"I have a present for you," Rodan told Katherine. He was grinning in a way that showed his teeth.

"Oh, another present?" Katherine asked, her face lit up. "I don't deserve it!"

Rodan paused and raised an eyebrow. "Are you sick? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I was trying to be modest," she explained. "But I still want the bracelet. I never said I didn't want it. Let me have it!"

So Rodan locked a ruby bracelet much like Selina's on her wrist. "There," he said with satisfaction. "Isn't it pretty?" Then he got out another one and put it on himself.

"Why do we have matching bracelets?" Katherine asked.

"Why not?" Rodan shrugged. "Are you saying a man can't like jewelry?" He wouldn't tell her that they were basically married now that the bracelet was on her wrist. He'd keep that to himself.

"This is really pretty," Katherine remarked and looked it over. "Where do you get something like this? The mall?"

"No, I had it specially made," Rodan told her.

"Oh?" Katherine raised an eyebrow. "Really? I guess I should be flattered that you're going to all that trouble for me."

"It's not bother, really," he said and took her in his arms. "I promise."

Katherine then felt her whole wrist become hot as the rubies on the bracelet glowed bright red. "Well, that's a fun trick," she remarked. "Why is it doing that?"

"Oh, well…it's a special quality of the stones used," Rodan told her. "It's nothing to worry about. It won't be hot like that forever."

"Ah," Katherine nodded. "Okay, good."

"Do you like it?" Rodan wanted to know. "I hope you do."

"Yeah," Katherine nodded. "It's beautiful!"

"Good," Rodan grinned to himself. "I'm so glad. That's very good to hear."

"So he just gave you this bracelet?" Elizabeth asked when Katherine showed it to her. "Really? Well, it's lovely. I'd keep a close eye on it if I were you. Put it somewhere safe. Not that you need me to tell you that."

"No, that's okay," Katherine replied. "It's good, sound advice." She then noticed that her daughter was wearing a diamond necklace. "Is that new?" She asked. "When did you get it?"

"Charlie gave it to me yesterday," Elizabeth smiled and took it off so that her mother could have a better look. "Isn't it lovely? I'm never taking it off."

As Katherine was looking it over, the door opened and Elizabeth's husband Charlie strode into the house, his blue eyes tired and his dark hair ruffled.

"Oh, hello, Katherine," he said with a smile when he saw her. "Nice to see you. Am I interrupting anything?"

"No," Katherine shook her head and gave him a smile. "My daughter was just showing me the necklace you got her. You have very good taste."

"Thanks," Charlie smiled. "I'm glad you approve."

He sat down in the recliner and let out a breath. "Oh, it's not even noon and it's been a long day."

"Sorry to hear that," Elizabeth said, coming up behind him and rubbing his shoulders. "What's going on?"

"Coming up with original ideas for cards is so hard sometimes," Charlie told her. "And I locked my keys in my car, then I rear-ended someone on accident and spilled my coffee in my lap. It's not been a good morning."

"Sorry," Elizabeth repeated. "Why don't you go change your pants and then I'll get you a coffee and we'll see if we can't find someone to fix your car. Would you have time for that?"

"Yeah, if the person you find is a magical person," Charlie nodded. "That would be great!"

"I think we can manage that," Elizabeth said, glad that she had decided to take the day off and let her staff manage things.

After Charlie changed his pants and had his coffee, Elizabeth told her mother, "We're gonna go find someone to deal with Charlie's car. You can stay here if you want. It was lovely to see you."

"I know, I feel the same," Katherine smiled and got to her feet. "This is a perfect time for me to get on my way too. I don't want Rodan to think I've disappeared and come looking for me."

"You really think he would do that?" Elizabeth asked, eyebrow raised.

"I don't know," Katherine shrugged. "Maybe."

When Katherine got home, Rodan smiled and took her hand, leading her to the living room. "You want to hear more about that bracelet?" He asked, sitting her on his lap. "I think you'd find it very interesting."

"You mean there's more to it than it just being a big fancy ring that you had specially made with a giant, fat ruby on it?" Katherine asked.

"Yes," Rodan nodded, "These rings…in the demon world, they're symbols of great power."

"They are, huh?" Katherine grinned. "So only the best people get them?"

"Yes," Rodan nodded. "My sworn rival and the woman he's living with have them. Common demons have another stone on their rings."

"You mean you're not the most powerful of all?" Katherine asked. "You know, we could fix that. I'm not afraid to kill people if I have to."

"And perhaps we will someday," he smiled at her. "But it's too soon now. We just have to be patient."

"Patience is not a virtue of mine," Katherine said. "So I hope we don't have to wait too long."

"Oh, I agree with you," Rodan replied and played with her curls. "I could not agree with you more."

While Rodan dealt with Katherine, his younger son was working out how to deal with having a new parent in his life.

"Did you know that I had a demon parent?" Christian raged at John. "Were you ever gonna mention that to me, or was I always gonna be kept in the dark?"

"Well, I think it would have been obvious to you that you had to have a demon parent somewhere," John shouted. "Cause neither your mother nor I are demons, are we? Or are you just stupid?"

"Now you're turning this on me?" Christian yelled. "Fine, you know what? Maybe it's good this happened. Cause you've always been a lousy father and I'm glad I have another one to run off to."

