"Nathanael! Come set up the plates!" the young man groaned as he stood up from his desk. Marco was standing at the bottom of the stairs, hands on his hips and tapping his foot. Nathanael walked down the stairs, purposely stepping over the next step, knowing it is one of the many things his father finds annoying. Nathanael walked past his father and headed straight to the table. Marco sighed and returned to the kitchen to finish cooking. "Don`t be mad at him. I bet you were the same way when you were fifteen." his wife told him as she hugged him from behind. Marco looked over his shoulder at Hekapoo who was giving him puppy eyes. He just turned his gaze back to the stove but Hekapoo saw the blush on his cheeks. Knowing she won the argument, she went into the dining room. Nathanael was placing the plates on the table and Ember was sitting on one of the chairs, folding the napkins. The forger smiled at her children and went to place the drinking glasses next to the plates. "I heard you were annoying your dad, again." Hekapoo remarked casually but Nathanael stiffened up. "Well, I was trying to finish my homework..." he trailed off, seeing his mom give him a smirk. Nathanael sometimes hates how Hekapoo can read people like magazines. "Look, I know you are thinking about your grades and your future but you need to focus on the present." Nathanael groaned again. He got the same `you are still a child` talk from one of his parents when ever he chose to study instead of doing literally anything else. "I know but I want to go to a good college and get a decent job. This is how it works in this dimension." "But who said you have to stay in this dimension?" Hekapoo had a habit of teasing, even after she became a mother.
"Mom?" Hekapoo turned to the little girl folding the napkins. "Yes, sweetheart?" Ember finished folding the last napkin and turned to her mother. "Why does Nath want to stay in this dimension when other ones are much more fun?" Hekapoo had to smile at her naive daughter. "It's because your brother is a stick in the mud." Nathanael`s face turned red "Mom! Stop telling Ember lies! I am not a stick in the mud!" he shouted across the table. Hekapoo just smirked at him and continued to place dishes onto the table. "I`m not a stick in the mud..." the teenager started muttering as he placed the last plates on the table. " Hpoo! Ember! Nathanael! Nachos set the cupboard on fire again!" Marco shouted from the kitchen. Rest of the Diaz family groaned and headed to the kitchen.
After the fire was put out and Nachos under control, Marco slumped onto the couch out of exhaustion. "Is someone tired?" Hekapoo teased as she sat next to him. "Of course you and kids aren`t tired. You are an immortal being and kids are kids." Marco groaned out. Hekapoo giggled at her husband. Just then the doorbell ringed and she stood up. "Now, you can pull yourself together and give a good show or Tommy and Janna are going to have new teasing material about the old man." That got Marco up and right by the door with a few steps. "What got into dad?" Ember asked by the dining room door. "Motivation, honey."
Marco straightened his shirt and opened the front door. Before he can say anything, he was trapped in a bone-crushing hug."Nacho Marco! It's so good to see you again!" Janna cheered as she crushed Marco in her arms. "Janna Banana!" Hekapoo cheered as she came to greet their guests. "Hpoo!" Janna cheered again as she dropped Marco and hurried off to hug the shorter woman. The Diaz man groaned as he was dropped on the floor. Tom chuckled as he followed his wife into the house. "Are you alright Diaz?" the demon asked as he helped Marco stand up. "I`m never going to understand the bond between those two." he said as both husbands looked at their wives talking rapidly about something. "I know what you mean. It`s like they speak a language only they understand." Tom agreed. " Mabie you guys don`t understand them because they are women and you guys are men." Raphael deadpanned as he and Richard came through the door. "Oh, Raphael, you are soo smart.!" Richard humored his twin as they both snickered at the glaring adults. "Ricky! Ralph!" Ember screamed as she came running from the dining room. "Embry!" Ricky screamed back as he hugged the small dancer. "Do you ever not wear your ballet shoes?" Raphael asked as he looked the two hug. Those two can be like puppies when they are together. "Where are my favorite demon twins?" Hekapoo came over to the two boys and gave them both a hug. "Aunt Hekapoo!" Richard cheered as he hugged her back. "Good to see you again." Raphael said as he stepped away from the embrace. He wasn`t as cuddly as Richard. "Hi, guys!" Nathanael also joined the party in the hallway to greet his friends. Marco, being the organized man he is, couldn`t stand how everyone was clustered in front of the door. "Okay, Diazes and Lucitors, the food, which I worked really hard on, is going to get cold if we stay here any longer. So let us move this party to the table." Everyone rolled their eyes at Marco and proceeded to the dining room.
