Chapter 2

Kel asked the servants to bring in six more chairs for their new guests.

"So, why did you stop here, Meathead?" Dom asked with a smile.

"Sir Meathead. Soon to be Captain Meathead," Nealan of Queenscove insisted.

"Oh, really? Of what, do you say?"

"Captain of the Third! Since someone was switched to the First."

"Hey!-" Dom protested.

"That's enough said, sir husband of mine. That's great Neal!" Kel interrupted. If the two cousins weren't stopped, they could tease and argue for hours, but it was all in their relationship.

Dinner arrived, chicken and rice, a Yamani delicacy. Dom and Neal were arguing about their abilities until they switched to information from Scanra in the north.

The children were finishing quickly and started to run off to play.

Kel and Yuki were deep in conversation about what things had been like in each other's lives for the past couple of weeks.

"So, I heard Scanra's not up for fighting right now… Thanks to you," Yuki smiled.

"I didn't do much, I had a lot of help! And now I'm stuck with a nickname-'Protector of the Small'!"Kel protested.

"Well, no one else seems to think it wasn't mostly you! The nickname was inevitable, Kel. When you save all of Tortall from a Scanran massacre, it's to be expected that people want to give you a nickname! And speaking of expecting…"

"What? Let me guess…" Kel interrupted, smiling, "You're having another baby!"

"How did you guess?" Yuki wondered, but she was not surprised her friend could tell these things about her. Kel definitely was special, that's for sure. She was going to have to remind Dom of that later.

"How long have you known?" Kel asked.

"A couple days. This will make 5 kids for you to take care of when both Neal and I have something to do. Or maybe six, you never know!" Yuki replied, with a smile.

"Good luck to me if it's more twins! Alise and Jonah are already a handful!" Kel joked. She loved the twins, but they were definitely troublemakers. She couldn't wait for them to grow up, although if they went to the palace she would miss them dearly.

"You could always make Dom take care of all of them, you know," Yuki said. That would be a sight. Dom wasn't bad with kids, but he would definitely be overwhelmed if he had to take care of all the kids.

"I heard my name! Are you talking about us, ladies?" Dom asked. Kel and Yuki rolled their eyes. Men.

"No, we were just talking about saddling you with all the kids the next time we all go away," Kel told him, putting on her Yamani mask to make sure she didn't laugh at his reply.

"Okay", he said, turning back to his conversation with Neal, "Wait, what?"

Kel and Yuki finally gave in and started laughing.

After a half hour more of conversation, Kel and Yuki decided that they should probably round up the kids, since it was probably time for Neal and Yuki to head back to Yuki's mother's house, where they were staying. Kel and Dom were staying at Kel's house from when she lived in the Yamani Islands in her childhood. They said their goodbye's and they went back inside.

"Alright, time to go to bed," Kel told her children.

"But mom…" Jonah protested.

"Come on, guys, up you go," Dom said, ushering Alise and Jonah up to their room. Kel picked up Andy, since she was almost asleep, and carried her up to her room to put her to bed.

Once the children were put to bed, Dom and Kel went up to their room.

"Did Neal tell you about Yuki?" Kel asked.

"No, what's wrong?" Dom replied, looking worried.

"Nothing! Yuki's having another baby!" Kel said, smiling.

"Oh, wow! So, what, they'll have five little ones now?" Dom asked, a teasing smile on his lips. Kel kissed him before she said,

"Hopefully! I don't know what I would do with two sets of twins to watch!"

"Well, you could give one set to me to look after," he said.

"Really, you would do that?" Kel asked in wonderment.

"Anything for you, my dear," he replied. They smiled at each other before kissing good-night.