Carswell Thorne stretched out in the grass, enjoying a moment to himself as he soaked up the hot October sun. It was much warmer in New Beijing than it was in Los Angeles around this time of year, and he was eager to take advantage of it. It had been several years since they'd been back to the Eastern Commonwealth. They usually met the gang on a private island in order to escape the chaos of daily life. Now that they all had busier lifestyles and family responsibilities, they weren't able to meet up as much, of course, but they still liked to have as many couples-only getaways as they could. It was nice to leave the kids at home for awhile and get some quality alone time with their friends. Plus, he couldn't deny how much he enjoyed the luxury of it all. Having royalty as best friends certainly came with perks.

This time, though, Thorne and Cress had insisted that their kids accompany them. It had been too long –more than two years, in fact—since all the kids had seen each other at the same time. Living on different continents and having varying school schedules tended to do that. But this was a special occasion, and Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder had taken the opportunity to plan a full-blown "family reunion" of sorts to accompany the festivities. Needless to say, everyone was excited.

The hum of a hovercraft descending into the park and a familiar excited voice made him prop himself up on his elbows. "Daddy, come on!" his youngest daughter, Maya, called to him. "We're going to be late!"

Yes, youngest. Thorne knew he must be paying for all his past indiscretions to have gotten not one, but three girls. He should have guessed that the fates would surround him with women for the rest of his life. After all, would he have it any other way? But he knew all too well the kind of trouble that girls could get into if they met the wrong sort of boy – the kind of boy he'd been. The thought had given him more than a few sleepless nights, especially since Vas, his eldest, was already into her teenage years.

And stars alive, was she a little heartbreaker. She had inherited Cress's incredible hair and freckles, but in every other way resembled him, even in height. She had also gotten a whole lot of attitude. Cress liked to remind him often that the latter was all his doing. Vas had even somehow inherited the glamour gene, though Thorne knew he couldn't give himself any credit for that. The first time that he had seen her use her glamour, he had nearly had a heart attack. Luckily, Cress had been there too, and she was just as resistant to glamour as she'd always been.

But Vas was so pretty, confident, and resourceful already that she didn't even need any glamour to do damage. If he didn't know her tricks so well because he'd already done them all himself when he was growing up, he was sure she would be able to get away with anything. And while he had a soft spot for Vas, he was secretly relieved that his other daughters had inherited more of their mother's loving and patient personality.

"We have plenty of time, Maya," he replied. "They're practically throwing the party in our honor."

He jumped up and hurried to climb into the hover, though, because he knew Maya was bubbling with excitement at the thought of going to the palace. She'd been too young last time to really appreciate the grandeur of it all.

"Uncle Kai sent us his own personal hover, can you believe it?!" She was glowing.

When he sat down next to Cress in the hovercraft, he stared at her for a few seconds and let out a low wolf whistle until her eyes met his. "Well, hellooo gorgeous!" he drawled, putting on his most devilishly charming grin. "Fine thing meeting you here."

"Oh!" said Cress, playing along, "you must be that famous spaceship captain I've heard so much about. Who would've thought we'd be on the same hover?"

"Today must be your lucky day."

"Or maybe it's yours."

"Always is. Would you care to accompany me to a party tonight?"

"I already have a date, unfortunately."

Maya giggled.

"Shucks," he said, snapping his fingers in mock disappointment. "Already taken. Tough break with this one, huh?" he stage whispered to Maya.

"Daddy, you're already married!"

"Hmm…you're right. Well good thing I'm already married to the most stunning girl in the galaxy or that would have been quite hard to recover from." He winked at her, and then reached to pull Cress onto his lap. He smothered her with kisses as she blushed furiously. He loved that he could still have that effect on her, even though he knew that now it was more because she didn't approve of too much PDA in front of their kids.

"Maya, where are your sisters?" he asked, when he didn't think he could make his wife blush any more.

"They went ahead of us with two of the royal guards. Auntie Cinder said I could come too, but mommy wanted me to stay with her." She pouted a little, and Thorne could tell she was jealous.

