This story will contain the following: two women as life partners and mothers, spankings to minor children, and anyone else whom the author deems needs it.

The rights of Xena, Gabrielle, Cyrene, Argo, etc. belong to REN pics and whomever else makes a profit from using them. I own nothing.

All that said, enjoy.

I figured it was time to post that disclaimer again since it had been so long since I've posted. Let's just say that health and computer issues have now been resolved and I'm going to try and ease into a steadier routine of posting.

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Chapter 69

More than six weeks had passed since Daphne's comeuppance and I was mortified that my feather ceremony was to take place the same weekend as my 17th birthday. I couldn't believe a year had passed since the birthday we spent in the caverns for my 16th birthday. So much had happened since then, we'd gotten the horses for Eve, myself, and Mama, the twins had had their fifth birthday, Eve had celebrated birthday number 8 and Grace had turned one. We were still having movies once a week with Auntie and all of us were enjoying Disney movies, and this year, we'd even be starting the Halloween traditions again to coincide with our Harvest festival traditions. Last year had introduced Mama's and my favorite Christmas movie to Eve and the twins and we knew that quotes would once again be flying when Eve wrote her yearly letter to Sinticles asking for a bow and arrow, perhaps with a compass this time, and the twins might ask for flying reindeer after seeing them and asking why we couldn't visit the north pole to visit Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus for Christmas. Thank the gods Mama had great woodworking skills to make gifts after some of the Christmas specials Auntie showed us last year.

Argo's twins had been born near the twins' birthday in July and the girls had each received one for their fifth birthday. Zoe had been given the colt and Emily the filly. After talking to the twins, it was discovered that the wild stallion was actually Pegasus and Argo's progeny were able to move back and forth between the mortal plane and Olympus at will. Mavri and Pegasus had become friends and the horses were happy to just hang out when possible. The twins had named their new friends Sonny and Cher after their favorite singers from the future. The twins would sing not only songs from Sonny and Cher but even Cher songs as they got to know their horses. They wouldn't be able to ride the horses until they were about 3 but they sang as they trained Sonny and Cher and graced us with their versions of the duos songs very much like the Madonna song I graced Mama and Mom with when I first traveled back to ancient Egypt.

We also had the Harvest festival coming up and I needed to retell the Headless Amazon story and come up with another story for the now infamous Harvest festival story telling contest and scarecrow activities.

Mama had been moving among my group of friends helping each of us win the contest year after year and it was the first year that Eve was going to be old enough to participate in the contest. Mama had decided that her duty now lied in giving guidance to Trouble and her cohorts so the village would still be standing by the end of Harvest festival. We all agreed.

Gracie was 1 and had yet to show any of her future ability as a seer. I wondered what would happen the year she turned 8. I knew then, that the moms would see that Kassandra's predictions about Grace would be coming to fruition and she would be the new seer for the tribe and didn't envy Grace her role in the tribe any more than I wanted my life laid out before me or Eve's life laid out before her.

The twins were still the only wildcards as far as I could tell, as I still thought perhaps Daphne was also going to be brought into the tribe in a big way. The fact that Artemis seemed to be taking a personal interest in her and the way she was being brought up in the ways of the tribe had not gone unnoticed by me and I wanted to make sure that there was nothing I was missing in regards to her.

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Grinning as I heard them keep harmony, and joining in I was glad that we had all seemed to inherit Mama's voice and the twins' could keep a tune in a buckets. Mom envied us this and sometimes the animals around us would complain to the twins about her trying to sing when nobody was around and though she could sing somewhat, her voice was nowhere near as good as Mama's voice.

"The beat goes on, the beat goes on, drums keep pounding a rhythm to your brain. La de da de de, la de da de da," Mama began.

The Charleston was once the rage, uh huh, history has turned the page, uh, uh, the mini skirt, the current thing, uh huh, the teenybopper is our newborn king uh-huh," I continued.

"The beat goes on, the beat goes on, drums keep pounding a rhythm to your brain. La de da de de, la de da de da," This time it was Zoe and Emily who came in on the chorus.

The grocery store the super mart, uh huh, little girls still break their hearts, uh huh. Amazons still marching off to war, Electrically, they keep a baseball score." Mama again.

"The beat goes on, the beat goes on, drums keep pounding a rhythm to your brain. La de da de de, la de da de da." Eve piped up this time.

"Grandmas sit in chairs and reminisce, girls chasing girls to get a kiss, the chariots getting faster all the time, bums still cry, hey buddy, have you got a dime?" Deciding to change a few words in this stanza I had some fun with it and then smiled as we all sang the chorus once more as we headed into the village.

