The rest of the evening was all I could have asked for after the stress we’d all been through. When Mara made it through the door, her face was lit up twelve different ways. She hadn’t been to Pickle Dog in twenty years, and twenty years had offered the place so many opportunities to figure out new ways to combine a pickle and a corn dog. Connie was close behind her wearing her trademark smirk, now adorned with the sharp teeth I knew were her preference. Something told me she was proud of herself for the job she’d done in freeing me up for that last intimate conversation with what was apparently our boyfriend.

Marcus beamed back at Connie with his stupid thousand-watt smile and draped his arm over my shoulder. His expression must’ve been enough to tell Connie that we’d had the talk, because the second she got close to me she slid a single finger under my chin and tilted it towards her. Why did the demons in my life always look at me like they wanted to eat me?

“...And they have a sweet one with powdered sugar and pineapple, and one with mango chutney that has fried sweet potato pieces in the crust, and another one that…” Mara had barely taken a breath since she’d walked in, but watching Connie’s movements was enough to make her gasp between info-dumping and handfuls of curly fries. “Oh, shit!”

Without a word, Constance guided my head upwards and pressed her lips to mine in a kiss that seemed to last forever. My mind went totally blank as the bristling electricity of ambient magic rippled through me, my body shuddering under her touch. At this point, I was done resisting my turn of good fortune. I relaxed into Connie’s touch, my tongue playfully twisting past her fangs to intertwine with hers. She tasted like cherries. When I finally managed to pull myself away, I found myself smiling mindlessly as some sort of fruity smoke billowed out of my mouth. Holy hell, Connie.

“Yeah, she does that.” Marcus grinned and winked at Constance, which she returned by blowing a kiss in his direction. What kind of life had I stumbled into where these amazing people were my partners? I could feel my face radiating heat as I sat there sandwiched between the two of them. I wasn’t sure what had gotten into me; maybe I was tired of them always getting the better of me. Whatever it was, I furrowed my brow and twisted around on the couch until I was on top of Marcus, finally looking down on his smug, adorable face.

I was a demon, too! Why wasn’t he flustered?

Marcus did his best to suppress his laughter as he gazed up at me with a skeptical look, but he wouldn’t need to worry about that much longer. I made a magic circle work with just kids’ toys from an arcade machine! Surely I was capable of doing something as simple as kissing a boy. I pressed my hands into Marcus’ shoulders and pushed him backwards into the couch, finally watching the confidence drain out of him. Good. I leaned in close and closed my eyes, letting sensation drive me as my lips found Marcus’. I’m sure I was inexperienced, but I still found myself kissing through a smirk as I heard the tiny noises my boyfriend made. I could absolutely get used to this.

“Oh, shit!” Mara echoed herself, dropping the bag of food next to her on the ground as her eyes went wide.

“Yeah, apparently, she does that.” Connie crossed her arms and chewed mindlessly on her bottom lip as I finished my work and came up for air.

Polyamory; that was the term Marcus used when he’d explained things to me. It meant that so long as we were open and honest with each other, as long as we communicated and worked together, dating each other was no big deal. It didn’t mean things would be easier, necessarily, but it did mean that the way I loved them all wasn’t wrong. I loved both Marcus and Constance, and I also loved the demoness who had risked everything to give me the life I was currently living.

Mara had given me honesty. Mara had helped me to unwind the thread of horrendous half-truths that had been fed to me over the course of a lifetime. She’d maintained that even if I had healing to do, that nothing about me was innately wrong or broken. I’d gone into that circle ready to find a life worth living or die trying, an option which seemed more appealing at the time than going back to the life I had.

My feelings were real, but I knew now that I made a mistake back then. Even if my plan hadn’t worked, I had people who loved me waiting for me at home who would’ve done anything to help me find my way through this pain. I was a complicated, damaged, beautiful individual with a lifetime of learning and growth in front of me. Even as I thought those thoughts, I knew that my moment of clarity wouldn’t stay with me forever. Seeing myself as worthy of patience and love would probably be a battle I’d fight for the rest of my life. Right now, however, I was further than I’d ever been, and Mara had done so much of what it took to help me get there.

I kissed Marcus on the forehead and smiled as I got off him, giving myself a mental high-five for the blush I left him with. I let my tail brush along Connie’s as I made my way past her, flashing my new, old girlfriend my softest smile. Finally, I pressed myself to Mara, wrapping one arm around her waist to pull her close to myself.

“Is this okay?” I spoke breathily, edging ever closer to her face.