"Just think, Maya, mommy and I are two guests of honor at this celebration, so when you enter with us, all the attention will be on you too! Your sisters will miss out because they went ahead."

Maya's eyes widened with joy and she turned to stare down at the city, appeased.

"Quick thinking, Captain," murmured Cress into his ear. Mmm, he loved that she still called him that.

"Would you expect any less of me, Mrs. Thorne?"

Kai's speech was impressive but brief as usual, and luckily the questions from the reporters didn't take too long. Thorne remembered when he used to be envious of Kai and Cinder being in the news all the time, but over the years he'd come to see how taxing it was to constantly be in the limelight. He didn't really miss those days of infamy. Luckily, the Lunar Revolution wasn't much of a hot topic anymore, and these days he could even get around without being noticed too much. Today, of course, was a different story, but with Kai and Cinder around, it was easy for him to avoid having to answer too many questions. The reporters all wanted to talk to everyone's favorite power couple.

With all the press and opening remarks, he hadn't had any time to greet his friends properly yet, so he was glad when Cress informed him that they would be spending their evening primarily in the Emperor's private party room. As he made his way through the doorway, he caught sight of Scarlet, standing by the refreshment table as Ze'ev headed in the direction of the bathroom. Unlike Thorne and Cress, they'd only had one child, a son named Kamatis. He went by Kam, though, and Thorne knew he was embarrassed that his parents had named him after a private joke they had about vegetables. He couldn't see him anywhere though, and he was slightly disappointed since Kam was his favorite almost-nephew. He'd been the first child of the whole group, and of course everyone had doted on him. The last time he'd seen him, Kam had been in his awkward growing phase, and Thorne was looking forward to giving him a few tips about the ladies.

"Cress, Thorne!" Scarlet rushed over to hug them. Cress and Scarlet stayed in a long embrace. It had taken them awhile to get to know each other initially, but Cress and Scarlet saw each other more often now than her and Cinder did.

"Winter and Jacin send their regards," said Scarlet, "but since they already come to Earth so often, they just couldn't get away this time. Maya, I think you'll see they sent some of your friends along to stay with their aunt and uncle anyway." She winked at her, and Maya took off to find the other kids and teens.

As the girls started chatting, Thorne looked around for the familiar face he'd been waiting to greet all night. There were a few people he didn't know, but almost everyone there was from their revolution days. After all, what would a twenty-year anniversary of peace be without all the key players?

But he was most excited about catching up with Cinder. Plus, he couldn't wait to tease her about the over-the-top dress she'd worn tonight. He knew that she was probably seething inside her cyborg brain—one of the royal tailors had likely made her wear it. He finally spotted Cinder with Kai in the corner of the room, and sure enough, Cinder was fussing with the long sleeves of her dress. Thorne strolled over to greet them, leaving Cress with Scarlet. Cinder smiled broadly as he approached. When he finally reached her, he couldn't resist picking up his long-lost best friend in a crushing embrace.

"Hey," said Kai, "hands off the wife."

Thorne let go of Cinder as Kai reached to give him a hug as well. "Good to see you, Thorne. Sorry about all the formalities earlier."

Thorne clapped his hand on Kai's shoulder. "Kai, my man, you still owe me 10,000 univs from our last Royals game."

"10,000 univs? Does that include the money you definitely skimmed off the top?"

"Kai, have you been gambling?" asked Cinder, turning to look at him, as Thorne cringed inwardly. He hadn't thought about helping Kai save face in front of Cinder. Cress was always telling him that he needed to have a little more tact.

Kai's ears started to turn pink. "No…"

"Thorne, you are such a bad influence!"

"Don't blame me," Thorne tried, making his voice sound very nonchalant. "The Emperor needs a break every now and then, don't you think?"

"Is that what you boys do on your so-called "guy trips?"

