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.
***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA******XENA***
Chapter 78
Solstice had come and gone without much fuss this year, showing how much Eve and the twins were growing, and how much Grace was different from her sisters. I had continued the usual stories and added my favorite parts from The Christmas Carol after listening to Mom retell the story of what she and Mama had done all those years ago when she'd gotten her favorite toy lamb from Mama from the toymaker.
When the twins found out that my story was based on a real man, they went bananas and Mom and Mama had to calm them down and stop them from leaving the village to hunt the poor guy down to make them toys as well. They demanded to write him letters telling him what they wanted and both requested toy horses in the same vein as Mom's wooden lamb. Eve wanted a hawk like Harry and Grace only asked for a wooden puzzle that she could solve. Mom and Mama pushed at me and I finally gave in and asked for an elephant made of wood as I'd always admired Mom's lamb but then pushed Mama to request something of the toymaker as well. I wasn't surprised when she asked for a slingshot figuring a weapon would appeal to her. Mom just rolled her eyes and we asked Aphrodite to deliver the letter to the man so it would it get to him before Solstice.
Luckily, he now had a shop, and most of the items were already made, the only items he had to work on were Grace's puzzle and my elephant. Solstice morning found us gathered around our Solstice tree, unwrapping our gifts and thankfully, the twins had slept through the night and hadn't tried to capture Senticles. Even though he was based on a real man, the fact that the flying donkeys and the rest of the stories from the future were based on imagination was something we knew the twins would have a hard time with and Mama, Mom, and I wanted them to enjoy Senticles for as long as possible. Eve now knew the truth and had sworn upon the life of Harry not to tell a living sister, biological or Amazon who still believed.
I think a part of her still wanted to hold onto the legend. The older she was getting, the more she was becoming introspective but still managed to get into trouble, living up to her nickname on a regular basis. She still hated clothes and I wondered if she'd be the first Amazon to have a nudist colony.
As winter melted into spring, and Eve's tenth birthday came closer she became more excited as this was the first birthday, she was going to be allowed to participate in the Mushroom hunting festival devoted to Artemis. Nasa and Lemonia had produced a fine litter of pups and we were now the proud parents of yet another two more pups who were learning much from their father. The brothers and their father were now castrated thanks to Mama's expertise and we were all thrilled that there would be no more puppies in our future despite how cute they were. They were a handful and we knew that we'd always be able to find strays when we wanted or needed a pet in the future.
Minerva was pregnant thanks to her new beau and the village was surprisingly happy about the kittens that would be joining us soon. Anything to keep the rodent population down was what we'd been hearing and there were already families that wanted the kittens in our village and in the man and centaur village. Grace really wanted one of the kittens and after a long talk it was decided that as long as Eve helped her, she would be allowed to keep one of the kittens and she was excited beyond belief. She was a mature four and Eve was going to be ten and wasn't letting anyone forget that this was her year to get a bow and arrow. Something that Mom and Mama were regretting telling her.
"Eve, enough!" I heard the exasperation in Mom's voice as I walked into the house. "Your birthday isn't for another week and your mama and I haven't decided if you're even getting the bow and arrow yet."
"But you promised!" Eve stomped her foot. "You said no bow and arrow until I was ten and I'm going to be ten next week!" Another stomp followed as did the sound of a swat on a behind.
Footsteps running upstairs and the sound of a slamming door was followed then and I entered the kitchen grinning at my blonde mother. Leaning against the doorjamb I watched as she brushed the flour from her hands and sighed deeply. "Having fun yet?" I asked casually.
Watching her start, I chuckled. Turning she glared at me. "I swear, Sam." She took a deep breath. "You are so much like Xena sometimes…" trailing off, Mom shook her head and wiped her hands on the apron around her waist. "That child is going to be the death of me. "I still can't believe she's going on about the bow and arrow."
"I still can't believe she remembers the bow and arrow," I quipped. "After all, it was four years ago."
"Has it really been that long?" Mom asked as Grace came running into the kitchen followed by the twins.
