-Adrian's Point of View-

Once dinner was made, I was given the responsibility of waking Clopin and Alvery. Sneaking into his tent, I noticed the two were sleeping beside each other, looking like they fell asleep the second they lied down. I smiled a little at the sight of them, so content to be with each other. I guess Clopin was able to weaken her will to hate him down enough to have her love him. I sneaked over and leaped onto my brother who let out a cry of surprise before growling and throwing me to the ground easily.

I looked up from the ground, meeting my brother's tried and angry glare. I smiled innocently and he rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. I heard Alvery mutter something with a small giggle following. "It's just Adrian being annoying as usual," he sighed back, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. I stood up and grinned at the two as Clopin got up, helping Alvery to her feet. He looked over at me. "Food better be ready because if you just woke us for no reason you will be lucky if you aren't hanging from the gallows within the next hour," he said, his tone ready to kill me but what else was new.

I smirked. "Yeah, dinner's ready, Clop. No reason to get hostile," I laughed, hopping out the door. He was always angry at me for waking him roughly but I just couldn't help myself. It was always so much fun! I turned around from walking toward Nadya's tent to wait for the couple. They caught up eventually, hands linked as they spoke quietly, soft smiles playing on their faces as they seemed to be sharing jokes or stories.

I turned back around and continued walking and glanced around. Mostly everyone was inside their tents eating, in the catacombs guarding, or up in Paris so there wasn't many people near our path. It was nearly empty besides the occasional child running around or someone just strolling. Maybe that's why the sight of Camille kissing someone near her tent caught my attention quickly. His hair reached to just below his shoulders and was in a tie. He was taller than Camille but shorter than my brother.

"Woah," I heard Clopin mutter under his breath behind me.

I glanced over at him. "Who is that?"

Clopin and Alvery had giant grins on their faces as they seemed to be very joyous about this kiss. "His name's Mihai. He's usually very shy around women but Camille since she works with him... I suppose he isn't very shy anymore," Clopin chuckled.

Alvery pulled on his arm. "Come on, you two, let's give them some privacy," she whispered with a smile evident in her voice. We shrugged and followed her to Nadya's tent for some delicious food.

-Clopin's Point of View-

I forced down my uncontrollable smile at seeing Camille and Mihai's kiss to try and focus on dinner with my siblings, positive that would bring my happiness level down a few notches. I looked over to Alvery as we walked in, her blue eyes quickly finding Aishe and released her hold on my hand to go hug her and thank her then proceeded to do the same to Nadya. Nadya was the one we dubbed the awkward one in the family but she gave the best hug she could back, looking taken off guard by it, causing me and Adrian to laugh quietly.

She made her way back towards me and I helped her to sit as we waited for the rest of my family to arrive. After talking for a few minutes about my siblings' travels, Nicu came in with Céleste perched on his shoulder with a smile lighting up her face. Everyone grinned and welcomed them. Nadya took a bowl from the pile and past them around as well as silverware. She placed a pot in the center which contained a stew. She also placed a bowl of bread beside it. Alvery was permitted to take food first since this dinner was for her and she needed it most. Céleste was next since she was youngest then we went by age besides Nadya who picked last since she was "the host". We had always chosen to eat like this in my family since there was always a fight for food until my father developed this system.

We ate with much conversation. There could never be a silent moment when all of my siblings were together. Someone would pick a topic then it would slowly develop into more and more as we related stories to the topic of conversation. The conversation had started with Aishe bringing up Alvery's pregnancy which led to Adrian, being the inappropriate one as well as the one without a thought to what he would say, brought up how she got pregnant. Alvery scolded him since Céleste was sitting near him. This brought the question from Céleste on how we made the baby, causing Adrian to laugh in joy at our flustered expressions.

Aishe interrupted quickly, bringing up Adrian's great craftsmanship on the cribs he made, leaving an answer-less Céleste. She opened her mouth to bring up the fact her question was unanswered when Nicu began to talk to her about what they would do after dinner which quickly brought her small attention span from the question she wanted answered. Adrian was distracted from the question by Aishe complimenting his craftsmanship which he enjoyed bragging about. I had to give it to my brother, he was a very talented carpenter. I brought up how well he did on making the chair at my desk. It was one of his first project and still one of his best. He ranted about how he made the cribs which none of us truly cared for but still kept our attention on him so he could talk about what he was proud of.

When Adrian finished, Nadya brought up briefly making blankets for the baby, one blue and one pink. She placed down her empty bowl she was holding and reached into a trunk nearby for them. The blankets looked to be very thick and warm and were decorated with small intricate stitching made from simple thread. The navy blue blanket had blue swirls until the middle where they all met to form a crescent moon. The pink blanket were straight lines meeting at the center. A sun was made at the top and bottom of the blanket. Alvery smiled at her and tanked her, telling her that they were very beautiful which I repeated. She nodded and handed them to me. I placed my empty bowl down and took the small blankets, folding them carefully then placed them in my lap.

Everyone began to stack their bowls and Nadya collected them with Aishe as they began to wash them. Alvery turned her head to look at the blankets in my lap which I caught despite my conversation with Adrian. We were fighting about nothing in particular and both of us snapped to attention as Alvery placed a hand on her stomach and her eyes widened. My instinct was to put my hand on her back and my other hand went over her's. "Are you okay?"

Everyone's eyes were now on her, even Céleste stopping her playing to focus on the situation. She
nodded, her face now looking very confused as she looked back over at me. "Yeah... That was strange," she mused, every person's eyes encouraging her to continue. "It felt like something just ran across my stomach lightly," she muttered, causing all of us to smile. All of us knew someone pregnant at one point or another, not counting Céleste.