“I mean, I probably smell like pickles, baby, but…”

“Oh my god.” I giggled and cupped her face in my hand. “No, I mean this.” I turned just enough to glance back at Connie and Marcus, the loved ones who’d stayed with me all this time. Mara looked at the two of them, then back at me. For a moment I felt my anxiety begin to build, but it was quickly broken by an outburst of laughter from the demoness I held in my arms.

“Crystal, you nerd,” Mara said through barely contained laughter. “What part of ‘I’d follow you anywhere’ did you not understand?” She leaned into me and kissed my anxiety into fucking oblivion. My tail traced happy circles in the air as I enthusiastically returned the affection. Mara was right; she kind of tasted like pickles, and all that did was remind me of who it was that I was kissing.

My familiar.

My familiar.

I wrapped her up with everything I had, weaving myself around her like I was guarding something precious. At that moment, I felt supremely lucky to be alive. The people in this room were my family far more than the people I’d left at home had ever been. I was loved and accepted without condition for who I was, not in spite of it.

Who could ask for more than that?

The four of us piled onto the couch and watched some stupid movie or another. It was a mess of arms, legs and tails in every configuration until we found one that actually felt comfortable for everybody. What was on the screen mattered far less than the people who were in my arms, and before I knew it I had Mara passed out on my lap and Connie asleep on my shoulder. My best guess was that I was the only one even halfway paying attention to the movie, but even that didn’t last long with Marcus gently petting my head. I don’t know which one of us lost the fight against sleep first, but none of us made it to bed that night. Luckily for us, Connie and Marcus’ couch was a decent enough size, and we were mostly tired enough that it wouldn’t have mattered if it wasn’t.

I woke the next morning to the smell of something delicious from the kitchen, and I knew exactly what was up. I let my eyes open at their own pace, casually glancing towards the kitchen to see Marcus in his favorite apron standing at the stove and Mara eagerly wiggling behind him. Of course the smell of food woke her up. I’d probably be the same way if I spent two decades without a home-cooked breakfast. I was lucky enough to eat Marcus’ cooking two or three times a week.

I squealed softly as I stretched my sore appendages, the new ones included. Waking up in a body I loved really made the whole waking up thing a lot more appealing. I grinned as I brushed my hair out of my face and rolled over to face the kitchen, but I quickly found myself locked into place by a pair of arms around my waist.

“Nooooo. Illegal.” Connie pulled me back into place on the couch and quickly took up residence laying on my chest. How was she this cute when she was sleepy? Connie turned a specific kind of adorably pathetic when she was coming in or out of sleep, not that I’d ever tell her that. I wasn’t about to say no to that face.

“You want me to stay a little longer?” I spoke softly, twisting my tail through her legs and back around; I was definitely getting better at controlling this thing.

“Yea.” Connie shifted, her face settling onto the boobs that I kept being reminded I now had. “You’re so soft now, what the hell.”

“It’s new for me too,” I giggled. I planted a kiss on her forehead and nestled myself back into a comfortable position.

“More kisses, thanks.” Connie sighed, squeezing me tighter. “I demand it.”

“Oh, do you now?” With an uncontrollable smile, I peppered Connie’s cheeks with kisses. Part of me wondered for a moment how long she’d been waiting on this. I silently thanked both Connie and Marcus for being patient with their dense as fuck girlfriend who had to deal with the girl thing before she dealt with the friend thing.

“Good. Yes.” Connie wrinkled her nose and made the most precious little noises. Getting to see her like this was a privilege. I felt so lucky that she trusted me enough to let me take care of her this way.

Somewhere along the line, both of us fell back asleep under the soft warmth of morning sunlight. It was only a few extra minutes, but laying there with Connie curled up next to me was bliss. I loved her. I loved all of them.

“Holly, honey,” Mara cooed. “You hungry?”

The next time I woke up, it would be for real. The first shot was a warning blow, Mara’s tender voice caressing me to try to get me to open my eyes. It worked, if only halfway. Mara’s velvet words were like a blanket, and frankly all I felt like doing as she spoke was pulling her back down onto the couch to join the stragglers once again. Once I had my arms around Mara, the second shot rang out.

“C’mon, you two! Breakfast!” In a far less subtle approach than his kitchen counterpart, Marcus clapped his hands at least ten times to get our attention. I growled. “It’s eggs benny!”

Eggs Benedict? Marcus went through the trouble of making hollandaise? I groaned, and slowly began to move my weary body. I knew exactly what Eggs Benedict meant. Marcus’ default breakfasts were delicious, but they were basic bitch stuff; eggs and bacon, pancakes, maybe the occasional casserole. If he was already trying to butter us up, odds were good we were about to have some sort of difficult conversation.