What didn’t dawn onto Nemesis until just now that if they were together, then the number of people he has to watch over would vastly grow due to the number of children she had. He suspected that those that were old enough wouldn’t have to be worried over- it was more so for the youngest ones she was still raising. For being one that had a long list of possible murders, children were just about the only ones off it. Things only got more complicated with this whole Sergei/Cinder situation, but he would worry about that another time. The last thing he neede to stress about was his son’s little crush. At the very least, he would have to at least meet the girl and see for himself if they were compatible or not. Oddly enough, it wasn’t very different from what he and Angela were doing now.

Closing his eyes, Nemesis shook his head but only because he knew that she wouldn’t approve of it. “I know. As much as many wish to bury painful parts of their past, it helps to shape the person. A life without suffering is one that knows not of the full experience of life.” As much as he wished that he hadn’t gone through many terrible things over the course of his life, there were no regrets. Not when they all led him to this point.

“Celeste is a strong woman, but even she has her limits. She fought amongst herself as to whether to take the potion or not in the first place. Her heart was scarred with our failed attempts and declared herself a failure to the bloodline. It wasn’t until you came along that she wasn’t ready to try again and I would have paid any price if it meant I could take that particular pain away from her.

“…Thank you.”

Her sister only served to prove his point, which again his thoughts went back to Sergei and the fine mess they were about to go into with that Cinder, but again he reserved judgment until later. “I take it that Wisteria is your youngest child then?” It would be a tad weird to see a small child that wasn’t his, but he wouldn’t turn her away, that much was certain. “I’ll give her lessons. No blood paint, I promise.”

Words and their meaning soon gave away the moment they were dancing. He had many years to practice, and it paid off, according to her. Nemesis slowed their pace as the music lightened up, bring them into a closer embrace. As much as he was annoyed by knowing that Celeste was correct (and he showed it by a low, soft growl), there was at least some understanding and compromise now between the two of them. “I don’t think to call you a redhead devil helped matters much either.” He reciprocated the kiss in stride and continued to glide them around the floor.

His thoughts went to the children that he hadn’t spoken to in years, the unborn girl that he had just learned of days ago and the child that Angela wanted him to meet. Celeste would have probably been ecstatic about it and who knew what Sergei would think of hearing all of this. “That is fine. I was never one for going slow either. Perhaps it time that I learn a new trick then”, he jested before placing his head against the side of her temple.

“You’re welcome. I would do it again to see that smile you had when you held Sergei for the first time. It was just like when we had the twins. You were so damn proud and happy.”

Angela nodded and smiled at him. “Wisteria is the child who was pulled from my belly when Dalanesca went crazy. You might have seen her a little bit before the Voice whisked her away to Sercei.” Angela was happy that Nemesis was willing to teach her daughter. “I think she and I would both like that. You would be more of an expert than I would be.”

They danced for a long time before they returned for dessert. It was a good and fun-filled night once they returned to his manor and had a sit with Celeste. Angela and Celeste mostly gossiped about cute baby things they could do for Emry when she was born. It looked like for all intents and purposes that Angela was staying in the Volkov family. Still, the Goddess proceeded to take it slow for two months.

There were countless dates and just days where they sat together and talked at the fireplace. Everything was going well and Angela felt more like herself in no time. Coming into the manor she had a bundled up toddler in her arms. “Nemesis,” she greeted the vaewolf with a kiss and smiled at Celeste. “There’s someone I want both of you to meet.”

Once they were in the warmth Angela down dressed Wisteria. The girl had wild red curls and the same eyes that Angela did. She looked like Angela’s little copy. “Ma ma ma ma,” Wisteria babbled before making some kind of noise with her lips as she blew.

“I’m right here my sweet one.” Angela smiled up at Nemesis. “Nemesis this is Wisteria… Wisteria can you say hi to Nemesis?” Wis looked up at him and gave him a toothy smile before waving at him. “Can you say hi to Nemesis?”

“Nemmy?” Wis looked at her mother and Angela chuckled a bit.

“If he will let you call him that… You can call him that.”

Wisteria looked up at him with those big eyes and let out a squeal before she totted over to him and hugged his leg. “Hi Nemmy.”

