Kendis gave up on sleep around 5 am. She turned around to see Tony still asleep. He looked so peaceful.

Kendis kissed him on the forehead and muttered something. Even with her tumultuous thoughts and feelings, Tony still made her smile.

Kendis untangled her legs and arms from Tony and slid out of bed. She was going to give Tony a few more hours of sleep before they headed to the vet to pick up Alke.

She quietly got dressed in one of her old gray Paramore t-shirts, black ripped jeans shorts, and some chucks. Kendis left the bedroom with one last lingering look at Tony.

As Kendis walked down the hallway, she smelled something frying. Her stomach grumbled, and she found Ron at the stove, his spatula moving around the eggs in the pan.

While Hermione was sitting at the table reading a copy of The Arcane Angelino. On the front page was the headline: CHUPCRARAS WIN ADVANCE TO THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP next to a moving photo of a Quidditch team in red and gray.

“How did you get that?”

“Owl order, of course,” Hermione replied primly as she flipped through the pages.

Kendis frowned because the house’s wards should have stopped unfamiliar owls from delivering post.  Kendis stopped trying to find an explanation for it. This was Hermione, and she worked in mysterious ways. Kendis stumbled past her and Ron to the cabinet where her mugs and boxes of tea were.

Ron handed her the kettle, and she poured in the water and then added the tea bags. Kendis watched as Ron plated the food and set the plate on the table next to Hermione.

She kissed him on the cheek. Kendis bit back a laugh at how red his face got.

‘Will Tony and I be like that in five years?’ Kendis thought.  Then her smile faded into a grimace as she was reminded of what Death told her.

“You okay, mate?” Ron said, making Kendis jump and almost spill hot tea on her hands. Hermione put down her paper and frowned. “I don’t like that look on your face.”

“What look?”  Kendis asked, and then she got up and headed over to the table.

Hermione waved her hand over face. “It’s your saving-people look.”

Kendis opened her mouth to deny it when Tony appeared in the doorway, hair a mess, and with a red pillow print on his face.

“Why in the hell are you three up at such a god awful hour?” Tony asked with a wide yawn.

“You know you can go back to sleep, right?” Kendis watched as Tony shuffled over and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“You ruined me,” Tony grumbled. “I am used to sleeping next to you.”

Kendis was embarrassed but secretly thrilled that Tony felt the same way.

“Please tell me you have coffee,” Tony begged.

“I have Fogers instant coffee,” Kendis answered, and Tony winced, and she shrugged. “Isiah likes it.”

Kendis told him where the coffee was and watched as Tony grabbed the instant coffee and grimaced. “The first thing I’m getting is a moka pot. I can’t survive like this.”

“Noted.” Kendis laughed, and then nodded her thanks to Ron as he set a plate of eggs and toast on the table. As Kendis ate, she saw Tony grumpily explain to Ron that it was an Italian coffee kettle before he threw back the entire mug of steaming coffee.”

“isn’t your tongue burning?” Kendis asked incredulously.

“I have been drinking coffee this hot since I was thirteen,” Tony shrugged. “My tongue is immune.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and she snorted.

“Now what are our plans for the day?”

“We have to go get Alke,” Kendis said.

“And we should come up with a plan on how to deal with Coil,” Hermione reminded them.

“Tony? Are you allergic to eggs?” Ron called out.

“Nope,” Tony said as he took another sip of his coffee. Ron quickly loaded two plates and gave one with a normal serving to Tony, while he filled his own with a large batch of eggs and toast.

Ron finally sat down with his own enormous plate. “I have been thinking about all of this…” Ron said around a forkful of eggs.

“Ronald, how many times do I have to tell you to eat with your mouth closed?”

Ron’s face went red, and then he closed his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “I have been thinking about it. And I think you’ve been playing defense for too long.”

“So, you want us to set a trap?” Kendis nodded at Ron.

“Yes, and lucky we know how to push his buttons.” Hermione said, “He’s possessive of you. If he knew you were in a relationship, he certainly would react.”

” Wouldn’t he already know that?” Kendis pointed out. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he weren’t already watching the house.”

