Valerie glittered into the pastures of Havenfield. She knew she'd promised to tell Grady about about her conversation with Fintan, but she didn't know how he'd react.
Before she could change her mind and leap away, Grady came jogging across the grass towards her.

"How did it go?" Grady wrapped her in a hug.
Valerie couldn't bring herself to return the favor.

"What's wrong?" He pulled back, grasping her shoulders.

"Well," Valerie struggled to keep her composure. "Vespera wasn't lying."

Grady sucked in a breath. "What did she say?"

Valerie hesitated.

"You promised." Grady reminded.

She looked away, pulling out of his grasp. "It's you."

"What?" Grady half chuckled as he spoke.

"It's you." Valerie repeated. "You're my biological father."

He took a step back. "But... that's not possible."

She finally looked him in the face. "Think about it. Brant was one of them. They would've had easy access to your DNA."

Grady shook his head and backed away. "No... I..."

Valerie grabbed his hand. "I'm your daughter."

He pulled free and turned away. "No. This can't be true. It's not possible." His voice dropped to a whisper and he started muttering to himself.

Valerie breathed deeply, holding back tears as she backed away. Turning, she dashed across the pastures to Calla's tree where she collapsed into a miserable heap. This is what she'd been afraid of. He hated the idea of being associated with her. It was fine when he had no connection, but now, he couldn't just get rid of her. Now, he was responsible.
————
It was strange coming back to Havenfield after spending so much time away. Valerie had decided to give Grady some time to process what she had said almost two weeks ago now. She was only here now, because Sophie wanted to talk to her about something.

Thankfully, Grady was working in the pastures. So, Sophie was the one to meet her outside the house.

"Hey." Sophie gave her a huge smile. It was nice to see her happy for a change. She'd been struggling since the Shadowflux incident. "How have you been?"

Valerie couldn't help but smile back. "Not too bad. How about you?"

Sophie made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle. "I've been better, but I've also been worse."

Valerie scanned the pastures, half hoping to see Grady. "Same." She turned back to Sophie, remembering why she was here. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Sophie wrung her fingers. "In the healing center, you knew about Shadowflux."

Valerie nodded. "You want to know how."

Sophie blushed. "And how much you know."

Valerie took a deep breath. "Okay. We could talk by Verdi's pasture, I haven't seen that stubborn dinosaur in way too long."

Sophie laughed.

They started towards the T-Rex pasture. As they approached, Valerie spotted Grady scrubbing down Verdi's feathery side.

She stopped. "Maybe it would be better to talk by Calla's tree." She pulled her gaze from Grady and turned towards the Panakes. "No distractions."

Sophie glanced from Valerie to Grady and back. "What's going on?"

Valerie kept walking. "What do you mean?"

Sophie grabbed Valerie's arm, making her look at her. "You and Grady have been avoiding each other for two weeks. What happened?"

Valerie stared at her feet.

"Tell me." Sophie squeezed her hand.

Valerie refused to meet her gaze. "I went to see Fintan."

"What?!" Sophie almost jumped back. "Why?"

"He knows the identity of my biological father." Valerie finally lifted her head.

Sophie looked confused. "What does that have to do with Grady?" Valerie met Sophie's gaze and realization dawned on her. She wrapped Valerie in a tight hug.

Valerie couldn't hold back her tears any longer. The droplets soaked the shoulder of Sophie's tunic.

Sophie leaned her head on Valerie's. "I take it he didn't react very well."

A sob from Valerie was the only response.

Sophie squeezed tighter. "If it helps, I couldn't imagine having a better elvin sister."

Valerie wrapped her arms around Sophie.

They stood there for who knew how long, standing under Calla's Panakes tree.

In that moment, Valerie knew she was right where she belonged.