A/N: So this is the bigger story I've been leading up to. It's actually the one I imagined first, and the ones I've already written came later. I'm excited to finally be writing it.

It's the fourth in a series, and at this point you'll probably need to read the others to understand this one.

We've jumped in time again. This story takes place 7 years after "How to Make a Birthday Perfect". And I'll be jumping perspectives in order to round out the story. So I'll let you know who I'm sneaking a peak into at the beginning of every chapter.

Also the first chapters are pretty sugary, but as you can tell from the title we'll be getting angsty and dark soon enough.

Disclaimer: Sofia is 25, Cedric is 41 and I don't own them or anyone else.

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Cedric

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Cedric was wet.

Feeling the tiny drops of rain pelt at his face, he realized he'd been asleep.

Opening his eyes, Cedric sat up to find it was in fact drizzling lightly and he was now quite alone on the picnic blanket under the large willow.

His last memory was of laughter and carrot cake and sunshine. But then the weather on the Ruby Isles could be mercurial. One moment the sun was golden bright and the sky azure blue, the next you found yourself in a downpour under a slate gray cover of clouds.

He'd never much liked the rain. But the Isles had changed his mind about it. At least they'd changed his mind about liking rain here. Because whenever it rained here, however gray the sky got, however harshly the thunder cracked, however hard the drops fell, when it cleared the most brilliant, beautiful rainbow would arch its way across the sky.

And as Cedric had been informed on more than occasion, by an earnest voice and a serious little face, rainbows were nature's magic.

Hearing the sound of laughter by the lake, Cedric turned to see the owner of that little face was not at all serious right now.

She had Cedric's wand in her hand and was running with her skirts held up over her knobby, adorable knees as Clover hopped beside her. She was being chased by her mother, whose own skirt was flirting dangerously high on her shapely legs as Wormwood flew overhead cawing in mock threat.

Apparently they'd decided to let him catch an afternoon nap while they played one of their favorite games: Warrior Sorceress.

"I, the Evil Enchantress will capture you Warrior Sorceress, and then there will be no one to stop me from ruling the Ruby Isles, hahaha!" The woman cackled.

Cedric knew this game and was prepared to hear the standard response when the little girl looked toward the tree.

"Mama look! Daddies finally awake!"

With that, the little imp ran towards him, all thought of the game forgotten for now.

"Daddy," she said crashing into him full force while her arms wrapped around him in a hug just short of suffocating. "Daddy we found frogs at the other side of lake! Clover tried to eat one of their lily pads and Mama said they were very upset, but we found them a new one, and Wormwood says he doesn't like frogs but he'd rather talk to a frog than a rabbit, and that made Clover really mad, and ohh you have to come meet the frogs! They're really friendly."

"I see I've missed all the fun." He said standing with the little bundle of dirty skirts and big smiles still wrapped around his neck.

Just then Sofia caught up with them.

Her cheeks where pink from running, her skin dewy with a combination of the exertion and the rain, her hair a wild auburn halo framing her face and cascading down her back.

She was the most exquisite thing he'd ever seen. Not even the passage of seven years could dull the way his heart squeezed and his body tightened every time he saw her. He was beginning to realize his love and desire for her would probably never diminish, no matter how long they were together.

After all, the near mystical hold she had on his heart had started long before they became lovers. She'd been the most important person in his life for nearly twenty years. In that time his feelings for her had changed, but they had only ever gotten stronger, more complex and intricate, not less.

"You looked so peaceful, we thought we'd let you get some rest." She said, fitting herself into his side and putting her arm around his waist.

"Thank you." He said, leaning down to lay a soft, lingering kiss on her lips.

"Hey, that's my daddy!" The little pixie in his arms declared, half indignant half amused.

Lifting his mouth from Sofia's, Cedric watched a fake scowl form on his wife's face.

"He is your daddy, but he's also mommies Prince Charming. If you want to kiss anyone like that you'll have to go find your own prince Ms. Miranda!" Sofia declared sticking out her tongue and crossing her eyes, to make their daughter laugh.

He wanted to argue with that statement, but there was very little point in arguing anything with these two. Miranda would remind him he was in fact a Prince and Sofia would insist he was the most handsome and charming man on earth. It was hopeless really. He'd never won a single argument with Sofia in seventeen years. And now they'd gone and made a mini-Sofia who'd apparently absorbed her mother's talent for wrapping him around her finger in the womb.

"Let's wait on that a few years, shall we." He said instead, claiming a little kiss from the small Princess he carried and a much larger one from the bigger Princess whose body was still tucked tightly against his own.

"Now, I'm told I must meet some frogs."

The rest of the afternoon was spent inspecting lily pads, having conversations with the frogs and other animals at the lake (with Sofia playing translator), and finishing their game of Warrior Sorceress in which Cedric now became the handsome prince trapped in an enchantment which could only be broken by the wave of Miranda's (his) wand and a kiss on the each cheek. And one on the nose…just for good measure.