Kai looked like he was about to answer, but Thorne stepped in and took Cinder by the elbow. "Now Cinder, you can't just ask your husband what happens on our sacred trips. We would never tell."

Cinder snorted. "Oh please, we all know that Cress can make you tell her anything."

Thorne laughed. "I will admit to nothing."

Kai shrugged out of his jacket and took his sash off, tossing it casually onto the couch. He loosened the buttons on his collar. "There," he said, rolling up his sleeves, "that's better."

"If only I could do the same thing," said Cinder glumly, continuing to fidget with her dress.

"You look fabulous," said Kai.

"I look fabulous in cargo pants too, you know."

"I know you do," he replied, bending to give her a peck on the cheek.

After a lot of mingling, he was just about ready to call it a night. There would be plenty of time to catch up with the gang all week. Thorne made his way to the bathroom and headed down the vestibule that connected it to the party room. It was elaborate just like everything else, and he couldn't help thinking that such fine curtains would look better in his house than here—which in reality was no more than a long bathroom corridor.

As he neared the middle of the vestibule, he saw Amaris coming towards the entrance and ducked behind a curtain to surprise her. The princess would soon be fifteen years old, trailing Vas by only a year. She was too old to be thrown over his shoulder like he used to do when she was younger, but he could still catch her off guard to embarrass her a little. What else were uncles for? Just as he was about to jump out, Vas came bursting out of the girls' bathroom. She squealed and ran to Amaris, linking their arms.

"Oh my stars! Did you see him yet?"

Curiosity peaked, Thorne stayed put behind the curtain.

"Of course I did," said Amaris, rolling her eyes at how excited Vas was. "He came over and said hi to my whole family earlier. You know how much my brother looks up to him."

"He is so hott."

"You think?"

"Admit it, Amaris!"

"He's definitely changed a lot since the last time we saw him. I guess he is pretty cute."

"Like, dreamy cute. And he has the most adorable accent." Vas sighed dramatically, fanning herself.

"He's always had that accent—they all do. But isn't it a little weird though? I mean, he's practically our cousin."

"We're not related at all. Our parents just like to think we are."

Thorne's palms were growing sweaty. Who exactly were they talking about?

"I think my parents would freak out if it were me."

"Seriously? I mean your dad was basically the hottest guy on the planet when he was a young prince. I'm sure he's had his fair share of dates."

Amaris stuck out her tongue. "Gross, Vas."

"Just stating fact, darling."

"Still gross."

"Okay, shhh, he's coming over here! I told him to meet me. He doesn't know yet, but I'm taking him to the gardens for a walk."

Thorne craned his neck and froze when he saw that walking in their direction was none other than Kam. But Kam was no longer awkward and lanky as Thorne had remembered him. He had filled out well and looked like a smaller version of Ze'ev, but without scars and the facial features of his mother. Lucky thing too, since Scarlet was definitely the looker of the two of them. As the pieces of the puzzle started coming together, Thorne felt his stomach flip. Aces, Vas liked Kam?

Amaris detached herself from Vas's grip and hastily made to walk out the entrance, passing Kam as he came in. She smiled at him and then shot a knowing look over her shoulder at Vas before disappearing into the party room.

Vas moved further down the hallway as Kam joined her. Thorne could barely hear what they were saying so he only caught pieces of their conversation. But he could see enough to figure out what was going on. It was crystal clear that Vas was attracted to him. And by Kam's flustered reactions, he had a feeling that she was doing a pretty good job showing off her flirting skills. Why did she have to be her father's daughter?

Thorne's eyes widened as her hand brushed Kam's shoulder, then trailed down his arm seductively. The look it put on Kam's face was one Thorne knew far too well. He was putty in her hands.

Oh no.

Oh. No.

Pulling out his portscreen, he sent a frantic comm to Cress. Bathroom. Get over here now. Our daughter is a minx!

The ping from his portscreen startled him as Cress replied. I would've thought you'd be proud. PS: You know she's really your daughter.

Exactly why this was a problem. Seriously, she is out here trying to seduce Kam. (And succeeding!)

