Chapter 7

Leslie and Sarahs family took it better than anyone would have expected. Naturally, there were questions about Sarahs sanity, at first. And then there were questions about the nature of the Underground and the Goblin Kingdom. Then there were questions about just how Sarah and Leslie had come to know of this magical place, let alone that it was real. Robert and Karen were unhappy that Sarah had actually wished Toby away, though did forgive her, since she had, after all, gotten him back. Rhiannon and Mark were unhappy that Sarah had been such a bad influence on Leslie, but forgave her because they were going to be grandparents. And Toby? He was just happy that he was going to get to visit the Underground, and actually get to remember it, this time.

At the moment, Karen was visiting. A wedding planner by trade, and with an eye for fashion, she was helping Sarah to design her wedding gown. Though Leslie and Michiel had a quick, quiet ceremony, Sarah and Jareths would have to be extravagant to satisfy the majority of the Underground nobility. They were discussing the pros and cons of a corset verses a lightly boned bodice and straps verses sleeves when Jareth knocked on the door. "Just a minute!" Sarah called out. She and Karen quickly hid the drawings. "Alright, its safe!"

Jareth walked in, a small black lump of something in his arms. It looked like a stuffed animal, until it moved, and Sarah realized it was real. Jareth scritched a little behind the animals ears, and its head rose up, revealing itself to be a Labrador retriever puppy. "Somebody actually wished this poor little creature away," he said. "He said his sire was from the wrong stock, and he wouldnt have mongrels around who were bred from anything but the best stock, whatever that means. So, I thought I would bring him to you. Apparently, hed managed to get rid of all the others, but nobody would take this one for being the runt."

"Oh, Jareth, he's adorable," Sarah cooed, taking the sweet little puppy. The puppy, sensing that all was well, wagged his tail and licked Sarahs face, causing her to giggle.

"That was very sweet of you, Jareth, Karen said. Im not much of a dog person, myself, but Sarah was absolutely miserable after Merlin died a couple of years ago. She loves animals of all sorts. That puppy has got a good home with the two of you, provided you can keep him away from your goblins."

Jareth arched an eyebrow. "Oh? And who would be in greater danger? The puppy or the goblins?"

"Hard to tell," Karen admitted.

"Labs can be destructive," Sarah added. "He'll chew on everything for the first couple of years. And he'll eat until he's sick." By now the puppy was chewing on Sarahs hand. "We'll have to work hard to train him," she said, pulling her hand away and giving him a light bap on the nose. "No. You can't chew on Mommy." The puppy looked up at her, confused, then went right back to chewing on Sarahs hand. Sarah just smiled, pulled her hand away again, and repositioned it so that the puppy couldnt reach it. "See what I mean?"

"So, what will you name this one?" Karen asked.

"Onyx," Sarah said, definitively. "He's definitely an Onyx. And look at the size of these paws. Are you going to grow into these paws, Onyx baby? Of course you will. You're going to be huge."

*&*&*&

A week later, Onyx had proved just how destructive he could be. Sarah and Leslie watched, amused, as the puppy, two months old, orbited around the throne room, terrifying goblins and chickens alike. Jareth and Michiel walked in and were nearly toppled by him. It was not Onyxs size that gave him the advantage. He was still only 20 pounds. No, it was his speed. Onyx, however, just looked up at the two Fae men, wagged his tail happily, gave a little bark, and then returned to orbiting. But Sarah worked with him every day, and he was castle-broken by the time Leslie started showing. As Leslie neared her due date, Onyx had topped 50 pounds. He was still wild, orbitting randomly around the castle and chewing on anything he could find, but Leslie and Sarah were reasonably sure that the little fluffball wouldn't be too much of a threat to the twins once they were born.

Michiel, for his part, had calmed down some, as well. At least, he was no longer visibly bouncing off the walls, something for which Leslie was eternally grateful. She just hoped and prayed that her children would take more after her than their father.

At the moment, it was the type of night that Edward Bulwer-Lytton would have written about. Not that anybody noticed or cared. In the crystal ballroom, all was lively and gay, with nobles from all the kingdoms having come to finally meet Jareth's chosen queen at a very large and lavish ball. There were gold and silver streamers everywhere. There was glitter around the room. Peach wine flowed freely. It was a night of romance, and even Leslie finally gave in and agreed to dance with Michiel, whom she had become more and more fond of over the past several months. "Just keep it slow," she warned him. "I can barely waddle, and anyway, I don't know this dance."

"Don't worry, my love. Just follow my lead."

"I need to sit down. My feet are killing me. So are my ankles. And my back. Oh, everything just hurts."

From across the ballroom, Sarah and Jareth watched the scene in amusement. "I hope that I don't complain that much when we have our first child," Sarah said.

"If she would stop being so stubborn and just let him help her, there's plenty of magic to ease the pain," Jareth said, shaking his head, half-laughing, half-serious.

"Why can't he just ease the pain now?"

"It's a spousal thing. You have to have your spouse's permission to work magic on them. It's the same with blood family members. It's supposed to help prevent family feuds. It's a very old magical barier."

Just then, Leslie let out a long howl, as if Michiel had just stepped on her already sore toes. Her doubling over told a different story, however, and Michiel scooped her up, carrying her out. Sarah made a move to follow, but Jareth stopped her. "They're okay to leave," he said, "but it would look very badly on us if people notice that we are gone from our own ball. I'll get a servant to go fetch Pantaleon."

"But Jareth, we can't just let them go through this alone. She's in pain, and soon, he'll be in pain, too, if he dares to get within arm's length."

"I didn't say we weren't leaving, my love. I just said we weren't going to let people notice. Just give me a few moments to work a little magic." He caught the eyes of Sarah and Lesie's family, then, motioning them over. While Sarah quickly explained what was going on to Karen, Robert, Mark, and Rhiannon, Jareth conjured up an illusion for himself and Sarah, while Mark and Rhiannon left to check on Leslie, and Robert and Karen excused themselves to go make sure that Toby, curled up asleep with Onyx in one of the guest rooms, was also okay.

Tonight was going to be one of those nights.