Three Wishes(140)

“Will someone tell me what’s happening here?” the Registrar demanded.

Nate and Lily ignored her.

“He told me to,” Lily said. “I didn’t want Tash… we’ve waited so long… I knew you wanted…” she stopped and then went on. “He told me to,” she repeated, her voice finally breaking and she shoved her face in his chest.

“Darling,” Nate whispered against the top of her head.

“What’s happening here?” the Registrar shouted. “Who are these bizarre people?”

“They’re genies,” Natasha chimed in, her voice angry, “and they’re not bizarre.”

“They are not genies,” the Registrar retorted.

“They are,” Tash shot back.

“They are not. There’s no such thing as a genie,” the Registrar returned smartly, staring at Tash like Nate and Lily should get a handle on her.

“There is such a thing as a genie. You’re looking at, like, a bazillion of them!” Tash, finally losing patience, yelled.

Lily took her face from Nate’s chest and looked at her daughter.

“Tash, don’t yell,” she remonstrated quietly.

“Mummy, that lady’s crazy. How can she say there are no –”

“Tash.” Nate’s voice was firm and Tash’s mouth snapped shut, her arms crossed on her chest and her face settled into an obedient-yet-rebellious pout. Tash didn’t only get her quirky smile from Lily; she also got a bit of a rebellious streak.

Nate’s eyes moved to The Great Grand Genie Number One.

“Why are you here?” Nate asked.

“To judge the Wish of the Century Award, of course. This,” the Great Grand Genie Number One gestured about him, “is the council, plus, er… a few other genies who just wanted to see you get married.” He finished slightly less grandly but still in pronouncement mode.

“Fine,” Nate clipped. “Would you mind then if we actually got married?” he asked wryly.

The Great Grand Genie Number One inclined his head regally.

“A thousand expressions of gratitude,” Nate muttered with dry humour and Lily felt a hysterical bubble of laughter rising in her chest.

Nate threw her a look that said he was again not amused and the giggle escaped. Lily clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle it.

“Lily,” Nate said warningly.

Lily took her hands away. “I can’t help it. Oh Nate!” She put her hands on his shoulders and went up on tiptoe to look him eye-to-eye as best she could. “I so wish Fazire was here to see this. He’d laugh and laugh and –”

“Your wish!” the Great Grand Genie Number One announced in a booming voice, a voice that made Lily jump and Nate scowl and both Nate and Lily’s eyes swung to him, “Lily Jacobs, granddaughter of the Great Sarah Jacobs, is my command!”

Then he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers and in a dramatic poof of swirling grape smoke, Fazire appeared not two feet away.

“Fazire!” Lily shouted, pulling from Nate’s arms and throwing herself into Fazire’s.

She vaguely heard astonished murmurs as her body hit Fazire’s for she had no idea that genies rarely, very, very rarely touched humans and humans never touched genies.

“Lily-child!” Fazire exclaimed. “What, where –?”

Fazire was looking around him then he stilled and stared at the Golden Genie.

“Great Grand Genie Number One!” he cried, disengaging from Lily and dropping in a deep, low bow before his master.

“Fazire,” the Great Grand Genie Number One stared down his nose at the bowing Fazire, “arise.”

Fazire straightened and Lily took his hand. The Golden Genie’s eyes dropped to their clenched hands and he closed them in obvious despair then shook his head.

“Great Grand Genie?” Fazire called, clearly confused at the turn of events.

The Golden Genie’s eyes opened.

“My friend,” he said softly but his voice still carried, “you have served this family well. The only genie who ever served three generations of humans. And you have performed the two best wishes in genie history, the creation of this girl and binding her to this man who needed her.”

Fazire nodded, still confused but trying to pretend he wasn’t. Lily clenched his hand tighter and her genie returned the gesture.

“Therefore, I think, Great Fazire,” the Golden Genie declared, “if it is your wish, you will serve them through eternity.”

Gasps were heard all around but Lily barely registered it, her own and Fazire’s were so loud.

“Truly?” Fazire asked, his face wreathed in hope.

“Do you wish it, Fazire?” the Golden Genie demanded.

Fazire looked to Lily then to Tash then to the Great Grand Genie. Then without another moment of hesitation, he nodded.

“So it will be,” the Golden Genie decreed. “Your wish, Great Fazire, is my command!” And, just like that he lifted his fingers and he snapped.

And it was done.

Lily threw her arms straight up in the air and shouted with joy.

“Yipeeeeeeeee!” Tash called, rushing forward and jumping up and down, her arms around her mother and Fazire.

Lily hugged Fazire, she hugged Tash, she hugged Maxine who’d come around the table. She hugged Victor then she hugged Laura. Finally, she turned and threw herself bodily at Nate who lifted her off her feet in an automatic half-whirl as he took her weight.