by Amber Lynn
We arrived in the kitchen. It was the area of the house I was focusing on because I wanted to check on the food. If I was going to have hundreds of people eating there soon, I wanted to make sure the food was great.
The second we popped in, Joseph ran over to Miranda and swept her off her feet into a big kiss. He put her down, and then walked over to the corner of the kitchen where there was a little bassinet and picked something up.
“He's perfect,” he said, bringing the baby over to us. “I’d like to introduce you guys to my little boy Adam. I’m sorry that I won’t immediately be handing him over to anyone, since this is the first time I’ve seen him myself. I have to memorize every inch.”
He continued to stare at the little bundle and Miranda walked over to join us. I tried to get a look at the baby, but I was mostly stuck viewing a blue blanket.
“He looks just like his daddy,” Miranda explained as she rearranged the blanket, so the rest of us could get a better look. Sure enough, baby Adam, who couldn’t be more than a week or so old, had dark hair and brown eyes just like his daddy. For the most part, his face was cute and round, but I could see his cheekbones were going to look like his father's as well.
“He’s adorable. I guess I knew you were pregnant along with everyone else I know, but I wasn’t expecting all these babies so soon.” I said.
“Yeah, well sleeping for two months made you miss all the fun parts. Just last week I was as big as a house and cursing Joseph for being born,” Miranda said. “Adam was born just two days ago. With everything going on in Chicago, Joseph didn't want to leave you, which is why he hasn’t seen his baby and is currently hogging him.”
“Joseph, if you weren't holding that baby right now I’d smack you silly. There’s nothing in the world that should’ve kept you away from your mate and child,” I told him, and seriously thought about smacking him even with a baby in his arms.
“I love Miranda and Adam with all my heart, but keeping you safe keeps them safe. If Malphas has his way and kills you, the rest of us will be in danger as well. So, as much as I want to spend every second with my family, I will continue to protect you,” he said, giving Adam a little kiss.
“We may have to discuss this later. Getting back to babies, there are a lot of babies around here with A names it seems. Maybe it’s because this is the start of the next generation. Anyway, he’s adorable. Congratulations you two,” I said, rambling on as I counted the names in my head.
Miranda finally wrestled Adam away from his daddy and handed him to me. It had been a long while since I’d held a baby, and it took me a second to get my hands in the proper places.
“Hmm. I only know of Frannie's little girl and Adam. Out of the other early bird babies, I haven’t heard of any that start with A,” Miranda said.
Holding little Adam made me hope I got a chance to hold my own little ones. His big brown eyes stare up at me without blinking as if he was studying me.
“I know in our inner circle there will be at least four more children. Well, I guess I’m for sure of my three, but I’m pretty sure my sister will also add to that number,” I said. “Mom is still pregnant, right? I think it takes phoenixes a little bit longer to pop out our young.”
“Of course, I’m still pregnant,” my very round mother said as she entered the kitchen. “What do you think you’re doing in my kitchen? You better not have seen your cake yet.”
“What are you talking about? I’m pretty sure even though I’ve been away for a little while, this is still my kitchen. I don't care if you’re pregnant, Mom, you don't mess with a girl's kitchen.” I handed Adam back to his mother and turned to greet my own mother.
“It's good to see you honey,” she said, coming over to give me a hug. “Your father is out training the newest group to call this home.”
“It's nice to see you too, Mom. Is everything in order for tomorrow? I know it was short notice, but I’m being stubborn for once and putting my foot down.”
“Ha, you’re hilarious, sis,” Rick said. “You’ve always been a little stubborn thing.”
“Have not,” I said, not really sure why I appeased him by having a reaction. “So, is there anything I can help with in here?”
“No, now you should go bug Frannie for a while. We’ll finish things up and I don't want to find you back in here until well after your wedding. Do you know when the wedding will be tomorrow?” she asked. “Frannie says it will be towards evening, but I know she sometimes makes her own plans.”
“Tomorrow evening will be fine. I don't really have a preference, I just want it to be done.”
“Just think, guys, tomorrow this romantic woman is going to be my wife. I have to be the luckiest man alive,” Nate said, wrapping his arms around me. “I’ve already congratulated Joseph, but Adam wouldn't be here without you, Miranda. You did great job.”
“Thanks, Nate. Your queen had a little hand in bringing us together and saving my life. For that I’ll always be thankful. In fact, Adam's middle name is Avery after her,” Miranda said.
“You’re joking. That isn't necessary. I’m sure you have plenty of family members who you should be naming that baby after,” I replied. “I’ve even met some of the men from your extended families, so you can’t say there weren't other options.”
“But no one has done as much for us as his Aunt Avery. You’re the proper choice and we aren’t the first to name their baby in part after you. What do you think Adina's middle name is?” Miranda asked.
“Please tell me this isn't something that’s becoming a trend. I’m just a person. I don't need to have people naming their kids after me. That’s just silly,” I said.
“Come on, it isn't that bad. Plus, we know it’d be weird if all the babies have your name, so a couple have been named after Nate and some have been named after your past reincarnations,” she explained.
