Chapter 2: Spirit or All grandpapas go to Heaven

Maka's babies were almost two years old, and in his impartial opinion, the only thing preventing his grandbabies for being absolutely, completely, incandescently more perfects, was their father's useless genes.

In other words, Spirit wished that Maka could have the kids without her unnecessary husband.

Just herself, alone, from her own will.

Or the Holy Ghost.

Or midi-chlorians. That was a thing, right?

The point was, no sex. Spirit didn't want to think about his precious Maka having sex with that stupid punk that had the nerve to call himself her husband.

"Papa, is there any reason for you to be mumbling about midi-chlorians and sex in front of my kids?" Maka asked, in a low voice, hoping the twins wouldn't listen. They were learning words faster than Soul and she had expected, and sometimes the couple would let something they shouldn't slip – and one time would be enough for the kids to learn and repeat. "Because those are two words that I don't want them to learn so soon."

"Midi-chlorians is a word they shouldn't learn, like, ever," Soul mumbled, coming from the kitchen.

They had moved to a bigger place, closer to Shibusen, six months ago. Blair was still their roommate, but more and more an inconstant one. She had her job at Chupa Cabras' and her own affairs to occupy her mind, after all. Even though Blair was always happy to help, Soul wasn't sure if her notions of time were completely different from a human being's.

"Stop poisoning my kids with Prequels' garbage, old man."

"They are not your kids, they are my Maka's kids~~" Spirit half said, half sang, kneeling in the carpet in front of the children, who couldn't ignore him more even if they tried. "And they are my precious, precious granbabieeeess~~"

Maka and Soul shared identical exasperated looks.

"It's your dad in denial there. Deal with it," he said, before retreating to their room to finish changing – they had a formal dinner at Kid's mansion with some diplomats from other countries. Unfortunately, Blair was nowhere to be found, which meant: finding another babysitter.

Surprisingly, it was Maka's idea to ask for Spirit's help. Her papa was constantly nagging her about spending more time with his grandbabies, and truth be told, aside for all the cheating-on-her-mother thing, she couldn't deny that he was a caring and loving dad.

At this moment, however, Maka was regretting every decision she ever made.

"Papa, I would really appreciate it if you stopped saying they are not Soul's kids. It's all kinds of uncomfortable."

Before Spirit could answer, Aika's attention was immediately dragged by the unknown word. Her clever red eyes were fixed in her mother, while she tried to repeat, very serious.

"Un-omr-ta-ble."

As happened every time one of her babies tried something new, Maka felt her heart warming and melting. Forgetting that she was already dressed, she had the total intention of just lying on the carpet with her babies in continuing to teach them new words.

Fortunately, or not, Spirit was faster: he grabbed his granddaughter and started to spin her around the room claiming she was clever just like his Maka, in one of his infamous Spirit's attacks. Sound lifted his equally red eyes, attracted by the commotion, but then he concluded it was too much noise and went back to his drawings.

Her father was wrong, as always. Both of her kids had her facial features and her husband's eyes; but her girl, who had Spirits' red hair – for Soul's eternal despair – clearly also had Soul's temper. She was curious but too serious and grumpy for a kid that young; she slept better with music playing and rarely truly laughed. Sound, even with his white hair, was way more like Maka: he was gentle and calm, liked to hear stories and hated noises. What remained to be seen was if one of them were a demon weapon.

"Stop spinning Aika, Papa, you will make her sick." Maka sighed.

"Stop spinning my kid, old man, you will make me sick." Soul complemented, returning to the living room. He was wearing his signature striped suit, red shirt and black tie, and Maka felt butterflies in her stomach as if she was a fifteen-year-old virgin, and not a twenty-five-year-old-married-with-two-kids woman.

"Aren't you a handsome devil?" she mumbled, adjusting his tie that needed no adjustment. Soul's devilish grin was wider than ever.

"You are not so bad yourself, Mrs. Evans," he whispered in response, checking her in her long black dress.