Alvery looked at me, her eyes filled with worry. "Don't worry, Alvery. That's just the baby moving," I said, kissing her temple lightly. I pulled back as some tears fell from her face but I only pulled back to see her smiling before she kissed me on the lips for a few seconds. We were interrupted by Adrian letting out an obnoxious "Aw" which resulted in me also throwing a cushion at him. The rest of my siblings giggled and Nicu and Céleste took their leave as Nicu had promised Céleste he would play with her. Nicu was usually the "good" one and Céleste was the baby. Aishe was the mother and I was the eldest. We had always had those type of characteristics since we were young and I was sure that would follow us the rest of our lives.

I helped Alvery to her feet as we bid them goodnight. I was eager to tell Tante Marie as well as Camille. Tante Marie had the predicted response by hugging Alvery and asking her standard questions to make sure she was healthy. Once that was taken care of, we walked up to Camille who wore a giddy smile on her face as she leaned against a wall, minding her own. Alvery shouted to her as we approached and Camille looked up, jumping slightly as she was broken from her thoughts. Her smile returned and she hugged Alvery and me as we told her the news.

My eyes fixed on her accusingly as she continued to wear her smile. "So what was with the happiness radiating from you as we came over," I asked, hinting in my voice that I knew precisely why.

Her smile dropped a little, a blush playing on her face though I'm sure it was hardly noticeable to Alvery since she had a hard time telling when we blushed with how tan we were. "No reason," she responded immediately, her smile dropping as she got very defensive which I couldn't blame her for doing. I always prowled around her business more than needed but she did the same to us so I just figured I would return the favor.

Despite Alvery wanting me to stop pushing answers from Camille, she remained silent as it seemed she wanted Camille to admit to it as well. I looked around before saying anything else. The only people nearby were a group of little kids who were far to wrapped up in their game to be listening. Besides, they seemed too far to hear every word of our conversation. "It couldn't have anything to do with Mihai, could it?" A smile played on my face but not in a cruel joking 'I know' manner but a friendly smile, letting her know we weren't going to be mocking her for it.

She shrank back at my accusation, her head dropping a little as if afraid to admit it. Once again, I couldn't blame her for her reaction. I had not been one to approve of the men she picked out simply because they were not right for her but she had apparently disregarded my tone about Mihai. I stepped toward her and lifted her chin. "Hey, calm down. Mihai's a good man. I have nothing against this relationship. I fully support it," I told her, meeting her eyes so she would be convinced. She smiled a little grin and hugged me with a small thank you.

We stood there and talked about her and Mihai's relationship until she had enough and decided to pry into our private life a bit in return. Luckily, Alvery was usually reserved due to who she was brought up as so she wouldn't ever respond to Camille in length on our private life. Once Camille realized she couldn't get much more details, they began talking about the baby and Alvery's growing size which always seemed to lower her self esteem though with her mood swings, which were getting more and more frequent, sometimes she wouldn't even recognize the weight as an issue.

Alvery began to grow weary. Though she never said anything regarding it, Camille and I could tell when she blinked more and slower. Camille excused herself so she could prepare for being on guard tonight which Alvery accepted as an excuse and we started back to our tent. I closed our tent and suggested she should get ready for sleep. She just nodded and prepared for bed while I straightened the tent up a bit before sitting down at my desk to fix a few of my puppets that got damaged just from their age or from children playing with them.

I looked up from my work to see Alvery laying on the bed, her head rested on the pillow with her one arm while her other arm controlled her hand which was making mental patterns on the mattress. Her eyes wee unfocused as it seemed she was in thought. This intrigued me so, as opposed to usual, I asked about her thoughts, breaking her from them. She blinked rapidly and focused on me as she heard my voice. She ducked her head slightly, shrinking it back towards her shoulders at my question and quietly answered, "I was just thinking about my family." Her eyes looked over to me for my reaction.

I nodded sympathetically. "Well, I'm sure we can visit them once you have the baby. I just don't want you injured up on the streets especially while you're pregnant."

She propped herself up using her elbow, her face saddened. "I just wanted my parents to be able to see their first grandchild be born."

I frowned. "I'm sorry, Alv, but you know I can't allow Parisians into the Court. You must remember that your father sent me to jail over a misunderstanding and I worry he would turn all of us in and tell the guards where we are. I already had to deal with that terrible event already and I don't wish for a repeat."

Her mood seemed to shift towards anger now. "You think that my father would just turn all of us in?"

I remained calm and blank faced, trying not to provoke more anger. "I'm not saying that. You must look at this through my eyes, Alvery. I never trusted Parisians unless they were in alliance with us. Just because you're my wife, doesn't mean that your family loves me. You have to remember that, in most eyes, I dragged you into the life of a gypsy and some may think that I'm forcing you to have my child. Of course, I would never do that but everyone in Paris, especially those of higher ranking, would think I would do something like that."

She seemed to accept this as she grew quiet and lied back down. I prepared for bed and paused as I saw tears fall from her eyes. I went to her side and wiped them away. "Sh, my dear. I'm sorry. I truly am. I swear to you that we will go see them once the baby is born. They will see him or her then. I will keep them updated on how you're doing through your little sister, Cerise." Her eyes seemed to respond to me then at her sister's name as the focused on me now. "She still comes to see my puppet shows and I'm sure she would give news to your parents if I asked. This way, I don't have to fear arrest and your family can still hear news about you until they trust me." She smiled and muttered a thank you beneath her breath. I nodded and climbed into bed beside her. She turned towards me and cuddled into my shoulder as she fell asleep peacefully.