My Defender(18)

Elizabeth chuckled. "Yes, but you said the word logically. That attribute doesn't quite apply to some of our bigoted citizens."

"I'm afraid I can't tell them much more, not without additional information," Ellie said.

"Which is exactly what we told them. Until the cause can be determined, the children, of course, will stay. We will not move them while they are sick," Kari promised.

Under the table, Grant had still not let go of her hand. She was curious to see if he was left-handed. Eating would be interesting if he wasn't, since his right hand was securely fastened to her left.

Sebastian and a handsome Asian man came out of the kitchen and began to serve the first course.

As they started to serve the soup, she heard her grandmother speak up. "My dear, if you keep making that face, it's going to freeze that way."

Ellie looked over, confused. Across the table, Meryn was scowling at her grandmother. Aiden leaned over to his mate and rubbed his chin on her head, an easy feat since she was almost half his height. "Baby, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't like grandmothers. They are evil," Meryn announced.

Ellie's eyes widened. "They are not evil," she protested.

Meryn crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, they are."

Elizabeth rubbed both temples with her fingers. "Meryn, you can't judge all grandmothers based on your experience."

Meryn shrugged. "It wasn't just my grandmother; all her friends were mean, too, and they were also grandmothers. So that's like all the grandmothers I've ever met, and they were all evil. Statistically speaking, that's a one hundred percent evil grandmother ratio."

Elizabeth just shook her head. "I've got nothing this time."

Gavriel leaned toward Meryn. "What about Lady Fairfax? She is Sydney's grandmother."

Meryn pursed her lips together. "Yeah, but I met her and thought she was cool before I knew she was a grandmother, so she doesn't count."

Ellie looked over at her grandmother, unsure what say. She turned back to the small woman. "Meryn, I can guarantee you not all grandmothers are evil. Mine has been nothing but my greatest supporter, and she loves me unconditionally."

"Maybe she's just hiding her evil." Meryn still didn't look convinced.

"Meryn!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "That's rude." Meryn shrugged.

"Meryn, what is she?" Law asked.

Meryn shook her head. "I don't want to look."

"Meryn," Law insisted.

Meryn took a deep breath and stared at Marjoram. Her eyes narrowed and then widened as a grin tugged at her mouth. "Cookies. She's cookies."

Ellie laughed. "Of course she is." Her grandmother rolled her eyes. Ellie leaned forward slightly. "Meryn, you're looking at the best cook ever. My grandmother's chocolate chip cookies could win world wars. Her oatmeal raisin is to die for, and her snickerdoodles will have you crying."

Meryn eyed Marjoram as if she still wasn't sure. "I like snickerdoodles."

"I'll tell you what, Meryn, how about I make you batch? But to get any, you have to tell me about your evil grandmother while we eat them," Marjoram bargained.

Ellie should have known there was no way her grandmother would let Meryn live with the delusion that grandmothers were evil.

Meryn nodded. "I could do that. I can cuss right?"

Her grandmother sighed. "I have a feeling you'll need to."

Meryn snorted. "Got that right."

"You mean you will eat something besides magic pudding?" Magnus teased.

"Pudding?" Ellie asked.

"Ever since we came to the city, all she's been eating is meat kebobs from Level Six and Sebastian's pudding," Elizabeth answered.

"That's not healthy. You need to have more than that in your diet," Ellie started.

Meryn held up a hand. "I'm taking supplements."

"Still not good enough, you need a full balanced meal," Ellie protested.

"Especially since she is pregnant," Gavriel chimed in.

Ellie's head snapped back around. "You're pregnant?" she asked.

Meryn nodded. "Yup, Meryn two-point-oh is still baking."

Ellie looked but she couldn't see Meryn's waist. Meryn was so short, everything from her breastbone down was hidden by the table.

Meryn grinned wickedly. "I would get up to show you, but I'd have to stand on the chair. They don't like it when I do stuff like that at the dinner table."

Ellie smirked at the woman's sense of humor.

"Excuse me," a light male voice interrupted from her side. She looked up to find the beautiful Asian man holding up a serving spoon. "Would you care for some soup?"

Blushing, she nodded. "Yes, please." She leaned back so that he could serve her.