Before the first tray of cookies was even out of the oven, a very queasy looking Xirena staggered into the kitchen pinching her nose closed and trying very hard not to gag. "Why must you assault me with that stench?"

Danger hid her laughter behind the newspaper she was reading and Phae simply blinked at the demon in confusion. "What are you talking about? I didn't burn them."

Usually Xirena gleefully enjoyed Phae's cookies but apparently today the smell of them was making her nauseous, and a nauseous Charonte was definitely not good news. Xirena turned even greener and began to gag a little which panicked both Phae and Danger. No one wanted to be around a sick Charonte, including immortals and goddesses.

Phaedryn glanced over at Danger who merely shrugged at the demon's odd reaction. "I'm not sure what you mean Xirena. I thought you loved the smell of my cookies."

Before she could answer Simi poked her head into the kitchen and smirked at her sister. "She looks like the Simi does after eating rubber. The Simi is allergic to rubber you know."

Danger's expression changed rapidly from amused to concerned, and she rose from the table to go towards her husband's demonic bondmate. "Xirena, are you feeling okay?"

The green tinged Charonte started to answer but was interrupted by her heaving stomach. She doubled over in pain and violently retched several times. Phaedryn was about to come around the counter when whatever was bothering the demon finally erupted from her stomach and a wash of vile thick liquid splattered on the floor. Danger hastily backed up and lifted her feet out of range of the vomit, which was probably a good idea since it appeared to be eating through the floor like acid. Xirena heaved several more times, emptying her stomach and finally falling backwards against the wall by her sister.

"Ooo, that's gross," Simi commented from the doorway as she turned up her nose.

Xiovar poked his head into the doorway, apparently concerned by the wash of emotion his mistress was feeling. When he saw Xirena's condition he went to her side and cradled her in his arms. "Very good 'Rena, it's all over now. You may relax yourself now."

Phaedryn looked quizzically at her demon and he smiled a fang filled grin at her as he pointed into the middle of the puddle of gore. She tipped up on her toes to peer over the counter and spotted what looked like a mottled green basketball in the center of the pool of slime. "What in the hell is that?"

Xiovar sniffed in disdain at her, "That is our child."

Danger and Phaedryn both looked dumbfounded as Xiovar settled Xirena into Simi's arms and strode through the steaming pulled of slime to retrieve the green sphere. "Perhaps you two do not understand the way Charonte reproduce. This is our egg."

"Huh." Phaedryn shrugged. "That's really…um…interesting." Her lip was still curled up over the whole thing. "Sorry sweetie, but…yuck. So what now?"

Xiovar shook his head comically, "Now I tend to the egg until it hatches."

"Nice, I like that idea." Danger remarked from her perch on the table. "It's nice that the males get to do some of the work."

"It is our way," the male demon said simply as he cradled the egg in his arms.

Xirena's color was slowly returning to normal and she smiled up at Xiovar's attention to the egg. "I am glad that my part is done."

"Simi is glad too. You were not any fun at all." The little demon pouted cutely at her sister.

"Well I'm glad you feel better Xirena, Ias will be relieved. He was quite worried about you." She smiled warmly at her husband's demon and then returned her critical gaze to the mess on the floor. "So who gets to clean that up?"

OoOoOo

Ash was still playing with a very happy Nea when Phaedryn appeared in the doorway of the playroom. She smiled lovingly at her husband and daughter as they played with various dolls, acting out scenarios that Nea created. Finally she cleared her throat and Ash looked over at her, "Hey baby. What's up?"

"Nothing. Just thought I'd come see what you two were up to. Oh and Xirena…um…expelled her egg."

Ash's face went pale for a moment and he nodded, "Sorry, I should have warned everyone about that little detail. But the hard part of that is over now. Did she make a mess?"

"Well you're going to have to replace the kitchen floor but it's not too bad."

Nea looked up at her mother, "Ith 'Rena'th baby cute?"

Phaedryn grinned at her daughter. "Oh honey, the baby isn't here yet. Xirena just produced her egg. It'll be a while before we have a baby Charonte in the house."

"Well that'th no fun."

Both of the adults chuckled at her petulant remark. Nea was fascinated with the concept of having a baby to play with. She was asking Phaedryn every day how much longer until her sibling arrived and the idea of a baby Charonte excited her even more. Phae walked the rest of the way into the play room and sat down between her husband and her daughter, "Why don't you and I play for a while sweetie? I need Daddy to go fix the kitchen."

"Okay."

Ash smiled and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek before he got up and left the room. Once they were alone Phaedryn grabbed a pair of the dolls off the floor and started playing with their hair. "So, what should we do today after we're done playing with dolls?"

"What about my cookieth?"

"Well honey, the kitchen sort of got destroyed and your cookies went with it. How about if we go out and have some ice cream instead?"

"Okay, I like ith cream."

Phaedryn looked down at her daughter and waved her fingers over the little girl's head, "Say that again will you?"

"I said, I like ice cream. Hey!"

Phaedryn smiled at her daughter and nodded in approval. "Very good honey. Now, let's go get that ice cream shall we?"