Scott looked around the dinner table, the intervening years had been kind to him and his friends, he and Darjeeling had invited them for a get-together. Joshua and Assam, though still affected by their experiences in the World War Tournament ten years ago, hadn't tarried long for as soon as Josh had finished his schooling four years later, and received his licence to teach, he and Assam had married. Their wedding had been a quiet affair, just their parents, their closest friends and their friends' children. A pair of twins graced them a year into their marriage, and George and Arthur were the apples in their parent's eyes. Foster and Rosehip had been much faster, as one would expect when dealing with the young lady, and had married less than a year after they had finished school. Their children had come with a similar speed enjoyed by their mother, their three daughters, Elizabeth, Jane and Emma had been separated by two years each with Elizabeth coming only less than a year after they had married. Their son, who they had affectionately named Scott, on the other hand, had only been born a few months ago. Stanley and Orange Pekoe, on the other hand, were the poster-children for taking things slow, they had married two years after the World War Tournament and their twins, Eleanor and James, had been born two years after that.

Carolus laughed at something that Terre had said, they had been a steadfast couple. When they had first started dating, Scott had quietly explained the duties of the Duchy of Norfolk to Carolus. He had simply nodded and had stood by her side throughout all she needed to do, though he had also been grateful for Terre's presence for he was still affected by what East High had done during the World War Tournament. Their wedding three years later had been an interesting one, her position making the small wedding they had wanted impossible as every member of the House of Lords and their families and the Queen had attended. Thankfully for them, the birth of their son Karl the following year was a much quieter scene, at least in terms of how many people were there, Carolus would later wonder what had possessed them to have another child four years later, though he was already known to spoil his daughter, Rosaline.

Scott thought about the three people who couldn't make it, Günther and Miho Rommel and Rukuriri. The young Rommels had been busy helping Miho's mother with her work in the Sensha-dō Federation, but the young Lena brought a great deal of joy to the elder Nishizumi's face, something that hadn't been seen for a long while.

Rukuriri's tale, on the other hand, had been a tragic one. A few weeks after Scott and Darjeeling had brought their twins into the world, they had been quietly informed that not only had Rukuriri been pregnant, but that she had died in childbirth. Her son had thankfully survived without any complications, and naturally, Scott and Darjeeling had taken him in. As he grew older, they nervously waited for the day he would realize it.

Scott then looked at by far the largest group at the table, his family. Little Marie wasn't so little anymore, though her fiery spirit remained, considering that she had been scouted by the St Gloriana Sensha-dō team as the Commander of Scott's old tank and potentially as the team's Vice Commander, she was following in her adoptive father's footsteps with not of the pain he had. Their twins, William and Angelica, had grown up fast, though they would deny it. Seven years after that blasted tournament, Darjeeling and Scott had been blessed with another set of twins, again a boy and a girl, who they named Harry and Isara. Harry, much to Scott's concern, had been rather quick on the uptake, learning how to speak and to read at a very early age. Isara on the other hand, she had been his polar opposite. A rather quiet baby, she only started speaking calling him "da-da" a week ago, a few days before her third birthday. And that had been her first word.

Looking at his beautiful wife, Scott rubbed her hand. The intervening years being far kinder to her than to him. His hair had started to go grey and was thinning already whilst hers remained as blond and full as when they had first met. The common joke was that his body was falling apart, but he and Darjeeling knew that it was uncomfortably close to the truth.

Darjeeling caught onto his line of thought and squeezed his hand, "Everything will be alright, Love, not everyone caught a tank shell with their body after all."

Scott smirked and leaned into her, "I'm not too worried, Love," he whispered before laying a hand on her stomach, "I'm just happy that we've got another little one on the way."

Darjeeling sighed, "I'm drawing the line at seven, Scott."

Scott grew grim, "Yes dear, I've already made the appointment."

Soon thereafter, Scott called out, "Alright! Kids! Off to bed! Your first day of school for the new school year is tomorrow and I want you all well-rested." he stopped Angelica and William for a moment, "Remember to watch over the young ones when you can."

Angelica and Willian nodded, "Yes father."

Marie came over to them after the younger children left for bed. "Were either of you this nervous the night before you went to St Gloriana for the first time?" she asked.

Darjeeling shook her head, "I wasn't, but that was because I knew everyone there already."

Scott chuckled, "I was, but it's obvious why. I was one of the first four boys to even step foot in St Gloriana." wrapping his arms around his adoptive daughter, he then remarked, "Besides, I'll be there all day and you'll be in my class after lunch. I wouldn't be upset if I had some father-daughter time over lunch."

Marie smiled, "We'll do that dad. I promise."

Kissing her goodnight, Scott and Darjeeling joined Josh, Assam, Foster, Rosehip, Stan, Orange Pekoe, Carolus and Terre in their discussions. "I'm still surprised that Miho and Günther are having their daughter go to a St Gloriana school. I would have thought she would have gone to Ōarai or Kuro." Josh remarked.

Scott laid a hand on his old friend's shoulder, "And that, my friend, is exactly why she's going to a St Gloriana school."

Josh nodded, "Point taken." he remarked before turning to him, "How are you doing, Milord?"

Scott smirked, "Ready for tomorrow, and I can't wait to have Marie in class, even though I'll have to have admin give the okay on her grades."

The friends talked for a few more minutes before Scott and Darjeeling separated and went off to the kitchen to finish cleaning "This was all a very splendid idea, don't you think?" Scott said as he wiped one of the newly-washed plates dry.

"You only say that because you insisted on it," Darjeeling replied. "But yes, it was nice. But I'm not organizing something like this again for a while."

"Why not?" Scott asked with a smile. "Too much joy for you at once?"

"Do you realize how difficult it is to match up the schedule of ten working adults for something like this? Add onto that the fact that we were still unable to have two people we wanted."

"I'm a writing teacher, not a train conductor, dear. I don't know a bloody thing about schedules."

"So that's why your students always get five minutes of break," Darjeeling joked. "But in a word: 'Very'"

"I believe you." He said as he moved on to the frying pan. "But I would like to make it clear my students do not get five minutes of break before or after my lessons."

"Oh?"

"It's usually closer to seven."

Darjeeling smirked and whipped her dishtowel in his general direction. Leading Scott to slowly turn towards her, and wrap his arms around her, "Hey, you'll wake the kids. Why risk it?" he asked.

Darjeeling nuzzled his face and smiled, "Do you honestly believe that they're asleep? If you do, you're a much bigger fool than I thought you were when I married you."

Scott raised his eyebrow, "Oh? How do you mean?"

Darjeeling stretched her feet to their full extent and reached her arms around his neck, "Well, after that disaster of a tournament, I think we could have whipped out a wedding in a few days."

Scott smirked and leaned into her kiss. The only other sound being their eleven-year-old Corgi, Edward, passing through the kitchen to his food bowl. Yes, everything was alright with their life, and Scott wouldn't trade it for any other…