Part 3: Girl's Day Out or Day In?
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The next morning as the sun rose in the sky, Camryn was true to her form and out of bed. As she scurried around her room, fixing her makeup, she took the frequent glance in the mirror and primped her curls.
Finally, she modeled her outfit one more time in the glass and then knocked on the door to Alex's room.
Her twin was up and moving, although less enthusiastically, "You're lucky I'm up at all." Grumbled Alex when she saw Cam's disapproving look.
"C'mon, we're gonna be late for breakfast." The idea perked up Alex and the pair practically ran down the stairs to the dining room.
To their surprise, they not only saw their parents, but Karsh and Ileana already seated.
"I'm so glad you're up!" Ileana waved to them.
"We were wondering when we'd see you." Added Miranda, pouring each of her daughters a cup of tea.
They sat down and were promptly served by the waiting staff.
"So, I hear that you and Ileana are going shopping today?" Aron addressed his daughters.
"Yeah, we're gonna buy clothes for the baby."
The parents and Ileana grinned wide, and Karsh gave a smile that was uncharacteristic even for him.
"I thought you guys had baby clothes?"
"No, we couldn't agree, and my mom wanted to make some but hooves can't hold knitting needles."
"I already said how sorry I am for that!"
"You two shouldn't argue, "Came Miranda's voice, "It's not good for the baby."
Ileana nodded, "You're right. So, any stores in mind?"
"I've got this one place near Waverly. Absolutely fantastic! I went there to buy clothes when my cousin was born."
"Sounds wonderful."
"Alex and I will cover all the costs."
Alex nudged her sister and whispered, "I don't have a lot of money."
"I know, but my monthly shopping budget will cover two years worth of clothes."
"Must be nice to have money."
"Of course, we'll help out." Stated Aron, "Karsh and Ileana are practically family."
The two guardians smiled at their king and queen. For another hour, there was a considerable amount of happy chatter at the table while they all ate. Ileana had always loved to eat, but now that she was eating for two, Karsh never mocked her food choices as much as he had previously. Probably because the twins weren't misfiring her food with one of their spells.
Finally they all stood and Karsh helped his wife to her feet, "Are you sure you should be on your feet all day?"
"Oh honey, I'll be fine."
They all turned toward the nearest portal when the twins suddenly spun on their heels, "I think we need to put you in something more… our dimension."
"Huh?"
"Let me just zap you up a new outfit."
Karsh looked agitated, "Just be careful."
"We will." Two little gusts of light surrounded Ileana and when the light died down, they noticed she was dressed quite differently. Instead of a long gown, she had on a pair of maternity jeans and a longer orange maternity shirt. The twins had even outfitted her with a hairclip and stylish purse, the designer logo thanks to Camryn.
Ileana looked down at it, "This is what pregnant women wear in your dimension?"
"You don't like it?"
"We can change the color."
"No, it's okay, it's just not what I'm used to. Would my dress really stand out that much?"
"Trust us, not everyday is Halloween. You'll stand out."
"Well, if you guys think so."
Alex opened a portal and Ileana gave her husband a kiss goodbye. The twins hugged their parents before all three skipped through the portal for a few hours.
"We should be back before 5!" Yelled Camryn as the door closed.
Miranda, Aron, and Karsh waved back at them before leaving to go to the gardens. As always, Karsh looked a bit upset.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just nervous about Ileana, it's not that I don't trust the twins to take care of her, but-"
"It was the same way with Miranda and I. She couldn't get me to leave her side."
"I remember quite well, I even considered using the vanquishing spell just to get some alone time."
They all shared a laugh over the queen's statement.
Aron patted his friend on the shoulder, "Don't worry Karsh, everything will be okay."
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Camryn pulled open the door to the "Style Baby" store and held it for her sister and Ileana.
"Wow! This is a nice place!" Remarked Ileana, staring at the large store, "It's even got two levels."
A sufficiently over caffeinated salesclerk bounced up to them, "Hi! I'm Tanya! Oh my God, you're like right about to deliver, right?"
