Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I still only own my OC characters.

"Will, don't kill yourself decorating, darling," Anastasia calls up to her husband.

He's currently situated on the top of a ladder that is wobbling precariously as he tries to hang a birthday banner for Michael and Penelope's first birthday. Will feels himself losing his balance as the ladder continues to shake, but he doesn't want Ana to be worried about him.

"I'm fine, darling. Just fine," Will assures as he tries to straighten the banner without very well killing himself in the process.

He lets out a sigh as he tries to get the thing to stay put. A few colorful words slip out of his mouth as Will continues struggling with the banner.

"Will, little ears may pick up on that language," Ana warns, giving him a challenging look as she reminds him their children are asleep in the next room.

"What I meant to say was 'How is Daddy gonna get this bloody thing to stay straight?'" Will amends his previous outburst, not knowing if Michael and Penelope are awake yet or not.

As he ties off the final end of the banner, the bottom of the ladder finally slips out from under him. Will starts to fall backwards, grabbing onto the column for support. The grip strength in his fingers begins to fail, so he starts falling towards the ground. Suddenly, when he feels like he is going to hit the ground, some smoke swirls around him, keeping him from falling to his doom. Knowing there's only one person in the castle with powers, Will knows just who saved him.

"Ana, just in time, luv," Will smiles as he rights himself, making sure not to fall down or trip over the fallen ladder.

"Well, you have to be in one piece for Michael and Penelope's birthday. And besides, I can't have my husband in the hospital with a broken back," Anastasia quips before she runs in the opposite direction of her husband.

She feels his strong, muscular arms wrap around her from behind, and she knows she's been caught. He holds her close to his chest before pressing a kiss to her lips and then beginning to undo the bun her hair is in. Ana starts to ask him why he's taking her hair down, but she knows he'll eventually tell her the answer.

"I like your hair down, Ana. It reminds me of when we were young," Will smiles, tucking a piece of her golden locks behind her ear.

"We are still young, Will," Anastasia grins, remembering how Will proclaimed himself to be twenty-seven at his last birthday.

"Only thanks to magic, my love. Without it, I would be so much younger than you since time stood still. And besides, we've done a lot of growing up since we first came to Wonderland," Will reminds, thinking of how naïve they had both been when they were teenagers in Wonderland.

"I guess you're right. Now, let's go wake up the birthday boy and girl," Anastasia says before looping her arm through Will's and walking next door to their children's room.

"Happy birthday, my loves!" Anastasia says to Michael and Penelope as she and Will take them out of their cribs.

"Daddy can't believe you're already a year old! Time really flies with you two around," Will smiles while holding his daughter close to his chest.

He looks into her bright blue eyes and knows that Penelope is going to be as beautiful as her mother, especially when her blonde hair gets longer. Anastasia realizes the same thing about Michael. As their son has gotten older, his face has started to look more and more like Will's with each passing day. Michael has even started to pick up on some of his father's signature facial expressions.

"Now, Michael and Penelope, today is a special day, so we're going to be very busy. Let's go get breakfast and then Mommy will help you get in your birthday outfits," Anastasia explains to her children.

"Yay!" Michael and Penelope excitedly say together before wrapping their arms around their parents' necks.

The four of them walk down to the dining room, which has already been covered in streamers and balloons for later in the afternoon.

"Penelope, my little love, what's that?" Will asks his daughter in a curious tone and a smile on his lips as they approach the table.

Upon reaching her chair, Penelope's face lights up with a smile as she sees a giant stuffed puppy waiting for her.

"Puppy!" she excitedly shouts before wrapping the stuffed animal in her arms, enjoying the fluffiness of the toy.

"That is a puppy, Penelope. You're a smart lass," Will tells her before bouncing her up and down in his arms.

"And this is for you, Michael," Anastasia grins while handing her son a giant stuffed tiger that she and Will secretly got him while they were at the zoo about a month ago.

Michael grips at the stuffed tiger and holds it against his chest, realizing that it is a lot bigger than he is.

"Love you, Mommy," Michael happily tells Ana, his face a mixture of excitement and love.

"I love you too, my little prince. Now, let's eat breakfast and you'll get the rest of your presents at your party," Anastasia tells her son before pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Yes, Mommy," the twins answer, wanting to get their special day going, even if they won't remember most of what happened a few years later.

They always have pictures and Will and Anastasia to help them remember.