“You guys are all crazy,” I said, turning to my guards. “We’re home, guys, so go do whatever it is you like to do. I’m going to go find my crazy best friend and see what she’s done to my home.”
Vinnie ran off, probably to his lab with the female jinn, Sammy. The rest of the guys stayed put. Maybe they wanted to help in the kitchen, it didn't really matter to me. I took off towards the backyard.
After only going about five steps, I heard Frannie's voice bossing people around as she walked in the door. It was nice to see some things didn't change.
“How’s everything going, Jelly Bean?” I said, talking over her.
“Everything is right on schedule. No need to worry,” she replied. She walked over and intercepted me, leading me away from the outside and towards the living room. She pushed me down on the couch and joined me. “So tell me about your time away.”
Nate and the guys, except Joseph, followed me along and found seats. I wasn’t sure if they thought it was going to be amusing, or if they needed to clean out their ears. I was pretty sure I’d just told them to scamper off and do their own thing.
“I spent a lot of time sleeping. There isn't really anything to say. Why are you not letting me go outside?”
“Wouldn't you much rather see your little niece? She’s the cutest little thing you’ll ever see,” she said, taking out a phone and speaking into it. “Her babysitter is going to bring her right down.”
“What have you done to my backyard, Frannie? I know it’s something you’re trying to hide from me, so how much am I going to hate it?”
“You’ll love it, I just want you to be surprised when you walk down the aisle tomorrow,” she said. “Oh look, here’s little Adina Belle now.”
A woman brought in a little pink bundle and handed her to Frannie. Adina was propped up in Frannie’s lap for everyone to see. She had bright blue eyes and a dusting of light blonde hair.
“She’s precious, Frannie,” I told her, looking down at the little one. “I can already tell you’re going to have to fight off the boys when she gets older.” Adina was a cute little thing, but I’d always be partial to my own children.
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“Gary gets to worry about that. Mommy will just teach her how to flirt and go shopping,” Frannie said.
It sounded like it’d be up to Aunt Avery to teach the girl to read and write. It was a good thing I was more than capable of doing both of those things.
“Is she too little to do tricks?” Kyle asked.
“That would be cool,” Rian agreed. “With all the babies being born, we could have a little baby circus.”
“They’re babies, not puppies. If you want something to perform tricks for you, go find Romeo and Juliet. These little guys can barely keep their heads up. What do you think they could do to entertain you?” I asked.
“They can’t even rollover?” Kyle asked.
“No, they can’t rollover. Just wait until you have your own children, and then you’ll see what fun they really are,” Frannie told him.
I watched both guys shiver at the thought of having children. “Maybe in a couple hundred years,” Rian said. “I’m not through with my Casanova ways just yet.”
“But the process of making babies can be so much fun,” Nate said. With the five children already alive and a few more coming in the near future, I supposed he’d be the expert on the subject.
“Hey, that process can be fun without the children being a byproduct. As long as I don’t mate or bond with the girl, I can have all the fun I want,” Rian insisted.
I understood his thinking. I wasn’t in to the whole fun part of the equation, but before Nate came around, my “human” thinking mind had no intentions of settling down and having children. It made a difference when you found out you already had five of them and had been married more times than you have fingers and probably toes.
“Well, Peaches, it’s been fun, but I really need to get back to work. I’m sure Adina is ready for her nap too,” Frannie said, handing the baby off to the babysitter. “After the wedding we’ll catch up.” With that she was gone.
“Do you guys really have nothing better to do than stalk around wherever I go?” I asked. I could understand Nate and Rick to a certain degree, but the rest of the guys were a bit much inside our home.
“You tend to be where the action is,” Elan said. “Plus, there’s that whole threat of something happening at your wedding. If that threat shows up early, we want to be ready.”
“I doubt anyone is going to show up in the living room. Plus, this is our most fortified location. Someone would have to be nuts to try to get me here.”
“Now it’s our turn to remind you, the people we’re up against aren’t the brightest bulbs in the pack,” Liam said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mak, you want to help me do some practicing against magic?” I asked. “It seems I’m cut off from wandering around the house, so I want to do something other than sit here and look at babies. My usual options to fight off boredom are either cooking, watching movies or working out. With the kitchen cut off and me not feeling the need to sit through a movie, I’m left with hitting the gym. It’ll do me some good to limber up against another magical being.” I was tired before we’d arrived, but being home had revived me a little.
Mak looked around uncomfortably, trying to get input from the rest of the guys. They all started out that way, at least until I kicked their butts.
“Believe me, you won’t hurt her,” Kyle said. “We’ve all had a shot at her and failed. Maybe with your magic, you’ll actually have a chance.”
“If that’s the case, I’m always up for a good challenge. I just don’t want you to do too much on your first day back,” Mak replied.
“Don’t worry about me, just prepare for the ultimate battle preparation, because what you’ve experienced with the other guys is nothing compared to the havoc you’ll face taking me on,” I said, and got up to lead the way to my second, or maybe third favorite room of the house.
Mak didn’t need to know I was only fighting defensively. Usually if I told my opponent that I was going to stand around while they threw things at me, they chickened out.
CHAPTER 27
Everybody was Kung Fu fighting