Author's Note: I never say anything about the others in the Williams family unless it's directly pertaining to Toby or Jareth. So I thought I'd write them a little chapter all their own. It's not intense and it's just fluff, I suppose. But I thought we could all do with a little less angst all the time.

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Karen got up from the couch and set her glass firmly on the table. She'd been wanting to have a private minute with Sarah all evening, and from the look of her stepdaughter, Sarah was bursting with news too. The two women had sat there impatiently while the men droned on about work and cars and the price of electricity. Now, they couldn't take it.

"Dinner should be ready," Karen announced, "Sarah, could you help me set the table?"

"Sure, Karen."

They escaped with both men shaking their heads knowingly.

"Women," Harold grunted, "Not a poker face amongst the lot of 'em."

"Want to bet on the subject?" Ben challenged.

"Don't need to." Harold scratched distractedly at his neck, "Only one thing my wife won't discuss in front of me."

He was right, though he couldn't hear the quiet conversation from the kitchen.

"Did you speak with him? Is he all right?"

Karen nodded and handed Sarah the plates. "He's fine. Very tired, but fine."

Ben popped his head in with their empty glasses- "Who's fine?"

"Karen had a talk with Toby today."

"I thought Jareth hadn't gotten around to fixing the mirror?"

"Mom complained and Jareth sent a goblin around to get it finished," Sarah explained.

Ben nodded sagely and decided not to ask. When it came to the Underground and all things Jareth-related, he preferred to smile and nod and try not to look too jealous. It was a part of his wife's former life that he wasn't quite sure he appreciated. Certainly he didn't appreciate knowing the Goblin King had been a rival. "And he's fine, is he?"

"Round as a beach ball, actually," Karen laughed, "He's very uncomfortable, poor lamb."

Harold heard the topic of conversation and hastily went back to his seat, stifling a grim smile of self-congratulation. He wasn't about to join in; male lovers and Goblin Kings he was still getting used to. Male pregnancies were something else entirely. Not that he didn't look forward to a grandchild; he just didn't expect his son would be the first one to fall pregnant.

Sarah smirked and shook her head. "He was pretty big when I saw him last week. Are his ankles still playing up?"

"A little. It seems Hoggle gave Jareth something to ease that."

Ben grinned. "Why? Are Jareth's ankles swelling too?"

The two women shot him a withering look each, effectively chasing him out of the kitchen before they started in on him. Sarah allowed herself a secret smile at his rapidly retreating back. And then turned back to her stepmother. "Um, did Toby tell you about Arienne's yelling match with Jareth?"

Karen shot a warning look at the doorway before shaking her head. "Later," she agreed, "Your father's going to come in here in a minute."

It was a long time later before the two found themselves able to talk. Washing dishes was not something either of them enjoyed, but since they needed to be done and since it afforded them a small bit of privacy...

"Toby said Arienne almost accused Jareth of trying to cause a miscarriage," Karen confided.

"Yeah, I know. And then forbade the Goblin King from sleeping in the same bed if he couldn't control himself. He did, um, tell you what Arienne was referring to, right?"

Karen went pink and looked casually down to her dishes. "He told me a little bit, yes."

The dark-haired woman at her side looked at her with a broad grin but said nothing more, apparently leaving the conversation hanging in that awkward silence until Karen was ready to say something for herself.

"Do you think it's healthy?" Karen finally asked, worry etched into her face. "I mean, if he wants Jareth to do that to him, then I suppose that's his choice. But games like that seem very dangerous. Especially now."

"They are," Sarah commented dryly, "Which is exactly why Arienne was so angry. But Jareth was being careful."

"He was? How do you know?"

Green eyes twinkled slightly. "I asked him. I had a little talk with Jareth about three days ago. After telling me that it was none of my business and that I had some nerve summoning him to read him a lecture, he told me that Toby needed it for peace of mind."

The soapy dish in Karen's hand almost crashed to the floor. "Peace of mind? Chaining him to a bed and behaving so roughly is meant to give him peace of mind?"

Sarah looked a little freaked out that Toby had told his mother the details of his sex life, but shrugged. Her little brother had spoken of it as if it were a personal revelation. It was only natural that he would want to talk it over with someone, even if that someone was his mom.

"The chains were very loose and they didn't really tie him down, if you know what I mean. They were just for appearance. Jareth was trying to get Toby to admit the way he felt. He said Toby was a little unhinged what with everything happening so fast around him and the pregnancy wasn't helping matters. He said the sex forced him to understand what he needed. Of course, being the Goblin King, Jareth used a lot of magical explanations and talked of suns and darkness and death. But that's just Jareth."

