Tony and Tracey met eyes. They were silent for a bit, and then Tracey waved at the dog.

"Hi," he nervously spoke. Tony shuffled over to him, and Tracey gulped. He watched as the dog began circling and sniffing him up and down. "My name is Tracey," he told him. "I'm a fairy."

Tony stopped before him and sat down. His tail began to wag, and he panted.

Tracey focused on the fainted parents and said, "Well, I guess I should make sure they're okay." Flapping his wings, he lifted off the ground and flew to Mr. and Mrs. Delling. He landed beside them and kneeled. Grabbing Mrs. Delling's shoulder, Tracey shook it and begged, "Ma'am, please wake up. Makenna didn't mean to make you faint."

"Oh, Makenna," Mrs. Delling finally mumbled, "I just had the strangest dream. You were a fairy, and—"

Tracey sat on his heels and rested his hands on his thighs.

Mrs. Delling sat and rubbed her forehead. "—there was another one," she continued. "He looked like a ninja. He—" She cut off and opened her eyes. At the sight of Tracey, her mouth dropped to the ground again.

Tracey waved his fingers at her. "Hi," he said. "I just wanted to ensure you and your husband were all right. It's kind of my job."

"Ahh!" Mrs. Delling screamed. Her entire face turned blue, and she jumped to her feet. "Makenna!" Mrs. Delling didn't waste any time. She sprinted by Tracey and hurried to the staircase, grabbing its railing. She raced up the stairs.

Behind, Tracey glanced at Tony. "Was it something I said?"

Tony sighed.

Mr. Delling soon woke up, and he, too, sat. He gasped at the sight of Tracey.

Quickly, the ninja-like fairy held his hands out to him and begged, "Please don't faint again!"

Mrs. Delling sprinted into the Delling household and slammed the door shut. She couldn't believe what she just saw! "Makenna!" Mrs. Delling shouted. She hurried toward the living room, where the TV ran. "Please explain why a fairy is in our front yard!"

Mrs. Delling dashed into the living room and found Makenna and Caleb sitting on the couch. Makenna was wrapped in a fluffy blue blanket, and Caleb held a remote. He flipped through the TV channels but froze and lowered the remote at the sound of Mrs. Delling.

"Aw, come on, Mom!" Makenna snapped at her mother. She turned to Mrs. Delling, who shook. "Caleb and I were just getting ready to watch America's Funniest Home Videos!"

"Not happening!" Michelle shouted. She snatched the TV remote from Caleb's hand and turned off the TV. Then, throwing it onto the couch, she whirled around to Makenna and yelled, "You are in so much trouble, young lady! How dare you sneak out! You're a liar!"

"Uh, Mom," Makenna snootily said, fluffing her hair, "I think the correct term you're looking for is a 'flier'. Get it? Ha, ha." She nudged Caleb in the ribs with her elbow. "Okay, that was bad, wasn't it?"

"It was," Caleb admitted. "You stink at jokes, sis."

"Enough!" Michelle shouted, reaching for her head. She lowered her hands and pointed at Makenna. "Thanks to your unacceptable, childish act today, young lady, I thought I saw a ninja-like fairy on the lawn and wings on your back, too!"

"Which you did," a sudden, calm voice spoke from behind.

"Huh?" Mrs. Delling shouted. She whirled around.

Tracey stood before her, arms crossed. He clutched another one of his ninja stars.

Tony and Mr. Delling stood on either side of him.

Mr. Delling pointed at Tracey and asked, "Isn't he cool, Michelle? He rushed Tony and me in here in the blink of an eye! It's true! Everything Caleb explained to us is true! He's the ninja-like fairy!"

Tracey nodded, and so did Caleb.

Michelle's eyes bounced from Makenna, Tracey, and Mr. Delling and back to Makenna. "What the heck?" she asked.

Makenna cleared her throat. "Excuse me. I need to explain and show this with real panache!" She faced Mrs. Delling, who sweated. "Mom, it is true. I am a fairy. Look." She peered down on her blanket and grabbed it, sighing. Tugging on the blanket, she pulled it off and let it fall. Her fairy form was revealed.

Mrs. Delling's eyes widened. "Ahhh!" she screamed, slapping her hands over her mouth.

"Wait," Makenna said, holding out her hand. "It gets better. Watch this." She took a deep breath and lowered her head, closing her eyes. "Come on, wings," she whispered. "Work."

Slowly, her tiny wings began flapping. With each flap, blue fairy dust escaped them.

Makenna felt her feet lifting from the floor, and she gasped. Opening her eyes, she peered down and saw that the floor was getting smaller. "Whoa," she whispered. "Wow, I'm getting better at this."

Makenna's head touched the ceiling of the living room.

Below, Mrs. Delling again screamed, "Ahh!"

Mr. Delling covered his ears, and Tony groaned. He lifted his front paw and put it on his head.

Still hovering at the ceiling, Makenna soon realized how much fun it was to fly again. She gestured at Tracey and said, "Tracey, join me! Let's put on a show for Mom!"

"Sure," said Tracey, feebly smiling. "I'm down for that, Makenn. Excuse me, Mr. Delling?" He turned to Mr. Delling, who grinned, and held his ninja star out to him. "Will you please hold onto this for me?" asked Tracey. "I don't want it to get dusty."

"Su-sure," Mr. Delling stammered, taking the star out of Tracey's hand. His eyes brightened, and he whispered, "So cool. I can't believe I'm holding an actual shuriken! Even better, it belongs to a real fairy!"

