m: 'The Sound of Music' belongs to the Sound of Music. 'Cell Block Tango' belongs to the Chicago soundtrack.

Guan: If they weren't clever then they wouldn't be Nat's kids. :P

shadow0015: I'm glad you liked Shar's wedding. More of her will be in this chapter. ;D

Chapter Four

"AJ! Get over here!" cried Nathyrra. Grumbling, AJ walked over to his mother. She bent down and straightened his tie.

"Why do I have to wear a tie?"

"Because it looks cute."

"I don't wanna look cute."

"Too bad. You have to look nice for the reunion."

"Drak says that you only want me to look good so you can rub it in the paladin lady's face that you married dad."

"Her name is Aribeth, AJ. And Drak is full of what Snuggles makes on walks."

"You mean poop?"

"That's a synonym of what I was implying."

"What's a synonym?"

"A word that means the same as another word."

"What word were you thinking of?"

"Never mind that."

Ana walked into the room. "I hate dresses."

Ano entered the room. "I hate tuxedos."

"Deal with it." said Nathyrra flatly.

-

The family entered the room where the reunion was being held. Ano glanced around and saw many familiar faces such as Joragin, Sharwyn, Deekin, Linu, Daelan, Tomi, Jaheira, Haer'Dalis, Imoen, Sarevok, Valen, Aarin Gend, Aribeth, the sleeping man, and many other faces.

-

"If you speak to Sarevok, do not listen to what he says." Nathyrra cautioned Ana. Her daughter nodded. The four-year-old took a few steps towards her great-uncle. Sarevok was sitting in an armchair, reading a newspaper. "Yes?" he asked, not looking up.

Ana stared at him. Sighing, he folded his newspaper. "What do you want, Anathyrra?"

The child grinned. "My mommy says not to listen to a word you say."

Across the room, Nathyrra started choking on her drink. Her excellent sense of hearing had picked up the sound of their conversation. The drow rapidly walked over to her daughter and pulled her away from the man. She gave Sarevok a brilliant smile. "Ah, my daughter doesn't know what she's talking about."

"But-"

"Quiet." Nathyrra hissed. Desperately trying to change the subject she asked, "So…how's the weather?"

"I'm certain if I gave my opinion you would not listen, drow."

"Err…"

"Go away now before you embarrass yourself further."

Nathyrra scowled and ushered her daughter away from the warrior. I despise him. I complete and utterly loathe him. Loathe.

-

Ano walked over to Joragin. "Hey, Jor."

"Hey, Ano."

"Uncle Ano!" cried the little girl in Joragin's lap.

Ano grinned. "Hey there, Delilah."

The two-year-old gave him a shy smile before burying her face in Joragin's shirt. Joragin smiled at his daughter and turned to face Ano. "So where's Nat?"

"I'm pretty sure she's with Ana."

"Hope they don't run into Aribeth. She and Nat may just get into another fight."

"I hope not. There's only so much the sleeping man and I can do." He looked around. "Say, where's Shar?"

"Right here." replied a voice. Ano looked up and smiled at his sister-in-law. "Hey there, Shar. And Tamorlyn." he added, looking at the year-old boy in Sharwyn's arms.

Tamorlyn regarded Ano with a curious look before looking away at something more interesting. Sharwyn addressed Joragin, "Has Delilah been behaving herself?"

"Like a perfect angel." Joragin murmured affectionately. Delilah looked at her mother. "Mommy." she held out her arms. Sharwyn obliged and picked her up, handing Tamorlyn to his father settling for the seat next to him. "So where are Nat, Ana and AJ?"

"Nat and Ana are somewhere. Come to think of it, I haven't seen AJ since we arrived…"

-

"What's the point of this again?" AJ asked.

Tomi sighed, "I told ya'. We go up to the nice lookin' broad," he pointed at Tamsil, "and you say your lines. If you do it right, I'll pay ya' five gold."

"Twenty."

"What? No more than seven!"

"Nineteen."

"Ten."

"Eighteen."

"Fifteen!"

"Sixteen."

"Twenty!"

"Deal."

"Gah! Rotten little sneak." Tomi muttered. AJ took Tomi's hand and walked over to Tamsil. He tugged on the woman's sleeve. Tamsil looked down at the boy. "Yes?"

AJ pointed at Tomi. "This is my Uncle, Tomi. He's very shy."

Tamsil looked at the halfling. "He is?" she asked. She and Tomi began conversing. AJ snuck behind Tomi's back and tapped him. When Tamsil wasn't looking, Tomi tossed a money pouch to AJ. The boy grinned and walked away, brushing past a rather burly man.

The man, Durnan, tapped Tomi on the shoulder. "Might I speak with you, halfling? It's about my daughter." he pointed at Tamsil.

Tomi gave him nervous smile. "Uh…"

-

"Hello, Aribeth." said Nathyrra.