"Death?" Another dish fell back into the soapy water with a plop.

"Not in that way! Oh heck, he said if Toby didn't learn to deal with the- the darkness that he craved, he would learn to fear himself. Which apparently, in the Underground, can be fatal if it's taken to extremes. But Toby was nowhere near that yet. He was just struggling to accept it."

Karen relaxed and dried her hands; sitting down at the table while Sarah finished drying the dishes. It had been a long time since her stepdaughter had visited, and the older woman wished somewhat wistfully that she could go back in time to when Sarah was still living with them and Toby was just a baby. Then she wouldn't have to deal with growing old while her children went their separate ways.

Green eyes watched her sympathetically, knowing what was behind the sober expression. Lately, even when she smiled Karen looked tired. Sarah didn't quite like to think that her parents- well, dad and stepmother really- were going to age and die in the next twenty or so years. It felt wrong somehow.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Hmmm?" Blue eyes so like Toby's looked up, distracted and distant until they refocused. "Oh! Yes, I suppose I do. He's just so young. He only turned seventeen a little while ago. I met a friend of his a few days ago and…" the woman shook her head, "Toby's a whole world away from everyone he's grown up with. I miss telling him to do his homework and turn his music down."

"You never told me to do my homework!"

"You were always locked away in your room, dear, and I didn't like to disturb you," Karen reminisced, "I didn't worry about your studies. Toby, now, was not a student."

"He was rather bored with his work," Sarah laughed.

"Bored? He used his notebooks for sketching! And now he's dealing with a marriage and a husband and a baby. I tell you, Sarah, I worry about him. It's strange to think that this madness all began about a year ago. Actually, it's strange to think to think that this madness has been happening all his life. Which it would have to be if those two bonded when Toby was a baby."

Sarah shifted in her seat. "I, uh, never did apologize for that, did I?"

Karen patted her hand comfortingly and smiled. "There's no real need to, is there? You were not very mature yourself, and both your father and I understood that finding your place in a new family was going to be hard. And you did bring him back."

"Yeah, I did. I didn't really want him gone. I just thought... you know, older sibling jealousy. Besides, it's all come right, now."

"Oh yes. Now Toby is married to the Goblin King, is having his child and is currently starry eyed because he shagged him through the mattress," Karen remarked acidly.

"Karen!"

"Well, it's true! Though I don't see him doing much, ahem, riding any more if his back keeps giving out on him. He said even the salve isn't working for that any more. Poor lamb, he's always suffered from back pain."

"It's a weak posture," Sarah said robustly, "And the fact that he fell off the roof when he was seven. Didn't he break his arm?"

"And his wrist," Karen nodded, "Sometimes I wonder if that child is quite sane."

"Hey, he's in love with Jareth! I don't think sanity is his strong suit here."

The two looked at each and burst into a fit of the giggles, completely oblivious to the fact that Ben and Harold were having much the same kind of conversation.

"So Toby's fine, then?"

Harold glanced over and shrugged. "He's doing well. I had a private talk with him last night, but please don't mention it to Karen. She'll want to discuss it and I've discussed this enough for a lifetime."

Ben grinned and leaned back in his seat, folding his arms behind his head. "That bad? Let me guess- he told you about finally settling things in his mind?"

"Told you the same?"

"No, his husband did. Sarah talked to Toby last week and whatever he said, she was angry for about two days after that. Could barely be civil even to our cat. She called on Jareth a few days ago, they had another argument, she threatened to make sure he couldn't have another child even if he wanted to, and they eventually settled down to talk. I listened in."

"Eavesdropping?" The older male was most amused. Ben was usually as honest as could be, but sometimes he didn't choose to be.

"My house," Ben explained succinctly, "Felt I had a right to know."

"Good! I'll tell Toby to go to you the next time he wants to talk about his sex life. Where that boy gets it I don't know!"

Ben held his tongue but grinned. In his humble opinion, no red-blooded man could ever honestly admit that he'd never thought of playing a few bedroom games with the partner of his choice, or that the games wouldn't include either chains or chocolate sauce or both. And the kid was only seventeen! He was bound to be as horny as hell what with his hormones in overdrive. And Jareth didn't seem like a priest either. All in all, if they didn't offer details, he was fine with whatever rocked their boat.

"So how are things with you and Sarah?"

"Fine," Ben admitted, "She's working on the next book so there are good days and bad days. But she's getting there."

"And work?"

"Pretty good, actually. I'm getting a raise, so we're thinking of buying a new car. My old one is dying on me."

Sarah and Karen sighed in exasperation as they walked into the room and settled down for their part of the conversation. Really! Did men always talk about the most conventional things?