Indigo woke me up way before the sun was up, as she crawled under the covers and took over a portion of my pillow. She didn’t nudge me as she curled up in a ball then went back to sleep.

Still, it left a smile on my face as I dozed off again, back to dreamland. Next time I awoke, the sun was just peeking in through the skylights and little snores indicated that Indigo slept still. I carefully got out of bed and got ready for the day. Before I headed out the door, I moved closer to the front of the bed where she slept.

“Hey Indigo, I’m going to go make breakfast…” I whispered, lightly.

Her green eyes snapped open, and she was suddenly airborne, heading straight for my shoulder. She chirped twice as she landed. ‘Breakfast!’

The weight on my shoulder had increased, but she still looked the same size as before. The growth spurt must have been magical or mental. Though, it all felt a little fuzzy to me. She ate normal foods and also consumed knowledge to grow up.

Brighter light than normal streamed into the shop as I headed toward the stairs, not paying too much attention to the main area. Work could come second, both Indigo and I were hungry. My stomach growled as I entered the kitchen and decided to make pancakes. They were from a mix, so super easy, and I could make as many of them as I wanted.

“Let’s do pancakes this morning,” I said in a bright and cheery voice. It didn’t take long to grab the mix out and have the pan heating on the stove.

Indigo flew the maple syrup out to the island, along with forks and knives. It took a few trips, but I could feel how proud she was to help out. I gave her a thumbs up as I added the plates for the three of us, plus a serving plate. I didn’t see the Cat anywhere, and my eyes narrowed.

“Cat, the first pancakes are almost done…” I called out down the hallway.

Indigo added a chirp as well, but nothing came in response.

Hopefully, he was just running slow this morning.

The first pancake went to Indigo, and I cut it up for her into bite-size pieces. She carefully added plenty of syrup to her plate but it didn’t overflow. The next one went to my plate, and I munched on it as I quickly made a stack of pancakes in the center of the island.

Then they were all cooked, but still no Cat.

I ate another pancake as Indigo flew one from the center stack to her plate. I almost offered to grab it for her, but the look of determination on her face stopped me. It was just too precious.

It landed on the plate and didn’t splatter syrup all over, and I gave her a nod.

‘Cut it up?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said, quickly cutting the pancake into pieces she could grab with her claws.

The Cat jumped onto the counter as I finished. He gave me a nod, but I could tell something was up. His eyes landed on Indigo and then flashed back to me.

“Can I have a pancake?” he asked.

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I nodded and added one to his plate before adding butter and just a little syrup. Just how he liked them.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, not meeting my eyes.

Indigo chomped down on her breakfast, being super careful to not get sticky syrup everywhere.

I gave the Cat a look and mouthed my words, asking if he was okay.

He nodded, but his eyes went to Indigo again. “We have a customer this morning, it should be a pretty normal morning.”

I ate my pancake, wondering what the afternoon held if that was all he wanted to say out loud. Something was coming for my little dragon, and it wasn’t going to be good.

‘More pancake?’

Somehow Indigo had fished her second pancake without my noticing. I added another to her plate and cut it up before she flew it over.

She chirped happily.

The Cat flinched.

Yep, something this afternoon would rock her world.

Breakfast went quickly after that, and I found myself at the counter with the Cat, making lattes for both of us. Indigo flew around the room in giant circles stretching her wings. She’d gotten faster and flew much more smoothly through the air.

The Cat padded closer to me and waited for me to top his teacup with the espresso. “This afternoon will be rough,” he mumbled so low I almost didn’t hear it.

I nodded. “We’ll get through it. That’s what families do.”

The Cat stared at me for a few seconds, his bright green eyes studying me before he nodded.

He dove right into his teacup as I finished making my coffee.

I sat on my stool sipping my latte, watching Indigo fly with such joy. There was only one thing that’d interrupt this, and I didn’t want to even think about it.

The Cat nudged me after a few moments, and I realized I’d been staring. His teacup sat empty. “You ready?”

“Yes, let’s have a good morning.”

He nodded solemnly as the door unlocked.

It only took seconds for the bell to jingle, and Indigo quickly dove toward us and the counter. She landed as the door opened and in flew a small flying creature. It had small wings like a butterfly, and sharp pointed ears, but other than that looked like a tiny human. She flew toward the counter, a soft humming noise coming from her wings.

Her eyes grew wide as she saw Indigo but she landed with a smile.

Indigo stepped back away from the creature to give her space.

“Welcome to the shop, how can I help you?” I asked in a soft voice.

A small squeak came from the woman, who smiled brightly. “I’d like to buy some ground coffee. The big bag,” she added after a moment.

I nodded and glanced at the Cat, noticing the full bags behind the counter that hadn’t been there before. I set it down next to the tiny fairy person and moved toward the register.

The fairy pulled a bag off her shoulder and dumped out a pile of red and white mushrooms. Indigo moved forward to sniff them, but the Cat growled.

Indigo froze, along with the fairy.

“They are toxic, Sable will handle them. Humans can touch them,” he explained.

“Don’t worry he just didn’t want her to get sick,” I explained to the fairy.

She nodded and reached for the coffee. Somehow it shrunk down and vanished inside her shoulder bag. She gave me a nod and headed toward the door before I could do anything at the register.

Indigo stayed far away from the mushrooms.

“Should I grab gloves, or just wash my hands?” I asked.

“Just wash your hands, they’re completely non-toxic to humans.”

I headed into the storage room and there was a canaster on the shelf with a picture of the mushrooms on it. I picked them up and tossed them inside the empty container, before I washed my hands and sprayed down the counter.

The Cat moved closer to sniff before nodding his head. “All cleaned up.”

“What are these, anyway?” I asked holding up the canister.

“Toads love to eat them.”