“I hope they choke on our lamb chops,” Talise spouted out as she crossed her arms and growled slightly. “If we die, they will spite us and bury us together. The nerve of them.” Her gossiping family members would pay dearly. They would pay eventually! The look on her face was pure murder as her eyebrows twitched a bit. She opened a gateway and the two of them strolled on through.

Even during this time, Sularia was busy. They walked through the glistening gemstone pathways until they got to the large manor that her mother lived in. The rose gardens were in full bloom despite the time of year it was, probably due to her mother thinking this was a special occasion.

The double doors were opened for them. “Princess Talise welcome home, your mother and siblings are in the dining room.”

Talise scoffed at the house help as she strolled right into the joint and beckoned Gerard to follow her. “This is Red Court Manor.” She took him down some hallways until they reached around set of fine stained glass doors. Opening them up Talise and Gerard found themselves in a sprawling room filled with a few tables obviously made for a large family.

“Welcome home Talise,” there sat the trouble maker herself in a green and gold gown. Her red hair was dazzling but in her arms were two babies who were cooing and awing at her red hair as they pulled at her curls. Angela got up and came over to Gerard with the twins in tow. “Good to meet you. I am afraid that Sapphire–”

“It was Sapphire? That narking little bit–” Talise growled a bit as Angela pushed a baby on Talise.

“Now, now. She was just excited. My name is Angela. These are my youngest children Larkspur and Poppy. The redhead is Poppy.” Angela winked at Gerard and took back the baby who was obviously meant to shut the fairy up. “You’ll join us for dinner right?”

The short trip to the goddess of life's mansion in Sularia was nerve-wracking. Before they went in, his mind was already on autopilot. He had been to Sularia before to sell raisins and apples, but he couldn't pay attention to what was going on around them before they arrived. Standing before the manor, he stared glumly at the impressive baroque building adorned in gold with white stone. "…Is that the church?" He groaned. Gerard vaguely remembered seeing an image of a cathedral before, and this seemed to fit the picture. Talise at the moment looked like she was ready to make heads roll.

He didn't notice the roses, or their thick perfume as they walked in. Had he come in under less strangulating circumstances he would have admired how well they were cared for. All he wanted to do was run and dive into the nearest body of water to sink to the bottom. When they were inside, she told him this was the Red Court Manor, which was where the queen of the Red Court and her family lived by deductive reasoning. They went down hallways, hallways, more hallways–until they reached the dining room. Talise opened them up and it was set for a grand affair. Surely this was more of a banquet hall than a dining room, but he had heard of the size of the goddess' family. He wondered which lucky members they would be seeing tonight.

He stood there, like a walking husk and mind half-gone when Talise started to protest with her mother. Angela's response was to place an infant into her arms and cut her off. The red-haired woman in gold and green interjected. "Now, now. She was just excited. My name is Angela. These are my youngest children Larkspur and Poppy. The redhead is Poppy. You'll join us for dinner right?" There definitely wasn't a choice there. Fumbling for an answer, Gerard was at a loss for what to say, and took out the two bottles of wine with the bows Talise had helped him with. "…I was told to come so I brought a visiting gift, here it is." Not the type of first impression he was hoping for. In his defense, he was talking to a member of royalty–a queen–who happened to be a goddess as well. He was just glad he didn't stutter over his words.

The wine bottles were taken from his hands and a child was placed in them instead. It was the boy, since the red-haired one was the girl. He stared down at the child now in his arms blankly. "…." It was at this point all the etiquette he had rehearsed and recalled flew out the window. He wasn't prepared for this. He looked at Talise with a face that said: 'What am I supposed to do?'

It was always an adventure meeting Angela's elder children. Turns out there was still one he hadn't met yet. A fey girl, it surprised him not, and from Feeorin. This had immediately caught Drae's attention, since he knew all about Feeorin and had grown up in Sidhiel. At the very least that was going to be an interesting conversation. He sensed the arrival of the pair and got a tingling sensation down his spine. 