He couldn't lie and said that he wasn't proud of his children. They were to find their own place in this world, for better or for worse. In Sergei's case, he knew that the rule of the family would one day fall onto his shoulders and accepted it. For Lucian, his was a similar fate when it came to Angela's and little Nerezza had grown into a powerful psionic. His heart was for them all, whether he would want to admit it freely or not. 

"I see. I recall it occurring briefly in the panic." He had a feeling that she was the latest child, which had been a good while since the fall of Dalanesca at the hands of an enemy they were ill-prepared to deal with. "If you ask Aaryona, you might not find what I'm the nicest teacher", he chuckled. "But I won't work the little girl to the bone as I do her." He was strict, but his teaching was effective and bore fruit in the Draconis leader as the months went by. She would have little problem thriving amongst the Kurayo's elite at this point.   

The evening continued to go well for them and then they spent the last few hours at his home. Had someone told him that he would be courting Angela at all, he would have thought of them being mad. Now? It was strange yet at the same time, he was pleasantly happy about it. Time flew past them as he continued to see her and when not with Angela, he was spending time with Celeste (provided she wasn't busy with her experiments she partook in with her free time now). Reaver had thought of them being moonstruck when he learned about the arrangement but quickly accepted it since it would bring his brother to at some point see his lost children. Ivan, on the other hand, was confused and thought that the 'pretty redhead lady' was hiding something. 

And sure enough, after the two months and Angela arrived with a little one, the spitting image of her as he gazed. "It is fine", he answered her before the little child took to his leg, repeating her name for him. His hand descended and fell softly onto her head. "Hello Wisteria. Aren't you cute." He walked over to Celeste with the girl still on him so that she could get a closer look as well, careful not to harm her.  

he peeked around from the corner of the room and saw Wisteria. "Oh no! She shrunk, Papa Volkov!", he screamed before he rushed over and raised her up by underneath her arms. "The pretty redhead lady's tiny now! Even more than Mama!"

"Ivan", Nemesis called, his annoyance starting to fester as he continued to fuss over the mini Angela. 

"Ivan! That isn't Angela! That is her daughter."

"Oooooooh, well, you are still tiny!", Ivan spoke bluntly to Wisteria. He then noticed Angela. "Hey, there you are! You got a little imposter running around here, don't ya know?"

Nemesis wished he could kill this fool, but his wife wouldn't let him. For all his foolishness, Ivan was an effective killer and he personally liked his mate more than him. He snatched her back away from Ivan and scooped her back down onto the floor. 

Angela watched and the more one looked at her the more it looked like she was the mother wolf. She was near and focused. Her green eyes were ever attentive to what the child was doing. If she would need rescue there was no doubt the redhead would make it possibly injuring herself to do so. “Yeah,” Wisteria yelled up at Nemesis when he called her cute even giggling at him.

The redhead goddess was laughing a bit. “Child, there is a thing called modesty… You should learn it.”

Wisteria put her hand to her chest and looked at her mother. “Cute.”

Angela rolled her eyes lightly and finally laughed a little more. “Yes, yes… We all know how much people adore you.” Celeste smiled down at her and squatted a little to be on the girl’s level.

“You are very adorable little Wisteria. The spitting image of your mother.” Celeste reached out and fixed a few wild red curls on the girl. “You seem rather smart too. My name is Celeste.” Wisteria gave her big nods and continued her cling to Nemesis.

“Cel.” Wisteria proudly yelled out at her which made Celeste smile.

The screaming frightened Wisteria and her eyes were wide and alert as she began to mildly fuss at Ivan. Now he had her up in the air and Wisteria was letting out a wail. “DOWN, DOWN, DOWN,” the little girl screamed before she began to violently hit Ivan where she could. She even went so far as to lean and bite him with her little fangs and teeth.

“WIS,” Angela was fast with her walking as she took Wisteria into her arms and calmed her down. “Did he scare you?” There was a glare from Angela to Ivan that was colder than the lands of Itjivut. A pacifier conjured in her hand and it appeared to have fruit inside of it as Angela offered it up to the child. Wisteria was quick to latch on and she clung to her mother while staring just as coldly towards Ivan.