"Yep." I bent down and picked Grace up. "This one was baptized four years ago and that's when we got Harry."
"And that's when Artemis gave Grace her own bow and arrow and Eve got jealous which is how we got Harry." Zoe finished the familiar story of Harry coming into our family.
Putting Grace down, I heard barking and knew that Mama wasn't far away with Nasa and his son whom we had named Astro for the Jetson's dog. Ephiny and Eponin had Nasa's other son, Buzz for Buzz Aldrin and though we wouldn't have called him this, it suited him and we all enjoyed the joke that we shared as a family. We couldn't wait to figure out what Grace was going to call her kitten. Alex had dibs on a kitten as well and that would bring another name that would be interesting for sure. Chuckling as Mama walked into the house with Astro and Nasa, she surveyed the scene in front of her laying the game hens on the counter she pulled mom into a hug, seeming to know that the poor woman needed a hug. "Trouble?"
Mom nodded and Emily filled in the blank. "Bow and arrow again."
Mama sighed and nodded. Kissing mom gently, she did something I had no memory of her ever doing in my lifetime. "Aphrodite!" As we all looked on in shock, questioning eyes looked around the room.
"Xena?" Mom was as confused as we were.
"Aphrodite!" Mama yelled once more.
"You rang, Warrior Babe?" Auntie Dite had materialized in her usual smell of roses and pink butterflies.
"I feel like pizza with the works tonight and since we don't have take out here, I'd love for you to do the honors. What do you say?"
Auntie's hand reached out to touch Mama's forehead. "No fever." Auntie frowned and then smiled and clapped. "Oh, I just knew you'd come around eventually." Her squeal could have been heard on Mount Olympus. "I say, yes! You've made my year, Warrior Mommy!" Hugging Mama, Auntie snapped her fingers and our kitchen was transformed into an Italian restaurant complete with pizza and salads and garlic bread along with desert and beverages. I was thrilled as were the twins and Grace. Even the dogs had a treat of steak and chicken in their dishes.
"This is great!" Three little girls ran to hug Auntie and I hugged the woman as well before filling my plate with the pizza of my choice after making sure I had also taken my fill of salad. "Mama, is this the take out Sam is always talking about?" Emily asked.
"Our version of it." Mama replied.
"You know what else would be good?" Mom asked with a twinkle in her eye."
"What?" Auntie replied playing along also with a twinkle in her eye.
"Take out Chinese food." Mom replied to which I almost choked at the look on Mama's face as she stopped on the stairs midway to Eve's room.
"Chinese food?" She asked quietly.
"In the little take out cartons and everything." I added playing along just to see what she'd do.
She stomped up the stairs beginning to mutter to herself as we all started to laugh even the twins and Grace though they weren't sure what the joke was about so I decided to fill them in and Emily and Zoe were truly laughing after kind of understanding by the time Mama re-emerged from upstairs with a now subdued Eve with her.
Shoving the almost ten year old forward we watched her squirm for a few moments before she was put out of her misery. "Well?" Mama's deep voice left no room for compromises.
"I apologize for the royal temper tantrum that I threw and I will wait until my birthday to throw another fit if I don't get the promised bow and arrow. I am also sorry for slamming the door to my bedroom." Looking up into Mama's eyes, Eve didn't even blink. "How was that, oh Warrior Mother?"
"Just fine, but watch the attitude." The edge in Mama's voice was clear and Auntie broke the tension as only she could.
"Pizza my little Peace Maker?" She asked giving Eve a slice of her favorite pizza. "It's all for you, you know. I was so impressed with how you remembered about your birthday and Arte is so happy that you and your best buds are going to be participating in the mushroom festival this year."
"She is?" Eve's eyes grew large as she took a bite of pizza. That was the best way to get her mind off the bow and arrow and she slowly began to chew as she thought. "Well, we're honored to participate of course, I'm glad Artemis knows that we're going to be there. Does she have a favorite mushroom?" Eve pressed.