"Great… she's at it again…" he muttered before he turned and swept out of the master bedroom and headed down to the great hall where Angela was undoubtedly stuffing Poppy and Lark into the arms of the unsuspecting. 

Turns out he wasn't wrong. Poppy was in the arms of the dusky-skinned fey girl he understood to be Angela's daughter Talise, and she was in the process of handing Lark off to the rather harried young man who was with her. The rather harassed look suggested that the young man had on his face told Drae volumes and the Keeper immediately swooped to the rescue. 

"Angela! You are getting WAY too far ahead of yourself right now," he said as he quickly came up behind his wife. He swiftly relieved the young man of Larkspur's babbling form, and did the same for Talise with Poppy. "These two aren't a couple, Ang. They are acquaintances at best!"

Just as Gerard's strained mind was struggling to process what the goddess was doing, luck would have it that her husband–another fellow deity–should come in. When the man took the children from their arms he was left staring, half-present while his arms were still in the same position as they were when the Red Court Queen had pushed the baby boy into them. Then the man said what he and Talise had been trying to say. That broke him out of his shocked stupor as he quickly followed up with his own confirmation. "Yes–that's correct your Excellence. We only just met less than a day ago by accident." 'Your Excellence'? What kind of awful, mangled compilation of honorifics was that? He certainly wasn't thinking at all if that was the best he could come up with.

Putting his arms down he kept a straight face holding his rising anxiety in. The sheer presence of both deities was overwhelming. So this was what it was like to be in the presence of gods. Gerard felt he probably wouldn't be able to take it much longer. He was already subconsciously looking for escape routes ready to bolt. But he highly doubted it would work, as the cynic in him gave a painful reminder that this was Goddess Angela's home. She probably could use her power to prevent him from leaving even if he tried. They might as well throw him and Talise on a platter and call them carpaccio.

“Nope, my mother’s sense of decorating is just on the high end.. you should see her temple though. It is more extravagant than this. This is just the Sularia family home.” Talise said it almost grimly as they made their way through the home.

Angela gently took the wine and smiled at them. “That is so thoughtful. You didn’t need to bring me gifts at all. I like him.” If Angela could have little hearts above her head she would as she shoved Lark into his arms. In her mind, holding babies was a way to relax but perhaps it wasn’t everyone’s method.

Talise looked over at Gerard with the same look he was giving her. Her dark colored skin had a fresh tint of red across it as the time went along. Was she getting angry or was she embarrassed by this all? It was hard to tell by the stoic nature of her face.

“I know they aren’t together,” the goddess informed the entire group.

“YOU MEDDLING GODDESS YOU KNEW AND YOU DID THIS ANYWAYS?!” It started a scream and slowly went back to down to her regular voice. “This is your husband?” Talise pointed at Drae. “How old is he? Cradle Robber.”

Angela blushed a bit and mused over her words. “I’m not a Cradle Robber”

Talise got redder, “Is he older or younger by me and by how much?”

“Mmm… Younger and I would say about ten times younger.” Angela had to think about how old Adraejen was.

“YOU ARE A CRADLE ROBBER MOTHER. At least when you had sex with my father he was closer to your age,” Talise was resisting the urge to reach up and pull at her hair as they went at it.

Angela shrugged it off and took Poppy from her father as he back to the table. “To be fair, Feys get more yummy the older they get. Their butts in particular.”

“I don’t even want to know. Stop talking.” Talise took Gerard’s arm and yanked him over to where they would be sitting.

“You started this… You could have let it go~” Angela offered her daughter a smile. “Besides in three hundred years, you’ve never once had a friend. I was curious who you were laughing with.” There was a concerned look on her face. “I never thought I would find you with someone just like you.”

“You are unbelievable… Gossip Goddess. That’s what they should have made your sphere. You would be the strongest Goddess by default.” Talise sniped at her mother.

“Ouch, my heart it hurts. Please tell me something I don’t know.” It was pure sarcasm and showed where Talise had gotten her own sarcasm from.