As they walked back to the castle, under a now clear but darkening sky, Cedric looked at his two beauties and wondered how life had turned out so well for a skinny, awkward, misfit boy who'd grown into an vengeful, malevolent man with less than savory dreams of political overthrow.

Sometimes it seemed like he'd walked into someone else's life.

As though the author of Sofia's fairytale had somehow gotten blocked when creating her real Prince Charming and decided to simply recast the villain as the hero in an attempt not to have to scrap the whole story. For surely that was the only way he could be here.

He should have ended on the gallows for the things he'd plotted in his youth.

But then an eight year old girl had come crashing into his life, refusing to be cowed or dismissed by his irascible rudeness, and before he realized what was happening she'd begun changing him. Making him into the man she wanted him to be, perhaps needed him to be, a man she could fall in love with.

He still had moments when his darker instincts reared their heads, but he truly believed Sofia had made him better than he was ever meant to be. She'd changed him in so many ways and given him so much.

They'd married two months after she past her examination before the Masters and became a full-fledged Sorceress.

The day had been, as Amber would say, BIG!

King Rolland had declared a national holiday in celebration.

There had been a ceremony presided over by Master Ignatius of the Hall of Masters, something which still tickled Sofia given how the irritable Mage had come to be her friend. They'd said their vows before the court, with all the nobility watching, as well as visiting kings and queens and sorcerers from at least ten different kingdoms.

And then they'd partied until dawn!

Cedric would probably never forget the sight of Sofia, Amber, Ruby, Jade, and Vivian drunk and dancing while everyone else ringed the floor, all proper Princess decorum forgotten.

As they sat at breakfast the next morning, all of them a little worse for the wear, Rolland told them it was time to reveal their honeymoon surprise. The King and Queen had been adamant they wanted to take care of all the details and would only inform them where they were going the day they were set to leave.

"As you know," the King started with a look that suggested he was trying to hold back his excitement. "It's tradition for members of the royal family who don't marry outside the Kingdom to be given lands and titles. Your Aunt Tilly has the north taken care of for me and things here in the south are pretty well divided up. So I started thinking about how I could solve this little dilemma, when I was reminded by Tilly that the Ruby Isles used to be a Dukedom.

The crown subsumed the land three hundred years ago, ruling over them directly, after Duke August tried to raise a rebellion. I think it's more than time to restore things to their proper order.

What do you think Duke Cedric, Duchess Sofia?"

Cedric had nearly choked on his orange juice at that. Becoming a Prince and then a Duke, with his own land, in twenty-four hours was a bit much for anyone. But especially him, who, despite some outlandish schemes, had accepted long ago he would never be anything more than Cedric the Sorcerer until the day he died, probably alone in his tower and unmourned.

And so they'd climbed into a flying coach two hours later, to spend their honeymoon in their new home. The Ruby Isles, one of the most beautiful, magical places on earth.

A place where rainbows shone after every storm. Where the lakes and rivers ran crystal clear and white. Where the land was always emerald green and fertile. And where the people where uncommonly kind and welcoming.

He remembered how Sofia had gasped awestruck when their new home, the Ruby Fortress, came into view. An enormous gothic castle made out of blocks of marble and granite in shades of scarlet and rose.

It looked like something out of a fairytale.

Rolland had made his choice well. The Islands where secluded and private, a part of Enchancia yet not, close enough he and Sofia could split their time easily. It allowed him remain Royal Sorcerer and gave Sofia plenty of family togetherness, even as they had their own private place to retreat to.

A paradise all their own.

The years had passed quickly and slowly all at once.

Cedric remembered every moment as though it were still happening, and yet he hardly felt it as the years slipped by.

He remembered their first weeks in the castle, the two of them getting lost at least once a day as they explored every nook and cranny of the ancient place.

He could still feel the excitement he had on that day, not a week after they'd arrived, when he and Sofia discovered their new workshop.

They'd been exploring the east wing, making a game of it, 'naughty' hide and seek Sofia would name it later.

She'd found him, behind the curtain of a window in a corner room and he'd been more than looking forward to the reward she was about to claim, when her attention was caught by something.

Following her gaze he saw it too.

There was something off about the back wall of the fireplace.

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment before walking over to it, their game forgotten for now.

Touching it, Cedric found the wall solid…and yet.

"Do you have your wand?" He asked.

Sofia gave him a wicked smile and began lifting her skirts. Up and up the fabric went until he saw the slim purple stick, nestled between her thigh and her garter.

"Always," she'd purred.

Taking it out, she touched the wand to the wall. Immediately it began to shimmer and swim, and then it disappeared altogether.

A darkened passage lay before them, the winding steps leading upwards.

Speaking the Illuminate Nacht spell, Sofia tipped up on her toes to give him an excited kiss and grabbed his hand.

With the light from the spell guiding the way, they'd climbed for what seemed like forever, until they came to a door. The lock had been rusted over long ago and it crumbled to nothing with only the slightest pressure.

Opening the door they'd found a rather large circular room with windows on all sides and only a small bed for furniture.

Extinguishing the light of the spell, they'd looked out the windows to find they were in the Eastern tower, the highest point in the castle.