"There we are, Penelope. You look like a queen, sweetheart," Anastasia coos at her daughter after she slips a white sleeveless dress over her daughter.

The one-year-old's dress somewhat mirrors one of the dresses Anastasia wears when she's doing her royal duties, much to Penelope's delight. As for Michael, he is dressed in a baby suit, you know, the ones that parents fawn over, saying their son is quite the little gentleman. Will pokes his head around the doorframe, watching his favorite people in the world with a smile on his face. He grins upon seeing Penelope in a dress that looks like one Anastasia would wear and realizes just how fast their children are growing up. True, Michael and Penelope are only one, but he feels like it was just yesterday that they were born. Will doesn't really know where the time's gone, but he knows he has loved all of the time he's had with his and Ana's wonderful children. He wipes a stray tear off his face and is soon noticed by Anastasia. She tosses a smile in his direction before walking over to him, both Michael and Penelope in her arms.

"You look beautiful, just like your mother, little love," Will happily tells his daughter before scooping her up into his arms and pressing kisses on her head and cheeks.

"Thank you," Penelope tells Will, though she still can't get the 'h' sound correctly yet, so it comes out sounding like "tank you."

Hook likes to joke with Will that the reason that neither Michael nor Penelope can say words with h's correctly is because they have Will for a father. The pirate likes to tease Will that his British accent affects how the twins learn to talk. Whenever Hook starts that up, Will's all too happy to say that at least his children would have a better British accent than the pirate.

"And Michael, you look so handsome, just like Daddy," Anastasia grins at her son while adjusting her hold on him.

"Yay!" the birthday boy says, liking the comparison between himself and his father.

Michael looks up to Will, that's obvious. Will gently turns Penelope to where he can look into her blue eyes, knowing he needs to treasure this moment.

One day she'll be too big to be able to be scooped into his arms like this.

One day she'll be a beautiful, strong, independent young lady, much like her mother.

And, one day he knows he'll have to give her away, to let go and let her find her true love, much like he and Ana had found love with one another.

But, for now, Will makes sure to spoil Penelope and make her know he loves her with all of his heart. To say Will is going to be a protective father over his daughter is an understatement. He's never going to let anything bad happen to her. They head down to the party, these thoughts still swirling through Will's head.

"Surprise!" all of Will and Anastasia's friends yell out to the birthday prince and princess.

Michael and Penelope smile at the guests to the castle before Penelope shyly hides her face in Will's neck.

"What do you say, darlings?" Ana asks the twins, wanting them to develop good manners at a young age.

"Thank you," the two one-year-olds chorus before Penelope returns to hiding against her father, thankful that he is there to hold her.

Will goes and sits down on the couch that is in the castle's main room, holding his arms out where Ana can place Michael in his arms. The White Queen passes their son to her husband before going to retrieve the cake that Granny had made for the special day. Once the cake is brought out, the friends and family start to sing "Happy Birthday" to Michael and Penelope. After two times of singing the birthday song (Robin and the other Merry Men were considered off-key on the first one), Anastasia and Will hand the smaller version of cakes over to their children to blow out the candles. At first, both twins look dumbfounded as to what they're supposed to do with the single candle on each cake. Michael tries to pick up the candle, almost burning his small hands on the tiny flame.

"No, little mate. That's not what you do. You blow the candle out, Michael," Will laughs while watching his son try to figure out what candles are for.

Michael still looks confused, so Will begins to take a big breath and prepares to help Michael blow out the candle. He puffs air in his cheeks, something he knows his son will copy the action of. Michael gets air in his tiny cheeks and lets the breath out when Will does. The candle blows out, mostly thanks to Will, but the proud father takes his son's hands in his own and claps their hands together. Michael smiles up at his father and Will feels his heart melting all over again in a similar fashion that it melted exactly a year ago. Looking over, Will notices Ana taking pictures of him and Michael, so he makes sure the two of them are actually looking at the camera for some of the pictures. Not long after, Ana hands the camera to Will as she helps Penelope blow out the candle on her cake. Anastasia ends up blowing out the candle with Penelope, which makes the little girl's smile so wide. After this, Will and Ana remove the candles from Michael and Penelope's cakes to allow their children to dive into the delicious dessert. Not long after they take the candles away do Michael and Penelope take their tiny hands and begin to play with the cake, getting frosting all over their highchairs and tiny hands. Will's smile grows wider watching his children get frosting all over their tiny hands and faces before Penelope tries to feed Anastasia some cake. The pink frosting covers his princess's mouth and Will can't resist snapping pictures of his daughter looking so adorable, especially when she shoves cake towards Ana's mouth. Penelope misses her mother's mouth and ends up getting cake all over Anastasia's face. Ana's laugh echoes off of the stonework and Will knows there is no greater feeling in the world than celebrating their children's birthday. Everything's going just fine, until…..