""Hello, Nathyrra." She looked at the girl next to Nathyrra. Aribeth smiled and crouched down so that she was at eye-level with the child. "Who is this?"

"This is Anathyrra, my daughter."

Something flashed through Aribeth's eyes but it was gone in a moment. "I see." she extended her hand. "Hello, Anathyrra."

"You can call me Ana. I don't like Anathyrra. It's a weird name."

"Ana." warned Nathyrra.

Ana ignored her. "My mom's told me a lot about you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She told me that you were really jealous of her and Daddy."

"Ana!" hissed Nathyrra.

Aribeth blinked. "I believe your mother was jealous of your father and I. We knew each other before your mother met your father."

"Oh I know. Dad's told me the story lots of times. Mom's told me it too but her version was a bit different."

"How so?"

"Well, Mom says that you were jealous. Dad says that both you and Mom were jealous of each other. Drak told me that you two started fighting and slapping each other."

"Ana-"

"Drak told me that you two got into some sort of a fight and Mom kicked your butt. Or you kicked my mom's butt. Drak couldn't decide."

"Drak hasn't changed at all, I see." remarked Aribeth.

Ana tugged on her mother's sleeve. "Can I go now?"

"Yes you can go." Nathyrra said from behind clenched teeth. Ana raised an eyebrow at Nathyrra's barely constrained anger and ran off.

Aribeth smirked. "She's your daughter alright."

-

"Hey, Kitten." greeted Ano. He reached down and pressed a kiss to his wife's lips. She broke away after a few seconds. "Have you seen our children?"

"I thought Ana was with you. I haven't seen AJ all evening."

"Neither have I."

Joragin and Sharwyn walked over. "Have you seen Delilah?" asked Sharwyn as readjusted Tamorlyn in her arms.

"Not a clue." said Ano.

"We're looking for AJ and Ana as well." Nathyrra told them.

"It's like they dissa-" Joragin was cut off by the sound of singing. The four parents looked at each other. "Take care of Tamor." Sharwyn commanded Joragin. The bard nodded and took his son.

A small crowd had formed around two figures. The bard, drow, and dragon disciple pushed their way to the front. AJ and Delilah stood there, singing.

"The hills are alive with the sound of music" sang AJ.

"With songs they have sung for a thousand years" added Delilah. AJ took his cousin and twirled her.

The crowd cheered as the parents stared at the children, dumbfounded.

"Nat, didn't you rent a portalvid the other day that had this song in it?" Ano asked.

"Yes. That doesn't explain how they learned to dance however…"

Sharwyn watched with growing interest as the children performed. "It looks as though my daughter is a bard as well." she said, grinning. She turned her gaze towards Nathyrra. "Have you ever considered getting AJ lessons in the theatre arts?"

"We'll put him in a drama class when he starts school." Nathyrra assured her.

Haer'Dalis clapped. "Wonderful grandchildren of my Raven!" he praised. AJ and Delilah beamed. Haer'Dalis spoke again, "Now do sing that delightful 'Cell Block Tango.'"

He had it coming
He had it coming
He only had himself to blame
If you'd have been there
If you'd have seen it

Delilah stepped forward. "I betcha you would have done the same!"

Anotalex stared at his son and niece. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around. A druidic elven woman stared back at him. Ano grinned. "Aunt Jaheira, boy am I glad to see you."

"It's nice to see you as well."

"Listen, I need your help."

"That doesn't surprise me, Anotalex."

"I'm looking for Ana. Can you help me and Nat find her?"

"Yes I can."

-

Jaheira walked onto the balcony. Ignoring the unconscious Tomi (Who had been shoved in a trash can, courtesy of Durnan.), she strode towards Ana. Ana sat in front of a pigeon, speaking to it. "Yeah. I know how you feel."

"Anathyrra?"

Ana looked up. "Hi, Aunt Jaheira." she pointed at the bird. "He was just telling me about how someone left an entire turkey on the balcony three stories below."

"He told you that?" She sat down next to the girl.

"Yeah. I like animals. They tell me a lot of stuff."

"How long have you been able to understand them?"

Ana shrugged. "A few years I guess. It started out as a buzzing noise but then it made sense one day when I heard Snuggles say 'Ana, tell Anotalex to feed me or else I'll pee on his pillow right before he goes to sleep.'"

"I see." Jaheira said thoughtfully. I must speak to her parents about this. It has to be animal empathy.

The sound of Ana's voice shook the druid out of her thoughts. "Is my mom still talking to the lady with the huge boobs?"

"No she's done talking with Aribeth. Your parents are looking for you however. Let's go."

-

Anathyrra, Nathyrra, and Anotalex Senior and Junior walked out the door.

"It was nice to see everyone." Nathyrra commented.

"You two know a lot of weird people." AJ informed his parents.

"Yes, yes we do." Ano agreed.