"Stop being disgusting, you will make me sick," Spirit half screamed, half cried, and his face was actually a delicate green color. Seeing his only daughter flirting with her husband was apparently too much for his heart – neverminded if he was holding the living proof of their nightly activities on his arms. "And take your hands of my baby daughter, you demon."

Soul immediately pulled Maka closer, resting his face on her hair.

"Remind me again why your father-in-denial is here."

"Because Blair is not, and we need a babysitter," Maka whispered, gently pulling away from her husband's arms, but holding one of his hands while she kneeled to give her youngest kid a kiss. "Goodnight, sweet. Mama and Papa will be gone for a while, so be good with Grandpa Spirit, okay?"

Sound didn't pay much attention to his mother's words or his father gentle pat on his hair, too entertained with his drawings. Aika, eager to leave her grandfathers' grip, immediately threw herself into Soul's arms, and her parents gave her their goodnights.

"Their dinner is already in the oven, Papa, and you have to put them to sleep at eight o clock," Maka explained, carefully depositing her daughter on the carpet beside her brother. "No sugar, no television, no visitors – it makes them agitated. We will be back around midnight, tops."

"Don't worry, Maka, you can trust your Papa," Spirit said, giving his thumb up. That common gesture only made Maka shiver, and Soul lifted one eyebrow.

"Somehow, I'm now worried."

"Shut up, beast."


Sound and Aika were clever kids. Perhaps too clever for kids that young. They knew what they wanted, they learned fast, and they were just adorable – honestly, it was not a fair fight to begin with.

Spirit never stood a chance.

In the first hour after their parents had left for dinner, Sound and Aika played on the carpet with their toys and crayons. They were calm, quiet kids and seemed to understand each other just exchanging looks and mumbling.

That actually surprised Spirit: Maka had been a relatively calm kid; her infamous tantrums only started after his divorce. However, even at her calmest, Maka was still curious, and as soon as she had learned how to speak, she couldn't stop asking questions – she wanted her papa to explain everything to her.

The twins could have her mother's delicate features, but their father's introspectiveness was already showing up.

Or maybe it was a twin thing.

He didn't want to think about the other alternative. He didn't want to think about them learning about only needing each other so soon.

He didn't want to remember how many times his wife and he had left Maka behind, alone, with only her trustful books as a company.

Spirit was pulled out of those depressing thoughts by a gentle tug on his sleeve. Aika was standing in front of him, her tiny eyebrows contorted in a frown that was legit impressive for a kid that young.

"We a' hungry," she declared, surprising Spirit again. Maka had mentioned that Aika had recently acquired the habit of talking for both of them, but either way, it was unexpectedly cute hearing it. Sound was still absorbed in his drawings, yet he didn't contradict his older sister.

"Don't worry, Aika, grandpapa is going to warm your dinner!" he exclaimed, patting her hair and smiling brightly.

She didn't seem impressed.

"Now," was all she said in return, crossing her arms and pouting.

Pouting.

"AIKA IS SO CUTE!" Spirit barked, grabbing her and spinning her around the living room once more. She screamed for him to let her go, struggling against his grip.

Sound finally looked up to stare at them. The noise was bothersome, he was hungry and he wished his mama or papa would be here – Grandpapa was weird.

"Granpapa!" he called, and Spirit instantly stopped spinning to stare at him, his eyes tearing up.

"Sound called me grandpapa!" he exclaimed, and keeled down to try to hold the other kid too.

Sound was quicker, though, running away to the kitchen. "I'm hungry!" he screamed from there.

Aika started to pull his hair angrily, and Spirit suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be feeding his grandkids.

Focus, Spirit Albarn. You can't fail Maka or she is never going to let you babysit your grandkids again.

Humming contently, he carried Aika to the kitchen and sat her down on a chair – Sound was already sitting on another. They seemed relatively calmer now that they were in the kitchen, and they mumbled some disconnected words to each other, while patiently allowing Spirit to put their bibs and prepare them to eat.

