Allen led the Terrowin family through the streets and back to the Wandering Swan. very little had changed, and Lewis was once again welcomed by most of the staff. A few of the old guild boys wandered up and started chatting with Simone. One of the boys who had seen her at the cabaret club even shly handed her a rose before dashing back into the kitchen, turning a bright red aws his friends started to tease him.

“Of course,” Lewis said with a sigh. “Always the charmer.” He glanced at Simone with a half smile. “You’re lucky I’m not jealous.”

There was so much wrong with that one sentence, but none of the boys from the guild would really understand why it was so wrong. Instead of trying to figure out what it meant, though, they did nothing but dote on the family as a whole. It was rare for them to see Lewis, and even rarer still to see his children.

“Oh I know! I think I have a toy!” one of the boys said as they ran into the back. He came back with a plush banana and handed it over to Simone.

“Oh great…now we’ll have a kid obsessed with bananas too…”

Simone smiled up at her admirer and giggled. “You know that you are the only man in my heart,” Simone brought her hand over and put it to his cheek. “If you didn’t care about them you would have stabbed him.” She whispered. “Because we all know how jealous you actually get.” She teased Lewis.

Taking Teagan out of the wrap she was snuggled into her mother’s arms almost instantly. “Teagannnn, look what I have.” She waved the banana toy in front of Teagan and Teagan let out a yawn. “No? Not yet? She is still in her snuggling phase.”

“Let’s not rush her out of it,” Lewis nodded. “These two are already not as snuggly as they used to be.”

The boys were in the zone though as they were handed the banana. There were wild squeals from them as they tried to figure it out and taste it. They were both grabbing it and even showed it to Lewis. “You two are so silly.”

They ordered their food and Simone declined some wine, “I’m afraid I can’t if I’m going to feed them. The little gluttons eat so much.” Lewis made a face as he realized they would eventually get teeth.

“So how long have you two been together?” The boy was interested in them and Simone smiled.

“Since Lewis was seventeen. He found me when I had amnesia of sorts. He kept me with him until he knew what to do with me. Eventually, we got married and started to adopt children. We have four biological children but these two were the only ones who were conceived naturally. Lila and Janus… are a special case. Speaking of Lila…” She looked at Lewis. “I think we can unground her now… but she needs to stop thinking she can out sneak you.”

Remy and Damond were adorable as they tried to figure out what to do with the banana, but when Simone mentioned the possibility of ungrounding Lila, Lewis jumped and hit the table a little too loudly.

“Wait, you mean it!?” There was an actual hint of excitement in his voice, but the surprise caused Remy to drop the banana, and Damond started to cry as he ‘desperately’ tried to reach for the banana.

“Oh, oh no,” Lewis said as he leaned down underneath the table to grab the plushie. “I’m sorry you two. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Remy had started to sniffle, but when he was handed the banana perked right up. Damond wasn’t far behind, noticing that his brother had the toy again and started to reach for it with laughter once more filling the air.

“There, there,” he said, cooing over his baby boys.

“That’s…the happiest I’ve ever seen him,” Allen said, shocked. “I didn’t think it was possible for him to smile.”

The excitement Lewis had over his daughter being ungrounded was amusing. Teagan had managed to sleep through it but the twins were trying to figure out what the hell was going on. They were all upset until Lewis came to the rescue. “Daddy has you both don’t cry. He got your toy.” Mone smiled at them as they enjoyed the banana toy.

Simone smiled at Allen, “He always smiles for the kids but in this instance… Our only biological daughter decided to kidnap Xeik’s son at night and took off with him. So she’s been grounded and she’s exactly like both of us. Stubborn, prideful, and way too intelligent for her own good. We’ve had her in the time-out stool for a while now. You couldn’t take your eyes off her or else she would get off the stupid thing. Lewis hates the time-out stool,” Simone giggled a bit. “She looks like Lewis too when she is up to bad things. Her white hair when it was shorter looked just like his.”

Looking over at the twins she smirked, “Does Daddy want Teagan?” She passed the little girl off to Lewis and watched how gentle he was with her. “When I had to find Lewis a while back I had to use my locket to find him… and Xeik practically snatched it from me. It has Lewis, our son Everett, and myself in it. When we first started our family. Lewis never smiled for anyone but me but whenever Everett was around he would smile down. The artist managed to capture it. It was our first wedding anniversary present that Lewis got me. I remember it fondly.”

She chuckled a bit and looked at Allen, “Would you like to hold one of the boys? As long as you stay right here I don’t see why you can’t. I would say Teagan but we don’t like people holding them that we don’t know very well when they are that small… Plus she has a lot of health issues but we’re getting there. She is almost all better and gaining a lot of weight now.”