Celeste frowned a bit at her beta and smacked him upside the head. “Don’t scare the baby like that Ivan.”

Wisteria was furiously sucking before she spat it out and yelled, “BAD.” Angela intercepted the pacifier and sighed a bit.

“Less fighty, more bitey,” Angela stuck the pacifier back into the girl’s mouth. Wisteria looked distraught that she couldn’t yell anymore but settled for laying her head against her mother’s chest.

For weeks, he's seen this strange woman popping in and out of the manor, and being especially clingy to Nemesis. When he went to explain this to his alpha, Celeste informed him that not only did she know of this, but she was the one that orchestrated it. Why in Sam's hill would she propose such a thing? Ivan couldn't comprehend it well that Nemesis wanted two lovers again so he decided to make sure that the woman was trustworthy himself. The Lord would be too distracted by her feminine wiles, he feared. Whenever they were in the house, he would gracefully disguise himself and observe them (in other words, he would be in plain sight and they noticed him while he pretended to be a damn table, plant pot, or some other inanimate object until Nemesis screamed at him). 

But this, having her bring home this tiny doppelganger, it was too much for him to bear. Their family was in danger from this ultimate evil! While his beloved parents were allured by the dangerous one, he took things into his own hands, literally. But what he didn't expect was for her to be so fired up and she cruelly started wailing and attacking the gallant hero. "Stop! Stop it!" He tried to steer her attacks away, but to no prevail. "Ayla! Save me! I'm being attacked by the tiny pretty redhead lady!" 

He was eventually rescued and yet he was made out to be the bad guy. "Scare her? She scared me! She's the devil!" Angela didn't take well to his antics and he overlooked his injuries, the real victim of this situation, not that devil of hers. But whatever mind tricks that girl had played also got to Celeste as she punished him. "Mama, I didn't do anything wrong. It's that girl. Something is evil deep within her, I swear I see it!" But nothing prepared him for the sinister word Wisteria had for him, and it was like a dagger plunged into his heart. "I am Ivan, not bad." 

"Ivan, go away", Nemesis said, soft enough not to spook the poor girl any further. 

Ivan, of course, didn't leave but instead pouted and threw himself against a wall with arms crossed. He knew he was needed in these parts, especially since the enemy had infiltrated the house now. 

"Don't mind the fool, he's harmless mostly." Nemesis moved closer to Angela and Wisteria and caressed the side of the latter's face. "It's okay. The bad man won't hurt you, sweet babe."

Angela had been… curious about this Ivan since she had spotted him. Nemesis had always had weird ones in his family but she had been told that this time Ivan was Celeste’s. What good was he? He didn’t seem too great at hiding. They had even been snuggling up on the couch and Ivan had tried to be a coffee table near them so he could watch her. Her only response had been to put her feet up on him before Nemesis made the man leave.

Ayla wasn’t far from him as she rested against the wall and watched her husband being an idiot. “She’s just a baby Ivan…”

Wisteria was making noises towards Ivan but thanks to the pacifier in her mouth no one could hear it. The girl just snuggled more into her mother and looked up at Nemesis when he came over. Wis put her head more into his hand and found she quite liked how it felt when he pet her face.

“Oh, you will spoil her doing that,” Angela chuckled a bit as she watched Wisteria lull her eyes. “Or put her to sleep apparently. She’s been having one hell of a day so far.” Ang was careful not to say her swear too loud as she chuckled towards the girl. “We had a cat visit the temple and we took a tumble down the stairs. Mommy had to dive and do a tuck and roll to save the baby. Didn’t I?” Wis looked up at her mom and grunted. Ang moved her arm slightly to show a little bruising. “Hurt quite a bit since the stairs to the temple are long.” The goddess chuckled. “But she is safe and sound with no harm done to her.”

Ang finally greeted Nemesis with a kiss now that he was close enough and Wis was quirking an eyebrow. There was a disgruntled noise but Angela just lifted Wisteria up more and kissed her cheek. “Feeling left out are we?”

“Yeah,” Wisteria answered as Angela caught the pacifier once more. She kissed her mother and looked up to the new strange man she had been clinging to before.