"The beat goes on, the beat goes on, drums keep pounding a rhythm to your brain. La de da de de, la de da de da." Never more thankful for Sonny and Cher and my music player I smiled once more as Eve nudged Chaos towards the barn taking Emily with her while Mama and Zoe followed on Argo the first. I headed to the kitchen with our mess of fish and the rest of the food we'd brought back with us from our impromptu hunting and fishing trip. We had actually been looking for gourds for the scarecrow decorating contest but Mama hadn't deemed them ready yet so we'd decided to grab a mess of fish instead and I had decided that since we hadn't gotten enough for the entire village that I would clean them and we'd have dinner at home that night. I was just going to do a bit of shopping in the kitchen first for the herbs we needed.

Sneaking into the kitchen, I grabbed what I needed and hightailed it out of there before I was caught. I might be almost 17 now, but Yaya was still deadly if you were caught in her kitchen uninvited and Shay wasn't much more understanding. Exiting the kitchen, I ran into Daria and smirked. "Hello, lady." I grinned.

"Hello, yourself." She smirked back. "You just get back?"

"Yup." Taking Jedi's reigns, I began to walk him towards the barn with Daria by my side. "Had to raid the kitchen so we could cook at home tonight."

"Mind if I join you?" She asked.

"Not one bit." I replied as we interlaced our fingers.

"You two better hurry up," Zoe came running up to us and pointed. "Mama and Mommy aren't happy right now and the two of you are in trouble."

"What in the world did we even do?" Daria asked.

"No idea, but it had to be a big one." Emily had joined us by this time. "Mama says to move it or lose it, ladies."

"Damn." Mounting Jedi, I pulled Daria on behind me and galloped the short distance to the stables. Stopping short as I heard something strange the closer, we got to the barn, I shook my head and stopped Jedi. Whistling, he sat down and Daria slid off his hind end just as she had done Mavri when I first came back in time.

"Really, Sam?"

"Well, you are in on this…" I trailed off as everyone came out of the barn. "Surprise?"

Shaking my head, I could only shake my head as I noticed an impromptu game of dodgeball being set up by a few of my friends as well as others. "What do you say to a friendly game of birthday dodgeball, little one?"

"Seriously?" My smile answered for me and I handed Mom my satchel. Dinner is inside, but I guess that was just a ruse to get everyone set up out here?"

She nodded and handed it to Yaya. "Yep. Your yaya is going to make stew out of what you and your mama and sisters caught."

"And Aunt Hessie is going to supply the dessert." Eve piped up again. "Time to choose sides!"

Watching as everyone spread out around us and I looked over everyone carefully, making sure to pick my team carefully. Mom was the captain for the other team and she chose Mama as her first pick. No surprise there. I closed my eyes and prayed to the gods that I would be forgiven by my second choice if Mom didn't grab her first.

"Sam?" Looking at the people lined up, I took a deep breath and weighed my options. Daria was my girlfriend a great warrior in training but she didn't have the focus dodgeball required, Eve had the focus but wasn't big enough yet, Rory had both the skill and the focus for the win in dodgeball. And she knew me well enough to know what I expected from my dodgeball picks. "Rory."

Seeing her smile, I saw Eve and Daria's eyes cloud for a brief second before Daria shook it off and Mom then did her mental checklist as well, she was as competitive in dodgeball as I was and I knew we'd be playing a good game, with no prisoners taken.

Mom and I alternated our choices, and we each had a reason for our picks. Mom going first, "Zivah."

"Daria."

"Trouble."

"Chryssa."

"Telema."

"Rosa."

"Izzy."

"Mavis."

"Daphne." Mom spoke and I shrugged and smiled.

"Eponin." Hearing Mama's groan, I knew that I had made the right decision.

"Ephiny."

"Giorgi." My choice again, and I picked the young warrior we had welcomed with the new Amazon group from the south as well.

"Elsabet." Mom chose one of the newer members of our tribe in the thirteen year old girl who had joined us last six seasons ago with Rosa and Izzy.

"Carina."

"Alex."

"Emily."

"Zoe."

"Addy." Mom spoke again and to be on the queen's team.

"Layla."

"Vanessa." Mom's last choice and I wished for a moment that the girl's limp hadn't made it seem as if she had been the last pick for that reason alone. It was just that nobody knew her dodgeball strengths or weaknesses yet and dodgeball knew no weakness so better to choose unknowns last than first.

Smelling the scent of roses, I grinned, knowing that Aphrodite would be making an appearance soon. Seeing the flash of silver I also was not disappointed to see Artemis materialize with Auntie. Aunt Hessie rounded out the group of goddesses and they brought the dodge balls with them. Placing the balls in the middle of the court the goddess stood back and I heard the whistle go.

Three of us from each side grabbed the balls and started the game. I managed to take out one of Mom's team members and she knocked Rosa out of the game. Hearing boos from the sidelines, I watched as Zoe managed to bean Addy and then grinned as Addy trotted off the court.

