Just a warning. There is a character death in this chapter. I forgot to put the warning in the last chapter, so thanks to Gabi123 for suggesting that I put it here.

The ride back to Alvarna was interesting, and my room was packed for the entire first day of the trip. Everyone wanted to see, as Dorothy called her, "the miracle baby". But by the second day, a lot of the excitement had died down, and I had some peace.

"Is it just me, or has Arianna grown a lot?" I asked Leonel a few hours after we left.

"I don't think it's just you," he replied. "She's almost the same size as Tristan now."

"Yeah," I said, laughing slightly as I looked down at the two sleeping babies, Tristan in Leonel's arms and Arianna in mine.

They had both just been fed, which explained their sleepiness. It was amazing how much the two of them looked alike, and we always thought it was funny whenever they looked at each other. Tristan always got a confused expression, and batted his hand in front of Arianna's face.

Leann and Aaron came into the room, not bothering to knock as usual.

"How's everyone d-?" Leann started to ask loudly.

"Sssh!" Leonel and I hissed.

"Oh," she whispered. "Sorry!"

Leonel and I, sensing that they were both sleeping soundly enough, put Tristan and Arianna in their cribs.

"How are they doing?" Aaron asked, sitting down.

"Better," I replied. "Both of them."

"Obviously," Leann commented. "Aaron, did you catch sight of Arianna? She's gotten so big!"

"I did," he replied. "I just thought I should ask."

"They've both been eating like crazy," I said. "My…never mind."

"What?" Aaron asked.

"No," I replied with mock sternness. "You're my brother. I'm not telling you!"

"I want to know," Leann replied. "I'm going to be breastfeeding."

"Fine," I replied with a sigh. "My boobs hurt like crazy! I feel like they're going to fall off! And I've been tired all the time. I mean, I was tired enough with Tristan, but imagine having two!"

"Did not need to hear that," Aaron muttered.

"Well," I said. "Leann did."

"I'm scared!" Leann cried. "I don't want them to fall off!" She gasped. "What if they explode? They've been growing at an alarming rate." While she was distracted, I saw Aaron quickly glance over at her.

"Perv alert," I said to Leann.

"Where?" she asked as Aaron glanced over at her again.

"Never mind," I said. I decided to change the subject. "Sick of being pregnant yet?"

"Not really," Leann replied. She gestured to her stomach. "She makes a very nice table, actually. I had a cup of tea up on there the other day, and it stayed pretty well."

"Except when she kicked," Aaron said.

"I wouldn't call that a nice table," Leonel said. "I'd call that stained clothing and lack of tea."

"But nothing is without its flaws," Leann replied.
"Except for using a baby bump as a coffee table," I commented.

"It was tea!" Leann protested. We all had to try to suppress laughter.

I heard one of the twins start crying, and I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, Leann," I said.

"Any time!" she replied. "Wait…why are you thanking me?"

"No reason," I lied, making my way over to the two cribs. I honestly had nothing else to say to that. I peered into both cribs. "It's Tristan."

"Of course," Leonel said. When Tristan was first born, he was quiet and well-behaved, but in less than a week, he had managed to develop a totally different personality: loud and hungry. Arianna, from what we could tell, had taken on the personality of the quiet one.

I lifted Tristan out of the crib, and immediately noticed a bad smell.
"Looks like someone took a crap in his diaper," I announced. I looked down at Tristan, and smiled. "Hey, maybe instead of shitting your pants you could learn some potty training." I took him over to the changing table, and started the process.

"Don't you realize that his head is like a sponge?" Aaron asked jokingly. "His first word is going to be some kind of obscenity at this rate."

"I doubt it," I replied. "I really don't think he can understand what I'm saying. It's more in the tone of voice."

"How would you know anything about it?" he asked.

"I don't," I replied. I finished the last bit of the diaper change, and held Tristan up to my eye level. "Done. Are you going to go back to sleepy now?" I kissed him on the forehead. "Let's put you in your crib." I set him down in his crib, and turned around, only to see that Aaron and Leann were gawking in disbelief at me. "What?"