“What do you think Wis? Nemesis is going to be around us a lot more… Is that okay?” Angela’s voice was soft as she smiled up at the Fear God.

“Love Wis too,” Wisteria giggled up at him and Angela chuckled.

“Yeah, Celeste and he will love you just as much as I do.” Angela seemed happy at the little one who had so much love to give. “And Sergei too.” She kissed the top of Wisteria’s head.

“Gigi?” Wisteria looked up at her with a questioned look.

“Yes, Sergei. You’ll meet him later.” Angela nodded and for now, Wisteria’s curiosity was answered.

“Okay,” Wisteria answered fondly as she pet Nemesis’s face like he had done her’s.

“If he wasn’t such a great hunter and killer, then he wouldn’t be here”, he sighed, “Celeste saw the potential in him when I simply wanted to make him my next meal.” Perhaps now she could understand fully why he didn’t like him most of the time. His lover, on the other hand, was always welcomed and she swiftly scolded him for his idiocy. Ivan pouted more and leaned into his wife’s shoulder. “An evil baby…”, he was careful to whisper to her.

It didn’t take much from Nemesis to figure that the girl disliked the annoying Ivan. “I know. He’s a pain in my side too.” She quelled whatever noises she was making when he rubbed at her face. “I call it a victory either way”, he jested as his finger went to rub beneath the babe’s chin. Such a tiny fragile thing; he hadn’t had to deal with one since Sergei was coming up. In comparison, he had been a quiet baby but he did tend to wander, which had both parents on edge at times. His crimson eyes looked to the bruise and frowned. “I blame the architect then.” But as she said, at least the baby was safe and she herself only had a little bit of injury.


He took the kiss in stride and after she and Wisteria exchanged them as well, she asked her if his presence was okay. Her answer didn’t surprise him much, not after she clung to him minutes after being introduced to him. “Yes”, he responded simply to the girl, which probably pleased her greatly as much as it would her mother. “Yes, we will.” One could only imagine Celeste wanting to as well, as adorable as she was.

He let her grab hold of his face and rub it before he kissed her palm tenderly. “Speaking of which, when do we want to do that? It won’t be long until he comes home for a break from school.” Sergei had no idea of what had been going on in the Volkov house in recent times. He worried if all of this would be too much for the young man to handle, but he at least of Angela as the one that made his birth possible and had respect for her. Now he would eventually have to meet these two as well as his siblings who were likely as clueless. At least he thought so.

“Will Wisteria be okay here? The weather won’t bother her too much?” He quickly led the party into the foyer where the fireplace was and the place was warmer to fend off any chills that might have slipped through the entranceway.

Angela made a face and laughed. “What a jab. I didn’t put stairs inside my temple for a reason. Wis had merely shown some skill… Didn’t you Wis?”

Wis looked up at her and tilted her head. “Wis is good.”

“She learned how to climb out of her crib and managed to follow me. I haven’t left the doors open since then and made it a point to tell the clergy to be on their guards. She’s a curious little thing and ever since she started to walk… Well like most babies she gets into everything. Don’t we?” Wisteria nodded and Angela smiled. At least the little one was honest with herself.

The redhead was happy with Nemesis’s words and Wisteria seemed pleased too. Celeste wasn’t too far from the trio and she was observing how Nemesis and Angela interacted. It was a lovely sight to her and she was proud of her hard work.

Wisteria squealed at the kiss to her palm and watched him with her big green eyes. “Probably once he gets back. We’ll get everyone together. It won’t be too long before Emry is born now and I would rather we get everything out of the way as soon as possible. I don’t want to stress Nerezza. She does that enough to herself.” Ang chuckled a bit. “Lucian has just been feeding her as a way to keep her content.”

Looking at her toddler Angela nodded a bit. “If she gets cold we can wrap her up. Trying to wrap her up now will more than likely make her very upset. She doesn’t like her movement being restrictive unless its what she wants.”

They all sat together on a comfy little couch. Celeste was on Nemesis’s one side and Angela was on the other with Wisteria. Wisteria’s eyes were on Celeste as she leaned over. “Do you want to see Celeste?” Wisteria looked up at her mother silently before she was on the move. Carefully she let herself down off her mother’s lap and Angela was there to guide her if need be. Though from the stubborn grunt once she saw her mother’s hands she was having none of it. “I didn’t even touch you.”