Spirit found the plates Maka had prepared in the oven: mashed potatoes, grilled chicken and vegetables. A perfectly balanced and nutritious dinner, as expected from his daughter. He put the plates on the microwave and turned around to try to talk to kids once more.

They answered him with moderate levels of enthusiasm, maybe confused about the excessive attention their grandpapa was given to them. When Sound commented that "Granpapa hair is Aika hair" he practically melted into a puddle, and only the annoying beep from the microwave prevented him from grabbing and spinning the kids once again.

He set the plates on the table, together with the tiny childish spoons Maka had shown him earlier. Spirit sat on the chair in front of the two kids, ready to help if they started to struggle with the food. However, stubborn like only his Maka's kids could be, the twins were completely focused on their task of feeding themselves alone.

With clumsy movements that made half of the food fall back to the plate, Aika was the first to put the spoon with mashed potatoes in her mouth.

Only to spit it back to her plate with an angry cry.

"No, no…" she said, licking her own palm as if she was cleaning the taste of her mouth.

Spirit immediately leaned over her, asking her why she didn't want to eat the food her mama had prepared with so much love.

The old weapon was wrong in two instances here:

First, Soul was the one who had prepared the children's dinner.

Second, they did want to eat it, they just couldn't because it was too hot – Spirit had overheated it.

Sound forcefully swallowed the hot food he had put on his mouth and asked for water. His grandfather immediately jumped to attend his request, while still asking the kids what was wrong with the food.

"Oh, come on, Aika, Sound, you want to eat mama's food, right?" he asked, after filling their baby cups. "You told me you're hungry, so you want to eat, right?"

"Wan-to-eat?" Aika repeated, frowning once more. Her brother was sipping his water, but his curious eyes were fixed on his grandfather too.

"Yes, what do you want to eat?" Spirit innocently asked, hoping he could prepare another dinner if the kids were refusing so much the one Maka had prepared.

'What do you want to eat' is a question that only has one possible answer, if we are considering two-years-old living in the desert, who also just happened to had burned their tongues with hot food:

"Ice-cream," they said in unison, without even looking at each other.

Spirit's smile faltered a little.

"Ice-cream?" he repeated, and he immediately regretted it. The way their precious red eyes lit up at him almost broke his heart. "Sound, Aika, mama don't want you to eat sugar now, and you need a nutritious dinner…"

His reasoning only made the two kids more confused. Grandpapa had asked what they want, right? And their tongs were still burned.

"It hurt," Aika tried to explain, and that only alarmed Spirit more.

"What is hurting, Aika? Is it your teeth? Are your teeth growing?" he grabbed his granddaughter's face and tried to open her mouth, receiving a violent struggle in return.

"Nooooooo!" she screamed again

Spirit let her go, joining his hands in front of his face and started to list the pros and cons of the situation:

Maka's children must be fed, but they are refusing to eat their dinner. Aika said they are feeling pain and they want ice-cream. There's only one logical conclusion then: their teeth were growing and that was why they couldn't eat regular food.

Now that he was thinking about it, when Maka got her wisdom teeth removed, she also couldn't eat anything aside from ice-cream for days. Yes, that made sense. Maka had said that they shouldn't eat sugar, but eating nothing was worst, right?

Too occupied mumbling nonsense to himself, Spirit didn't notice Sound tentatively taking another spoon of his food and eating.

"It's decided then!" Spirit exclaimed, taking the plates back. Sound complained, saying he was hungry, and that almost brought his grandfather to tears. "I know, Sound, but don't worry, grandpapa is going to prepare the biggest, iciest, sweetest bow of ice-cream just for the two of you!"

Their faces – so similar to his Maka's! – lit up once more and Spirit decided that he was doing a great job as a babysitter.


Meanwhile, at Kid's mansion, Maka felt a shiver running down her spine.