“Coil would’ve attacked again if he’d been certain. Hermione and I being here must be confusing the hell out of him.” Ron shrugged. “The bloke doesn’t seem to be working with a full deck.”

“How about doing some PDA in a very public venue? Do a hard launch of our relationship,” Tony offered, then added self-deprecating, “Being in a relationship with a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist would certainly make a big splash.”

Kendis and Hermione exchanged concerned looks, but then Ron nodded again. “Yeah, that will do it. You got something in mind, mate?”

“The Apogee Awards are in a few days,” Tony said, “And I’m still in need of a plus one.”

She frowned, remembering what she’d heard on the news. “Weren’t you supposed to go with Hope Van Dyne?”

Tony laughed. “That old rumor is still going around? Hope and I are just good friends. Besides, she is not even going. I think she said she’d be in Singapore this week.

“I can leak it to the wizarding press,” Hermione said. “I got a contact at The Cauldron Confidential.”

Kendis blinked. “You do?”

“The Cauldron Confidential” was like the American version of “Witch Weekly,” and it wasn’t something Hermione would be caught dead reading. Kendis wanted to know how she got close to one of the reporters.

“You remember when Luna and I came out here a few years ago? Well, I met with Juniper Bristlecone and a few other journalists in the area. I thought it would be prudent to correspond with her. The one thing Rita Skeeter taught me was the power of gossip.” Hermione shrugged and then finished her food.  “I’ll write them after breakfast.”

Tony gave her an impressed whistle.

“Hermione, that is downright Slytherin of you!” Ron playfully gasped, clutching his chest. And Hermione snorted as she slapped him playfully on the shoulder. There was a time when Ron would explode at anything that would remind him of his least favorite house, but Ron had mellowed out, and now he could occasionally hold a civil conversation with Draco Malfoy.

“Kendis,” Tony said, “we can do this, or we can find another way to lure him out. I would love to have you beside me on the red carpet, but not if it will make you uncomfortable.”

“Going to this means you’ll be in the spotlight again, Dis,” Ron said.

Kendis fidgeted at the intent looks Ron, Hermione, and Tony were giving her. Can she do this again? Kendis made her choice to stay with Tony, and she knew that he was a public figure. But she had hoped that she would have more time before she faced the realities of marrying Tony Stark.

Kendis struggled with her thoughts for a few minutes before she finally said, “Okay,”  They  nodded, “I’ll do it, but I’m going to have to file those permit applications with MACUSA as soon as possible if I don’t want to get arrested for breaking the statute.”

“We need to tell Pepper,” Tony pointed out suddenly. “We can’t do something like this without telling her.”

“Why?”

“She’s my personal assistant,” Tony pointed out. “Pepper is going to find out sooner or later.”

“We can’t tell her about the magic! “ Hermione shook her head. “You are already on thin ice with Tony. You probably haven’t even filed the necessary documents for him to know.”

Kendis winced because she knew Hermione was right. The Americans were much stricter about the statute of secrecy, and she was supposed to file the proper documents at the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA) headquarters in New York.

She hoped that she could just lie and not mention that Tony already knew about magic.

“No telling Pepper about magic,” Kendis said, “not yet anyway.”

“Kendis — “Tony spluttered, but she put her hand up.

“If you don’t have the right paperwork, I could end up in jail, and all of your memories of me would be erased. Let’s deal with the legal shitstorm coming, and then we can think about reading Pepper in.”

“Well, crap.” Tony shook his head. “This is going to be complicated.”

“Having second thoughts?” Kendis asked, half-joking. She wouldn’t blame Tony if he ran for the hills.

“Never, tesoro.” Tony took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You can’t get rid of me now! No, take backs!”

Kendis gave Tony a relieved smile and then turned to her friends. “Okay, how are we going to do this?”

***

“You all right, love?” Kendis asked as Tony wheezed.

“I thought instantaneous transpiration wouldn’t—”

“Feel like you’re being pulled apart and put violently back together?” Kendis finished dryly. “Traveling by floo is worse.”

