Sorry, long update, I know; just please, review!

Anna-Maria felt Artemis' warm breath settle softly around her as she rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat through the fabric of his shirt. "Artemis," She said softly. "I love you."

"I can't believe it."

She lifted her head and looked at him. "What? I've told you that before. Are you reading your email on your mobile phone again even though I specifically told you to relax for a few minutes?"

Artemis smiled and drew her closer to him, admiring the sharp contrast of her green eyes to the various colors of the crisp autumn leaves surrounding them under the shade of the large oak tree. "Not that. I find it difficult to believe now that I used to actually have dreams of marrying Minerva until I met you."

Anna-Maria laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted."

"Hmm…your grandfather knew what he was doing when he named you after the Roman goddess of love, Anna-Maria Venus Fowl…" Artemis leaned his own head against the tree trunk and closed his eyes, following the slope of her stomach with his hands.

"Artemis, if your hands slip any further, you're going to get a punch between the eyes, capisci?"

He opened his eyes slowly and looked down at her. "You ruined my romantic mood."

"Good," She replied. "My best pillow is inside the manor."

"And what would you have done if you had injured me?" He asked.

"With a pillow?" Anna-Maria said disbelievingly.

"Just imagine it," He replied. "What would you have done?"

Anna-Maria smiled as she listened to his even, steady breathing. "Simple," She answered quietly. "I would have grabbed the insurance cards and gone to the hospital a little earlier than scheduled."

"Are you serious?" He asked solemnly, his chilling blue eyes searching for her answer.

"Yes and no," She sighed and laid a hand on her stomach. "Can you believe it, Artemis? Only two months are left, and the babies' kicks are getting stronger everyday."

Artemis thought for a few moments. "No."

She lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at him. "You want to feel their kicking? I may have gotten used to it, but the pain is still there, you know."

"No; I meant, I can't believe we have not arranged a baby shower yet."

"How is that hard to believe? You hate parties, and I hate dressing up for them." Anna-Maria replied.

"Still, we should have one."

"If you say so," She returned her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing patterns. "Do you need any help?"

"Only in maintaining this romantic feeling."

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"Anna-Maria! I need your help!" Artemis called.

She looked up from her laptop. "Artemis, I'm busy! Settle your romantic feelings with a Bollywood movie if you need to."

"Not that," He replied, entering the study. "Mother is selecting the invitations."

"So?"

He placed a pair of sample invitations on the desk, facing her. "She cannot choose between these two, and I don't have either the taste or the patience for these things."

"Well, neither do I," She replied. "Just pick one at random."

"Either way, I am going to be dissatisfied. It's either Garfield or Mickey Mouse. Why can't there be an invitation that has more important, more professional images on it, like a play college degree? The achievement could be the upcoming birth of the twins, and there could be blanks for their names and our signatures."

"Cute idea," Anna-Maria smiled and handed him the Mickey Mouse invitation. "But, the reason for that is because Artemis and Angelina are babies, not college graduates. Go with the Mickey Mouse; at least it's cuter than a fat cat."

"Well, at least that's settled," Artemis took the sample invitation from her. "But we still have the guest list to finalize. Minerva and Julio are dating now, right?"

"Right," She replied, turning back to her laptop. "So?"

"Should we still invite them?"

"Of course; why not?"

"I don't want to see them making puppy-eyes at each other when they happen to be in separate corners of the room." Artemis replied.

Anna-Maria shuddered involuntarily. "Neither do I. I'll tell Julio to follow a 'no kissy-face, puppy-eyes' policy."

"And Minerva?"

"I'll claw her eyes out if I see her sneaking mushy looks at anyone. I'll just have to make sure that she actually is lovesick and doesn't just have something in her eyes."

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"Anna-Maria, you look positively radiant!" Minerva exclaimed, enveloping the Italian girl in her embrace.

"Er…yeah. Okay," She prodded the older girl's arms. "Okay, hug's over."

"Sorry." Minerva let her go with a small smile.

Anna-Maria straightened the wrinkles that had formed in her blouse and walked away, muttering, "Frond, she's gotten clingy."

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"Hey, Artemis!"

The Irishman turned. "Hello, Julio. How are you?"