"What's wrong?" Soul asked, offering her a flute of champagne.

"I just felt a strange urge to Maka-chop my papa," she signed, accepting the drink.

"He's probably bothering them to death with his grandpapa love," Soul shrugged, making Liz and Patty laugh. "He will get them tired soon enough, and he will have to put them to bed, so don't worry."

"I hope you're right."

Before Soul or the Thompsons could reassure her that the kids were being take care of, the ballroom doors opened with a boom, followed by a war cry that made all heads turn around:

"YOUR TRUE GOD IS HERE, PLEBS!"

Patty laughed, clapping her hands, while Maka and Liz exchanged annoyed glances. Soul only took a sip of his drink, an amused smile playing on the corner of his lips.

"I hope this is not a fund-raising kind of dinner, 'cause I feel all your profit going to shit right now."

"It isn't," Liz explained. "This is just for appearances, to let other countries know what Kid is up to these days."

"What? Uncrooking all Death City's lamp posts until they are perfectly symmetrical?"

"Among other things."

"Yoo underlings, your God has arrived!" Black*Star announced, well humored. They could see that Tsubaki had been able to convince him to wear at least half of the formal attire Kid had requested: a striped shirt, pants, and suspenders. "Where's Kid?"

"He is the host, after all, he can't be with us all the time," Maka explained, but her eyes were fixed on the tall weapon behind the noisy Meister. "You look amazing, Tsubaki!"

"Thank you, Maka, you look good too," she absently righted the fabric of her yellow houmongi kimono. It had a camellia pattern, and her long hair was pinned up in an elegant bum. "My parents send it as a gift; I thought I wouldn't have other opportunities to wear it."

"They sent one for Angela too and now that brat refuses to take it off," Black*Star grabbed the tray from a distracted waiter's hands and started to eat canapés like popcorn. "Speaking of little devils, where's yours?"

"At home with my father, and don't call them that, Black*Star," Maka retorted, frowning. Soul remembered how grumpy Aika was becoming, but decided that it would be in his best interest if he pretended to agree with his wife, and just drank more champagne.

"With your old man? Come on!" Black*Star complained, swallowing the last canape. "How come you let your father – that you hate, by the way – to play nanny for the kids, but don't let me? Me? The great-"

"First of all, I don't hate my papa, Black*Star," Maka interrupted. "And second, do I need to remind you…"

"Shit, Maka, it was years ago."

"…that when my kids were newborns…"

"You are being dramatic. Soul, back me up here, man."

"Hell no."

"…you kidnapped them from the infirmary…"

"Kidnapped is a strong word."

"…and you raised them from the top of Shibusen as in 'The Lion King'…"

"Which was awesome, right, Soul?"

"Hell. Fucking. No."

"…and you even painted terribly black stars on their foreheads."

"Hahaha yeah, I had forgotten about that part."

"Black*Star, you lost any possible babysitter potential that day," Maka finished with a definitive tone, that finally made the other Meister frown.

"Oi shortie, keep that up and I will think you don't trust me with your kids," he said, crossing his arms.

"Then maybe you shouldn't give me reasons to question your judgment," Maka retorted, mimicking his posture.

Tsubaki and Soul had seen that scene enough times to know where that was going.

"We are here to help Kid to promote Shibusen, right?" Soul interfered, gently pulling Maka closer to him. "Not the best time for you idiots discuss over this again."

"Who are you calling an idiot?" Maka hissed.

"OI, we are not done, Maka-"

"Black*Star, please," Tsubaki asked, with her sweetest voice. They exchanged knowing looks, and the meister finally let out a tired signed.

"That's so fucked up," he said, before turning around and disappearing between the other guests, probably to wreak havoc somewhere else.

"You know, someday you will have to let that go," Soul commented, giving his wife a side glance.

"Someday…" she mumbled against her flute.

