“Lila,” Lewis said with a stern look. “Put them down, please.”

Lila huffed. “Play.” She shook her head.

There was a grunt from Janus. “Bad Lila.” His sister pouted, but relented and let the two Simones down. That earned a smile from Janus. “Good Lila.”

“No fun,” Lila sighed. “More play.”

“You can play normally,” Lewis said with a smile. “But not like that. You know better, Lila.” There was a sheepish look from his daughter, followed by an innocent one as she portaled into the Guide’s arms.

“Guide Momma!” she squealed. “Play!”

Lewis smiled as the two Simoens went off and played with Lila, resulting in a surprisingly very tired Lila when it came for nap time. Lewis and Simone showed the Guide and younger Simone how they put them to sleep. Janus was always more than willing, but it was Lila, even now as she was tuckered out, that was the stubborn one. It didn’t take long for her to pass out, though.

The four of them slipped out of the room, and Lewis smiled. “It’s like this almost every day. I’m going to miss it when they get older…”

Simone chuckled a bit watching it all unfold. Janus was happy just being in his mother’s arms. It was pretty typical of him. He just watched and played with his sister when he felt like it. He was very much like Lewis in that regard.

Once the twins were asleep Simone held a solemn face. “I’ll miss it too. Though I think Janus will always be a momma’s boy.” She chuckled and smiled at Lewis.

“Now… Where do you two want to sleep?”

“With Lewlew,” they both replied.

Simone held a straight face. “Our bed is going to be so crowded.” Thank gods they had gotten a big enough bed for all of the kids to sleep with them in. At least the younger ones.

The younger Simone was looking around. She was almost in a daze as the original Simone elbowed Lewis and tilted her head towards the younger one. Go make up for stuff. She is probably confused. If anything she was good about herself. The guide had run off to play with Everett and Alshaya who were happy to see her.

Lewis came up to the younger Simone, who was still looking around dazed. It was cute, in a way, though he felt a little bad that he hadn’t been able to help before now. He came up behind her and gave her a comforting hug. “It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it? Have you ever seen the whole castle? The island?” He wondered how much Simone had told her.

It was weird. She had barely changed at all from his memory, yet he had grown so much. “Do you ever miss it? The tower, I mean? I wasn’t exactly the greatest person back then…but…it was small, and comfy there. I always felt like I had a place I could return to…somewhere to call my own.”

He smirked. “I have that tenfold here.” Lewis closed his eyes and squeezed the younger Simone, still hugging her tight. “Let me show you around…”

The younger Simone jumped at him, she was so much more skittish compared to the original. Her stormy eyes fell on him as if trying to read him. “I have fuzzy memories of after the fey lord was killed but…” She was concentrating hard. “Nothing concrete. Just from when you found me till then.” She put her arms around his.

“She hasn’t told me much but… The guide has. A bit.” She was blushing. “I’ve never seen it but the guide says it's pretty.” Thinking back to the tower she just held onto him tighter. “It was home though… My first home with you.” Her voice was timid as she thought about it. “I didn’t mind it.”

Nodding the younger Simone took his hand and she looked down at it. “How long has it been? Time isn’t exactly… there for me. It’s more like I’m sleeping. You look… different.” Looking at his ring she tilted her head. “We’re married now? With babies? It sounds like a lot of babies actually.” She had a lot to catch up on.

Lewis smiled. “It has been a long time,” he confirmed as he showed her the ring proper. “We have quite a lot of beautiful children.” It took him about thirty minutes to tell her an abridged version of what had transpired after they had killed the fae lord. Of course, he left out a lot of the dangerous details that involved Simone getting kidnapped, as well as the time that he was on the run. There was no need to worry the younger Simone over something that she had little control over.

Instead, he showed her around the house. He introduced her to Silva and Henry. Well, introduced was a strong word. Lewis more or less caught them in the act of holding hands and relaxing together.

“Oh?” Lewis asked with a half smirk. “Well…as long as it doesn’t interfere with work.”

Next, he introduced the younger Simone to his father, Roma, who was quite confused as to why there was a miniature Simone wandering around with Lewis, but he accepted it and offered her a hug.

