It was a strange time for Lewis. The sun was starting to rise over the island, and a calm wind was blowing across the fields. The grapes seemed to be growing well for the time being, mostly requiring watering for the time being. From what research he had done, it would take a full two years before they bore any fruit, and after that, well…

“No idea what I’ll do then,” he mused aloud, though Simone could always hear his thoughts. Things were so quiet now. His arm was healing up quite nicely, and Hazel was well along now. Rex was finally taking their advice, and asking for help from Kalina to build their new house on the opposite of the island, near where the old pirate’s cove used to be. Raile had since turned the cove into his own little storage area, which Lewis had found out was more or less where Vela and Drake dropped off the majority of their ‘too large to portal’ items. It was from there that Raile scheduled semi-regular shipments.

Lewis yawned, stretching as he sat back and watched the sunrise. He and Simone had set up a nice little bench, aimed perfectly to watch it whenever they so pleased. “I never thought we’d get to do this regularly,” he said. “I could get used to this peace…” And that was what it was. The quiet and calm. Peace. Never in his lifetime would he have guessed that he could live like this.

“We’ve come so far…”

Simone brought him a hot cup of cider and smirked at him. “Neither did I… but here we are.” She sipped on her tea and looked up at the sky. “We really have though…” Simone leaned into Lewis and smiled at up him. “Ever see yourself with thirteen kids? How about being married?” She chuckled a bit as she remembered younger Lewis. “Probably was the farthest thing from your mind.”

She wrapped a blanket around them and snuggled into him. “How’s your arm this morning Handsome? I can’t feel it hurting you… That’s a good sign.” It had taken a while to heal thanks to the twins sapping energy from her. They found it safer to feel semi-naturally.

“It certainly is peacefully before the storm…” She paused dramatically. “That is our only offsprings…” She whispered it and laughed a bit. “They are little demons. I feel bad for their future spouses…”

In spite of the ‘calm before the storm’ warning, Lewis laughed. If that was the only ‘storm’ they had to weather, then he would gladly do it. After the last incident, he wanted nothing more than to actually be able to settle down and relax. He was really, REALLY hoping that nothing else crazy would happen. But, with that last attack, it seemed as though they really had put everyone down for good.

“Well…” he said as he sipped the cider. “We don’t have much longer before they wake up. Let’s enjoy this while we can…”

Surely enough, about ten minutes after his statement, they felt a pull in the resonance as the babies started to wake up. Lewis stood up and stretched, and then held out his hand to Simone, pulling her up. The two of them stepped through a portal, and immediately went about their morning routine of rallying the children. Before they knew it, they were all ready and assembled in the dining hall, with breakfast being served.

Everett this morning was asking how to make bacon. Not how to cook it, mind you, but how to actually make the bacon. He had started following Lucas into the library on a daily basis, asking for help on cooking books. The boy was definitely interested in the art, and the family was more than happy to support it.

Simone felt the resonance and knew he liked this type of storm. She hoped all the crazy was done too. Who knew what the hell else they would get involved in but hopefully it wasn’t anything of that nature. “Yeah…”

She let out a playful groan as she took his hand. Their routine was full of love and laughter. Sometimes they yelled depending on what their youngest were doing. Roughhousing in the morning was normal but sometimes they actually fought.

Simone held Glyn and Janus in her arms. Lila was being a total daddy’s girl as she snuggled into him with no interest in playing just yet.

Once Alshaya figured out bacon came from pigs she started to cry, “But what if I wanted to love a pig…”

“Oh, we wouldn’t eat that pig sweetie…” Simone got a napkin and dried her tears. “That’s a pet.”

“It’s the same thing… Isn’t it?”

“No, there are animals you eat and animals you keep as pets. I think that your auntie Osiria said one of her relatives has a pig for a pet… He faints at the word bacon.”

“He’s dramatic…”

“Just like you,” Simone laughed and kissed her forehead.

“Lewis, you have an appointment with Lady Angela today… You too Hazel.” She looked at how big Hazel had gotten and how proud Rex seemed to be of her. “She’s got her handfuls today…”

Rex was more than just proud of Hazel, he was also proud of himself and how much work he had done trying to get himself straight. He still wasn’t entirely sure where he was headed in life, but he at least knew that Hazel would support him in whatever endeavor he chose to pursue. For the time being, though, he found himself running all kinds of errands for Hazel now that she couldn’t do much work on her own. Between watering the new herb garden (with Simone’s help!) to mixing up new concoctions and wards and delivering them. Of course, Hazel inspected his work before he did it, but nine times out of ten he got them right.

Lewis sipped down some more cider after he finished his plate. “She’s coming today?” Helooked down at his arm, hoping today would be the day she told him he was good to go. He wanted to move it around and get some exercise. He may be a retired assassin, but that didn’t mean he wanted to lose his edge.

“Lucas, do you mind watching the older kids today? We can handle the younger ones while Angela is here.”

“No problem,” Lucas replied with a thumbs up. “Alshaya, we can research pets today! Maybe you’ll find a new pet we can adopt.”

Everett smirked. “Eyolf will just eat any other pet we get,” he teased Alshaya.

“No,” Simone smirked a bit. “We might have to go see her. Apparently, she is going to be busy with lots of others… You know we aren’t her only clientele but she loves us all the same. We can still take the kids with us though. You know you want to have them checked over just in case.”

