Here's Chapter 11. These chapters are starting to get a bit longer. Thank you again for all of your reviews. It helps knowing that people are actually reading my story. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 11

At nightfall, the group found a clearing not to far off the path, perfect for setting up camp for the night. Tony went to find some wood for a fire (he didn't trust Virginia to go and get it again, not after the last time) while Wendell prepared the food and Virginia set up the blankets. The trolls decided that they would hunt for their own food. So they left to catch a deer or anything they could find.

After Virginia finished setting up the sleeping area, she found a comfortable spot against a tree that was at the edge of the clearing. She sat there for a while thinking about Wolf while she absently stoked her stomach. When she realized what she was doing, she smiled. She found herself doing that a lot lately. She could tell that she was beginning to show that she was pregnant. Her stomach was swelling a little. The thought that she was now caring for a baby as well as herself scared her a little. But at the same time, she was extremely happy.

She still needed to tell her dad and Wendell about the baby. She hadn't told them at the castle for a few reasons. First, she was preoccupied with what had happened to Wolf. Second, when she remembered, she didn't want to tell them because they could use that as an excuse to keep her back at the castle. She would not wait around worrying all day when Wolf was out there alone. But now that they were here and away from the castle, it would be better to tell them now. That way Wolf isn't around for her dad to strangle. So she sat there thinking of what to say for when Tony got back.

About a half hour later, Tony walked back into the clearing with an arm full of wood for the fire. After Wendell and Tony got the fire going, they sat down to cook some food for their dinner. Virginia got up, figuring this was as good a time as any, especially with the trolls not around.

"Dad? Wendell? I have something I need to tell you."

"What is it Virginia?" Wendell and Tony looked up at her curiously.

"Well, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you. I haven't really had much of a chance until now, so here it goes..." Virginia couldn't seem to figure out how she wanted to say it, should she just spit it out?

"Well?" Tony was beginning to get impatient. His butt was really sore from having ride on that saddle all day. He wasn't in the mood for games.

"I'm pregnant." Virginia bit her lip and waited for an outburst. She wasn't disappointed.

"YOU'RE WHAT?!" Tony flew up, forgetting about his sore bottom. His face turned a shade of dark red and looked as if he was going to strangle someone. Wendell got up calmly, however he was a little surprised, and tried to get Tony to calm down.

"Antony, sit down. Just relax." Wendell tried to get him to sit back down on the log, but was having trouble.

"RELAX? YOU WANT ME TO RELAX? THAT DAMN HALF WOLF GOT MY DAUGHTER PREGNANT AND YOU WANT ME TO RELAX?!" Tony turned around and began to leave, muttering to himself, "I'm gonna kill him. As soon as I get my hands on that mangy half wolf, I'll strangle him..." He soon disappeared into the woods.

Virginia felt like crying. Didn't her father see how much she was already going through? And then he had to go and act like this! Wendell noticed Virginia's expression and knew what she must have been thinking. He carefully led her over to the log so she could sit down.

"Don't worry about him. He'll come around. He just needs to be by himself for a while. Blow off some steam. He's still getting used to the fact that you've grown up. It was pretty hard on him the first month after you returned to the 10th Kingdom. He's not used to sharing you with anyone yet, or being away from you that long. Now when he thought he was getting used to that idea, he finds out he's going to be a grandfather." Wendell put his arm around his stepsister.

"I guess your right. But I have enough on my mind already. Not only do I have to worry about him accepting Wolf, but now he has to accept the baby to." Virginia sniffed, trying to hold back her tears. I'm really becoming emotional aren't I? I wonder if it's the pregnancy doing this. But I have a right to be so upset anyways.

"He will, don't worry. Don't tell him I told you this, because he doesn't like to admit it, but he has already grown fond of Wolf. He thinks highly of him after all he has done for us. But you know your father, he is very stubborn, he didn't even mean to tell me that, it just kind of slipped out one day. So if he has already accepted Wolf, then I'm sure he will accept the baby as well."

"Thank you Wendell. You took the news a lot better than he did. Why? Weren't you surprised?"

Wendell smiled. "Yes, I was a little surprised. But I must confess, I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later." Virginia looked confused, so Wendell continued. "I saw how much Wolf loved you and couldn't keep away from you. So I knew it was only a matter of time." Virginia blushed and started laughing. They hugged again before Wendell went back to preparing the food. By the time dinner was ready and they had started eating, Tony came back into the clearing, looking a lot calmer than he had earlier.

"Dad...?" Virginia asked a little uncertainly as she stood up.

"Virginia I need to talk to you." He sat down on the log and pulled her down to. Wendell felt that he should give them some privacy and said he was going to go for a walk. Virginia gave him a pleading look silently asking him to stay. But he shook his head no, and mouthed "you need to talk to him alone."

"Virginia...Do you... I mean...OH!" Tony had trouble finding the right words. Virginia just waited patiently. Finally, Tony seemed to find a way to say what was on his mind. "Virginia, first of all, I want to apologize for acting like I did a little while ago. It was uncalled for and I should have been more understanding of your feelings at the time. I know you are already upset enough and it was wrong of me to act like to you." Virginia started to say something but he cut her off. "I just want you to know that I love you very much and I am very proud of you."

"I love you to Daddy." Tony pulled his daughter into a big hug. After a minute, they broke apart.

"I do have to ask you something though? How do you feel about this baby?"

