Belinda gave up on improving her makeup. She frowned into the mirror and removed the Chinese serpent pin from her dress lapel. She rummaged in a drawer and selected a black cat silhouette. She accidentally poked her index finger when piercing the lapel with the cat pin, and cursed under her breath.
Her bedroom door sounded with her father’s characteristic knockknock knock. “Come in, Dad.”
“Are you ready, Bel? Some of the guests for the party have arrived, including a few of your new cousins.”
Belinda made a face in the mirror. “Their Drachen games are weird and creepy.”
“Please, you promised to try. I hear Ishnyx is now playing tennis. You have that in common, right?”
“Great. Coach said last week in practice that they have an unfair balance advantage. Out loud. I am surprised that no one reported him for that, but it wasn’t going to be me.”
“Well, please be down in ten minutes. I just got off the phone with your stepmother. She has already left the hospital to bring your little baby brother home.”
“Hospital? Even she called that place a ‘broodwarren,’ remember?”
Dad scratched the back of his left palm. “I was trying to be culturally sensitive.”
She stood up and smoothed her dress. “Dad? Are we safe?”
Dad exhaled slowly. “Look, I know we have all had a lot of adjustments to make. First there was your mother’s passing, and then the volcano that exploded and brought Lillith into our lives. It’s been a crazy few years.”
“Yeah.”
“But we’re making the most of it, right? I know that I am happy. And, I mean that sincerely, Bel.”
“All I’m saying is that her eyes changed color in the kitchen once, when I dropped that plate? She growled about heirloom bone china as she stormed out of her chair.”
“I remember that she helped you clean up the pieces. And, about all that. There is a reason she looks human to us, and this is important. It is a learned skill.”
“What the heck does that mean?”
He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of large beating wings. Something landed on the roof and walked around a bit. Long fingernails tapped at Belinda’s attic bedroom window. Raprap. Rap. “You guys?” asked Lilith. “I heard you both upstairs on my way over. Is everything okay? He really wants to meet you, Bel!”
Belinda frowned briefly, but composed herself and unlocked her window. She lifted the sash and offered a hand to her stepmother as she walked into the room from outside, blond curls bobbing in the breeze. Lilith held a big bundle wrapped tightly with black velvet, tucked under one arm in a fabric sling. Belinda hoped her smile did not look troubled as she said, “Hi, Lilith. You look well.”
“Thanks, I feel great! The birth this morning was no trouble at all. It was a shame that you were both forbidden to attend.” The velvet bundle squirmed and began whistling a random tune in a high pitched voice. “Oh! He wants to say hello!” Lilith placed the bundle on Belinda’s bed and started unwrapping.
Belinda closed and locked her window. “They made you fly home? Couldn’t they have sent you home some safer way, like a car?”
Dad brightened up. “Or a helicopter?”
Lilith smiled and winked at her husband. “My choice. I wanted to show this little guy the crater that made this all possible, where my family escaped. He is already so inquisitive and smart!” She pulled away the final layer of velvet. Her new child shook his head like a dog and smiled back. “Bel, this is your brother.”
Belinda nodded. “And, he is to have no name given for nine years? Until then, he is… Kinder?” Her father remained silent.
Lilith said, “Yes, Kyndyr. The German pronunciation will do.”
Her brother was whistling again. Belinda felt a little sleepy, but maybe everything was going to be okay, after all. “Kyndyr.”
The newborn was bigger than Belinda expected, but Lilith had said he would grow fast at first. He cooed and reached up with small searching hands. His tail, otherwise covered in green and blue scales like most of the rest of his body, ended with a blackened fork at the tip. He had a curiously pink bald spot on his stomach. Tall wide ears twitched between a puff ball of blond hair on the top of his tapered head, above two yellow eyes now staring intently at his new stepsister.
Lilith stood and embraced her husband. “Now is an important time for all of us.”
The baby cooed again, babbled a few syllables, and whistled, “Sister.” Tiny wings unfurled and beat with excitement, but were only strong enough to propel him forward in little hops across the bedspread. He clenched his fists in a grabbing motion a few times.
Belinda reached down and laughed. “Aw!”
Reddit WritingPrompt [WP] Today’s the day!, the day you meet your new Stepsister. Your parents did say she was a bit werid, but It can’t be that bad right? This came together in a more wholesome manner than I originally expected.