Lewis looked over to Camille, “Yes, my darling daughter?” He had an inkling that she was using a loophole to come visit him without adult supervision, one that he would have to work with Simone to close at a later date. He had a feeling it was one of those ‘pick your battles’ days.

“Oh hi, Camille,” Xeik said as he looked over. “Is something wrong? Where is your mother? I thought you weren’t supposed to wander without an adult?”

“First off Uncle Xeik how old are you?” Camille put her hands on her hips and looked at him. Lewis knew not to have this battle but her Uncle didn’t.

“Old enough to be telling you what to do Missy,” Xeik shot back at her.

“Then you are an adult. Therefore, I didn’t need an adult to come to the pier because you and Daddy were already here,” Camille took her stance seriously with Simone’s head tilted and all.

Once all the attitude was out of the way she waved her hand at her uncle, “Now that we’re past the silly obligatory questions Uncle Xeik. I demand to know where do babies come from? Because Lila and Janjan told me that babies magically appear and that doesn't sound right. Cantrell didn't magically appear Mommy obviously ate him until he was big enough to come back out."

Lewis had taken a sip of water when Camille asked the question, causing him to choke and almost fall into the water. It took him a moment to regain his composure, and he cleared his throat, pounding his chest.

“Well you see, this isn’t the kind of discussion we can have without your mother present,” Lewis replied quickly. “I would much rather we wait to have this discussion…”

“I have a feeling that’s not an option,” Xeik hissed under his breath. “Well you see, Janus and Lila are correct. They actually were born from magic.” He frowned. “This…actually might really complicate those talks…”

“Should I just leave it to you then?” Lewis asked. “Fantastic, thanks!” He rolled off the pier and into the water, using a quick portal to teleport away.

“…why…why do I even bother hanging out with you anymore?” Xeik asked.

Simone stared at Lewis as she fed Cantrell, “Lewis… You realize that we have a problem right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Lewis, we have a teenage boy who thinks babies magically appear and he’s sexually active,” Simone commented.

“Oh… Shit…”

–

Camille proceeded to have five hundred questions about where babies actually came from.

Once she was one hundred percent sure she understood where babies came from she proceeded back to the house holding Xeik’s hand. Going past Rex she stopped and looked up at him. “Nasty.”

Lucas and Ezili had their son playing with some of the other young children and Camille stopped and looked up at them, “Disgusting.”

Finally, she got back to her parents, “You two are gross you know that? Babies are gross. Cantrell is a giant germ.” She still had hold of Xeik’s hand. “I have words for Janjan and Lila they lied to me. They set me up.”

“No, sweetheart… They didn’t set you up. Mommy thinks they actually believe that’s where babies come from…”

“THEY ARE DELUSIONAL!” Camille got a look on her face, “How many times have you made the baby?!”

Simone shot a look at Xeik before looking at Lewis.

“DON’T YOU DARE COLLABORATE STORIES! I KNOW YOU TWO CAN TALK WITHOUT TALKING! OUT WITH IT! HOW MUCH BABY MAKING HAVE YOU DONE?!”

“That’s not important right now,” Lewis said as he held up his hands. “I would much rather deal with the issue of Janus and Lila right now…” He pointed at Camille. “Why don’t you go show Uncle Xeik your new instrument?”

Xeik smiled, “Oh? She’s learning to play?”

Camille lit up, “Ohhhhh. Uncle Xeik! I can’t WAIT to show you my violin!”

Simone gave Lewis a look, “That’s…almost mean…”

“Almost,” Lewis agreed. “Now…for the Janus and Lila problem…”

—

“So…why are we here?” Janus asked. He was sitting next to his sister, and across from Lewis and Simone in the study. Tea was at the ready, and for some reason it was chamomile. Was this meant to be stressful? “We already know about how babies are made. Trust me…I’ve been careful.”

