The aroma of bacon filled the small house as Wren came out of the bathroom wearing the robe with HERS stitched over the left breast.  Up the hall in the kitchen she could hear the clatter of dishes and silver being set out.  Hands in her pockets and bare foot, she stopped just inside the hall to watch Nathaniel glide around the small space, simultaneously flipping eggs and dishing up bacon with a long pair of tongs.

            A heavy fist on the screen door made Wren jump and without hesitation, she moved to the front door.  Nathaniel looked up and smiled as she passed.  Wren pulled the door open and regarded the morning caller.

            The woman was middle-aged, and as tanned as Nathaniel with her long sun-bleached hair pulled back in a ponytail.  She was dressed much the same as Nathaniel’s usual attire, in cut off jeans and a tee shirt.  Several inches shorter than Wren she looked up suspiciously through hazel eyes framed by crow's feet, her lips turned down in a frown.

            "Yes?" Wren said with a little cock of her head.

            "Who are you?" the woman demanded abruptly.

            Wren felt the heat of Nathaniel’s body as he stepped up behind her.

            "Cass!"

            Wren stepped aside as Nathaniel reached around her to push open the screen door.  He engulfed the woman in a huge hug that lifted her from her feet.  He held her for a long minute before she spoke.

            "You are gonna make my head pop, Nat, if you don't put me down!"   There was a choke in her voice and Wren noted the tears flowing down her cheeks. Hastily Nathaniel set her on her feet but was forced to stay bent over as the woman refused to release her hold on his neck.

            "Where have you been?" she said at last, releasing him to look up into his eyes.

            Wren started to fade into the background but Nathaniel caught her by the robe's sleeve and pulled her forward gently.

            "Cass, this is Wren," he said.

            For a long moment the older woman regarded her then smiled with a low 'ah'.  Wren flinched as the woman pulled her into a tight hug.  She give Nathaniel a questioning look over the woman’s head but he just smiled.

            The woman released her but held her by the shoulders to give her an appraising look before saying "I'm Cass, I live next door."

            "Pleased to meet you," Wren said tonelessly.  Next door neighbors ... a new concept she thought.

            "Cass is like a grandmother to me, Wren," Nathaniel explained then his face clouded and his eyes filled.

            "Oh, honey," Cass said, drawing him down to hug his neck again.

            Nathaniel snuggled into the older woman, his eyes closed but facing Wren.   For an instant she almost joined them in a group hug, the urge so totally foreign to her it made her hesitate and the moment passed.

            "Where have you been," Cass asked again once Nathaniel had released her and wiped his eyes.

            "The boarding school, Cass," he said.  "I should have been here to protect her."

            "Don't you EVER blame yourself, Nathaniel Ryan," the woman said sternly.  "If you'd been here, you would have died too ... even if you are super strong."

            Wren blinked at that last.  She had never told anyone about her own powers and had always been careful not to reveal what she could do.  Evidently Nathaniel hadn't been so circumspect.

            "Oh!" Cass swept into the little house going directly to the stove to pull the frying pan from the fire.  It was smoking badly from the eggs fried to a black char.  She set the pan on a cold burner and pushed up the window over the kitchen sink.

            Nathaniel stepped inside and let the screen door close before pausing to put his arms around Wren and hugging her very gingerly.  At first she was rigid; stunned by the sudden gesture then Nathaniel's evident emotional distress causes her to wrap her arms around him in return.

            She laid her cheek against his chest and closed her eyes.  So many things had happened in such a short period of time she felt like his arms were a temporary sanctuary and she allowed herself to relax.  Nathaniel eased up and stepped back, giving her a small smile.

            "Thank you," he whispered and she slowly nodded.

            "The builders came only yesterday morning," Cass said drawing their attention.  "It was like magic how fast they fixed this place.  Sammie tried to get one or two of them to talk but they ignored him.  We thought sure the city had sold the place to some developer."

           Wren almost smiled as three stools appeared along the breakfast counter.  She had to wonder just how long that little trick would last.

           "Only yesterday?" Nathaniel said, guiding her to a stool with a touch to the small of her back.

            Cass wiped the frying pan out with a paper towel before replacing it on the burner and dropping a pat of butter into it.

            "Yeah, woke me and Sammie up just before dawn," she replied, cracking two eggs into the pan.      "How do you like your eggs, Wren?"

            "Um ... over easy?"  Wren took a seat and Nathaniel sat close beside her.

            ”How'd you two meet?"

            Nathaniel looked at Wren and smiled.  "She was lost and I gave her directions."

            "You asked the computer," Wren reminded him letting a little sarcasm seep in.

            "Then I asked her to teach me to dance," he added still watching her with that secret smile.               "Don't forget the rollercoaster and Disneyland," she added.

            "And watching bad movies all night …"

            "Where was all this?" Cass slid eggs onto a plate beside three rashers of bacon then set it before Wren.

            "The school we were going to," Nathaniel replied.

            "How'd that work out?" Cass asked dropping four eggs into the pan.

            "It didn't," Nathaniel said dryly.

            "We discovered it wasn't for us," Wren added.

            "You're back to stay?" Cass eyed Nathaniel.  "What about school?"

            Nat shrugged "Guess we go back to regular school."

            "Why'd you leave the school?"

            "It's complicated, Cass," he replied.

            "I got time," the older woman replied, her attention on the eggs.

            Wren gave Nathaniel a 'please no’ shake of her head.

            "Not right now, Cass," he said.

            Cass placed a plate before Nathaniel, four eggs, over easy and a dozen strips of bacon.

            "So, you two ... " she said casually but the look she gave Nathaniel was just short of a leer.

            The pain that crossed his face made Cass stop.

            "We are ..." Wren began, trying to verbalize something she wasn't sure of herself.

            "Friends," Nathaniel finished.

            “Something more,” Wren said before she even realized she was speaking.

            Cass turned from the stove.  "We'll have to see about getting you guys some furniture," she said, looking around the empty house.  "You coming down to the party?"

            Nathaniel said "We'll see."

            Wren, concentrated on her eggs, hoping Nathaniel wouldn’t say anything in response to her Freudian slip.  She could feel his eyes on her and tried to keep the blush from raising in her cheeks.

            Cass caught Nathaniel with a hand behind his neck and pulled he across the counter.  She kissed him on the cheek then let him go.  "I'm so glad you are home, Nat," she said, then to Wren she added "And you are so very welcome.  Thank you for being here for him."

            "Where else could I be?" Wren said softly.