"I know they aren't together," The goddess said. That admission was the last straw for Talise, as she erupted venting all of her anger and frustration into a single outburst. "YOU MEDDLING GODDESS YOU KNEW AND YOU DID THIS ANYWAYS?!" Then the topic shifted to an equally awkward one. "This is your husband? How old is he? Cradle Robber." Talise was glaring daggers as her mother responded and they went back and forth. Then things veered into even worse territory. At the mention of fey and their backsides he was about ready to fling himself out the nearest open window.

"I don't even want to know. Stop talking." Annoyed and irritated Talise grabbed his arm and began pulling him to their seats at the table. He went along, just as mortified as she was. His face was paler than it had been already. The goddess then made an offhand comment on how Talise had managed to find someone just like herself. That certainly wasn't a compliment. He could see the family resemblance now…painfully, but it was there. Inside he cringed. Once the dinner started this would only get worse. "…Well stuff a fork in me and a sprig of parsley in my ears. We're done for." Not even his sarcasm and inner critic could save this situation. He swore that when the first chance presented itself, he was booking it for the nearest way out of the dining hall. He was absolutely positive that Talise was thinking the same thing. "So…I hate to ask but who else will be joining us tonight?" He asked, not really wanting to know the answer. There were an awful lot of seats, and only four of them not counting the infants. He tried to take deep breaths to keep himself from imploding from the stress.

"Please, don't yell, Talise," Drae begged softly. "You'll upset the babies and then we'll have no peace at all," he said as he sat down in his place at one of the heads of the table. "Yes, I am significantly younger than you and almost all your siblings," he admitted. "I've gotten used to the idea rather, and no one else seems to make a horribly big deal about it," he said. He rubbed his trimmed beard and forehead and looked apologetically at Gerard who looked like he just wanted to bolt. 

The nokken's hesitant question made Drae wince. "Quite a few. Save you and I, Rohan will be the only other male at the table," he said. He waved a hand towards Gerard and a crystal decanter and a shot glass appeared next to the young man. "You look like you could use it."

Talise gave Gerard an apologetic look before stuff really kicked off. She took a deep breath and looked at Adraejen. “Look Kid, control your wife. She is scaring not to meant scarring the both of us. In three hundred years, I’ve managed to avoid being ruined by that information and I don’t need it now.” She crossed her arms and stared at him. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Angela put her hand under her chin and tilted her head. “I’m just trying to have fun with all of this.”

Talise arched an eyebrow. “Keep having fun and I’ll invite Furtuna home.”

Angela’s face went ghost white for a moment. “The hell you will. That menace is not allowed anywhere near me when we’re not at my temple.” It was the first time that Angela had said anything bad about any of her children. She was visibly shaken.

There was a bright smile on Talise’s face, “Last I heard Furtuna was pillaging Iria’s outlands. It would be no trouble to have her bring the entire fleet over here.”

“Don’t you dare,” the house shook a bit as Angela showed a bit of anger.

“Sizzle down. The only one with a temper should be Aelwen and that’s because she has a problem admitting she’s a midget,” a white haired girl came into the room. She was tall and built like Angela. She was pointing at the woman who had pink hair and only an inch taller than Talise.

“Bitch, if you want this dinner not to have your head on the platter I suggest you take that back,” there was a growl from Aelwen as the white hair girl smirked.

“Mom, Aellie is calling me terrible names~”

“Nerezza, please don’t torment your sister. You know she punches holes when she gets upset. Aelwen please control the short fuse, act your age not your height.” Aelwen made a face and released an ugh as she sat down in a chair. Nerezza went on the other side of the table and smirked as Angela told them to behave.

Iva and Rohan came into the room in a brawl as Iva pulled at Rohan’s hair and Rohan had Iva’s braid. “Take that back,” Iva yelled as she smashed her brother’s face into the floor.