Before Ileana even had a chance to answer, the girl put her hand on her stomach, something that the elder witch wasn't that comfortable with when it came to strangers. Alex caught the girl by the wrist, "She doesn't really like that."
"Okay, that's cool!" It didn't faze Tanya, "Can I help you find anything?"
"No, we're just looking, thanks!" Cam shook off the salesgirl with an extremely practiced style.
Tanya proceeded to bounce off to someone else.
"I think she needs to totally lay off the mochas." Remarked Alex.
Camryn agreed with her.
"Are people going to be touching me a lot? Because I don't really like that." Asked an upset Ileana.
"Some people might, but don't worry, we'll block them."
With that, the three women began to comb the rack of clothes for anything cute and cuddly enough. Every now and then, one of the girls would run up to Ileana and show off a sleeping outfit or something else.
In the end, the three had collected a mass of red, orange, green, purple, and black outfits. They were enough to dress the child until it was a year old. Camryn and Alex dragged it all up to the checkout lane where a significant amount of money was spent, still falling short of Camryn's monthly allowance.
As they walked out, Cam continued to talk, "And when the baby gets here, we'll come back and get more little clothes in blue or pink, or little overalls or little dresses or – "
"Cam!" Alex shouted, "We get it."
"Okay, okay."
Ileana laughed, "Oh you two. Anyone else getting hungry again? My feet are killing me."
The twins stared at each other, "Yes and let's go find somewhere to sit."
"What time is it?"
Alex looked at her watch, "Oh my God, it's 2 o'clock. We completely missed lunch."
"2? We've been out here for hours. Let's go home and I'll order in."
"Chicken wings?" Asked a very hopeful Ileana.
"If that's what you want, then we're having wings!"
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"I don't know how the twins would feel about it."
"Feel about what?" Asked Karsh, "You're not going to ask them to perform another spell?"
"No." Stated Aron, "Miranda and I were considering having more children."
"More kids?"
"We're not that old Karsh."
"No, it's not that, I didn't mean that."
"Did you mean that you were wondering about the twins?"
"I hate that mind-reading."
Aron smiled but it faded fast, "I just don't want them to feel replaced."
"I'm sure they won't feel replaced. I mean, you guys have been separated for 21 years, you want to be able to actually raise kids, not let someone else raise them for you."
Miranda sighed, "I'm worried that the girls will think that we'll consider the new child more 'ours' than they are."
"Apolla and Artemis? With all their power? How could they not feel like your daughters?"
"But the difference in time, attention?"
"This kind of thing happens all the time in their dimension. I think if you just let them feel like they get to help and teach, they'll adjust better. It's not like they don't have a second support system in their dimension."
The king and queen considered Karsh's words. The retired guardian checked his watch.
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The delivery guy took nearly the entire hour his boss had said he would.
"Don't they know you shouldn't keep a pregnant woman waiting on food!" Demanded Ileana, storming around the house as fast as she could.
"I told them that when I called. Service around here is really slowing down these days."
As if on cue, the doorbell rang and Ileana ran to open it.
"Okay, I have two orders of chicken wings, two salads and a side order of breadsticks." The delivery guy said, holding out the food to Ileana.
She took it, but she couldn't help staring at the man who brought it. The twins noticed how frozen she seemed to be, how much her eyes were wide with curiosity. Ileana handed the money to him and such the door behind him almost robotically.
"Are you okay?
"Yeah, it's just, I could've sworn that was Azoz."
"Azoz? Whose Azoz?"
"It's probably not him anyway."
"C'mon, tell us!"
"Well, over 23 years ago, your uncle Thantos had this advisor named Azoz. The night that Aron was taken by the shadows, Thantos claimed that it was Azoz who'd done it and he banished him to this dimension without his magic."
"And you think that was him at the door?"
"I know, it was a stupid idea. Besides, he doesn't have any magic anyway."
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"I can't believe she's that dense." The delivery guy murmured into the mirror in his hand.
"I can't believe you're using a mirror to contact me," Responded a disgusted voice, "What's next, a crystal ball? You've gone so human in the last 23 years, I swear."