He could practically hear his wife laughing at him in her response. Nobody knows seduction like Carswell Thorne, the "Master of Love" himself. I'm sure you can handle it.

How can you joke about this?

Because I'm married to YOU.

He groaned in frustration. He would need to deal with this on his own. But as he looked up from his port, he saw that Vas and Kam were already slipping out into the party room. He shot out from behind the curtain and tried to follow them, only to be intercepted by Cress after a minute or two. She crossed her arms and stared up at him as he tried to make her see the gravity of the situation.

"Quick! They're headed to the gardens!"

"And...?"

"You work for intelligence. You must have some sort of tracking or listening ear-piece with you."

"Yes, hold on while I pull out my daughter spying device. We use that a lot in my job."

"You're making fun of me."

Cress uncrossed her arms and wound them around his waist, pulling him into her. She looked up at him, her blue eyes twinkling. "You need to relax, babe."

But he couldn't relax; he just felt the panic rising. Cress grabbed his hand and dragged him back to where Cinder, Kai, Scarlet, and Ze'ev were standing. Ze'ev! Wolf! Surely the former lunar operative would understand that his son should not be out there with Thorne's daughter.

When he had finished telling them what he had seen and heard, they looked highly amused at his distress.

Cress clasped her hands together. "This is so romantic! And Kam! Could we ask for anyone better for our daughter?"

Scarlet beamed, but Thorne rounded on Cress. "You're not serious. Think about all the bad things that could happen!"

"Hey now," said Ze'ev, "Kam's got a good head on his shoulders. My son is nothing if not respectful."

"I'm not worried about what your son will do. I'm worried about what Vas will do!"

"What are you saying?"

"Wolf, do you really want your son dating a female version of teenage me?"

At that, Ze'ev looked slightly alarmed.

Kai, however, doubled over with laughter.

"What exactly is your problem?" Thorne asked him, annoyed that he wasn't taking this seriously either.

"It's just -hahaha- this is the Carswell Thorne I've always wanted to see! You're a nervous mess. I never thought anything could break your resolve! And, now, and now—"

Cinder shushed him, but Kai held up his hand.

"Wait, wait. Thorne is right, though. Think about it. Vas is gorgeous, and smart like her mom, and she has Thorne's personality." He burst out laughing again. "Kam—Kam doesn't stand a chance!"

"I know," said Thorne miserably, "she's going to ruin him."

He turned to Cinder for help, but she shook her head unsympathetically. "Don't look at me."

He pulled Cress closer to him, trying not to wake her. Thorne savored the warmth of her body snuggled against his. It was a constant force and it soothed him. Sometimes when they would fall asleep like this, he would think about their time together in the desert, so long ago. Her warmth had kept him company during some of his darkest hours. He hadn't known it at the time, but she had already begun to unravel him then. Now, after so many years, he couldn't imagine ever wanting to wake up without her again.

At this rate, though, with so many thoughts from today swirling around his head, he was unlikely to even fall asleep in the first place.

"I know you're not sleeping."

She knew him too well.

"Am too."

Cress turned around until she was facing him, and gave him a few kisses on his collarbone. He was more than willing to reciprocate. She gently pulled him back to eye level, though, and he met her gaze. Her eyes were sleepy, but reading him intently nonetheless.

"Let's talk about the real problem here."

He sighed. "Do we have to?"

"You're finally vulnerable. I like it. It doesn't happen very often."

He wrinkled his nose at her. "Who said anything about being vulnerable? I am…shocked. Betrayed. Ready for action!"

"You keep telling yourself that."

"I will."

She swept a kiss on his lips but pulled away when he tried to kiss her back. He wished she wouldn't stop kissing him. He wanted to be distracted. She wasn't having it, though.

"You know that I love you even when you pretend that you don't have any fears or worries. I love all of you. But I'm most interested in this." She placed a hand over his heart. He covered her hand with his and tried to hide the smirk that was forming on his lips.