"Since when do you act like that?" Leann asked. "All lovey-dovey…to anyone?"

"Since I've got hormones coming out the wazoo," I replied. "Oh yeah, and since I love my kids."

"Good point," Leann said. She seemed to go into deep thought over that.

"Yeah, seriously," Leonel said. "Aria's capable of love, for crying out loud." I laughed.

"You ought to know," I replied.

"Good God," Aaron muttered. "You two and your fluffy romance."

"I think you two," I said, pointing to him and Leann. "Have had enough of that for the rest of your lives. And not to mention all the times you went out in the middle of the night and had sex behind the outhouse."

"Hey!" Leann protested. "That was only once!" Aaron's face turned bright red.

"Uh, Leann," I said. "I was…making that up. And I'm scarred for life."

"And just for future reference," Leonel added. "You're supposed to deny that kind of thing."

"Okay, virgin boy," Aaron replied.

"I don't want to get into this," Leonel said exasperatedly.

"Wait," Leann said. "I'm confused. Aria, how did you make that up if it actually happened?"

"Never mind," I said. "We can drop this at any time, guys." I heard one of the twins cooing from their crib. "And…possibly not wake up my kids."

"Speaking of that," Leann said. "Where's the bathroom again?"

"Come on," Aaron said. He helped her up, and they started to walk toward the direction of the bathroom.

As soon as we were sure they had left, Leonel and I almost simultaneously leaned back in our chairs and sighed with exhaustion.

"Being a dad wears you out," he said.

"Ha," I replied. "Try being a mom."

"We should be home soon," he said, changing the subject. "Really soon."

"That should be interesting," I said, sitting back up. "We'll be seeing everyone who's been giving us crap over the past several months. Home sweet home."

"Don't think that way," he said, lifting his head back up. "There are also the people there that have supported us. Even Cecilia and Rosalind, who have dumbass kids, have been pretty nice to us."

"I wonder what's going to happen with Leann," I said. "As long as Herman's alive, Leann isn't going to be able to regularly see her parents." I sighed. "Even with all the fancy stuff she's got for it, her wedding's going to suck if she can't even see her mom and dad."

"Who knows," Leonel said. "Maybe old Herman will have a change of heart."

Leann and Aaron came barging into the room, but that time, they looked more excited.

"I can see Alvarna!" Leann squealed.

"Really?" I asked. "We're that close?"

"Look out the window," Aaron said. "We're taking a shortcut through the Padova Mountains."

"Isn't that dangerous?" I asked.

"I would think so," Aaron replied.

"Well," I said. "Hope for the best, everyone."

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

"What's going on?" Leann asked.

"I was just wondering the same thing," Aaron said.

"I'm scared," Leann whimpered. There was a blood-curdling shriek from the next room, and Leann did the same as she pointed out the window. I quickly turned around, and saw that there was an orc viking trying to get inside.

"Oh, damn," I muttered. "These guys?"

Dad came running into the room, a zweihander in his hands.

"Aaron," Dad said. "At the front of the carriage, there's a cabinet of weapons. Go get whatever you can get your hands on, and hurry!"

"Okay," Aaron said.

"What about me?" I asked.

"Aria," Dad said sternly. "We don't have time for this. You shouldn't be fighting in your condition. Stay put." He left the room, and Aaron took off.

I went over to the window. The huge orc viking seemed to be distracted by something, and had walked off to go stare at a giant block of ice. I turned around to see that Leonel seemed perfectly calm, and Leann was shaking like a leaf.
"Don't worry," I said to her. "They're stupid as hell and have short attention spans." I turned to the window again, and saw that Dad and Aaron had begun to fight the stupid monsters, but more of them were coming over to try and attack them. I was still really pissed off that I wasn't out there fighting with them.

"Do you think I should go out there?" Leonel asked.

"Not at all," I replied. "No offense, but I've never seen you fight, and I'd prefer it if you didn't get killed."