Aphrodite tapped her chin and sighed. "Let me think, she likes most mushrooms, but I do think that her favorite is the," she dropped her voice to a whisper, "and don't let your mommies hear this, but the Caesar's mushroom, Amanita caesarea." She finished quietly. "It looks like a stinky boiled egg but tastes wonderful. If you can find it, you're a lucky one, for sure." She waved her hand and a plate of mushrooms appeared in front of us. The plate was full of what seemed to be hard boiled eggs with a light yellow stem and a darker yellow almost orange umbrella type top that resembled the egg portion or an umbrella. I could see how it could get confused with a hard boiled egg and why the Romans must love to eat them, but still couldn't believe why they were called Caesar's eggs until the goddess in front of me explained more. "We call them that because the Romans love to eat them, especially Caesar."
"Any other types?" Even asked picking up one of the mushrooms in front of her and taking a bit. Smiling she nodded. "Oh, these are good. I can see why she likes them."
Another snap of her fingers and there was another plate with a large mushroom that looked like a parasol umbrella. It was rather large and meaty looking. Under it was a plate full of fried mushrooms sliced thinly. Again trouble tried them and smiled in bliss. "Very good. What are they?"
"Parasol mushrooms." Auntie replied. I tried one for myself and handed the plate to Mom and watched as she and Mama each tried one of the mushrooms followed by the rest of the family. We all also tried the Caesar mushrooms and all of us enjoyed both kinds of mushrooms.
"Which are hardest to find?" Eve asked.
"The Caesar ones," Auntie replied. "I think that's why Arte likes them better. "If you can find those, she really is impressed, let me tell you."
Seeing and ignoring the glint in Eve's eyes I turned my focus to Grace and her puzzle box. "Solve it, yet?"
Shaking her head, she scrunched up her face in concentration. "Nope, but I'll get it soon, I can feel it." Pulling it away from Mama's hands she glared at her. "I want to do it alone, Mama. I've told you."
Mama sighed and I knew that it was driving her nuts not to be able to help her youngest out with the puzzle box but maybe not as much as mom. Mom had been caught half way through its solution when Grace caught her and sicced Yaya on her mom hadn't recovered for almost a week after that and she hadn't touched the puzzle again. Nobody was sure what had transpired but nobody wanted to chance Grace setting Yaya on anyone else over the puzzle box.
Containing my chuckle, I finished my dinner and bent down to acknowledge the pups at our feet. "Okay guys who's ready for a walk?" Zoe and Emily jumped up and began to follow me outside along with the dogs while Eve stood up and made a beeline for the sink.
"I guess I'll wash the dishes." She pouted.
"I'll help." Grace announced pushing a chair to the sink to help her. Auntie went to snap her fingers but Mom and Mama stopped her causing Auntie to merely shrug her shoulders and disappear in her usual way.
Hearing commotion from outside, I began to run and stopped short at the sight that met my eyes. Sonny and Cher were at the back door with Nasa, Buzz, and Astro. Poor Minerva was sitting on top of Cher and her male friend was sitting on Sonny. I looked at the twins and they shrugged. "She's wanting to have the kittens but he wants to be close and she's having a hard time finding someplace she thinks will be safe enough."
"What about our old hut?" I asked.
"She thought of that but isn't sure." Emily nodded in the direction of our back porch. "She was thinking maybe where Harry's perch is."
I nodded. "That might work. Nobody would think of looking there for her and the kittens."
Just then, Harry came flying down from her usual perch in the tree outside the back door and landed on my arm. She screeched loudly for a few moments and then entered the back porch through the opening that Mama had put in the side of the house for her. It just worked for her and I knew it would work well for the cats as well. I didn't have to wait long to see what the hawk yelling was about as Minerva and Beau got off the horses and walked onto the back porch. The twins following them, turning around once they looked at me and waved. "Do you mind taking Sonny and Cher with you tonight? We need to get the box ready for Minerva. Also need to get some other things ready and let Mom and Mama know what's going on and let Rory know where Minerva is so she doesn't worry." Emily ran as fast as her legs would carry her followed by Zoe into the house.