“Will you guys cut it out?” Isabella asked. We were sitting on the porch. I was reading for fun while Isabella studied.

“Nope!” Yam and Willow replied at the same time. The two pixies hugged the young woman’s chest.

“They’re just so soft. I bet they would make great pillows,” Willow said.

“Pillows? Pffft. They’d make great mattresses for us!” Yam countered.

“Uh, Lily or Jase, can I get some help?” Izzy asked. Lily laughed and shook her head.

I turned and looked at her. Upon noticing the pixies, I turned back to the book I was reading. “Nope. You’re on your own.”

“Jase!” Izzy exclaimed.

“My Jase is embarrassed and doesn’t want to be caught staring or anything like that,” Lily confided to Isabella.

“Oh!”

“Thanks a lot, Lily. Whose side are you on?” I replied.

“Yours of course, my silly Jase,” Lily assured me.

“She just likes embarrassing you,” Willow said as she nuzzled Izzy’s chest. Yam just sighed in contentment as she copied Willow’s actions.

“Will you two please stop?” I can’t study like this,” Izzy complained.

“Lily, please,” I said, gesturing to my apprentice and her molesters. My familiar looked at the situation and sighed.

“I’ll get them!” Lily said. She flew over to the others and grabbed Yam and Willow by their ears. “You two have played this gag long enough.”

“Ow!” Yam and Willow shouted. They rubbed their ears after Lily let go of them. They exchanged a look.

“Get her!” Willow ordered. Lily took off laughing. Willow and Yam followed. Izzy smiled at their play.

“Are you sure you’re willing to bond with one of them?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think I am,” Isabella replied. “Why did you bond with Lily?”

I smiled. “I don’t remember.”

“Jase!” Lily cried from the yard where the pixies were playing.

“You shouldn’t tease her like that,” Izzy chided me.

“How do you know I’m teasing Lily?” I asked, giving my apprentice a hurt look. “I could just be forgetful.”

“Please. From what I’ve seen of you, you probably don’t forget much of anything,” Isabella replied. She smiled. “Besides, I saw that smile on your face before you said you don’t remember.”

“Ok. You caught me,” I admitted. “As we explained before, I was a young child when I bonded with Lily.”

“Right.”

“What I remember is always having fun with her and feeling loved and safe,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “That’s why I bonded with her. It just felt right.”

“I love you too!” Lily shouted. “Hey! That stung!”

“You should have been paying attention instead of feeling all lovey dovey,” Willow teased.

“Got you again,” Yam laughed as she shot Lily with a little spark. Lily gave chase.

“Yeah, I want that,” Izzy said after laughing with me at the pixies’ antics.

“No other animal or familiar ever appealed to you?” I asked.

“No. I like puppies and kittens well enough, but they’re not something I want around all the time. The same for birds, deer, squirrels, horses, and every other animal and familiar I’ve seen,” Izzy answered. She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe I’m one of those that won’t ever have a familiar.”

“Don’t start thinking that way,” I replied. “You’ve spent quite a bit of time with Willow. How do you feel about her?”

“Lile I’ve met a family member I didn’t know I had,” Isabella answered.

“Aww! I feel the same way!” Willow gushed as she flew into the left side of Izzy’s chest. “I’ll bond with you, if you’ll have me!”

“Me too!” Yam shouted as she crashed into the right side of Isabella’s chest. Izzy’s eyes widened in shock. I smiled and shook my head. Both pixies started squeezing Izzy’s chest.

“Perverts!” Lily yelled at her kin as Izzy sighed and cupped the pixies. I coughed and tried not to choke on the lemonade had I just swallowed while trying not to think about that image. “You’re corrupting my innocent Jase!”

“He’s a healthy young man. He’s not that innocent,” Yam replied.

“Yeah!” Willow agreed. Isabella and I nervously laughed. “Mission accomplished! We’ve successfully embarrassed both humans!”

*

“Lily, what are you wearing?” I asked my familiar.

“A wedding dress. Isn’t it lovely?” the pixie asked me.

“Are you getting married?”

“Nope! I’m presiding over Willow’s and Izzy’s ceremony,” my familiar replied.

“I don’t remember us having a ceremony,” I said.

“Oh, we didn’t. I robbed the cradle and just had my way with you,” Lily replied, giving me a wink. I laughed.

“So, you’re supposed to be a minister or something?” I asked.

“Yep. Huh. I guess I should be wearing a suit or something more formal,” Lily replied. She flashed and changed into a business suit. “Better?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

“You’re right. This is too business looking,” Lily said. She changed into some kind of long robe and spun slowly in a circle. “How about this?”

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s a cassock! Roman catholic priests used to wear them,” Lily answered nodding to herself. “This will work just fine!”

“Roman catholic priests?” I inquired. “Is that some sort of religion?”

“Yeppers! Catholicism used to be one of the largest Christian dominations many moons ago,” my familiar answered. “Christianity used to be one of the world’s three largest religions.”

“You keep using the past tense, so I guess they’re no longer around,” I said.

“You got it!” Lily replied giving me a thumbs up. “Long story short, Christianity split off into a bunch of competing branches and eventually reunited while dropping most of the ceremony. Most of your priests just call it the Faith these days.”

“More of your knowledge that you could share?” I asked.

“Yep,” Lily agreed. “Come on! Let’s go have fun with the ceremony.”

“Is this a prank?”

“Maybe a little!”

“Because you’re small?” I innocently asked.

“You’re lucky I love you so much or I would hurt you for that remark,” Lily replied. She then grinned. “Just kidding!”