It has been several years since the truth behind the world and the loop system was revealed to the world leaders. More importantly, it had been several months since Claire no longer needed to attend nearly daily meetings.

Our lives have steadily become less hectic, and our daily troubles have receded to simple matters like what to make for dinner, or what the four of us will do on the days we all have free time.

I returned to working at the Royal Academy while Claire was involved in the political fallout from the loop system. Father-in-law had tried to get her to remain in the political arena, which included an impassioned plea to me to convince her to become Bauer's Prime Minister. I didn't entertain it for long. She had spent so long away from the three of us, sometimes going days without returning home.

With May and Aleah growing up so quickly (as much of a cliche from 21st century Japan, it truly seemed that way since we returned from the Nur Empire), I couldn't stand for Claire to miss out on the two of them growing up.

Selfishly I did this because I didn't want her to end up like her own parents, who had been constantly busy with political matters that they didn't have much time to spend with Claire.

Of course, I'd kept this thought to myself.

Claire and I had spent hours and hours late at night discussing what her next job should be, if she should return to the academy, or even how to manage the knowledge of the loop system. I'll admit that I sometimes had problems with it. My previous life, while not the best, was still something I lived. I had made connections there. If given the choice to return, I would have never taken it. I would never leave my family behind. But the knowledge that it happened so long ago, and the people I knew were long gone… hurt a bit.

I confided this to Claire before too. I never reminisced about my previous life, or did much else of use my knowledge of that time to help us in this world. That night with Claire was the one and only time I've cried over it. Despite profusely apologising to her (in the middle of my sobs), Claire did nothing more than hold me and try to sooth me.

Ah, and there was that time that–

"...Rae?"

I blinked away the thought I had started to stare at Claire, who looked at me with a confused expression.

"Are you alright, Mother Rae?"

This time May cautiously looked at me, with Aleah looking on with a similarly confused expression. Ah, I had been spacing out too much, hadn't I?

"Ah, yes. Sorry. I was just thinking about how cute the three of you are."

"Rae."

Claire looked at me sympathetically, head tilted to the side in concern. Both May and Aleah rolled their eyes at the comment, but with smiles on their faces. The two of them were still young enough to enjoy the overbearing love from a parent, but their teenage years were just a blink away.

"Ah, well, it seems everyone is done! May, Aleah, you two should go brush your teeth. Your mother and I will clean up all the dishes."

"Yes Mother Rae!"

"Of course, Mother Rae!"

The twins nearly bolted up out of their chairs and raced to be the first to get to the washroom. They both bickered as they did so, sounding a lot like Claire and I did during our time as students at the Royal Academy. The two of them really were unbelievably cute.

"I know that look on your face, Rae. You were thinking about something serious."

"I suppose I was. For some reason, I started to think about the past couple months and years we've had. I was thinking how… peaceful and calm our lives are now. How we have each other, and we have the girls."

I grabbed the serving dishes and moved towards the sink, turning my back to Claire.

"We've been through a lot. It all came back to me while watching you and the girls eating. How ordinary this feels. My previous life… there wasn't anything like this. Every day here is a blessing, and it's ordinary. It's comfortable. No matter what happened before, no matter who I was before, I'm glad to be here, with you Claire."

Scraping off the final scraps of dinner from the plates, I grabbed my wand and filled the basin to scrub them down before continuing.

"Years ago I had said you saved me. You didn't believe me then, which I understand. That's still true now, but I feel it even more each day. To have such a wonderful life, a wonderful family. In my wildest dreams, this never happened. To say you're beyond my dreams is an–ngh?!"

I was cut off by Claire grabbing me from behind and bringing me into an embrace. The dish I had been working on dropped from my hands and sunk to the bottom of the basin with a dull plunk. Claire buried her head in my shoulder, nuzzling my neck and leaving a gentle kiss.

"You–you–Rae." She heaved a heavy sigh, and I brought my arms up to clasp her hands that were around my midsection.

"Yes, Claire?"

"Sometimes you are just so impossible with what you say."

"Hmm?"

I hadn't expected that response.

"You can somehow say the most heartfelt things even when we are merely cleaning. Honestly…"

"It's simply because I love you so much."

"I love you too, Rae. I'm so thankful you're here. I.. wouldn't be here without you. Even if I survived the Revolution, I would have never made it as far as I did with you."

Claire squeezed me tighter, and I leaned into her.

"Every day I'm away from home is torture for me. Not going to sleep at your side makes me so restless, not seeing May and Aleah… the fear of missing something important. Not having their boundless energy around me. I manage to get through it each time because I know you three will be here."

"You're perfect, Claire."

"No, that has always been you."

"C-Clare?!"

"You've done everything in your power to help either me or our daughters. You've never put yourself or your interests first before us. Even at the academy… you did everything for me. You showed your love each and every day without fail. You would do anything for the three of us. You have done everything for the three of us."

I silently reflected on her words. It was rare for Claire to be so open with her feelings to me. To know she felt this way still seemed as if it was a dream, one that'd I'd be rudely woken up from. No matter how much I thought this, I knew that here, right now, was real.

