Lina was concerned that she had run out of story to relay to Zel and Amelia before Owen had been able to contact them again. She had been hopeful that they had caught the end of the battle, and that Owen had been about the strike the killing blow when the inn was destroyed and that he would be in contact shortly, but it had taken Lina at least an hour to relate the tale. So when she finished she looked at the clock and scowled. "Oh, what could be taking them so long?"
"Well, if the Ceiphied Knights were there they may have some things to go over with them." Zelgadis suggested.
"Our peace of mind should be near the top of their list of important things for them to go over!" Lina insisted, "Just sitting here not knowing what is happening and if they're okay, it sucks! And all of our reputations are at stake in addition to Owen and Nerys' lives! And if that's not bad enough I really have to use the bathroom!"
"Don't let us stop you." Gourry said as his eyes sparkled while Zelgadis looked discontented.
"But I want to be here the moment Owen reports!" Lina said.
"Well I'm sure if you're real quick about it…"
"Hey now," Zelgadis said, "Lina has a point. As headmistress she needs to be here! We can't exactly ask Owen to wait around."
"Hold on a minute, Zel, why do you care so much?" Lina asked.
But before he could answer, Owen appeared in her office, holding Garm's pelt. "First part of the mission was a success." He reported.
"Wonderful!" Lina exclaimed as some of the tension she felt abated, "You did it! You're safe! Thank goodness!"
"It was a battle." Owen said, and it was obvious he did not escape completely unscathed. His clothes were covered in dirt and blood, but it was hard to tell how much was his and how much was an enemies. Still, that he was standing indicated that any wounds he had received weren't that bad.
"I know. We watched part of it." Lina explained. "Up until the inn was destroyed, that was when we lost our ability to watch."
"So you saw how she sold me out!" Owen yelled. "What were you thinking, pairing me with someone so heartless?"
"I didn't sell you out!" They heard Nerys yell, "I was just catching them off guard. It worked, didn't it?"
"They could have killed me!"
"But they didn't." Nerys said dismissively.
"Nerys' technique was valid enough." Lina said. "Don't give your enemies any leverage to control you."
The color drained from Owen's face, "Not you, too!"
"Hey, we're glad you're not dead!" Lina said. "It would have been bad press for our school."
"Speaking of heartless." Owen muttered.
"It looks like that pelt is still oozing miasma." Amelia interrupted, and for the first time Lina considered some disturbing consequences of handing the pelt over to Gertrude that she'd never thought of. What if she could manufacture some weapon from the pelt? Still, it wasn't as if they had a lot of choice.
"Yes, Dava wants us to get going as soon as possible and insists on traveling through the night to get this to the Duchess quickly." Owen explained, "She's convinced that more of Gregory's men will come after us."
"I won't take up any more of your time then. Good work, both of you."
"And really, we're glad you're not dead." Gourry added.
"Thank you." He said as the transmission ended.
Lina exhaled, "Now that that's over, bathroom!" She said as she raced to the door.
But before Gourry could be too happy, Amelia got to her feet and followed her, "Me as well."
Zelgadis grinned as he waited until their wives were out of earshot to say, "Still tied."
The next time Owen contacted them, he was with Gertrude, having successfully handed her Garm's scalp. Gertrude made her promises that she would deny Gregory the troops that he desperately needed, though given how doggedly Gregory had attempted to capture Garm in the first place Lina worried that it wouldn't be the deterrent they had hoped for. Still, they had done their best, and now that the mission was a success she hoped that Nerys and Owen would be allowed to return home without being harassed. And now that all there was to do was to wait and see the fall out from their interactions in the Elmekian Empire, Lina was looking forward to the break that would be theirs when her parents took the kids on a camping trip!
And as Lina walked through the manor on the day that the kids were set to leave, she wasn't sure if the kids were on their most annoying behavior or if she was just so desperate for the break that she had less patience than usual. While she usually didn't mind how noisy the foyer got in the morning, today it was setting her on edge, especially as the joyous singing warred with the yelling of students demanding to know who had seen where their various items were as they ran from the dining hall to their rooms and back, which made walking to get breakfast seem like a game of dodge the kiddo.
Lina had nearly collided with Ripley as she ran back to the dorms with her breakfast in hand when Gourry grabbed her and pulled her to the side just as a tent blazed through the foyer, propelled by a wind spell that Adam was using as Jackie and Peter cheered him on. "What are you doing!?" Lina yelled, "You could have run me over!"