"Oi! You're not that good of a mate that I would let you eat my fair share of cake, mate," Will suddenly yells out as Hook tries to snag the untouched piece of cake from Will's cake.

The pirate feigns an innocent smile before making a comeback that makes everyone else laugh, Will included.

"Well, if I'm not important enough to steal your cake, Scarlet, then who is?" Hook asks, a smirk on his lips.

"Only Penelope and Michael are allowed to steal my food," Will replies, turning away from the pirate, taking his piece of cake with him.

"What about Anastasia?" Hook counters, knowing very well and good that Will is going to have an interesting response for that questions.

"Ana can steal any food of mine that she pleases. She can bloody well have anything I have that she wants," the White King smiles before turning to eat his cake.

His blue party hat looks absolutely ridiculous as he scarfs down the cake, the top of it bobbing up and down as he moves his jaw and the streamer dances in the air every time the proud father moves.

Many hours later, all of the cake is eaten, (It is Granny's cake after all.) all of the guests have gone home, and the tired birthday twins are sleeping in their bedroom. Will and Ana stay downstairs, cleaning up all of the remaining streamers and balloons, having enjoyed the rest of the night with their little ones. Will had played trains with Michael after the little boy gave his father puppy-dog eyes which have an irresistible look to them. Both of the twins had also gotten miniature leather jackets, courtesy of Will himself. Instead of the trains that Michael got, Penelope got some My Little Pony toys, which made her smile the rest of the night as she made Pinkie Pie and Minty go on an adventure, Anastasia helping their daughter with the dialogue and plot. Michael and Penelope each got a new set of blocks to play with, along with two jumbo jigsaw puzzles with big enough puzzle pieces that the one-year-olds wouldn't choke on them. The whole present opening process had been a lot of fun, but very messy. That's why it took nearly forty-five minutes to find where Penelope and Michael had thrown all of the wrapping paper. As Will picks up stray streamers from the floor, he starts to talk to Ana in a soft voice as to not wake their children upstairs.

"I remember the first time I held Michael and Penelope," he softly says, a huge grin on his face, remembering the sensation he had felt as he became a father for the first time.

"You cried," Anastasia playfully teases, remembering both her emotions and Will's.

"You did too, Ana. Besides, we have the best children in the world, luv. Who wouldn't cry upon seeing our little angels?" Will responds, thinking of how he held the twins close to his chest that night, promising them that he would always be there to protect them.

Images flash through his mind of the tiny infants that he had talked to and prepared himself for during the nine months that Anastasia was pregnant with them. He remembers how wide his smile was when Ana told him that she was pregnant with his child; remembers the happy tears that spilled out of his dark brown eyes. Now, of course, before they were born, Will thought he and Ana were just going to have one baby to dote on and devise their attention to, but then they were in for a pleasant surprise. Will has probably memorized the night where Ana woke him when the twins kicked for the first time and how he had smiled like the Cheshire Cat when the tiny kick connected with his hand for the first time. He remembers the pride he felt when the twins kicked every time he talked to them or Anastasia before they were born. Michael and Penelope are the two best gifts he has ever received in his life; and he wouldn't trade them for the world. He knows Anastasia agrees whole-heartedly with him.

Author's Note: And there's Chapter 28! I am so happy with how this turned out, and I hope you are too! Special thanks to all of my amazing reviewers and readers. You all are amazing! I kept to my word and updated today, even though I was sort-of busy. Until Chapter 29, my amazing readers!

P.S., Red Knave, I read your review, and I have found a couple of YouTube videos I think you would like. Type in Will and Anastasia Alternate Curse and click on the video by ThisJacobNessie. That video is amazing; I found it yesterday and I have watched it probably ten times already. That YouTuber has awesome Red Knave videos, I think you'll enjoy them. You could also check out my two videos if you want. I would love that. You can search Will and Anastasia: I'll Be Strength. It should be the top one by Hannah Huntley. Those are my videos. Hope you like those, and it would be amazing if you commented on mine. Hope to hear more reviews from you.

Also, if you want to communicate through email, leave me yours in the review section. That way we could have easier communication.