Disclaimer: It's the same.

Author's Note: Thank you, readers! Thank you!

Chapter Twenty

Family Dinner

LATER THAT NIGHT

"Sara…" Faythe whispered, "Sara…"

Sara rolled over and wrapped her arms around Hiei, burying her face in his neck. "Go…away…sleeping."

Faythe shook her. Hard. "Wake up!"

Sara's eyes opened instantly. She had been aware of Faythe, but let it pass. Now, her eyes flashed purple. "What?"

"What color…Sara!"

Sara, who had fallen asleep again, opened her eyes. "I'm…" she yawned, "sleeping."

"What color will the eyes be?"

"Green."

"On both of them?"

"Yes. Go away." She rolled over again and snuggled up with Hiei.

Faythe shook her again. "Are you-ow!" Kurama, who had been sleeping on the couch, sat up and removed Sara from Faythe's arm. As soon as he did, the puncture wounds began to bleed. They both looked at Sara. Her eyes were glowing and tiny fangs and fox ears had sprouted. Her tail was hanging over the side of the bed, swishing angrily.

Kurama slowly backed Faythe away from the bed. He wrapped her arm with bandages, still watching Sara. "It should be better in the morning."

Faythe was still staring at her arm. "I can't believe she bit me. My best friend…"

Kurama led her to the door. "Right now, she isn't your best friend."

THE NEXT MORNING

Sara slowly trudged into the kitchen and went up to Faythe. "I have a problem…"

Faythe glared at her. "Yeah, you do! What was with you last night!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You bit me!"

"I did what?" Faythe unwrapped her arm. "Oh. Sorry."

Faythe, being Faythe, smiled. "Alright. What's with the hat?" Sara looked around and took the hat off. "Whoa! You have ears!"

One of the ears twitched. "I have a tail, too. They won't go away!"

"Maybe you're pregnant."

Sara neither agreed nor disagreed. She just sat down on the counter, her tail lying on her leg. "I can't go out like this. What if Anja and Hans find out?"

As if on cue, Anja ran in. Sara put the hat back on and slid off the counter, hiding her tail. "What's the matter, Anja?"

"Serilda come home today! Need to cook!" She handed Faythe a list. "Please do." She turned to Sara. "Help as much you can. Don't overdo. You alright?"

Sara had begun shaking. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Anja smiled knowingly. "I was same way." Before Sara could respond, Anja went out the door. She stuck her head in through the window. "Don't overdo." She saluted her and she left.

Sara turned to Faythe. "Why did she say not to overdo it?"

Faythe grinned sheepishly. "I thought, you know, maybe…she'd want to know."

"YOU TOLD HER I WAS PREGNANT?" Sara shouted. Her eyes glowed purple and her tail swished menacingly. She advanced slowly on Faythe, backing her against the stove.

Faythe cringed and put her hands up to her face. "Help!" she cried out.

Immediately, Sara's eyes became their normal color and stood still, blinking. "Sorry about that, Faythe," she said. "I can't get rid of my demon self right now, though, so you're going to have to watch what you say."

Faythe nodded and blew out a sigh of relief. "That was scary."

"I can be scarier. Don't make me." She smiled. "Now, what did Anja want us to do?"

3 HOURS LATER…

The house was sparkling clean inside and out. Faythe had sweet-talked Aragorn into mowing the lawn and bullied Legolas into dusting the knick-knacks in the house. Jake had volunteered to cook dinner, claiming that he had "experience in the kitchen." Hiei had cleaned the rooms and swept the floors. Kurama vacuumed the upstairs bedrooms and hallway and made the beds. Faythe "supervised" and Sara cleaned the kitchen and dining room.

When Anja came home with Hans and a young woman who had to be Serilda in tow, she gasped. "House is beautiful!" she exclaimed. "Is Sara cooking baumkuchen?" She sniffed. "Smells great!"

Serilda sighed. "Smells the same as it always does."