Lila made a gagging noise, but Janus ignored it. “I’ve done really well with not mixing magic…”

Lewis took a deep breath, “Ok…well…I have some…bad news, then…”

“What do you mean?” Lila took a look at her father with curious eyes. “What could be worse than Janus getting Janus offsprings from his magic?”

“My beautiful loves… It’s true that you two are magic babies and that you were miracles for us but that’s not how babies are made… You two were very rare almost entirely the only two Angela’s ever seen.”

“Well, Mom if babies aren’t made from magic what the hell are they made from,” Lila crossed her arms now in a familiar way to her mother.

“We had to figure out the best way to tell you…” Simone got up and brought over a few textbooks putting them in front of Janus and Lila. “Read.”

They were silent for more than ten minutes as they read together. Lila’s face kept making weird facial expressions as she kept looking over at Janus. Suddenly in the quietest voice she could muster she spoke, “Janus… You probably have so many babies out there…”

Janus stared at Lila, and shook his head. “No…I…oh gods…what…” He looked pale, as if he had seen a ghost. “What…what the hell am I going to do…” The poor boy looked to Simone and then to Lewis. “What am I going to doooo!?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much,” Lewis replied honestly. “The school has probably taken that into consideration. They likely have tonics that they mix with your foods.”

“Oh…” Janus seemed to calm down a lot after that. “Stil…that means…” He looked at his parents. “Ew…ewww…”

“Oh please…”

Simone crossed her arms and stared at her teenagers. “Like your father says. Oh. Please. So you get to do whatever you want but we can’t?”

Lila was making a gagging noise. “I’m not listening to this. Unlike this man whore right here I’m still a virgin. Myrri and I haven’t decided to advance that part of our relationship yet.”

“THIS MEANS YOU WERE JUST GOING AT IT LIKE RABBITS,” Lila slammed her hands on the table. “When you were our age you were just doing it and not using protection.”

“Duh…” Simone crossed her arms. “Why do you think we are so adamant you guys don’t be like us? If I could have gotten pregnant back then I certainly would have.”

“THAT IS SO GROSS!” Lila gagged again.

Camille busted into the room. “YOU ARE ALL GROUNDED! I just found out how babies are made and you are all GROSS!” She pointed at Lila. “Gross.” She pointed at Janus. “GROSS.” She pointed at her parents. “REALLY GROSS!”

[The Pumpkin Carving]

It had been a strangely long shopping trip for Lewis and Simone, and the kids were starting to wonder what was taking so long. They all gathered in the main hall when they noticed that the Terrowin parents hadn’t arrived like normal, corralled by Silva and Henry.

“Now, now children, settle down. They’re about to arrive,” Silva said. No one was quite sure how she knew.

The door opened, and Lewis and Simone came in with several bags in their hands. Behind them, the children could see a variety of different sized bags by the front door.

“Is that…a pumpkin?” Damond asked, pointing at one of the bags in their hands.

Simone helped Lewis bring all the pumpkins in. “We’re going to be carving pumpkins for All Hallows’ Eve. We thought it would be something fun we could all do.”

“ME ME ME ME ME!” Camille put up her hand.

“Yes, Camille?”

“WHAT IS PUMPKIN CARVING?!”

“Well, your father is going to show you guys how to do it,” Simone got a paintbrush out and drew a face on the pumpkin to show the kids. They ooh’d and ahh’d as they waited for the next step. Lewis went to work with one of his daggers.

They pulled Camille up after the top came out. “That looks gross,” Camille giggled as she looked inside of it.

“If we pull out the pumpkin seeds Silva can bake them for us,” Simone said. “It would be a good and healthy snack I think you all would enjoy. Go ahead Camille take out the insides with your hands.” She helped Camille roll up her sleeves so she could get dirty.

“THIS FEELS SO GROSS!” Camille was squealing happily as she scooped out the insides with her hands.

“You can use a spoon too but they said it was easier with your hands at first,” Simone educated as they did it.