Claire lifted her head and brought her lips to my cheek, lingering there for a moment before opening her eyes and casting a loving gaze on me.

"Look May, Mothers are being all lovey dovey again!"

Aleah and May chose that moment to burst back into the kitchen. I was certain Claire would pull away from me. She still always got bashful around them, even after all these years. Imagine my surprise when she looked over to them and only smiled.

"That's right. Your mothers deeply love each other, isn't that right Rae?"

"!..."

My face distorted in surprise, and an involuntary yelp emerged from my mouth.

"W-w-why of course!"

Claire chuckled before releasing me and giving me a sly smile. It was clear she was trying to tease me in the same way I had years before. It caught me off guard, and that smile was intoxicating.

"Hmph!"

Both May and Aleah let out a very Claire-like sigh in unison with a small pout. A smile danced on my face at how much they took after the both of us. They would act like Claire while pouting like I did. At least in this case I knew what they wanted.

"Come here you too, Mother Rae loves you as well."

I swooped down and gathered both of them in my arms. I felt both of them relax into the hug as their arms moved to embrace me. Insecurities had always haunted me about my daughter's affection for me, but I knew that they loved me as their mother, something that never failed to make me so proud.

"You two are so good, I'm so happy to be your mother. The two of you bring such a light into my life."

"I love you, Mother Rae!"

"I love you, Mama!"

The twins had started to develop their own personalities in the past few years. Which wasn't saying they were no longer similar, that was far from the case. Instead, it was a bit more subtle. Aleah would continue to address Claire and I as 'Mother,' while May called me 'Mama' and Claire 'Mother.'

May also insisted her hair be kept short. She asked me for haircuts nearly every month. While Aleah had asked Claire to help style her hair into curls like she always wore… which was cute watching Claire try and do the curls on Aleah. I still did them most mornings after breakfast for her. Even if Claire does not ask me, I still make it a point to dote on her as much as possible.

I broke the embrace with my daughters, looking up to see Claire looking at us lovingly. A wide smile broke across my face.

"Mama, you're crying?"

"No-no I'm not–"

"Mother Rae, your face is wet."

Oops. I hadn't even realised I started to cry. The twins looked at me, concerned something had happened. They snuck a glance at Claire who crouched next to the three of us. I had somehow found myself in a seiza. She gathered the three of us and hugged us tightly.

In my heart, I knew I was at peace. This was the family I never knew I longed for, along with the woman I'd long admired from behind the screen of a television. None of us said anything, but it felt like we were communicating our feelings with each other. We must have sat there for five minutes before the twins started to squirm.

The four of us ended up on the couch in the parlour, where Claire and I ended up regaling our daughters with stories we'd picked up over the years. Claire told one particularly thrilling story of a time she was on Sousse with Manaria and the two of them had ended up hiding from several maids after a particularly ill-fated attempt at sneaking strawberries from the kitchens.

Throughout my near-constant laughter, I managed to choke out a story in college where Misaki and I ended up accidentally stalking an office worker. It was heavily abridged of course, I didn't even tell Claire about my time in college much. I didn't want to have my daughters bringing it up and thinking about it much. No one had ever told them what had happened to me explicitly, but they were smarter than they'd let on, so I'm sure they knew.

After a sleepy May and Aleah trudged up to their rooms, Claire and I cleared the cups we had been drinking from and retreated to our own room. We helped each other change, something we had grown used to doing over the years despite neither of us strictly needing it. It was simply comforting to have the other person there to help. I was careful to avoid Relaire, who was sleeping in the small pet bed we had in our room, when I tossed my clothes towards the corner chair.

Claire had already gotten into bed and lifted the covers for me to slip underneath by the time I had finished brushing my hair. Gratefully accepting her invitation, I slid underneath and brought myself close to her, my nose gently rubbing against hers. She let out a soft giggle, which I responded with a couple more nose rubs. Ah, this was pure bliss.

"Thank you."

"Hmm? What for?" My eyes were drawn to hers, confused as to why she was thanking me.

"You're just… you, Rae. It's magical being at your side, seeing you with me, with the girls. I never knew I could feel such love and warmth each day."

"Claire…"

There was something extraordinary in the ordinary. Both of us felt it, and we both cherished it deeply. I was sure there was nothing the two of us couldn't handle, now or in the future. So long as Claire had me, and I had Claire, we were unstoppable.

The space between us gradually shrank as her lips softly met mine. My arms made their way around her, pulling her closer. We broke apart briefly, our eyes fluttering open.

I closed the distance again, capturing her lips in a deeper kiss. I wanted to convey everything I felt to her at this moment. No matter how many times we would kiss or have our moments of intimacy, these moments of love between us give me stomach flips and make my heartbeat increase ever so slightly.

We broke apart once more, taking in a deep breath while looking at each other through half closed eyes. Claire's eyes slowly closed as she snuggled herself closer into me, resting her head on my chest. I moved my arm up to stroke the back of her head as we both began to drift to sleep.

"I love you, Rae."

"I love you too, Claire."