"Well," The Venetian man looked around him, grinning. "Now that I'm here, I'm fine. That is one fine-looking –"

"Ahem," Artemis cleared his throat loudly. "I hope you were not referring to Anna-Maria in any way."

"I had a crush on her when I was eight years-old!" Julio protested. "I am not interested in…is that a Venetian blouse she's wearing?"

Artemis looked at him and waited. "Are you done? And, in case you were wondering, Minerva has already arrived, your girlfriend. And, in case you forgot, Anna-Maria, my wife, is seven months pregnant."

"Uh…yeah, I remembered, trust me," Julio replied. "Relax, Artemis. Remember, I'm only Anna-Maria's childhood best friend and your adulthood one.

"Although," He added to himself. "Friendship is supposed to be the first step to love and I was her first and only friend for a long time, so…"

"What?"

"Uh…nothing," Julio turned. "I'm just going to –"

SPLASH!

Anna-Maria appeared at her husband's side. "Julio accidentally walked into the deep end of the pool again, didn't he?"

"Yes," Artemis replied. "Odd, that's the fifth time in the past six months."

Anna-Maria sighed. "Well, Artemis…I think we have some very, very strange friends." She looked at him. "Do you catch my drift?"

"I understand perfectly. By the way," He lowered his voice. "Some of our fairy friends are upstairs in the manor."

"Great, we can go in a minute. Did you know that Minerva bought the twins pink and blue personalized miniature bathtubs?"

Artemis chuckled. "Yes, well, Julio got them a pair of walkie-talkie bracelets."

"Well, what can I say? Julio gets a little crazy sometimes. But he's a good friend."

"Yes…of course he is."

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"Anna-Maria!" Holly exclaimed. "Whoa, you…got big. Well, you are having twins, after all. How do you fit through the doors?"

Anna-Maria smiled, used to her elfin friend's ways. "Nice to see you too, Holly. And Artemis had to remodel the doors a little." She winked so that Foaly would know that she was joking.

Holly smiled back and handed her a gift bag. "Open it."

"Now?" She opened it and drew out a box with a clear lid that revealed matching white gold personalized bracelets. "Oh, Holly, they're so cute…did I just say that? Minerva's behavior must be infectious."

Foaly handed her a wrapped package. "I think you and Mud Boy will be pretty interested in this, a new invention of my own."

Artemis looked over Anna-Maria's shoulder as she unwrapped the package and opened the box. She studied the small screens for a moment. "Let me guess, mini-laptops that can hang in the babies' cribs and will automatically begin brain-stimulating programs that will enhance the twins' learning process?"

"That…was a very thorough guess."

Anna-Maria grinned. "Actually, you wrote the entire thing on the inside of the box."

"Let me see the young couple!" An oddly familiar voice rang out.

"Oh, no," Anna-Maria turned to Artemis. "Is that our old doctor?"

The pixie appeared in front of them. "Hello, Mud Man, Mud Girl. Congratulations," She held out a bag. "This one is for you."

Anna-Maria reluctantly took the bag and opened it, drawing out a model of a human baby. "Uh…what…is…this?"

"Can't you tell, dear? It's a baby simulator."

"Gah!" She involuntarily dropped it; it began shrieking loudly once it hit the floor. "Not again!"

Artemis supported her shoulders protectively. "For the record, 'gah' is not a word."

She glared at him. "You're lucky you were born a male human instead of a male seahorse."

His eyebrows furrowed as he caught her meaning. "Right…get rid of that simulator, someone!"

Anna-Maria picked it up and dropped it out the window, wincing when a very loud "ouch!" was heard from below. "Sorry, Julio!" She called. "I didn't know it would fall on your head!"

The fairy doctor took another bag from her side. "And these are for your little Arthur and Apolla –"

"You mean, Artemis and Angelina?"

"Right, right." She handed them a bottle and reached back into her purse. "Now, I do believe I saw…"

Anna-Maria looked at the bottle's label. "Flea remover? Uh…Doctor, you do know that Artemis and Angelina are babies, not puppies?"

"Oh, of course they are," She drew out a pair of dishes. "Now, these are water bowls for Anne and Aristotle –"

"ANGELINA AND ARTEMIS!" Everyone exclaimed. This was not going to be easy.