"And how about you, Tsubaki?" Liz asked, in a not-at-all-subtle attempt to change the topic. "When are you going to pop one out?"

"What?" The other weapon exclaimed, nervously gesturing her negation with her hands. "No, no… Me and Black*Star, we are not like… that."

The silence that followed her statement spoke volumes.

"I'm buying you a pack of double-A batteries for your birthday," Liz declared, making Patty laugh, Maka chuckle and Soul picture a lot of things he never wanted to.

"…aaaand this is my cue to go find Black*Star," he declared, turning around and letting the ladies bully Tsubaki to their heart's content.

It wasn't difficult to find the ninja among the sea of black tied old pompous people – he only had to look around for an obnoxious blue hair. Black*Star was sitting folded leg on one of the tables, and he had acquired another tray of hot hors d'oeuvres. Soul didn't need to be Tsubaki to know that his friend was utterly pissed.

He didn't say a word; he only sat on a chair by his side and continued to sip his drink.

"You do know I had everything under control, right?" Black*Star finally said, after finishing the tray of food.

"Yes," Soul conceded, without looking at his best friend. "But I also remember you falling to the fucking ground exactly from there, in the day we met Kid."

"That was before I had become the most godlike version of myself," the ninja retorted, but his voice was deprived of his usual arrogance.

Black*Star was serious, but so was Soul.

"I know you wouldn't let anything bad happen, but you have to see Maka's side too," Soul said, chugging the rest of his champagne in a way it would make his mother freak out - which, honestly, was an entertaining thought. "She woke up from her midsection thinking she would hold her kids for the first time, but she couldn't, because her ninja friend had hijacked them to do a fucking Rafiki impersonation…"

"And I admitted it was a dick move, ok?" Black*Star jumped from the table, and stood in front of Soul, forcing his friend to stared at him. "Tsubaki made me apologize and everything, so for how long is Maka going to be hung up on that?"

"Do you even know Maka?" Soul asked in return. "When isn't she hung up on something?"

"Fuck, you're right," Black*Star mumbled. He pulled a chair closer to Soul and produced a bottle of fine whiskey from his pants. A legit fine whiskey that he was sure the waiters weren't serving to anyone who wasn't a fucking president.

"How…"

"Ninja God, my dude."

"Fair."

Black*Star took a big sip, before offering him the whiskey. They stayed in silence after that, passing the bottle and occasionally acknowledging the important people Kid had gathered there for some mysterious Shinigami reason.

"Do you remember her?" Soul finally asked something that had been bothering for a while. "Maka's mom. Do you remember how she was like?"

Black*Star let out a tired sigh that didn't match his character at all.

"Maka's mom, hein…" the ninja let the bottle rest on the table and crossed his arms, his face contorting with the effort to remember. "Man, just because I know Maka since she was born, doesn't mean w'all were a happy family or any shit like that. Her mother wasn't around even when she was around."

"Care to explain?"

"She was always working, she and the old man," Black*Star scratched his chin, his eyes absently searching among the guests for someone who was probably Tsubaki. Or Kid. He hadn't been obnoxious with Kid yet. "Maka was always at home reading, and I was obviously training to become the all mighty God I'm today. Nah, I wasn't part of the disaster family."

Soul remembered that moment in Shibusen's stairway, so many months ago, when Maka confessed that she didn't want their kids to feel left behind.

"I don't get why Maka admires her so much," he confessed. Soul had never met Maka's mom… Crap, he didn't even know Maka's mom's name, and at this point, he was just too ashamed to ask.

"She taught her well." Soul stared at the ninja in disbelieve, and Black*Star only shrugged. "You occidental kids… Man, Maka's mom taught her how to be tough and work hard, she just didn't stick around to pamper her. That's the old man's job."

Maybe Soul didn't understand how ninja clans raised their children, but he for fucking sure knew neglect when he saw it.

"That's fucked up."

"Maybe," Black*Star conceded. "She is probably the reason why Maka is so hung- HOLY SHIT."

