Ash checked in on Xirena and Xiovar before heading to the wreckage of the kitchen. He smiled lovingly at the "almost parents" and shooed Simi out of the room so they could be alone for a while. Simi pouted for a brief time until Ash suggested that she go buy something for the impending baby. Then she happily skipped off to see what QVC had to offer. He congratulated the demons on their happy event and then went to see what he could do to repair the wing of the palace that used to house his wife's kitchen.
It took him some time to fix the disaster, he had to remove the Charonte vomit first and that in itself was a hazardous task. Once he'd sent the gore off to someplace it could never be found, he repaired all of the damage and made the kitchen better than before. When he was done he went back to the playroom to find his wife and child gone. Figuring that they'd probably gone off to have some 'girls time' he decided to pay a visit to the Hunters and see how they were doing.
He flashed himself into the front hallway of their house in the Garden District and was surprised to hear several voices chattering and laughing in the living room. One of the voices he didn't recognize and another one he thought he'd never hear again. He edged closer to the door of the room and tried to peek around the edge of the doorframe without being seen. However, it was at that precise moment that Amanda came out of the room and she ran smack into the immovable wall of Ash's chest.
She danced backwards in surprise and he put a finger to his lips to quiet her potential outburst. "What are you doing here?" Amanda whispered to him.
"Had a little downtime, thought I'd come visit but it sounds like it's a bad time." His face fell a little bit and she realized that he knew who was in the other room. Amanda grabbed his sleeve and tugged it to get him to follow her into the kitchen, which was where she'd been headed.
"It's actually a very good time," she said with a grin when the door had closed behind them. "You know he's here right?" Ash simply tilted his head at her and she caught a flash of his swirling silver eyes. "Yeah, right, dumb question. You should come see him Ash. He's definitely in a much better frame of mind."
"I don't think I can Amanda."
"Oh puh-lease! You can bring people back from the dead but you don't think you can go in there and say hi to Nick. You sir, are full of crap."
Ash chuckled a little at her remark. Very few people, alive or dead, would dare to say something derogatory like that to him but Amanda and her twin sister had no problem calling him on his foibles. He knew that his wife had returned Nick to human and that no one else knew about the young man's brief stint as a Dark Hunter so he didn't say anything about that. "I don't know Amanda, I think Nick is still sort of mad at me. I wasn't exactly very nice to him after…well you know."
"Huh, and I thought you knew everything. Well, you're wrong." She glared at him in the dim light of the kitchen as if she were trying to see through his dark glasses into his brain. "Nick's changed a lot Ash. Give it a shot."
He knew that when Amanda got this adamant about something there was no stopping her until you succumbed to her will. So he nodded once slowly and took a deep breath before following her out of the kitchen to the living room.
"Hey everyone, look what I found in the kitchen," Amanda joked as she walked back into the room. Everyone turned to the doorway to see Ash looking hesitantly inside.
Kyrian immediately rose from the couch and strode over to Ash's side, clapping the Altantean on the shoulder. "Ash, good to see you! Marissa's been wondering where you have been." Suddenly remembering who else was in the room with them he turned to look at Nick and was happy to see the younger man smiling. "C'mon in, let me introduce you to our guests."
Ash followed behind Kyrian, warily eyeing Nick's face. When there was no hostility to be found in his gaze he relaxed a little and stepped forward to greet his old friend. "Hey Nick, how've you been?"
Nick didn't say anything for a moment and the tension in the room amped up a few degrees. After studying Ash's face for a moment Nick's mouth split into a beaming grin and he leaned forward to embrace his old friend. "It's good to see you man," He said after a manly hug. "Hey, I'd like you to meet the woman I love," Nick said casually as he turned to face the blushing woman that had been sitting next to him on the couch. "Ash, this is Lisa Peters, Lisa, Acheron Parthenopaeus."
Ash looked at the woman as she rose from the couch to shake his hand and he suddenly knew what Phaedryn had been up to recently, he could feel his wife's touch all over this young woman. Knowing that this was her 'home improvement' project he smiled broadly. "It is an honor to meet the woman that won Nick's heart."
That instantly put Lisa's mind at ease and she giggled as she shook his hand, "It's my pleasure. Nick's told me a lot about you."
Ash quirked an eyebrow at Nick and tilted his head, smiling but not flashing fang, "I assume none of it was good."
"Are you kidding?" Lisa laughed, "He thinks you're a god!"