"Just thought I'd offer," he replied. I continued to watch the battle, and the number of orcs was getting bigger and bigger.

"Screw it," I muttered. "I'm going out there." Before anyone could stop me, I started running for the front of the carriage.

The only weapons there were for beginners, but they had to do. I grabbed a claymore and ran outside into the cold. I started stabbing monsters left and right, and Dad everntually caught sight of me.

"Aria!" he shouted. "Go inside!"

"No!" I protested as I lopped off one of the orcs' heads. Its last action was slashing my leg.

"Aaron!" Dad called. "Get that gate!" The number of monsters started to diminish as they were sent back to the Forest of Beginnings.

"A little busy!" Aaron replied, stabbing an orc in the gut. I groaned, and ran over to the gate. I started whacking it like there was no tomorrow. I occasionally turned my head to check and see that I wasn't getting attacked from behind. Eventually, the gate disappeared, and Dad killed the last orc viking.

Dad and Aaron started breathing heavily from the exertion of the fighting.

"See?" I asked. "You guys need me."

"You…" Aaron said, in between breaths. "Are a dumbass."

"Let's go inside," Dad said.

We went inside the carriage, and everyone was crowded by the door, even Tristan and Arianna were in Leonel's arms.

"Dear God, Kyle," Mom said. She gave Dad a huge hug.

"Aaron!" Leann shrieked. "You're bleeding! Somebody help!"

"Why don't you take a look at Aria?" Aaron said to her.

"Jeez, Aria," Leonel said. "Haven't you already lost enough blood in the past week?" I looked down, and saw that the orc viking had done quite a number on the front of my thigh.

"No wonder it felt so numb," I muttered. "Damned monsters."

"That's going to need to be bandaged up regularly," Dorothy said, rummaging through her bag. "I'll get started on that. Any deeper, and you would need stitches." She started to walk back toward my room, and I followed her.

"I'll come with," Leonel said.

"No, honey," Dorothy replied. "She has to take her pants off. You stay here." Leonel blushed, and I laughed as I followed Dorothy into my room to bandage up my wound.

The rest of the ride home was fairly uneventful, and Dorothy even managed to change my bandage twice. Eventually, we reached the border of Alvarna, and soon after, we stopped in front of the school.

We left the carriage, and Dad tipped the driver. I walked around the campus with Arianna sleeping in my arms, but I noticed something strange about the usually crowded area. It was midday, which was usually lunch time, and it was a school day, but nobody was outside. The place was empty. Everyone else seemed to catch on.

"Where is everyone?" Leonel asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"Barrett was supposed to meet us here," Dorothy said. "But he's not here, and I don't think we're early."

As if on cue, Barrett came up the pathway to the school. He had a solemn expression on his face, and he was dressed in all black.

"Barrett!" Dorothy cried. She threw her arms around him.

"Hello, dear," he said, returning the hug, although he didn't seem his usual self. "I have to speak with Leann."

I realized then exactly why Barrett seemed off, and why he was wearing all black.

A funeral, I thought.

"Leann," Barrett said. "I'm really sorry to tell you this, but your grandfather has passed on."

I expected Leann's face to light up. I expected her to twirl around, and declare how happy she was that she would be able to see her parents again. But instead, she broke down and cried.

I thought of Herman, who was a glutton, and that he didn't care about anything but family honor, to the point that he would cast out his own granddaughter. And yet, Leann was crying over his death!

I wasn't sure what to think, other than "life is strange".

I wasn't planning on writing the fight scene, but I came up with it during English class today. I tried to come up with something like what I know of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in terms of a slightly graphic fight scene.

And then of course, Aaron and Leann need to ignore their animal instincts. I kind of LOLed while writing that dialogue. But I'm about five, so...

I bet I scared you all with the character death warning, huh?

As a hint, the next chapter does not involve a wedding. That wasn't a very good hint, but oh well...

I needz reviewz, puh-leaze.