Next, was Lucas, Ezili, and Everett, who were all huddled in the library.

“And this one here,” Lewis said as he pointed to Lucas. “Is a genius…”

Simone tilted her head at the story and was quiet for a few moments. “We’ve been on an adventure, haven’t we?”

Silva and Henry were cute, at least to her. Roma was interesting for her. She didn’t quite know what to make of him. As far as she had known Lewis didn’t have a father so this was all very new to her. She hugged him back and looked between the two for similarities.

The library wowed her and once her eyes landed on the three kids she tilted her head. “A genius?”

“Yes! Lucas is very smart!” Ezili hopped up and pranced over taking Simone’s hand. “I heard that we had guests!!! I didn’t know it was a younger mother.”

Everett got up and looked up at the young Simone. “I have never seen Mama like this before!” He hugged her and Simone was taken back for a moment before hugging him and patting his head.

She needed a moment and left as she went outside.

“Was it something we did?” Everett looked up at Ezili.

“No, I think she’s overwhelmed by everything… She looked stressed.”

Outside she was leaning against the railing looking out over the lake. She wasn’t used to any of this. She loved Lewis but also he was very different. She could barely see his cold self and he was being affectionate with her. It was different.

Lewis gave her a moment, and sighed as he turned to his children. “So much has changed for her. I don’t think she knows how to deal with it.” He knew Simone was strong, but this Simone was…different than her dominant personality. She was even different from the Guide.

After a few moments of letting her cool off, Lewis stepped outside, but kept his distance. “I’m sorry…I should have wanted them. It’s all too much, isn’t it?” He felt bad, and looked away. “I changed a lot. So…did Simone. I thought it would be fun, but…I think it turned out to be stressful instead. I wouldn’t be surprised if you barely even recognize me anymore.”

The little Simone stared at him once he came out. She leaned against the railing and thought about it. “A little. It’s a lot to take in. It’s not a bad thing though Lewis… It’s just different.” She hesitated and came up to him before putting her hand to his cheek making him look at her. “You did change yeah. The Lewis I remember wouldn’t be apologizing to me or be considerate.”

She batted her eyelashes at him and gave him a smile. “That isn’t a bad thing. It’s just different. I saw you like this once before but… To be fair both of us were… different. Lady Angela’s realm after we woke up. You were very caring.”

More hesitation before she pushed herself up and pecked his lips quickly, “I’m just getting used to it I guess. You don’t have to feel so bad.”

“Well, if there’s one thing I’ve grown accustomed to, it’s making sure that my Simone it taken care of,” Lewis replied. “If she’s not happy, then I need to figure out how to change that.” He ruffled her hair, and kissed her forehead. “We can meet the rest of the children if you like, but much slower. When you’re ready. Just let me know. There’s Rex and his wife, Hazel. He’s a bit of a wild one…but Hazel does him good. And there’s Fiori…she’s a lot like a younger me, but…nicer. Mira is probably around here somewhere, but be careful…she might flood things.” He paused, trying not to overwhelm the poor woman.

“Also, Alshaya and Glynn. Corrine and Jules are somewhere around here…probably in one of their rooms working on art projects. You would like them. They’re very mellow and down to earth, and love painting.”

Simone blushed a bit more thinking back to when she tried to knock it into his head herself. “That’s good, you learned a very good thing. Are you happy?” She looked up at him curiously. “You matter too.”

She nervously pushed her hair behind her ear and nodded, “I can meet them.” The energy from Rex about killed her, Fiori was a lot but cute, and Mira couldn’t get over how cute she was. Alshaya reminded her of a spoiled princess especially with how wrapped around her pinky Lewis was.

Then there was Glynn. She sat down and held the small boy in her hands, “He’s your youngest?” He was a lot smaller than the twins. “He looks like me… But he is adopted…” She rubbed her head like she used to do when she was struggling to remember things. “I know some things if I think hard enough.”

She took a breath and closed her eyes. “I’m a little tired from everything.” From pushing her, just like she always used to.

“How happy are we?” She finally spoke up and looked over at Lewis.