"Oh shut up. I did what you wanted."
"So, she's there?"
"Yes, but don't get your hopes up. Artemis and Apolla are with her."
"What about Karsh?"
"Nowhere to be seen, he's gotta be back in Coventry." Azoz thought about it, "But you are gonna like this piece of news."
"What?"
"Well, from the looks of her, I'd say she's about nine months pregnant."
"Really? Is it Karsh's?"
"Yes, it's written in her mind."
"Come back to my place, I think we have work to do."
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"I don't like this."
"Neither do I. All these years and not a movement, now this."
"The one called Azoz has his powers."
"He never lost them in the first place. Thantos did not punish him."
"You are surprised by this?"
"No, but Azoz is a lackey, who is controlling him?"
"Well all know who."
"It seems Azoz has upgraded from serving Thantos to serving Seren."
The council nodded their heads, "We know what has to be done."
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Two hours later, the girls were seated around the kitchen table finishing what was left of their food and watching the celebrity entertainment shows on the kitchen TV.
As Ileana and Camryn shared a laugh at the latest antics, Alex checked her watch, "Guys, it's like 5 minutes to 5, we should get back."
"Oh alright." Sighed the retired guardian, pulling herself up from the couch. It took a considerable amount of effort and the twins thought they might have to help at one point.
"I tell you, this baby can't come soon enough."
"We can't wait to see it."
"Okay, everyone to the closet." Alex marshaled them all up the stairs, "If we're not home I'm sure Karsh will be here looking for us."
"Very true, he's so overprotective these days."
The twins zapped their door, "To Coventry!" And opened it.
On the other side, there were only clothes.
"What the…" They trailed off, trying the other door. This one revealed nothing as well.
Ileana rubbed her hands together and tried to conjure up a portal out of the air, but nothing came of the magic. Distressed, Camryn began to open drawers and pick things from the floor with her powers, "Look, my powers are still working! Why can't we get a portal?"
The elder witch looked afraid, "Only the council can stop the portals working! Not even Aron and Miranda could close them all down!"
Ileana tapped on the nearest mirror and called into it, "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
A message flashed across the glass, "Sorry, all lines are currently disconnected. Please try again later."
She began to hyperventilate, her breathing erratic, "We don't have enough power. We can't contact anyone, I can't call Karsh, oh God…"
The twins were sufficiently panicked as well, running out of the room, opening every door they could get their hands on. Flying down the stairs, the tried all the doors on the lower level.
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From her chair, Seren watched the events unfold, Azoz the fake delivery guy seated on her left.
"Now?" He asked.
"No, we're still no match for the twins."
Murasa, came up and took the seat to Seren's right, "Everyone is ready."
"Thank you." Seren stated, and held out her hand toward the screen, "Sit back and watch the show with us."
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Camryn and Alex even dove into the pool to see if the underwater portal was available. They dried off with a quick spell and ran back up the stairs.
"Ileana, nothing is working."
"I know, girls." She had her back to them, her hand on the door frame, staring into the mirror and it's flashing message. Her breathing had calmed, and the twins could hear her long inhales and exhales, steady and methodical.
"What should we do?"
"I don't know, I guess we'll have to wait."
"Wait for what though? How will we know when the portals reopen?"
"I don't know, I wish I could tell you, I really wish I knew." There was an emphasis on the last sentence.
Alex stared at her, "Ileana?"
The guardian turned around, her hand still grasping the door frame, the other hand on her large belly, "Yes?"
"You okay?"
"I can't wait for the portals to reopen."
Two and two met in the twins' minds, "You can't wait?"
"No," She looked near tears, "Because this baby's not gonna wait."
"You're not serious." They echoed each other.
"The baby's on its way."
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Seren leaned over to Azoz, "Now you can go."
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Author's Note: From this point out, there are two different endings. The first that's posted is the ending I originally created and the second is the one that was suggested as a more Disney-ish ending by a friend. Both stories will come to the same conclusion, the way there will just be different.
In response to a comment: Ileana is not having twins, that is too close to the original story for me.
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