Faythe was shell-shocked. Her English was flawless, unaccented. She walked up to Serilda. "Hi! I'm-"

"Very fat," Serilda said skeptically. "You shouldn't let yourself get that bad, girl! You almost look like you're-"

"Pregnant? I am," Faythe replied icily. She decided not to like Serilda. "Thank you for noticing. I'm eight months along with twins."

Serilda blushed. "I'm sorry. I thought you were naturally-"

"A lard bucket? Well, I am a little chubby." She glared at Serilda. "And I hate being reminded of it!" She smiled. "I'm Faythe. Nice to meet you, Serilda." She left for the kitchen to tell Sara that Anja was home.

Anja turned to Serilda. "That not nice, Serilda. You learn rude ways since you left."

Serilda sighed. "I am sorry, mother."

"Don't be sorry to me. Be sorry to her," Anja said sternly.

"Mom, do I have to?" Serilda whined.

"Go."

"Yes mother." Serilda went into the kitchen and tapped Faythe on the shoulder. "I apologize for being rude."

Faythe smiled. "I forgive easily."

Sara hit her with a spoon before turning to Serilda. "That was rude, Serilda. You had no right to talk to her like that."

"I know. I guess…I've been away too long."

Sara hugged her. "Not to worry. We'll have you back to normal in no time!"

Serilda sniffed. "Why did he leave me?" She sobbed a little but stopped when she saw the guys tramp in from outside. "Sara, you must introduce me to your friends," she said pleasantly. "They seem…eccentric."

Sara snorted. "They are." She pointed to each of them as she said their names. "That's Jake, and Legolas, they're married, and Aragorn, he's Faythe's husband, and Kurama, he's one of my best friends, and Hiei, my husband."

Serilda smiled. "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Serilda, Anja and Hans' daughter."

Legolas bowed to Serilda and smiled at her. "M'lady," he said, "the pleasure is all mine." He kissed her hand.

Serilda giggled. "He's sweet."

Faythe snorted. "He's gay."

"There isn't anything wrong with that."

"I didn't say there was."

"If either of you say another word, I'll hit you both!" Everyone turned to Sara.

Serilda looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yes. I'm tired, and I'm…just don't mess with me right now."

For the first time, Serilda noticed the hat on Sara' head. "Sara, why are you wearing a hat?"

Sara laughed nervously. "There's a good reason, Serilda." She leaned over to her and whispered, "I have bed head."

Serilda smiled. "You don't get bed head."

"Everyone gets bed head." The others looked at her.

Jake frowned. "Why are you wearing that?"

"Never mind."

Anja came in. "Dinner."

DINNER

The table was full. There was Anja, Hans, and their four children who were still at home. Their fifth child, the second oldest, Adolph, was away at college. Then, there were the seven guests. It was a good thing Anja had a habit of cooking too much food.

"Mother, this is wonderful! As always."

Anja smiled. "There is daughter I know and love."

Serilda laughed and turned to Sara. She frowned instantly. "What's the matter? You haven't eaten anything at all."

Sara looked up at her. "Not hungry."

"Why not?"

"Haenshoth nerambu tao."

"What?"

Sara blushed, cleared her throat, and tried again. "I'm just not."

Kurama and Hiei exchanged looks. Hans looked at Sara. "No hats at table."

"But…"

"No hats at table."

Sara sighed and removed the hat. Anja gasped. Hans was stunned. The kids were amazed. "Can you wiggle them, Sara?" Jeramy asked.

Sara nodded. "Yes, I can." She wiggled her ears.

Mary Ellen smiled. "Cool. That's a neat head band, Sara."

Hans looked up at Sara. "No head bands at table either."

"Oh, come on!" Sara exclaimed. "Can I please were them?"

"No."

Sara looked upset and unsure what to do. Finally, she mumbled, "It's not a head band. They're my real ears."

Anja laughed. "Don't talk like that. Zicklein might believe you."

Serilda stood up and looked seriously at her mother. "She's not joking. She's a demon. Those are her ears."