"At first I was really scared. I was afraid that I wouldn't be a good mother. In fact I'm still afraid of that, but the other thing was that I was afraid I might do something wrong or hurt it like-like" she swallowed and tried again, "like Mom. I know Wolf was afraid of that to, and as soon as I found that out, I told him that I was going to love the baby with all my heart and do anything to protect it. That was when I realized that it was true. I wont ever harm the baby or let any harm come to it. Ever since then, I've been really excited. Almost as much as Wolf." Virginia and Tony laughed picturing how excited Wolf gets. "But what about you Dad? How do you feel about it all?"

"Now that I've had time to cool down and think about it, I realize that I'm excited about it to. I'll love the baby with all my heart." Tony stopped for a minute as he just thought of something. "Do you realize that I'm going to be a grandpa? Jeez I'm getting old." Virginia just laughed and hugged her dad.

Wendell hesitantly came back into the clearing about five minutes later. He saw that Tony and Virginia were happily talking as Tony ate his dinner. Realizing it was safe to come back, he took his seat on the log by the fire.

"So you two worked everything out I assume?"

"Yes, and thank you for giving us some time to talk Wendell." Virginia smiled gratefully at him.

"Oh, no problem. I am always willing to help." Just then the three trolls came back carrying what looked to be three or four rabbits. They started their own fire a little ways away and began cooking their dinner.

Virginia was beginning to get sleepy but wasn't quite sure if she trusted the trolls completely. It wasn't as if she could simply forget everything that they had put them through during their previous adventure. She decided to wait up for a while longer. Tony dozed off quickly; so with some help from Wendell, they were able to wake him up long enough to get him over to his sleeping bag. After that, Virginia and Wendell sat there talking about random things. Mainly about how things had been going in the Nine Kingdoms after Virginia and Wolf had left two months earlier.

Apparently not to many of the other Kingdoms were happy about Wendell's decision to pardon the wolves. In fact, only the First Kingdom and Ninth Kingdom didn't seem to care too much about it. The Second Kingdom on the other hand was outright furious that Wendell would do such a thing. Red Riding Hood the Third was threatening to destroy the treaty with the Fourth Kingdom all together. Fortunately the Council of the Nine Kingdoms forced her to keep it, saying that they did not need a war. The rest of the Kingdoms had complained to Wendell about the pardon, but were not going to go so far as Red Riding Hood. They told Wendell that wolves were not to be trusted and that with the pardon they would run wild killing everything in sight, especially during the full moon. However, two full moons have passed already and no one has been killed.

"I'm just afraid that the wolves will start to rebel in the other kingdoms. They'll see that the wolves in my kingdom have more freedom and they'll want the same rights. I don't want anyone getting hurt over this."

"Wendell, you really are a good King. You do what you think is right for your people and you are still concerned with the other kingdoms citizens even though their rulers are not supporting you. That shows that you are a caring king and I'm sure that your citizens respect your every ruling. I just don't understand why people hate wolves so much. Is it just because of the one wolf that ate Red Riding Hood's grandmother?"

"Yes, well mostly anyway. There was also that incident with the three little pigs and a few other such occasions. You see, wolves have been known to periodically eat some of the farmer's sheep, chickens or any other livestock. But usually it's only because the hunters and trappers kill off a lot of the game in the woods, leaving the wolves only a few options, either leaving their home and hoping to find some other safe place, starve to death, or steal from the farmers. Many choose the latter. The problem is that the farmers and the hunters don't realize this and just think that the wolves are pure evil. Unfortunately I once was like that as well, until I met Wolf. Since then, I have been studying all of the cases where wolves have been burnt and found that many of them were not even given a fair trial. Whenever a crime was committed, it was automatically assumed a wolf was to blame. Most of my citizens have been doing better, but it is hard to just erase hundreds of years of prejudice in such a short time. But it is a start. Of course there are still some people like the Peeps who, I'm afraid will never change their ways. A lot of wolves have migrated to the Fourth Kingdom in the last two months. I have no problem with them coming here, I'm just worried about how the rest of my citizens will take it, and if there will end up being a food shortage." Wendell sighed and Virginia could see the lines of stress etched across his face, making him look so much older than he really was.

"Don't worry Wendell. I'm sure everything will work out. You're doing the right thing though. As long as you follow your heart, you can't go wrong. I know Wolf is also very grateful to you for what you have done for his people, as well as all of the other wolves that you have given a second chance. I think it's horrible that everyone hates them just because of the actions of one wolf."

"Yes. You know, I've often wondered what the cause of that incident was. I mean it's hard to believe that a wolf would act like that just for the heck of it. But then again, wolves are just like humans. There are some bad apples every now and then." Wendell yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Well, I think you should try and get some sleep. It might be a long day tomorrow."

"Yeah, I think I will. But what about you? You look exhausted."

"Oh, I'll be fine. I think I'll stay up a while to keep watch." Wendell leaned towards Virginia and added in a lower voice. "Truthfully, I'm not sure I trust the trolls completely yet. I am grateful for their help, but a troll is a troll. I'll stay up for a little while longer just to make sure."

"Well, I'll stay up with you then. It wouldn't be fair that I get some sleep when you don't. Besides, I'm sure you could use the company." Virginia tried to suppress a yawn but Wendell still saw it. He smiled.

"No, you get some sleep. Besides, you have a baby to look after now. You need all the strength you can get. I won't stay up to much longer, I promise." Wendell smiled and walked her over to her sleeping bag.

"Ok, as long as you don't stay up all night."

"I won't. Good night."

"Night Wendell." Virginia was asleep not even a minute later. Wendell smiled and went back over to the fire. He glanced over at the trolls who were now fighting over who sleeps where. Finally they settled it and were asleep not too long after. Somewhat satisfied, Wendell put out the fire and went over to where he was to sleep. Curling up under the blankets, he glanced one more time over to where the trolls slept and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.