Green eyes met and before long Wisteria shrugged her mother off and totted over to Celeste. She stood at her knees and put her hands on Celeste’s lap. “Hello, Wisteria. What do you think you are doing?”

“Hi,” she wasn’t getting up on Celeste but more so stretching her legs. Though the little one lost her balance when she leaned back and fell on her butt. She let out a grunt as it happened and looked up at all three of them. “Oops.”

“Yeah, oops… please be careful not to hurt yourself.” Angela pointed at the fireplace. “Hot. No touch.”

Wisteria looked at the fire and got up again as she totted near it. “No touch?”

“Ouchies.” Angela replied coolly as she didn’t move from her seat despite how far Wisteria had gotten near the fire.

“Bad?” Wisteria looked back at her mother.

“Absolutely.”

“Okay,” Wisteria moved away from the fireplace to look at other things in the room and Angela let out a sigh.

“Stubborn,” there was a chuckle from her lips. “That’s all me right there.” She looked up at Nemesis and smiled. “When does Sergei get home? I can arrange for the twins to come here so we can all discuss it. It shouldn’t be that hard to get them to come if I tell them they can see Aaryona. They have always loved their older sister.”

“Aary?” The ever-curious voice called out as Wisteria was touching a bookshelf and looking at the spines.

“Yes, Aary. Be careful Wisteria.” There was a grunt from her daughter as the little one moved on to the next thing in the room that caught her attention. “She’s going to touch everything… just so you know.”

"Walking trouble, eh? Remember, she hasn't learned to run yet", Nemesis chuckled deeply as he watched the child's curiosity grow more about her surroundings. Heaven help them once she got older and could get into more things. He could see the trouble she could get into around these parts and would have to make sure that the place was Wisteria proof. After all, she would be spending a lot of time here from the look of things, not that the God would have minded it. Being with Angela meant getting to know everything in her life, which included Wisteria and the other children that weren't his. In comparison, Nemesis' life was an open book to the Mother. 

He smiled at the girl as she was entertained by his antics before nodding. "Of course. He should be heading back today. I have Maalik out by the harbors waiting for him, and he will signal me when he's on his way to the house." There was no telling how the twins were going to react to any of the news that their parents had for them. He could only wish that they would hear them out with an open mind. Having the two sides of the same man as separate fathers were going to drop some jaws in the very least. Then they would have to learn about the brother they never knew about and that he and their mother had made an arrangement. His thoughts went back to his daughter, who must have been as big as a house at this point. That and still tormenting her younger brother. "I suppose that's one way of dealing with her. Hope for his sake that her appetite decreases then."

They took the conversation into a much warmer room and soon the toddler was at it again, but this time she stumbled over to Celeste, refusing help from her mother in the most stubborn of ways. She took hold onto his wife and after an engaging conversation, she outdid herself by making sure that the fireplace was not for her before exploring onward. "Don't be surprised if she wants to climb trees in a few years. Then mountains will soon follow by god knows what else", he spoke before he received the awaited message from his avatar. "They are on their way. I had my avatar pick him up from the ship. Shouldn't be too much longer now." He decided to move over towards Wisteria and tap her on the back to get her attention and hunched over to get closer to her level. "You good, Wis?" Afterward, he played around, following her and explained what it was that would capture her attention. The bit went on until he heard the door open and Sergei entered the foyer along with a tall, jet black-haired young man. "Hello, father."

Sergei bowed before moving to his mother and kissed her cheek. "Mother." His crimson eyes then look to Angela. "Ah, Lady Angela. How have you been, madam?" He bowed to her and noticed the little redhead that looked a lot like her. "Is she yours? ma'am?" He moved towards her and waved. "Hi, I'm Sergei." 

"Sergei, this is Wisteria. Wisteria, this is Sergei", Nemesis proclaimed, though he already knew what she was going to call his son and chuckled softly. 

"Come and sit, we are waiting for a few more guests. We…have something to tell you, son."