A Pregnant Simone

Simone had been confirmed pregnant for a full month. When the news had been told to the two of them, they were in shock. The plan had worked! The whole process that Simone and Dala suffered through was worth it in the end, and that brought immense happiness to the whole family! But, there was a catch.

Always a catch.

“Simone?” Lewis asked as he opened the door to their room. She was laid up in bed with her feet kicked up, and surrounded by lavish pillows. The loving husband was catering to her every whim at this point, but almost to an extreme. She had, offhandedly, mentioned that her feet were sore. And so she was exiled to the bedroom, on permanent bed rest until further notice.

“I brought you soup.” He came in with a bowl of steaming liquid. “And I demanded Xeik find the best foot massage in Canelux. Problem is, I realized I can’t trust any of them to come and do the job right. Plus, they might endanger you or the babies. Can’t have that. So you’ll have to make do with me or Silva.” Silva was, perhaps, the only one other than himself that he trusted to take care of Simone.

Well, other than Xeik, Angela, and maybe Leilah.

“How are we feeling now? Better?’

“I’m here,” Simone said lightly. She couldn’t complain about how she was being treated. She was a queen in this castle. A goddess in Lewis’s temple. And many other metaphors she was sure was escaping her right now.

The pillows were from Abed and Lewis had personally tested each and every one of them out until he had a nest for the pregnant mother. They were colorful in a way. They were their colors of course. Simone made a happy noise as she got the soup and began to eat it once she cooled it down. “Why don’t you take lessons?” Simone made the comment and then realized that he would probably run out and find a way.

“Of course… Your foot massages are already the best to me. You’ve been rubbing them since I told you they hurt,” Simone smiled a bit. He had been carrying her in for baths, dressing her, and doing her hair. She had on a soft nightgown which was comfortable for her growing belly. “Oh, I’ve been fine for a while now. As long as I move around a bit when my legs feel achy I am fine. Though I think they feel achy from laying still for so long…”

Lewis frowned. The fact that she was still complaining about aches wasn’t a good thing. “Maybe we need an exercise routine for you then. Something low impact that won’t hurt you or the baby, but keeps you active enough that it doesn’t hurt.” He furrowed his brow. “Xeik would be good at helping. I’ve already consulted his expertise three times today. I’m sure he won’t mind a fourth.” The fact that it was only early afternoon was telling.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” he said quickly. “Is the soup enough? Too hot? Col? I can get something else if it isn't to your liking.” It was almost cute how concerned he was for her. He moved to the end of the bed and started to massage her feet again.

“As long as you and the babies are okay…”

“Sex is exercise…” She was literally going to die if she didn’t get some soon and Lewis had been dancing around the act with her. She needed Xeik to rescue her on more than one front.

“No, I love the soup.” She gave him a smile as she ate it and watched as he massaged her feet. A moan left her lips and she blushed a bit. She needed some soon or else she would die from just touching him.

“Please? Get Xeik? I can’t take these leg pains anymore.” Even if it was just in her head, Lewis would listen to her. She needed Xeik here. She needed liberation. Xeik could hate her later. She was sure he knew how Mia was when she was pregnant with Myrri.

Without hesitating, Lewis stood up straight and nodded. “Right, go get Xeik. On it!” He rushed out the room, and within five minutes returned, practically dragging the poor healer by his collar.

“I told you I was coming, Lewis!” Xeik exclaimed, stumbling as he tried to straighten up. “You didn’t need to be so forceful.”

“You weren’t moving fast enough,” Lewis responded flatly. “She said her legs are hurting. Fix it.” Though, the impatient father had a feeling that most of it was mental. He could feel that she wasn’t in any real pain, but that wasn’t something he was going to chance. Maybe it was in her head, or maybe the resonance wasn’t working.

Xeik looked her over for a moment, and then to Lewis. “Ok…step outside for a moment. Simone…cut the resonance for a few minutes.” Lewis looked like he was going to protest, but Xeik shook his head. “You can live for five minutes. I promise.”

Begrudgingly, Lewis left the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Okay…what’s really wrong, Simone,” Xeik said, turning his attention to Simone..

Simone straightened out and sat up straight off of the expensive imported pillows. “I’ll cut the shit,” she was suddenly serious. “I’ve been stuck in bed for a month. At first, this was really cute. The imported pillows could buy at least eighty houses in Adeluna,” Simone did an okay symbol. “He babies me. He looks after me. He gives me everything I want. However, I’m not allowed out of bed…. And also perhaps the worst of it all.”

A grim look appears on her face, “Xeik, he won’t have sex with me. We haven't had any sort of sex in weeks and he won't even let me touch him. DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT.”