Lilith Pendragon was arranging photo frames above the fireplace when her daughter Cinder entered the room.
"You seem in a good mood," Lilith said with a smile. "Did you have fun today?"
"You bet Mom, he's a really sweet guy," Cinder blushed. "His name's Jon. He asked me out, properly asked me out."
"Oh dear, that's wonderful! A new town and already you've found a nice boyfriend. And he lives next door!" she added with a smirk, "I hope he's well behaved. I wouldn't want your grandmother to catch him sneaking over in the middle of the night "
"Hehe, I already warned Jon about Nana."
Lilith laughed. She placed a large, delicately carved and half-used candle on top of the mantle.
"I asked Jon over for dinner tonight. Is that okay?"
"Already? Honey, we're not exactly settled yet."
"Please Mom? Please don't make me look foolish in front of him!"
"You want him to come over, but you don't want to be embarrassed by us?" Lilith laughed. "Have you thought this through?"
"Pleeeeaase?"
"Alright honey, Jon can come over. I'll have to dip into the pantry for dinner "
"Weren't you going to do that anyway?"
"Hah! Probably. I've been rushed off my feet today," Lilith nodded.
"Great! Thanks Mom!" Cinder ran over and hugged her mother emphatically. "Jon will be over in two hours."
She gasped and added, "I've got to get ready!"
Before her daughter could run away upstairs however, Lilith held her close. She said, finally, "I'm not sure I can trust you with a boy like that yet."
"Oh no Mom, he's really open-minded about the whole witch thing," Cinder replied.
"That's not exactly what I meant Lucinda," Lilith sighed. "When I saw him earlier, I noticed it right away. Haven't you noticed?"
Her daughter looked at her blankly and shook her head.
"Don't worry, you've probably not picked up the knack yet. There's something special about this Jon boy, is all "