Shaya got a look on her face before punching her brother across the face. “NO!”

“Shaya!” Simone looked at her with disbelief. “You can’t use your fists to do all your talking.”

“But Daddy does it!” Shaya whined.

Simone looked at Lewis to find the words.

Lewis looked at Simone before opening his mouth, “I use my daggers more but… Only when I have to. Your mother is a lot better at talking down people. You should be more like her.”

“SHE LIGHTS PEOPLE ON FIRE WHEN SHE’S HAD ENOUGH!” Shaya threw her hands up in the air.

“I do but only to protect you guys… Punching your brother in the face when he is egging you on is wrong.” Simone tried not to laugh in the resonance but she couldn’t help it. “Everett… Please get your stuff packed to see Angela… Your nose looks broken again.” Damn Shaya has a left hook.

There was a groan from him as he held a cloth to his nose before getting his stuff ready… “Alright let's go see Angela…” They stepped through the portal to a waiting room full of familiar people. “Not to step in line but… Shaya broke Everett’s nose… Xeik… Can you heal him?”

Xeik was walking by when he happened to see a group of familiar faces. He knew Angela was pretty booked today, and had finished up his own work in order to help lessen the load on her.

“Well, it’s Simone and the Terrowin family,” Xeik said with a happy smile. “Alshaya again?” he asked as he knelt down and did a once over on Everett’s nose. He looked at Alshaya’s hand next, and did a quick healing spell on that as well. “Now, now…Alshaya, you know you can’t go around punching your siblings. That’s not very nice.”

“You know what else isn’t nice, cheater?” Alshaya responded snarkily.

Xeik stood up and laughed, “Still the same spirited little girl…” He pulled out the paperwork he had. “Seems…Angela will be seeing you all again. If I finish in time, should we go out for dinner this evening? Mia’s been dying to get out of the house and her cravings are…a little much. I’m sure we can find something for her…”

Upon closer inspection, Lewis noticed that Xeik was definitely exhausted, but despite it all he was quite happy. “Sounds like a good idea. We haven’t left the island too much since the…incident. Might be good to get out.”

Simone smiled up to Xeik, “We’re getting Lewis’s arm checked out today. It’s been a while since he broke it so hopefully, he can use it again… It would be nice.” Who knew what dirty thoughts were going through her head but it got a smirk from Lewis.

Angela came out of her office, “NOT SO FAST XEIK! I need to see Mia today too. Get her little lycanthrope ass here too. Also, Everett’s nose looks better that’s good. I thought I felt a disturbance when you portaled in. Shaya, did you hit Everett?”

“He deserved it!” Shaya threw her hands dramatically in the air.

“Well, I for one am glad you both are getting along again.” She patted their heads once each. Lucas came and got them once they were cleared.

In Angela’s room waiting was Vela and Drake, Hazel and Rex, and now Mia and Xeik. “What a full house I have! It warms my heart. Hazel and Rex you are first.”

Rex helped Hazel up and Angela brought them into the room. “Okay, Rex I see that you are looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning. Your energy is fine?”

Hazel laughed a bit, “He’s fine but these babies are kicking me too hard.”

Angela got up and got some paste. “Rub this on her belly at night. It should stop the bruising and help heal her a good bit. They all look so healthy and good! You are feeding you good… Right Rex?”

It was Rex and Hazel next. The two entered the room and Angela got down to business. The first comment was how bright eyed Rex was, and he smiled and nodded. “Never felt better! I have SO much energy now. Like, almost too much. It’s a good thing we have an entire island! I’d go crazy if I didn’t have a way to let out all of this energy!” He looked to Hazel after she made her remark about the babies kicking too much. “I am worried about her, though…wolf pups in her belly? What if they hurt her too much?”

As always, the goddess had a solution close on hand, and Rex smiled. “Great! And yess, Miss Angela! She gets plenty of food! Sim-…er..Mom almost forces it down sometimes. She can get really scary when she does that…” The young man shuddered. “Really scary…”

Angela laughed a bit, “They are her grandchildren and she is doing what any grandmother would do. I would make sure that my grandchildren were healthy too. I wouldn’t worry too much about it Rex. Be glad you have a loving mother like Simone to be so invested. I’m sure Lewis is just as excited for the next step in their journey. Since it is a journey I don’t think either of them thought they would ever get.”

“As for the babies, she does have a lot of them but she is fine. Anyone would be bruised after five strong little ones kicked your insides.”

Hazel giggled and took Rex’s hands. “They are alright though?”

“They are the most beautiful perfect babies I’ve seen this month. You both are so very blessed to have them.”

“I’m excited to meet them!”

“Well, soon you’ll be blaming Rex for it… So don’t get too excited. The birthing process is always the hardest for the men on the receiving end.” Angela was joking but she shook her head. “Rex, take good care of her alright?”

Once she was done with those two she went out to see Mia and Xeik. “Okay, you little shit. You next,” Angela gave him a loving smile.

“You are exhausted Xeik. You need to take better care of yourself. You have a baby due you know. Oh, I can tell what the baby is now if you want to know?” She looked up at Xeik and Mia.

Mia was squirming around and huffing but she was excited. She had waited for so long for Xeik to be ready and now he was! He was even excited. “This is going to be a lot of work the first few months. It’s a partnership. I would suggest asking Lewis and Simone for advice. They handle newborns quite well.”