We continued the game until only four were left. Mama, Mom, me and Rory. Or as others were calling it- the final four. I wondered how it would turn out and hoped for the best. Knowing that one day, Eve would take my place as the dodgeball queen, as soon as I surpassed Mom, I wondered where Mama and Rory would land in the dodgeball hierarchy. The twins seemed to have a natural skill for it but didn't have the competitive drive and Grace seemed to want to compete but didn't yet have the coordination for the game. Willing to give her the time to grow into the game, I wasn't going to discount her yet. Just like I wouldn't discount the twins yet.

"Duck!" I hollered and watched as Rory and Mama both did a judo roll to avoid being hit with a ball. Neither was hit but it was close for both. Picking up the balls once more, both of them took aim and fired, hitting their marks. The balls hit in mid air and flew in separate directions as they collided. Now, only Mom and I remained. Each of us held a ball and I took a deep breath as did she, remembering last year, I tried to think about what she'd do and how much I learned in all of my training this past year. Knowing I didn't have much time before she utilized her skills, I threw my ball and prayed for the best ducking and rolling at the last minute I avoided the ball Mom had thrown at me while hearing the resounding thud of my ball hitting its target. Smiling as Eve yelled a loud "Yes! Sam finally wins."

Grinning, I helped Mom up and we hugged, "Did you have to take me down that hard, Sammy?"

"Are you kidding?" Of course, I did. "I mean, I didn't have a lifetime ban for nothing, you know. So, whose idea was this?"

"Mine!" Eve jumped into my arms.

"Yours, little bit?"

"Yep, pretty great tradition, right Sam?"

"Another birthday tradition?" I asked a little confused.

"Duh." Eve rolled her eyes and I reminded myself to not do that anymore around her or the twins that immediately followed her lead.

"Yeah, Sam, duh," they mimicked rolling their eyes. "Trouble says every year we have cake for breakfast and play dodgeball."

Nodding in understanding I looked at Mom and Mama. "Old and new traditions coming together. They smiled at me and we all hugged in the middle of the dodgeball pitch. "Come on you mushy Amazons, nothing to see here. Move it along." Eponin and Ephiny's voices could be heard directing the Amazons still mulling around towards the center of the village where Aunt Hestia and Auntie had set up a party of epic proportions. Even Autolycus had been invited thanks to Alex begging not to mention his current dating of Auntie. Shaking that thought from my head I decided I didn't want to know and decided to let it go.

Finding myself in the middle of the village, I looked up on the stage and saw a karaoke machine set up and then saw Emily and Zoe heading towards it. Wondering what in the world was going to happen, they picked up the microphones and grinned at each other. All noise in the village stopped as the girls began to speak in the microphones. Their voices being amplified tenfold by the speakers Auntie had set up around the stage and its trees.

"Hi ladies," Zoe began. "We're going to sing one of our favorites for you."

"It's from a duo called Sonny and Cher," Emily finished. "And this is another birthday tradition that we've decided on after talking to Auntie. Karaoke!" As she finished speaking the familiar tune came from the Karaoke machine and her clear voice began the song.

"They say we're young and we don't know, we won't find out until we grow," sang Zoe.

Well, I don't know if all that's true 'cause you got me, and baby I got you," Emily sang.

"I got you babe I got you babe." They both sang.

"They say our love won't pay the rent, before it's earned, our money's all been spent." Emily sang.

"I got you babe I got you babe."

"I guess that's so, we don't have a pot, but at least I'm sure of all the things we've got," once more Zoe took the lead.

"Babe," Emily took over again followed by Zoe.

"I've got you, Babe."

"I got flowers in the spring, I got you to wear my ring," Zoe sang this lyric and I could tell she wasn't sure what it meant.

"Babe,"

"I've got you, Babe."

"And when I'm sad, you're a clown, and if I get scared, you're always around" Zoe's strong voice once more.

"So let them say your hair's too long, 'cause I don't care, with you I can't go wrong," Emily looked at Zoe's hair and shook her head like this was the craziest lyric she had ever heard.

"Then put your little hand in mine, there ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb," holding each other's hands was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen.

"Babe," Emily once more.

"I got you babe I got you babe."

"I got you to understand," Zoe's sweet contralto followed by Emily in the next verse.

"I got you to walk with me."

"I got you to talk with me."

"I got you to kiss goodnight," Emily kissed Zoe on the cheek as the crowd of Amazons awed at the sight.

"I got you to hold me tight," Zoe hugged Emily again causing the Amazons to awe in delight at the twins' antics. Some of the Amazons realizing what the song was about following suit to what the girls were doing.

"I got you, I won't let go," they sang together as they hugged.

