chapter 9 keeping Kat part 2

"So explain to me about this egg."

Michael said to me the next morning as I woke up next to him with the egg between us as if it were another baby.

"It wanted to sleep with me." I said excusing myself.

"I mean why did you buy it?" He asked.

"Well my therapist said to buy myself something nice and well, it was on accident.

"Anwan told me it was $1000."

"Yeah…." I said.

"If it's so much trouble can't you return it to sender?"

I shook my head. "It arrived here by magic."

"Magic?"

I nodded.

"Of course it did."

"That's not all." I said hesitantly afraid he would think I was crazy. "It came with a godsystem."

"What's that?"

"It means that the apocalypse is coming and I'm supposed to do stuff to prepare for it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Like raise a dragon?"

"Oh no no no no! I'm not supposed to hatch it. Its parents will come for it later."

"Ok then, that's not so bad."

"In 18 years." I finished.

He did a face palm. "Evelyn…. That things going to burn down the house."

"I know! I know! But what choice do I have?"

"Just give it to someone else!" He exclaimed. "Give it to your therapist, it's her fault in the first place!"

In that moment I pictured Dr. Edith Langley, a distinguished and slightly eccentric therapist of 125 years (and remarkably spry for her age), welcome us into her office. 

Wearing a neat purple corduroy suit and pearls, her white hair fluffed around her head and slightly thinning. The office smelled like lavender, with comfortable chairs arranged around a heavy oak desk.

"So, this is the infamous egg," Dr. Langley said, examining it with a raised brow as I carefully set it on the desk.

"It's… complicated," I said. "It's glowing, moving, and making my life a nightmare. Loki—or someone claiming to be Loki—dumped it on me, and now it's my problem."

She looked at me wondering if this was another story I would tell. But then when I didn't she said, "you know what, I'd love to have it. " she shakily took it and placed it on her bookshelf. "There."

Then she adjusted her glasses, "I'm glad you bought something but I expected it to be less costly. That was really not good for your bank account, should we talk about it?" 

I sighed. 

Then suddenly the egg got upset it realized I was gifting it. 

Then with my wild imagination I pictured the egg beginning to electrocute everything in the room that turned on.

"Oh my goodness!" The old woman exclaimed.

Static filled the air and our hair stood up. Papers began to whirl around the room.

"No no no no no." I said to Michael "the egg would probably kill the poor old woman." I decided.

Michael folded his arms.

Michael sighed, rubbing his temples. "Alright, so we can't give it to the therapist. What about a zoo? They've got experience with weird, dangerous animals."

"It's not an animal!" I snapped, clutching the egg protectively. "It's a… magical responsibility."

Michael stared at me like I'd just declared myself the Queen of Atlantis. "So let me get this straight—you're babysitting a time bomb that might hatch into a dragon, and now you've decided to bond with it?"

I huffed. "It's not bonding! It's…babysitting."

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose. "Evelyn, the egg slept between us. That's not managing chaos; that's inviting it to stay."

I paused, then reluctantly admitted, "Okay, fine. It might be more attached to me than I thought. And it's not The egg anymore it's Kat."

He threw his hands up. "Great! So now we have a clingy egg with god-level powers that's literally named Kat like some pet. What's next? Are we going to enroll it in preschool?"

I glared at him, though the image of the dragon sitting in a tiny classroom with a bunch of human kids almost made me laugh. "I'm not keeping it forever. I just have to survive 18 years until its parents come to get it."

Michael gave me a long, exasperated look. "Eighteen years, Evelyn. Do you know how much trouble that thing is going to cause in eighteen years?"

Before I could answer, the egg wobbled slightly in my hands, almost like it was agreeing with him.

"Don't encourage him," I hissed at the egg.

Michael pointed at it. "See? Even the egg knows it's a bad idea!"

I held it closer to my chest protectively. "I just need to figure out how to keep it calm so it doesn't… you know, electrocute an entire city."

Michael folded his arms, watching as the egg glowed faintly. "And how, exactly, are you going to do that?"

"I'll… look it up."

He groaned, grabbing his phone. "Fine. While you're looking up 'how to raise a magic apocalypse egg,' I'm finding a fireproof insurance plan."

I sighed, setting the egg gently on a pile of pillows on the couch. It glowed faintly, and I swear it hummed in contentment.

"I really hope this thing is worth the trouble," Michael muttered.

The egg wobbled indignantly, as if it understood the insult.

"Oh, great," I said, rolling my eyes. "Now you've hurt its feelings."

Michael threw his hands up in defeat. "Fantastic. I'm arguing with a glowing comic prop."

"Get used to it," I said. "Kat is mine now."

The egg hummed softly, and I could've sworn it was happy. "She likes her name too." I said.