They had appeared with a crack at the back entrance of the vet clinic. The four of them had agreed that leaving by car would reveal that Tony and Kendis were together before they were ready to lay the trap. In the end, they decided it would be safer to apparate.

Tony had called Pepper, and after a brief argument, his assistant agreed to come to Kendis’s house.

“Are you sure that this is okay?” Tony waved at the vet. “With the whole magic thing.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Kendis snorted. “Dr. Lan and his family aren’t muggles.”

“Are they Wixens?”

“No, not exactly,” said a voice from behind them. The two of them jumped, and Kendis aimed her wand at a pretty Asian man with long hair styled in a ponytail secured by a red ribbon, clad in a red button-up, black pants, and combat boots.

“Wei Ying ,” Kendis rolled her eyes. You love to scare me.

“I’ve got to get my kicks somehow,” Wei Ying shrugged, then he shot her a look. “You’re here for Alke, right?”

“Yeah,” Kendis frowned. “I’m surprised to see you here. You hate dogs.”

“I do, that’s why I’m out here,” Wei Ying said as he lifted a blue lunch box decorated with white bunnies. “Lan Zahn forgot his lunch, and I wanted to give it to him before I headed off to work.”

Wei Ying, who looked like he walked off the pages of a magazine, worked as a third-grade teacher in a nearby elementary school.

“So, you’re not Wixens,” Tony asked, bringing them back to the original point. “Then what are you?”

Wei Ying gave her a questioning look.

“You can trust him,” Kendis confirmed. “Besides, he’ll figure out the rest of the supernatural thing when I take him to Miscellany.”

Tony’s eyes darted between the two of them.

“We are cultivators,” Wei Ying explained. “We wave around swords, not wands.”

Tony snorted but stopped when he saw Kendis’s serious face. “Let’s just say there are many types of magical folks, and Wixens are just one of them.”

“You play poker, Stark?” Wei Ying abruptly asked, a sly smile spreading across his face.

“I am the best card shark this side of Vegas,” Tony replied, meeting Wei Ying’s smile with a sharp grin.

“We’ve got a Saturday game and we’re down a player.”

“Wei Ying,”

The door opened, and Lan Zhan stared at the three of them with his usual blank expression.

“Gambling is forbidden,” Lan Zhan chided.

“For you, not me,” Wei Ying teased as he hurried to kiss his husband. He turned back to Tony.

“Are you in?”

“Yeah, sure.” And to Kendis’s horror, Wei Ying took out a card and handed it to Tony. She gave Lan Zhan a look, and there was a quirk of a smile. Tony Stark and Wei Ying becoming friends was a recipe for disaster.

But it was so typical of Lan Zhan to indulge his husband. For as long as she had known the couple, Lan Zhan had allowed his husband to get away with anything.

Lan Zhan was the last person she would get help from to rein in their respective husbands.

“Kendis,” Dr. Lan said, “Lan Jingyi has Alke ready for you.”

“Thank you so much,” Kendis smiled and then nodded to Wei Ying, and they hurriedly walked past them and into the clinic.

“That was Dr. Lan’s husband, huh?” Tony said, shaking his head. “Opposites really attract.”

Kendis had known the two since she had adopted Alke as a puppy. Ian had recommended them because the man knows every supernatural (or supes, as most people call magical and non-humans) in the city. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were inseparable and disgustingly in love, even though their personalities were complete opposites.

It made her see her own relationship with Tony in a new light. Kendis was a mechanic, and Tony was a billionaire playboy, but they just seemed to work, and it was as simple as that.

Kendis pushed those thoughts aside as they saw Lan Jingyi waiting for them in the doorway to the exam room.

“Come on, I’ll take her to you.”

They walked into the exam room, and there, sitting in a large crate, was Alke with a white plastic cone around her head. Alke barked and wagged her tail excitedly as she spotted Kendis.

Kendis hurried over and unlocked the crate and laughed as Alke jumped on her, her dog’s tongue licking at her excitedly as Kendis held her baby in her arms.

“I missed you so much.”

And for a moment, everything was right with the world.