"I got you to love me so," again together.

"I got you babe," together once more and they finished together until the end.

"I got you babe."
"I got you babe."

"I got you babe."
"I got you babe."

And the big finish, "I GOT YOU BABE!" The crowd of Amazons went wild as the girls took a bow and I could only shake my head at the little hams in our midst.

Turning to my mothers I asked quietly, "Did you guys know about this?"

"Nope," Mama answered "but they were good. Weren't they?"

"Oh yeah." Mom had the cheesiest grin on her face.

"Your girls were great even though they had no idea what they were singing about," Ephiny began.

"We do too!" Zoe interrupted. Hands on hips, looking very much like Mom.

"Oh?" Epinion asked. "What's that?"

"Twins!" Emily replied. "Our song was about twins!" She answered excitedly. "Wasn't it, Sam?" Looking to me I almost choked on my laugh as I merely nodded at the looks around me.

Daria nudged me with her elbow and whispered in my ear, "Yeah, it's about twins, babe." Seeing Mama smirk, I shook my head and elbowed Daria.

"Mama," I whispered to her simply and then watched as she flushed red in the cheeks. Seeing Auntie wave to me, I left my girlfriend and took off towards her while the rest of my family enjoyed the party.

Hearing the offkey singing in Greek, I began to chuckle, knowing that Auntie had enchanted the Karaoke machine to work in two languages. Now that a good majority of the village spoke and understood English as well as Greek, we were at a tactical advantage while in battle but there was no reason for the older girls or warriors to learn to read or write it unless they were to be part of the protection detail of the royal house meetings.

Eve's agemates were all bilingual as were the girls behind them. As for my age group, Rory was the only one to speak and read English. Daria was working on reading it, as was Zivah, and both spoke it. Telema and Chryssa spoke the language as did Valerie and Daphne. Ephiny and Eponin along with Yaya and Kassandra were also starting to understand English and I was glad of this since I didn't have to constantly search for words anymore. I was still searching for others to learn to speak English and wondered who would become a part of my closest circle so "I could pass English along to them, especially the writing of the language. Speaking it was already something I was passing along in weapons training and council meetings.

Autolycus was even learning along with Alex about English in Amazon school. The sight of a man in our village made my plans for the future a little easier to rectify and I only hoped that our future would work out the way I had foreseen.

"Having a good party, my little warrior bard?" Auntie asked as I reached her.

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "It reminds me of the year I turned 8 and Rhys and I took over the bowling ally and karaoke machine there."

Auntie laughed. "Who do you think gave me the idea?"

"Really?" I felt myself getting a little emotional and then picked up a small pebble tossing it towards the enchanted pinata. "This is actually one of the best birthdays since coming here," sighing I took a deep breath and looked across the courtyard. "I love this, ya know? The karaoke, the dodgeball, the party… all of it makes me remember home. Makes me think of stuff I thought I'd lost. You so rock, Auntie." Seeing her face light up, I almost hated myself for my next question, but I had to know and I needed the next year to figure out what to do with the information. "Is Rory actually Rhys?"

Seeing her eyes open wide gave me my answer and I nodded. "And are they Nike?"

"How did you figure it out, Sam?"

Chuckling, I shrugged. "I am my mother's daughter, Auntie."

Hugging me, she held me at arm level and looked into my eyes and nodded. "That you are, my little warrior bard. Though you won't be little much longer, will you? At least not in the eyes of the gods or Arte's Amazons." Sighing, she handed me a package tied with a pink bow "Happy birthday, Sam."

Curious, I opened the oblong shaped gift. Smiling when I saw what was inside I began to laugh in full when I heard Eve's damn echo across the courtyard and Mama's Aphrodite! I simply turned and hugged my favorite goddess mother. "Thank you," I whispered as my newest bracelet which actually looked as if it could been have made in ancient times if not for the words 'rise up' in English on it. "Same rules as the other jewelry?" I asked.

"You know it." Watching as it turned blue and then normal again as I placed it on my wrist, I couldn't help but wonder how all of the gifts Auntie had given me on my many birthdays would come together next year. Deciding I needed to let Mom and Mama know about the complication of Rhys and Rory and Nike. I turned once more to Auntie, " I think we need to have a meeting with you and Artemis and Aunt Hestia about Rory. I have some questions."

"I figured that you would." She disappeared in a flurry of pink butterflies and the scent of roses and I watched as Mama and Eve came to look at my bracelet.

"Rise up? What does that mean?" Eve asked.

"I'm not sure, little bit." I answered honestly. "But I do know that I'm ready for some food." Running towards the buffet Aunt Hestia set up with Yaya, I let Eve win the race while I jogged slowly behind her letting my moms know that I needed to talk to them soon.

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Hope this was worth the wait.