldest, my brother is about six years younger than me," Kip answered.

"That's quite the age gap," Aaron commented. "Most the time children are no more than two or three years apart, but you appear to be the exception rather than the rule."

"There could be a lot of different reasons that Kip and his brother are so far apart in age. In my case, I discovered from my father that my mother had several miscarriages before I was born, so I was an only child. It wasn't until kindergarten that I discovered the sister I always wanted in Jazz and we've been inseparable ever since."

"So you two grew up together," Kip said and Jazz, and Shonda nodded at the same time both smiling.

"Yeah, we did in a small town known as Moonlight Gorge that is certainly much bigger than it used to be back when Shonda and I were born," Jazz said.

"Those were the days, huh?" Shonda asked Jazz and the two women smiled conspiratorially at each other.

"Most definitely," Jazz agreed smiling.

"I saw Jazz for the first time at a bakery that she owned and she'd only been in operation for a few years when I happened to stop there for a cup of coffee," Dave continued smiling as he remembered. His expression then turned rather sober, sad, and then he said, "I knew instantly that she was the one I've been looking for, for a very long time. I'd been around for centuries by the time I met Jazz and though I had friends they died on me when it was their time. Meeting Jazz was the high point of my long life and that is still true even today, though we've been together for centuries."

"Just like dad, I knew instantly that you were my mate," Zara told Kip. "That's the way the mate bond works for immortals, though I know it's a little different for magicals and that you wouldn't have known the instant you saw me that I was the one."

Kip remembered how Zara had been distracted when they had first met and she had misdirected him when she said she had a lot on her mind, which she probably had, but that wasn't the reason for her distraction or at least not the whole reason.

Everybody filled Kip in on their history, which was basically the story of their lives and Kip listened attentively.

"So now that we filled you in on the main parts of our story, what's your talent Kip?" Shonda asked him. "You know that Jazz has bakery magic, which most of her children got and as for me my main talent is telepathy and a lot of mine and Aaron's children got that talent as well."

"I have the ability to touch objects to learn their history, though luckily, it doesn't happen every time I touch something just every once in awhile. The object has to have a strong presence in order for me to see their past," Kip explained.

"Psychometry is the scientific term," Jazz told everyone who wasn't familiar with psychic abilities. "It probably explains why Kip went in to the career he did, as like Zara he has an ability that is useful in that type of profession."

"It's certainly not an ability that runs through either of our families, is it?" Shonda asked her friend and Jazz shook her head.

"Not that I'm aware of, but unfortunately, I don't know every ability that runs through my family, as a lot of records were lost long before I was born or never written about in the first place. It's one reason that it took us so long to figure out that Zara wasn't just talking to herself. I wish now I had studied the records more in-depth than I did when I was young, but it's very possible that the ability to see spirits was never written down, so we might still have been working at a disadvantage."

"Or possibly not," Shonda commented and Jazz nodded in agreement

"Me being the only one to see spirits will no longer be true whenever Kip and I start having children at least for my branch of the family," Zara said, and the others nodded at that because it was true. "I know it's inevitable that I'll pass on my ability to see spirits, but I really wish I wouldn't. It's a tough ability to have for a child."

"There was a time where a lot of people thought that Zara just had imaginary friends because she was always seen talking to herself," Jazz explained to Kip. "It took Shonda and I years to figure out that she was talking to spirits. As I just mentioned a minute ago, at that time, I didn't know that that ability ran through the family line."

"We were surprised at Zara's ability and both of us felt like idiots that we didn't realize that her friends weren't imaginary at least to her. We're only sorry that our ancestors never thought about putting things on computer when they were invented, and then became mainstream," Shonda said. "I never thought about it either and Jazz and I were born after they were common at the end of the 20th century actually. Of course, some of the records would've likely have turned to dust by the time such conveniences were around, but still, we might've been able to save a great deal of information if only we had thought about preserving it."

Kip blinked at that statement, but said nothing, as that meant that his mate's family was ancient, even if they didn't look it. He supposed it didn't really matter that they were, just that Zara had been born. Still, it was a lot to absorb, even if I had known intellectually that Zara and her family were immortal, which basically meant they all had centuries under their belts. Knowing that intellectually though, was different from realizing it in your heart. Really, age was just a number for one that was immortal.

"It doesn't matter if an odd ability pops up that none of us know anything about, as we'll handle it when and if such an ability appears," Aaron said.

The others nodded in agreement with that and Kip knew that he was really going to like this family, as they all worked together when necessary, and that was something he could appreciate and respect.

The talking continued before they moved into the same room where Kip had initially met the family and Jazz and Shonda left to get the dessert and everything that went along with it, plates, napkins and silverware.

~~~Kip and Zara~~~