“IVA AND ROHAN, enough. I know young sibling syndrome is a thing but honestly… Iva you are a young lady come here and sit down by your father. Both of you on either side of him.” Angela sounded like a mother now as she made them behave.

Finally, two young blonde girls came in. They looked older than Nerezza and had dazzling blue eyes compared to the rest of them. “Good evening everyone,” they said it together as if in sync. They were identical twins from the look of them.

“Hello, Belle and Fern. I trust your jobs have been going well?” Angela looked happier with the two of them compared to the rest of them.

“It’s going well.” They both said as if on the same brain wave. They sat down next to each other and even helped each other set up the others place.

“See, we can all behave Gerard. By the way children, this is Gerard Talise’s friend. And for some of you, you’ve never met Talise. This is your older sister Talise.”

Things started heating up between the Mother and her daughter, then more of her daughters came in. There would only be three males present in this entire occasion. If Angela's daughters were anything like the goddess…this would be a long night. He paused in a long silence after Adraejen offered him a glass. When the cacophony of impending chaos started, he said quietly. "…I'll have that drink now." He didn't like alcohol very much as it made him feel awful and muddled. But today, he would make an exception. He poured from the decanter into the shot glass until it was filled to the brim and downed it in one go. It only made him feel dizzy, without lessening the anxiety. And now he felt worse. 

Maybe missing out on having a family wasn't such a bad thing anymore. When he was addressed he gave them all a wry smile. Here starts the trials and tribulations, he thought to himself. Gerard might be smiling stiffly on the outside, but he felt his soul die a little inside as the seats filled. He would have to be in close proximity with a bunch of strangers…temperamental strangers. Some of them thankfully seemed normal–for now. He wasn't drinking any more alcohol, or else he'd start having nightmares. His hands were beneath the table and were gripping the edge of his seat like he was hanging on for dear life. As long as he didn't have to talk to anyone, he should be able to survive the dinner. Emphasis on 'should'. 

This was worse than the Circles of Infernos, even after nearly dying several times. He was absolutely sure of it. Slowly he sucked air into his lungs and tried to not look so uncomfortable. His eyes were glassy and distant like that of a dead fish. 

Drae quirked an eyebrow sharply at Talise as she called him 'kid' and a vein throbbed in his forehead. "Call me "kid" again and we'll have problems," he said, his voice grating a tiny bit. "I may not be terribly old by human standards, but as a Fey, you are barely out of your teens," he pointed out to Talise sharply. "She was your mother long before she was my wife in any case. If you can't reason with her, why do you think I would be able to?" he asked as he took a sip from his wine glass which he had filled from the same decanter he had offered Gerard before it flew back to the young man and waited patiently by his shot glass to be used if and when he wanted it. 

The question made him quirk. "Now that you mention it…" he said looking thoughtful. He was interrupted by Angela and Talise returned the banter back in her direction. Drae's eyes narrowed. Furtuna… he was sure he had heard that name recently.

"Who's Furtuna?" A question that was quickly answered and Drae actually paled a little bit and looked directly at Angela. 
"I have a step-daughter who is actively pillaging MY CITY?" He flopped back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "Well, that will certainly win me their love and adoration won't it?"

Things suddenly became very noisy as the rest of the dinner party arrived. First Aelwen and Nerezza, both bickering as per usual, followed by the squabbling youngest besides the infants. Iva, a good six years older than her younger brother had his face smooshed into the tile floor as he yanked her hair wickedly. There was a muffled "NEFER!" from the boy on the floor before their mother barked at them to take their seats next to Drae. The Keeper pushed their chairs out for the children, and once they were seated, slid them both snuggly under the table where he shot them a look that suggested they had better quit the argument now. The last to enter were the twins and it was a reassuring thing to know at least THEY would not be contributing to the fights. Such well behaved girls they were. Drae eyed Gerard as he filled his shot glass and downed it in one go. The look on his face once the shot glass was empty suggested to Drae it would be a good idea to take it away, and with a wave of the Warlock's hand, the decanter vanished.