Tracey chuckled. "Take good care of it now," he told Mr. Delling.

Mr. Delling saluted. "Yes, sir!" he announced.

Tracey again tittered. Then, turning his body, he focused on impatient Makenna hovering at the ceiling. "I'm coming, Makenna. I'm coming." He flapped his wings, which gave off a blast of green and purple fairy dust.

Mrs. Delling gasped when he, too, lifted into the sky.

Tracey joined Makenna at the ceiling and calmly asked, "Ready, Makenna?"

"Ready, Trace," Makenna answered. She chuckled, but Tracey just nodded.

He and Makenna acted out their flying poses and began soaring around the living room.

Makenna's eyes widened. "Oh my!" she announced, grinning. "I forgot how much fun this is!"

"Yeah, Makenna!" Caleb cheered from below. "You're getting better at flying! Go, Makenna! Go, Makenna! Rock the world!"

"Thank you, thank you!" conceitedly spoke Makenna, acting out a midair bow. Afterward, she and Tracey playfully circled one another, and they peered into each other's eyes.

Mr. Delling watched, amazed, but Mrs. Delling was still in shock. "Eee!" she yelped. "My daughter is flying! She's flying!"

"That's because she's a fairy," Tracey explained. He stopped soaring and now hovered at the ceiling. His eyes landed on Mrs. Delling.

She asked, "How in the name of pickles is she a fairy, though?"

"She was always a fairy, Mom," Caleb explained. "But you didn't believe me when I told you. Makenna is what people call a Metamorphic Fairy."

"That is correct," Tracey tiredly spoke. He dropped to the ground and landed before Mrs. Delling. His wings fell limply behind him.

"It's a long story," Caleb admitted. "We need to sit down to discuss it." He, Tracey, and Mrs. Delling glanced at Makenna, who still zoomed around the room like a maniac.

"This is so much fun!" she announced, performing a midair cartwheel.

For a few moments, there was silence. Finally, Mrs. Delling shook her head and said, "Fine!"

Caleb and Tracey focused on her.

"We'll discuss it at dinner," Mrs. Delling continued.

"Thank you, Mom," said Caleb, hopping off the couch. He approached Tracey and tapped his arm. "So, I'm guessing you'll let Tracey stay?"

Mrs. Delling opened her mouth to speak, but Makenna beat her.

She landed choppily beside Tracey and put her hands together. "Oh please, Mom. Please let Tracey stay. He's quite formal, you know. He has perfect manners! Right, Tracey?" She nudged Tracey's shoulder.

"Huh?" he asked, glancing at Makenna. "Oh yes!" He fixed his eyes on Michelle. "Mrs. Delling, I've never had a chance to experience a formal dinner with a family before. There's a lot of room for personal growth here. Please let me stay. For tonight, at least. I'm exhausted. I'll go back to Merlin's Island tomorrow if you decide to kick me out."

"Right," sarcastically spoke Mrs. Delling. "Merlin's Island. Very well, you can stay here tonight, Tracey."

"Yes!" whispered the three kids. They high-fived each other.

"But only," Mrs. Delling added, and Tracey glanced at her, "if you don't gain up on Makenna! I'm unsure if I want her hanging around another so-called fairy. Especially"—she shivered—"a ninja-like fairy. I'll be watching you, Tracey. If you get too close to her, then you will be—" She moved her finger across her throat.

"Oh, Mom," Makenna said, taking Tracey's arm. "Tracey's not like that. He's a sweetheart. However, I'd totally choose Peter Nelson over him."

"Peter Nelson?" her mother yelled, stepping away from Makenna, Tracey, and Caleb. "Who in the name of is Peter Nelson?"

Makenna, realizing she had just opened her big mouth, closed her eyes.

Tracey glanced at her. "You blew it."

"I know I did," said Makenna, releasing his arm.

"You have some explaining to do, young lady!" Mrs. Delling snapped. "Don't think that stupid face can fool me! You snuck out to hang out with a boy, didn't you, when you clearly said you would do your homework!"

"Uh, Mom," Makenna snootily said, "I think you're forgetting something."

"What?" challenged Mrs. Delling. She glared at her daughter, who smiled arrogantly.

"I'm Makenna Delling," she said.

Tracey and Caleb silently chortled.

"Heads up!" Mr. Delling shouted. He accidentally threw Tracey's ninja star, and it headed toward him.

He said, "Oh snap!" and quickly acted out a backflip, dodging the star. Tracey landed on his feet and caught the star.

Everybody stared at him—even Tony.

"Did you see that?" Mr. Delling squeaked. "He just dodged that star with a backflip! So cool!"

"Can you do a backflip, Dad?" Makenna inquired, placing her hand on her hip.

Mr. Delling chuckled. "Makenna, Makenna," he spoke, crossing his arms. "Remember that I was on the gymnastics team in high school. Of course, I can do a backflip. Watch and learn." Uncrossing his arms, he backed away from Makenna, Mrs. Delling, Caleb, and Tracey and announced, "Shananzo!" Mr. Delling attempted to do a backflip, but halfway through, he crashed to the ground and landed on his face.

Makenna gasped. Tracey, Caleb, and Mrs. Delling did, too.

"Oh, my God!" Makenna yelled. "Are you all right, Dad?"

Mr. Delling, shaking on the ground, mumbled, "Uh, define 'all right'."

Tony hurried to his side and licked his cheek.

Mrs. Delling, Makenna, Tracey, and Caleb exchanged glances and shrugged.