"What?"

Black*Star stared at him, with the smug satisfaction of someone who had just discovered something that had been kept a secret for the longest time.

"Is this why she was so pissed? Is she trying to surpass her mother at motherhood?"

He was only realizing that now?

"Again, do you know Maka?"

Black*Star let out a boisterous laugh.

"Oh man, I get it now, why she's so overprotective with your little brats."

"And because you took them from the infirmary before they had even taken their fucking vaccines shots," Soul said dryly, and the smile disappeared from Black*Star's face.

"And you?" the ninja questioned, and Soul understood without him having to elaborate.

"I already punched you in the face for that," the first and the last punch he would ever be able to deliver to his godlike friend's face. He would not lie; it had been utterly satisfactory, even though Black*Star let him do it. "We are cool."

Black*Star grinned and they bumped fists.

"Your God appreciates that."

"I know you do. But pull out another shit like that and I will eviscerate you."

Black*Star let him have the last word, and Soul accepted that final apology.


Spirit was starting to think that he had made a mistake.

In his defense, Aika and Sound had seemed so utterly adorable devouring the big bowl of ice cream, and he had plenty of evidence on his phone to prove that to Maka.

He only hoped it would be enough to prevent his daughter from murdering him.

Agitated didn't even start to describe how the kids were now, after an immeasurable amount of sugar.

"Granpa, granpa, granpa!" Aika busted, insistently pulling his sleeve. She patted the piano board, giggling. "Play, play, play…!"

"Aika, grandpapa can't play…" he tried to explain, but his granddaughter didn't seem to understand that.

"Papa play!"

"Yes, Aika, your papa can play, but grandpapa can't…"

"I play!" Sound exclaimed, pulling his other sleeve. "Pick me, pick me, pick…"

"Sound, I don't think you should mess with your papa's piano…"

"We play!" Aika let go of his sleeve, and threw herself at the bench, trying to climb it.

Spirit could feel the cold sweat accumulating on his neck.

"Aika, Sound, please let go of your papa's piano, ok?" Spirit implored, gently picking the two energized kids. They struggled against his embrace, but laughed when Spirit let them fall on the couch. "It's past your bedtime already…"

"Noooooooo!" they complained in unison.

Well, there was no away they would just stay put right now.

"Ok, what do you want to do, then?" he asked tiredly, pushing his sweaty hair from his forehead.

Sound immediately grabbed the remote control.

"Elsa!" he giggled, while Aika tried to steal the control from his hand. "Elsa! Elsa!"

"Who's Elsa, Sound?"

"Le' i goo!" Aika sang.

That he recognized, unfortunately. Disney was destroying these kids' childhood in more ways than one.

"We are going to watch just a little, ok babies? I have to put you to sleep before your mama comes back…"

"Elsa!" they screamed once more, and Spirit let out a resigned sigh.

Maybe he was too old for babysitting.


"I think you drank a little too much of that whiskey," Maka giggled, observing Soul stumbling out of the taxi.

"Or I didn't drink enough," he mumbled, taking off his jacket and carelessly throwing it over his shoulder. "I started to have war flashbacks at some point."

"Because of your family's parties?" she asked gently.

Soul didn't answer, only embraced her by the waist and rested his face against her hair for a minute. Maybe he was a little bit drunk, but he was not kidding about the war flashbacks. Maka allowed him to rest his weight against her body, while she searched for the keys in her purse.

"I don't like these black-tie-parties either," Maka said. She raised her head to look at him in the eyes. "It's just exhausting how much… are you shitting on me?"

"What?" Soul jumped back, startled. Her angry cursing sobered him a little, but Maka wasn't staring at him anymore – her forest-green eyes were locked on their apartment window. He looked up, but the drapes were closed. She was using her Soul Perception then. "What is it, Maka?"

"Unbelievable," was all she said, before rashly climbing the stairs.

