"No, baby girl. I'm not your mom." Solus said.
"Mama!" Valeron and Elysia countered.
"Yes, I'm your mom. Sort of." Solus felt a headache rising. "But I'm just one of Dripha's many aunties. Jirni is her mom. I'm-"
"Mama!" Dripha answered to her name.
"Dead." Solus continued. "Jirni is going to kill me."
***
Meanwhile, away from earshot and a few minutes earlier, the Ernas family was taking a stroll along the coastline.
They had shapeshifted their clothes into ample desert robes that they had shortened to knee-length to dip their feet into the water.
"I'm sorry, but I have to pee." Between the walk and the sound of the surf, Quylla could only endure for so long.
"Again?" Orion was flabbergasted. "This is Gunyin all over again. You too couldn't stay five minutes without a bathroom. Isn't that right, son?"
"Sure." Orion's oldest cleared his throat in embarrassment. "When I was five and determined to become the best tea brewer in the Kingdom, though."