Hans gasped and put his hands over the baby's ears. "Serilda!" he said sternly. "Don't say at dinner table!"

Kurama stood up, too. "It's true."

Anja looked upset. "How many you demon?"

Faythe, Hiei and Kurama raised their hands.

Anja surveyed the abundance of sub-humans. She shook her head. "How many you not human?"

Legolas added his hand to the party.

"Why not say anything before?" Anja asked, looking pained.

"We were afraid you'd kick us out," Faythe said sadly. She seemed ashamed.

Hans smiled at them for the first time since the evening began. "Not kick out at all. Sara family. Sara's friends family. Family stay together."

Sara smiled and laughed with relief. She threw her arms around Hans, her tail swishing from happiness. "I knew you'd understand, Hans! Thank you!"

He grinned and hugged her. "Of course! Now-time for dessert."

Sara turned to Hiei. "I know what I want…"

"Sara!"

Dessert consisted of chocolate cake and coffee, for the adults. The kids, of course, had milk. Sara took Faythe's coffee and poured it out. "You can't have any coffee. It's bad for the babies."

"You can't have coffee either."

Sara smiled and drained her cup. "Oh well."

Anja glared at her. "No. Bad for baby."

Sara sighed. "Fine." She stood up. "I'm going to bed. Good night." She yawned for emphasis and headed up the stairs. Hiei looked at the group and followed her.

Jake watched them leave. "What's going on with Sara?"

Anja looked up at him. "Jake not know? Sara pregnant!"

Jake stared blankly. "Since when?"

Faythe took a drink of coffee. "Apparently since Australia."

"What happened in Australia?" Jake asked, confused.

Legolas sighed. "Sara and Hiei got it on by the pool deck, remember? We had to break them out of jail."

Jake smiled widely. "Oh, yeah! That was when we tortured the manager."

"I don't appreciate what you did to my clarinet," Kurama said softly.

Faythe grinned. "That was fun. But anyways…that's when it happened."

Kurama was still griping about his clarinet. "Three weeks in the shop. They couldn't find out what was wrong with it! Turns out, there was a piece of-'

"That's enough, Kurama."

He sat down on the couch. "To this day, it doesn't sound right. We had to buy a new one."

Faythe sat down next to him. "I know exactly how you feel. I remember the time my G wouldn't play. I had to have the damn thing in the shop for two months! I had to finger along on a pencil that whole time." Faythe thought for a moment. "Of course, that was years ago." She sniffled. "It hardly even bothers me anymore!"

Kurama cocked an eyebrow and the others shook their heads. Just then, they heard the sound of something falling down the stairs.

"Hey!" Faythe exclaimed, "Something fell down the stairs!"

They all ran to the stairs. "Sara!"

Sara stood up and smiled. "I'm okay."

"How'd you fall?" Aragorn asked.

"I tripped."

"On what?"

Hiei came down. "My foot!"

"I meant to do it."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did!"

Faythe stepped between them. "I hate to break this argument up…"

Sara snorted. "I don't argue with idiots. They drag me down to their level and beat me with their stupidity."

"Do you want to say that to my face?"

"I just did."

Anja came rushing in. "Oh, no! Sara fell down the stairs! Miscarriage!"

"What?" Sara asked.

"If woman fall down stairs pregnant, she loses baby," Anja explained.

"Loses the…but I'm not pregnant!"

Anja frowned and looked sad. "Exactly."

"Who told you I was pregnant?"

"Faythe."

Sara glared at Faythe. "Who do you think the father is?"

"Well…you said he'd have green eyes."

Kurama stared at Sara, thinking back to the times they had been drunk. Had he ever…? There was that one time in the hotel room…

Sara had said nothing happened, but what if she was protecting him? Sara, in the meantime, was getting angrier. "You, you, and you. Come with me."

Faythe blinked. "Who?"

"Faythe, Kurama, and Hiei. Follow me."