That remark took things too far. John looked as if he'd been punched in the gut and when Christian looked up, his heart sank when he noticed a shocked Freya standing just inside the doorway.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I-I didn't mean to say that. It just popped out."

"You did mean it," John sighed and got up. "And you're right. I'm sorry. Maybe you'll be better off with Rodan. Who knows?" He seemed like he was struggling to keep a straight face. His body was shaking. Christian had never seen his father like this before. And when Freya came and put her hand on his arm, she spoke.

"Do you feel that way about me too, Christian?"

"No," Christian shook his head as Freya turned on her heel and strode out of the room. "Mom, I didn't mean…when I said…I wasn't talking about you!"

"Give it up, son," John told him wearily. "The words came out. She heard them. Now she needs to be left alone for a while before you talk to her again."

"Do you think she'll ever want to talk to me again?" Christian asked. "Or have I blown it?"

"Don't overthink," John said with a smile, reaching out to put a hand on his son's. "If she can forgive me for all I've done, I'm sure she'll let you make up for this."

There was a silence between them as Christian looked around his father's office, which was full of leather and heavy wood furniture. He sat down in a leather recliner and said, "I suppose that as long as I'm making apologies, I should apologize to you too."

"Oh, you don't have to," John sighed. "You didn't say anything that wasn't true."

"Maybe, but…now that it's all out…now that I've expressed it, do you think we could start over?" Christian asked. "Please? If you want to make things better, if you really feel bad about how things have been between us before, I'd hate to waste that."

John looked up. "Well, of course I would love to…if you believe I can."

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Ingrid stuck her head in. "Daddy, it's time for my-" When she saw Christian, she paused and stepped back. "I was going to say that it's time for my piano lesson, but I suppose it can wait. I don't need to do it now."

"No, it's okay, Ingrid," Christian assured her. "I think we're done for now."

"Ah," Ingrid nodded. "Okay." Christian opened his mouth to speak again, but she stopped him. "You're not gonna make some remark about how big I've gotten, right? Cause I hate it when people do that."

"No," Christian said, even though that was exactly what he would have said. "Of course not. I just…it's nice to see you. I know we haven't been around each other much, but since I'm building up relationships here…would you want to be?"

"Sure," Ingrid nodded. "Why not? But I'm seeing this guy Ben and he's kind of crazy, just to warn you."

"Yes, keep your eye on him," John agreed. "He's gotten the best of me twice. I hate him for it."

"All right," Christian nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. See you later." He then went to the library to read for a bit before finally deciding to go and talk to his mother and apologize for what he'd said. If she'd let him, that is.

"Can we talk?" he questioned as he stood in the doorway of his parents' bedroom. His mother was in there alone and she had her back to him as she looked out the window.

"Sure," Freya replied without turning. "I'm surprised you even want to speak to me, though. Are you going to yell at me like you did your father?"

"No," Christian promised. "I made things up with Dad. Explained what happened. Why I said what I said and that I was sorry…and I didn't mean to hurt you either. Can I…" He came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Can I have a hug from the only woman I'll ever consider my mother? Please?"

Freya turned and gave him a long hard stare before she realized how serious he was and let him fall into her arms as he squeezed her tight. "I love you, Mom," he said. "Do you…do you love me too? Will you help me get through all this?"

"Yes," Freya nodded as she hugged him and kissed his hair. "This is all so crazy that we'll only get through it if we stick together."

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more," Christian told her. "But I also have to wonder if we're not blowing my other father's whole thing out of proportion. I mean, he let me yell at him and get away with it. I think I can handle him."

"I would be careful about that if I were you. I wouldn't push your luck," Freya warned. "Not that I'm telling you how to run your life. If you think you can handle him, I won't try and stop you, but…please be careful. Who knows what he could do to people who yell at him?"

"Hey!" Katherine said, roughly shaking a sleeping Rodin awake. "Hey, I need to talk to you!"

"What?" Rodan asked sleepily. "What is so important that you had to wake me up? Just come to bed and we'll deal with it in the morning."

"No, now!" Katherine cried and hit him with a pillow. "You have some explaining to do!"

"Why?" Rodan sat up. "What have I done?"

"There's something wrong with this ring, isn't there?" She asked, holding her hand out to him. "I can't get it off! Is it some kind of trap? You tricked me, didn't you? What's going on?"

"It's not a trap," Rodan told her. "I promise. It's nothing but a pretty piece of jewelry."

"If that's all it was, I think I would be able to remove it!" Katherine cried and pulled at it. "But I can't! See?" In fact, the more she pulled, the tighter it got.

"Well, why would you want to take it off?" Rodan asked. "Is it not pretty enough?"

"No," Katherine shook her head. "I just…I feel weird sleeping in something this fancy. So can I take it off or not?"

"No," Rodan shook his head. "You'll just have to live with it being always on your finger. You can do that. Would it make you feel better about it if I reminded you how powerful it was?"

Katherine growled, feeling very odd for wearing shorts and an old t-shirt with the ring making a magnificent contrast. "I guess it will and I'll have to, won't I?" She said and climbed into bed with Rodan, avoiding his attempt to kiss her, and then reaching up to turn off the light over their bed.