The two families had a fun dinner. Marco had cooked his special Mexican dinner again and everyone was loving it. "What are you guys going to do for your wedding anniversary this year?" Marco asked the demon couple. "Wait! Our anniversary is coming up!?" Janna shouted across the table. "Yes, it is. This December, I took you as my wife and the Queen of Lucitor exactly sixteen years ago." her husband tried to calm her down but the raven haired woman was raving on about how she hasn`t even thought about what she is going to get for Tom. "I hope you at least still remember our birthdays, mom." Richard remarked, taking a drink from his glass. " You will be lucky if she remembers Christmas." Raphael said to his brother. " Speak for yourselves. I sometimes can`t even remember how old I am." Hekapoo cut in. "Why don`t you remember how old you are, mommy?" Ember asked, clearly clueless. "You will get it when you're older." Nathanael answered for his mother. "I have never actually never asked this, but how old are you, Hekapoo?" Marco turned to his wife. "Wait, dad, you married her but never bothered to ask her age?" Nathanael asked. Everyone else was having the same thought. "Because, son, a proper gentleman never asks a lady their age." the older Diaz man countered back with a smirk. "Besides, if he did do that, he would feel like a kid next to her." Tom said. Everyone at the table tried not to laugh but were failing, except Marco. He huffed and turned sideways in his chair, facing away from everyone else. "Oh, don`t be like that, honey. We are just messing around. It's what`we do." The forger tried to get her husband to respond but he was being stubborn. "Ah, come on! After everything we have done, heck I have done, this is what gets you?" Janna asked the Diaz man. Marco sighed and turned right in his chair again. "It wasn`t the comment itself that bothers me. It`s the implication." Everyone grew silent after that. While Tom turned Janna into a demon in order for his kingdom to have the proper queen, Marco is still human and who knows how long Hekapoo will live. "I don`t understand." Everyone turned to the little girl at the table. Being only seven, Ember didn`t understand what her parents faced, even if she is smarter than most kids her age. Marco only smiled at his daughter. "It`s okay, spark. You have all the time in the world to learn that." Ember smiled a little at the use of her father`s nickname for her. "I`m done! The mood at the table has turned too sought for me! Come on, Nath, show me that new horror flick you got!" Richard grabbed the dirty blond from his chair and dragged him upstairs. Raphael followed them while pinching his nose bridge. "I`m finished. Thank you for the dinner!" Ember also left the table to follow the older boys into Nathanael`s room.
The adults just let out a collective sigh and started to collect the dishes. "I actually wanted to talk to you guys about something." Hekapoo broke the silence, washing the dishes. "What is it? Does it have anything to do with the Commission meeting you had today?" Marco asked his wife, putting away the forks. She only nodded in return. Tom and Janna felt the shift in the air and went to the other couple to listen. "When at the meeting today, everyone talked about the shiver we had this morning." "I know that this is important but I want things to be clear. What is a shiver? Like from a cold?" Janna asked. She looked at her demon husband but he shook his head, signaling he didn`t know. " I and all the members of the Commission can feel it when something magical happens, that has great consequences. It is similar to what you call on Earth the Butterfly Effect." Janna nodded in understanding. "You feel when something magical happens and it has some great effect on the future." She explained her understanding of it. " Yes. Like, years ago, we felt when Ludo`s castle fell because of the Whispering spell. We call that feeling a shiver." the Lucitor queen nodded in understanding. "Hekapoo had a shiver this morning and it has been bothering her all day." Marco explained why she was bringing this up. " At the meeting, Omnitraxus Prime used his powers to find the source. He is able to do that when he concentrates enough." Hekapoo continued to explain further the happenings at the meeting. "So, where was this disturbance coming from?" Tom asked while leaning against the counter. Marco started to say that counter had been on fire hours ago but decided against it. Hekapoo looked at her husband who gave her an encouraging smile and a nod. She smiled back and took a deep breath. "It came from the North side of Mewni."
The Lucitor couple grew silent at that. "Do you think it`s... Star?" It was Marco who had spoken. He hadn`t spoken louder than a whisper. Everyone was there when Star Butterfly fled her kingdom and abandoned her family and friends. With a resurrected Toffee. "We haven`t heard from her in years and now suddenly we get a signal from the North, where she MIGHT be." Tom spoke with a quiet tone. Star had fled to the North of Mewni but no one is sure that she still is there since that was the only left monster territory in Mewni. "Look, it doesn`t matter if it is her but what ever it is will effect Mewni." Hekapoo cut in before some bad memories were brought up. "Well, I am more than happy to lend my forces if it turns out to be a great threat to Mewni. And I am sure King Ponyhead is also ready to defend his best friends' kingdom." Tom brought up. The Lucitor Kingdom, Mewni and the Ponyhead Kingdom had formed an alliance pack years ago. "We need to go to Mewni for a while until this blows over." Marco suddenly declared. The Diaz family was great friends and allies with the Butterfly family. Marco was more than ready to help the royal couple and the kingdom in any way he can. "I agree with you but what about the kids. Who knows how long we will be away and they have their friends and school here. I know Ember will be happy to have a vacation but what about Nathanael. That boy takes his grades and future more seriously than you did and that is saying something." Hekapoo told Marco. That is a problem. They also can`t get a babysitter for such a long time. And Marco`s parents moved away, leaving the house to their son. Tom and Janna felt the tension between the forger and the brunet. "It is getting late. I will go get the boys." Tom said and left the kitchen. "Yeah, good idea. I will go put Ember to bed. You can go ahead and get into bed." Hekapoo told her husband and also left.
The Diaz couple waved goodbye to the Lucitor family as they returned to the Underworld in a flash of flames. Sitting on his side of the bed, Marco was pondering his options. He can move his job with him, being a multi-dimensional psychologist, Marco owned a second office on Mewni for more... interesting customers. But his wife made a good point. Nathanael was, most of the time, a boy who went with the flow but there are certain things he can be stubborn about, especially his education. The door to the bedroom opened and Hekapoo stepped in wearing her nightgown. "You are still up, mi Amor?" she asked as she climbed into bed and wrapped her hands around Marco`s waist. Marco smiled at her and kissed her forehead. Hekapoo learned a bit of Marco`s heritage and started calling him mi Amor when they are alone. She smiled back at him and reached up with one hand to remove his glasses. "Alright, I will go to bed." Marco took the glasses from Hekapoo and placed them on his bedside table. Turning off the lamp, the couple settled under the blanket. "What am going to do about him, Hpoo?" Marco whispered to his lover. "I have been thinking about that. He can just take his school work with him and I am sure the palace has some capable teachers. And he can use his scissors to come to school when needed." she replied. "And this is why I am glad I married you. Goodnight." Marco whispered as he tugged Hekapoo closer and they fell asleep in each other's arms.
Nathanael suddenly sat up in his bed with wide eyes. "Why do I feel uneasy?"