"Sorry, miss!" he said as he canceled the spell and the tent deflated to the ground.
"Pack it away and only take it out when you're outside!" Lina snapped.
"Right." He said.
But before Lina could relax, she heard a crashing sound from the down the hallway. She groaned as one of the kids yelled, "It's okay! It won't take too long to clean up!"
Lina's eyebrow ticked as she said through gritted teeth, "I swear…"
"I'll take care of it." Gourry said as he patted her on the arm, "You get some food."
Lina rushed to the dining room and shut the door behind her. "It's a jungle out there!"
"I guess it's good that they're excited," Amelia said, "But if I knew that I would have to spend the rest of the day with them like this I would cry!"
"Are you sure you're going to be okay with them?" Zelgadis asked Han incredulously.
He shrugged, "A long hike, learning to pitch a tent, trust me, we'll work that energy out."
"Well, we appreciate you doing this." Amelia said.
"Honestly, we're just itching to travel together again." Leia said, "Since the girls were born we've never had the opportunity to travel together anymore."
"I see where Lina gets the wanderlust from." Zelgadis commented as Gourry walked in, looking shell shocked.
"Oh no. How bad is it?" Lina asked.
"Let's just track down Alona." He said as he shook his head, "And make sure that she gets a good tip today."
When the kids finally left, Lina, Gourry, Zel and Amelia wasted little time in kicking their feet up in the upstairs parlor. Lina and Amelia had opened all of the windows as they waited for the men to return with freshly cut watermelon and used a modified wind and ice spell to create a cool breeze to wash through the room with, and both women were soaking their feet in buckets of cool water as Lina said, "At least the kids will be gone during the summer! It's already too hot to teach!"
"Yeah, I sent a missive to court that it's too hot for me to be in a carriage right now." Amelia said as she cradled her stomach. "I feel sorry for your folks being out there with them in this heat, though!"
"It's just for one week." Lina said, "And then hopefully Nerys and Owen will get back before summer break, and then we'll all have a vacation!"
"Well, you will." Amelia said, "I've still got my diplomatic duties! The further along I get the less I want to do this!"
Lina moaned, "I feel so unbearably domestic! Like I have the best gig I could possibly hope to ever have. It's intellectually challenging, keeps me in the fight against the Mazokus, and you know I love to get in front of a crowd and talk, but all I want to do is sit on my ass and read while I shout orders at Alona in how to organize the nursery!"
"It's the nesting instinct." Amelia said as she caressed her belly, "Besides, it's too hot to work right now! Even if we weren't pregnant. Still, we'd better think of how we're going to use the summer. Once the fall kicks into full gear we'll be too busy teaching again, so we'd better get the nursery organized and start interviewing nannies and wet nurses."
"Wet nurses?" Lina repeated as she exhaled, "This is a strange new world I'm entering. I'm going to have to follow your lead. What do I look for in a good wet nurse, or nanny for that matter?"
"Food is here!" Gourry announced as he came in with Zelgadis, holding a platter of freshly cut watermelon.
"Oh, that looks delicious!" Lina said as she grabbed some and wasted no time in biting into it. "Ah, melts in your mouth!"
"It does hit the spot!" Amelia agreed.
"I've been meaning to ask," Lina said, "So I can ask Alona to prepare. Amelia, I know that your father will be coming for the baby's birth, but Zel, do you have any family who you want to invite?"
"There's no one to invite really." He said.
"Well, that got awkward. Anyway, Amelia, is there anyone else you're wanting to invite, like your sister?" Suddenly the area between Lina's shoulder blades grew taunt as she felt that the spy had returned.
"Well, Sis should be coming, but you know how she is."
"Yeah, she'll either come three months early or three months late." Lina agreed as she cursed her unreliability, because absurd as the thought was, she started hoping that Naga would be there. Lina put her hands protectively over her stomach as she said, "Perhaps I should track her down and remind her. A girl needs all of the women in her life with her during this time."
"That's so sweet of you!" Amelia exclaimed as Zelgadis looked decidedly uncomfortable while Gourry looked at her in surprise. Still, if the spy was watching, Lina did not want to say too much in the open. She made a note to send a letter to Naga later, when she didn't feel as though she was being watched.
Lina took a moment to think about something safe to talk about as she took another slice of watermelon, and then flushed as she put it down. "Oh man, I gotta run for a minute."
"Me too." Amelia said as she got up.
Zelgadis and Gourry exchanged grins. "Where are you two going?" Gourry asked.