"This would make a wonderfully private place to work on spells and potions wouldn't it?" Sofia pointed out, sitting down on the edge of the bed, careful not to bring up too much dust.

"It would indeed make a most fitting workshop." He'd replied, suddenly less interested in spells and potions than in the possibilities presented by his wife, a bed, and the utter privacy of the top most tower of the castle. After all he did still owe her a reward.

The rest of the afternoon disappeared as they made use of the little bed and the privacy in the most ardent way.

Now it was their joint magical sanctuary. A space reserved for days spent brewing potions, practicing spells, and exploring the wonders and secrets of magic. Some he already knew and wanted to teach her, others they were discovering together.

Cedric recalled another vivid memory.

The night Miranda was born.

They'd gone back to Enchancia, knowing Sofia's time was nearing, wanting her to be with her mother and sister when it happened.

They'd been home two weeks when Cedric awoke to Sofia gripping his shoulder and crying out. Still mostly asleep, he had no idea where he was, since they were in her old room with its larger bed, and not his tower. He'd tried to hurry out for help, only to end up getting caught in the endless sheets, before tumbling head first to the floor.

Eventually he'd made it to Amber's room. Once she knew Sofia was in labor he'd been relieved of any duty other than sitting next to his wife, holding her hand, and whispering words of encouragement.

How much time passed that way he couldn't actually say, but Sofia would inform him later, and often, it had been exactly sixteen hours and forty-seven minutes.

With each passing hour Sofia's pains had gotten worse and so had Cedric's fears.

After all, for all the talk about how women gave birth every day, the truth was women died giving birth every day! From there his fears had spiraled out spectacularly, until he was a near wreck. He was mostly successful in keeping a calm face for her, but inside he was quietly losing it as he pictured horrible scenario after horrible scenario.

Apparently the midwife had seen this before and knew the only thing to do, to keep him from having a coronary right there in the middle of his child's birth, was to give him a job.

"Sit behind her, prop her back on your chest, and rub her shoulders, her back and any other place she asks you to. And don't stop until you hear your baby cry." She'd told him with a look that seemed both pitying and disdainful at the same time.

Cedric had rubbed until his fingers went numb, and then he'd rubbed some more. By the time his arms and shoulders where screaming at him to stop, Sofia was screaming her way through the last push.

Suddenly there was silence.

Then the most amazing, shrill, fabulous, ear-splitting wail he'd ever heard.

Moments later the midwife put a naked little bundle in Sofia's arms and she'd laid her body back full against his chest.

Just like that Cedric was a father, holding the two most important people in his word in trembling arms.

There had never been any question what her name would be. Sofia loved her mother with the devotion which only a child who once had nothing but her mother can have.

And so the sweet little cherub with already chubby cheeks, and a downy sprinkling of hair, silver where the strands framed her face and auburn everywhere else, had been Miranda from the moment she'd drawn her first breath.

He recalled standing on the balcony of the Castle the next day, with Sofia by his side and Miranda in his arms as they'd waved to the crowds of people who'd come to catch a glimpse of the Duke, the Duchess, and newest, littlest Princess.

He remembered to the irony of how he felt on that balcony.

So many times before Sofia had come into his life, and even for some time afterward, all Cedric dreamed of was stealing the throne and becoming King.

He'd imagined people falling all over themselves to beg his forgiveness, fawning over him and adoring him. He'd always thought that adoration would heal the wounds of constant humiliation he'd suffered.

Now there he stood. The people of Enchancia cheering for him and adoring him, and all he wanted was to disappear with Sofia and Miranda to someplace quiet and secluded.

The love of the crowd was empty, utterly meaningless. It made him feel nothing when compared to the way Sofia's love filled every corner of his being. And it seemed pitifully insignificant in comparison to the hopeless devotion they both already felt for the tiny, helpless angel in his arms.

Miranda was five now, and besides the silver of her bangs, she was all her mother, precocious, kind, blindingly optimistic, frighteningly intelligent, and good!

And they were happy.

"Take Clover and Wormwood and go run along to Ms. Violet to change for dinner, okay little bunny rabbit." Sofia instructed, kissing Miranda on the cheek as Cedric put her down.

The little girl picked up the old rabbit and ran down the hall with the raven gliding just above her head, calling for Violet the whole way.

"Someday soon we're going to have to teach her some proper Princess manners." Cedric laughed, shaking his head as the sounds of their little girl's voice echoed back to them.

Sofia shrugged, turning so she was fully in his arms.

"Someday, but not today. I like her the way she is, wild and loud and outspoken. That's how children should be. Not stuffed into dresses that make them look twice their age and expected to act like little adults."

Cedric bent down then, taking her lips as Sofia pressed herself against him, opening her mouth in welcome.

"Is that how you were?" he asked when they parted.

Sofia nodded.

"Well then, we shall have to let her be wild and loud and outspoken. Since I can think of no better person for her be like than you, Dearest."

With that Sofia tipped on to her toes and kissed him again, the heated softness making him dizzy.

So happy.