While he was seeking to rest up from his long boat trip, the young lord did as he was told and took a seat on one of the unoccupied couches, wondering what was so dire that they would have to speak with him for. "Mother, is everything alright?", he asked, his voice filled with concern. If Angela was here, that must have meant something was seriously wrong. Even he knew about his father's disdain for her, despite everything she had done for the Volkov. He wouldn't have her here unless it was a last resort. "Who else are we waiting for?"

"You will see, Sergei", his father promised him before nodding to Angela. 


              

“Don’t wish that on me too soon,” Angela chuckled a bit in response as she watched Wisteria contently.

The goddess made a face towards Nemesis and smiled. “Hopefully, she will learn her limits so she doesn’t get hurt.” She knew it would pain her heart to see Wisteria get hurt by anything even if it was small. Though it was things like that that would help her grow as an individual. “Oh, that’s wonderful. I’ll have Anemone round up the twins and bring them here.”

Gentle green eyes watched as Nemesis went to Wisteria and got on her level. “Yeah,” Wisteria looked up at him with the same green eyes before looking back at the various things in the room. “What this?” She would ask this a dozen times so he could tell her and she generally liked the attention Nemesis was giving to her. It warmed Ang’s heart to see Nemesis in that light again and it almost felt like when the twins were younger.

“Hello my love,” Celeste smiled as she kissed Sergei back.

“I’ve been good lately and its so nice to see such a young man with manners like yours,” Angela chuckled before looking over at Wisteria, “Yes, she’s my youngest.”

Wisteria looked up at Sergei as he came to her and she tilted her head at first. The conversation from before played over in her mind. “GIGI!” Wisteria cried it out in excitement as everything clicked together. Still she didn’t move towards Sergei just yet. She had tilted her head and a word started to form on her lips. “Lu–”

“No no.” Angela hurriedly spoke as she chuckled. “It’s Sergei.” It would be obvious who the girl saw in Sergei as Angela sighed a bit.

Once Sergei had sat down Celeste nodded and smiled. “Everything is fine Dear. I promise you if anything had seriously happened we would have told you.”

Anemone had gotten the twins and made sure Nerezza was comfortable. “I promise you that Angela has something very important to talk to you both about.” She was a small woman, nymph in blood. She had floor-length brown hair and purple eyes. “This way.” The doors to the room that Angela was in opened up and the magic gate formed. “I’m so sorry it took so long! Lady Myrra decided to steal from the chef again.” Anemone bowed to Angela and Angela waved it off.

“She’s troublesome like her father. Fear not, you are actually just on time.”

Nerezza was first through the doors, she had her hands on her large belly. Her gold eyes were large as they settled on Nemesis. “Mother…”

“Easy Rezza, I’ll explain in a minute. Please, Lucian and Rezza sit down on the couch.” Angela noted that Kaiser wasn’t that far behind Nerezza most likely worried about how pregnant she was. “You too Kaiser. This is important.”

Angela pushed herself up off the couch after Anemone left closing the doors. “I’ve been a bit dishonest to you both. Though I suspect that really only one of you didn’t know.” Her eyes went to Nerezza who suddenly couldn’t look her mother in her eyes. “This is for you too Sergei.” It was hard but Angela found herself clearing her throat. “I became aware of Nemesis still existing years ago. At first, like you Lucian I believed that Raeguel was all that was left but I encountered Nemesis in Adeluna when I was healing his wife Celeste. I have my suspicions though that Nerezza has known about him this whole time.”

Nerezza’s gaze finally met her mother’s as she let her fingers drum against her pregnant belly. “Yeah, I’ve known. I felt the connection split into two and the one disappeared but I still felt it faintly. I had an inkling that Father split into two people.”

Angela looked at Sergei and Lucian who would be the most shocked of the trio. “Lucian, Sergei, and Nerezza… All of you share something in common with each other. Your father is Nemesis Volkov formerly named Nemesis Shira. So… I would like to formerly introduce all of you… Sergei these are Nemesis and mine's twins Nerezza and Lucian. Nerezza is older than Lucian by a few minute–"

"Six minutes. I'm older by six minutes." Nerezza pouted.

"Forgive me… Six whole minutes." Angela sighed a bit. "Sergei is the son of Nemesis and his wife Celeste." Angela motioned to Celeste who nodded to the group.