Whatever she had seen on their apartment, Soul had the impression that he wouldn't want to be on Spirit's skin.

Maka abruptly opened the door, and they were welcomed by their very much awake kids.

"Mama!"

"Papa!"

It took him a minute to fully process the scene.

Their sleeper sofa was unfolded, and Spirit was snorting on it. Aika and Sound were sitting at each side of their grandfather, unmistakably pumped up, and their faces were smudged with something that looked suspiciously like ice-cream. On their TV, Olaf was melting and Elsa used her frozen witch powers to make his personal flurry.

Man, he knew he should have burned that DVD a long time ago.

"Papa!" Aika almost threw herself out of the couch, but Maka was quick to pick her up. "Piano! Play, play, play, play!"

"Mama, pick me!" Sound laughed, and step over Spirit's chest to come closer to his parents. Soul held him before he could stumble out of the couch, and Spirit finally woke up.

"Oh, what is… Maka?!" Spirit sat up, nervously scratching his hair. Soul could see life slowly draining from his terrified eyes. The older Weapon gave his daughter a tentative smile, but Soul didn't need Soul Perception to know that she was furious.

"Papa." Not even Elsa could make her voice sound as cold as Maka's now. "Why are they awake? Why there is ice-cream on their faces? Why. Are. You. Watching. Frozen."

"Hahaha, well, you see, Maka, about that…"

"Papa, plaaaayyy!" Aika asked once more, extending her arms in his direction.

"Not now, grumpy, dad's tired," he answered. He picked her too, holding his kids on each arm, and they immediately started to pull his tie. "Come on, let's get you cleaned while your mama murders your grandpa."

Aika made an adorable attempt to say 'murder', while Sound giggled something about his grandpa and ice-cream. Soul carried them to the bathroom, and then Maka's dam finally broke.

"Papa, what the hell happened?"

"Well, Maka, they didn't want to eat their dinner…"

"And your brilliant solution was to give them an overdose of sugar?"

"They said they were in pain!"

"They were perfectly fine when we left…"

Soul blocked the discussion going on the living room – his head was hurting too much for that. He sat the kids on the sink and wet a towel.

"Did you get hurt, Aika?" he asked, while gently wiping the ice-cream from Sound's face.

His daughter put out her tongue and pointed.

"So, you burned your tongue, hum?"

"Granpapa gave ice-cream!" Sound said, and Soul sighed.

Well, that explained everything.

"Mama angry?" Aika asked.

"No, not with you, baby," Maka said, appearing by the door. She grabbed another towel and wormed her away in the bathroom to accelerate the process.

"And your father?"

"Gone."

"Dead?"

"Not yet."

It took them a while to calm their kids enough to put them to bed. After they were cleaned, Soul picked Aika and started to rock her, slowly walking around the house, humming their nursery rhyme until she was asleep. When he finally took her back to their room, Maka was closing the book she had been reading to Sound.

It was past 1 a.m. when they finally lay together in their bed.

"Are you better now?" Maka whispered, snuggling against his chest.

"I'm the one who should be asking that," Soul snorted. His fingers started to slowly play notes on her back. "Are you still mad with your father?"

"I can't believe he screwed up this bad," she growled.

"Are you putting him on your blacklist of babysitters?"

"I kind of want to… but I won't," she mumbled. Her hand rested against his heart, and she observed his chest moving rhythmically. "He's their grandfather, after all."

"…and?" Soul pushed.

"…and I know I can be a little… overbearing, with the whole babysitter thing."

Soul chuckled against her hair, but decided against voicing his opinion on the subject.

Overbearing didn't even start to describe the situation.

He threw the blanket over them and let out a content sigh.

"Tsubaki talked to you, ah?"

"About Black*Star? Yes…" she closed her eyes and allowed her body to relax against his.

"Is he out of the blacklist?" Soul whispered, already dozing off.

"Not yet," she whispered back.

"Worth a try."