"Where else?" Lina said dryly. "The bathroom."
As the women walked out, Gourry and Zelgadis pulled out paper. "That's Lina's seventh time today!" Gourry said.
"I'm winning. This is Amelia's ninth!" Zelgadis said.
Suddenly Lina and Amelia raced back in and stood before their husbands, hands on hips. "We heard that! Just what is going on here?"
Gourry and Zelgadis gulped. "Um," Gourry said, "Well, we were talking about how you two are running off to the bathroom all the time now, and we sorta made a bet about which of you goes more, and today Amelia's winning."
Lina and Amelia looked at each other, and then Amelia smiled, "I'm winning!"
"No, I'm winning." Lina said, "Since I'm going less that means my control is better than yours."
Amelia blushed. "Hey! Are you sure your husband counted correctly? He's not exactly known for his smarts."
"Now look!" Lina exclaimed as she wiped her sweaty brow.
"If it means anything it seems to vary." Zelgadis said, "Lina won yesterday and the day before that, breaking Amelia's winning streak of four days…"
Lina and Amelia turned back to look at the men, "You mean you do this every day?"
"Well, maybe?" Gourry said as he smiled real wide.
"Can you believe it? We're wrecking our bodies giving you children and you're having a laugh at our expense and turning it into some competition!" Lina groused.
"Yeah, how could you?" Amelia asked as she set her hands on her hips and looked at them disappointingly. "Especially after that morning sickness I went through!"
"And don't forget my early labor! That really hurt!"
Gourry sighed as he asked, "Do you want me to rub your back or your feet?"
"My feet." Lina said.
"My back." Amelia added, with a meaningful look at Zelgadis.
"Alright. We can't say you haven't earned it." He replied.
"But first, we still have to pee." Lina muttered.
Lina ran her brush through her hair as she sat at the vanity, and then turned the brush over and looked at it and groaned as she pulled the hair from the bristles and examined it.
"What is it?" Gourry asked as he got dressed.
"All of my red highlights are falling out!" Lina said as she turned to her reflection and looked at her hair mournfully.
"I've not noticed any difference." He said.
Lina threw the lost strands into the trash bin, "At the rate I'm losing them you will. Dammit, I knew I'd get fat and get stretch marks, but I didn't think I'd lose my highlights! I liked those!"
"But at least your boobs are big now, so it's not all bad." He pointed out.
"Is that really all you care about?" she yelled.
"No, but you should keep in mind the good changes!" he said.
"Right now I'm scared I won't be the same anywhere!" she complained as someone knocked at the door. "Come in."
Jeeves opened the door, "Excuse the interruption, but I thought you'd like to know, Owen and Nerys have returned and are in the children's dining room having a late breakfast."
"Well that's a relief." Lina said as she sat the brush down and stood up, "We'll be right down."
"Well that's good timing, the rest of the kids should be back later today." Gourry said.
"And they'll get the enjoy their summer break." Lina added as they linked arms, "Shall we?"
When they got to the dining room, Owen and Nerys were arguing as they ate. "Welcome back!" Gourry said.
"I'm glad to be back." Nerys said, "And to get as far away from him as possible!"
"I'm not the one who sold you out!" Owen shot back.
"Oh get over yourself!" Nerys replied.
"Keep that up and I'll keep right on pairing you together on future missions." Lina said. "The impressive results you achieved for this mission more than justify it!"
Owen and Nerys got silent as Lina sat down with them, "You're just in time. My parents took the rest of the school out for the camping trip and will be arriving back tonight. Now given the circumstances my dad wants you two to rest assured that you will ace his hard knocks class."
"That's real good news for Owen. It's the only way he's going to get an A!" Nerys said.
"I'm not the one who was crying to Ripley about my grade in Mazoku Lords." Owen countered as Nerys turned crimson.
Lina thought about Gourry's observation that both of them would be happier at Maninstit over the summer break, but given their bickering Lina couldn't bring herself to extend the invitation. "Anyway. Once Princess Amelia and Duke Zelgadis arrive we'll go down to Zefiel City to have you debriefed by the Eternal Queen, as well as my sister. And we'll take you out for lunch, our treat!"
"Sounds good." Owen said, and for once Nerys didn't have a witty retort.
"I'm glad that we can agree on something." Lina said, "On that note, I'll choose the restaurant. You two go ahead and unpack and rest for a bit until the carriage is ready. You've earned it. Well done!"