"Cress. Twenty years and you'd think you'd have grown out of some of your sentimentalism."

"Sixteen years and you'd think you'd have prepared yourself for your daughter's first crush."

He whistled under his breath. "Mrs. Thorne thinks she's become clever in her comebacks over the years too, I see."

"I learn from the best. Now, stop avoiding the topic."

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. Pulling himself into a seated position, he propped his back against the pillow and leaned his head onto the headboard. He held out his arm for Cress and she obliged, moving to lean into his chest.

"I'm really worried about Vas."

"Worried about Vas, or worried about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"She's your first daughter. Of course you're worried. But maybe you're having a little trouble letting go."

"No, it's not like that."

"Then what is it?"

"I was trying to tell you today. The more Vas grows up, the more she resembles me. Do you remember me—how I was—twenty years ago?"

"Of course. That's when we met."

"Well, now imagine me at sixteen with raging teenage hormones as well. Add in the fact that everyone wants me. It's not the best combination."

She laughed. "I don't think everyone wanted you."

"I was really popular, and handsome, and—"

She poked him. "Trust me, I've heard this speech. And I had a huge crush on you before I met you, remember?"

"But Vas is more naïve than I was. I don't want her to make the same mistakes I did. She doesn't know how her decisions now will affect her later."

Cress sighed. "Have a little faith in your daughter. Maybe Kam will be good for her. I was good for you, right?"

"You are good for me," he corrected.

"I'm glad you recognize that," she said, smiling. "Besides, you know they've been close since they were little."

"Yeah, cousin close!"

"They're not cousins."

"Everyone needs to stop saying that."

"Think about it this way. The fact that we are so close with our friends gives us an advantage. If she's out with Kam, you know Scar and Z will keep tabs not just on him, but on her too. And vice-versa. We can share intel."

He frowned, thoughtful. A slight positive.

"And," she continued, "wouldn't you love it if our families really did become related?"

He couldn't conceal his shock and stared at his wife, wondering if she'd lost herself in one of her fantasies again.

"Marriage?" he spluttered. "She's sixteen!"

"I was sixteen when we met."

"Totally different situation."

"How so?"

"I don't see any of them trapped in a satellite or escaping jail or kidnapping Emperors or taking down evil queen dictators."

"Carswell, that's why this is good for our kids. They get to have a normal life with normal dating problems. We made that possible for them. Now let them live it."

"She still doesn't have to get married."

"I'm not saying that she's going to get married today. We waited a few years to get married too. I guess it would be good if they waited a little longer to have kids than we did, though…"

Thorne held up his hands. "I had absolutely nothing to do with that."

Her laugh him feel just a bit better. "It's going to be fine, Captain."

"But she's my baby," he said weakly.

"I know." She squeezed herself closer to his chest. "She's mine too."

"Hey, Cress?"

"Yes?"

"I love you, and normally I want you as close to me as possible, but spades is it hot in here. I'm not used to all this humidity anymore. Can you get off of me for a bit?"

She laughed again, but instead of moving, she tried to smother him with her little body. He was much stronger, of course, and it took him all of three seconds to flip them over so that he was the one smothering her. She shrieked and tried to push his weight off of her, but he stayed put. Humid or not, this was the perfect angle with which to kiss her jawbone—her favorite place to be kissed.

After a few minutes of adoring his wife, he rolled onto his back, one hand propped under the pillow. He reached his other hand for hers, and gave it a squeeze.

"Having three girls sometimes seems scarier than facing Queen Levana."

A/N: The name "Vas" means "kiss" and it comes from an Italian dialect. Cress & Thorne were inspired by Cress's love for singing in Second Era old Italian, and the first time that Thorne kept a promise to Cress when they were about to die. Hope you enjoyed reading!

*This fic was inspired by the Cyborg Monday twitter chat where Marissa Meyer mentioned possible "wolf cubs" in Winter, and porcelainn replied "I NEED THORNE BABIES, UM?".*