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It’d been a little while since Tai had been home and he was happy to be back. Except...
He frowned at his cousin. “Why are you following me?”
“I want some of Aunt Skylor’s noodles,” Nyan said simply.
Tai frowned even more. “What’s wrong with my noodles?”
“You make them too salty.”
“I do not!” He really didn’t. Still, he made a mental note to add less salt to Nyan’s soup. Jaya was the one who liked a lot of salt in her soup.
He didn’t knock. The door was always open for him.
“Hey, I’m back!” he called.
“Tai!” a little voice cried excitedly and two-year-old Cosmo came running to him from the kitchen.
“Hey, bud!” Tai said with a grin, bending down to pick his little brother up.
Skylor stuck her head out from around the corner. “Welcome back,” she said with a smile, “Hello, Nyan. What brings you two here?”
“Just here for a visit,” Tai answered, then turned back to Cosmo in his arms, who was babbling up at him. He didn’t understand all of what he was saying, but he hummed and nodded along anyway.
“Play with him for a bit, will ya? He hasn’t left my side all day,” Skylor chuckled.
“Sure,” Tai replied, then his mom went back into the kitchen.
He set Cosmo down, then he grabbed his and Nyan’s hands and took them into the living room. He wanted to play hide n’ seek, so Tai started counting and Cosmo hid behind the couch, giggling. Tai made a show of trying to find him, even though he could hear Cosmo behind the sofa.
“Aha!” he said when he looked around the couch.
Cosmo squealed and laughed, but his arms lit up and sparks flew from his hand onto the couch. And the couch set on fire.
Cosmo jumped up and clapped, laughing in delight. “Fire! Fire!”
Tai and Nyan both stood still, Tai gawking, for a long moment, watching the burning couch.
Tai slowly turned his head toward the kitchen. “Uh, Mom?” he called.
Skylor came into the living room. “What is it? Oh,” she said, blinking.
Cosmo turned to her and grinned, raising his little, flaming fists. “Mommy, fire!”
Skylor smiled and bent her knees in front of him. “I see that, honey,” she said. “Nyan, would you please?” she asked, glancing at her nephew.
Nyan doused the burning couch, then put his hand on Cosmo’s head. Cosmo gasped in excitement when the flames enveloping his fists turned to water.
Skylor stood up and sighed, “Oh boy.”
“I didn’t get my powers this early,” Tai said to his mother, “Is this normal?”
“It’s,” Skylor pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead, “not common, but not too uncommon either.”
She watched exasperatedly, as Nyan showed Cosmo how to make shapes with his water.