Saturday passed in a blur of activity. The stallion arrived sedated on Sunday morning. "He's gorgeous," Serena said as they unloaded him into a large pen with the mare who was officially in heat. He came to about fifteen minutes after they'd unloaded him. He stood and shook himself off, and walked the high fenced pen. He ignored the mare at first. After about an hour it became apparent that he was definitely interested in what was being offered to him. They did as horses do, and mated eventually. It had been Serena's idea to let it happen naturally instead of intervening. They were checked on regularly. The day drew to a close and it was time for Seyia and Katie to leave. As soon as they found out if the mare was pregnant or not, they would get in contact with them. In the meantime, the two horses stayed penned up together on the moon.
"You'll have to come visit after the baby's born," Katie told Serena.
"We'll plan something," Serena agreed.
"Good luck with the palace. It was great seeing you again," Seyia said as he gave Serena a hug. "You have my number, use it." Serena said, returning the hug. Seyia and Katie departed. As soon as they were gone, Serena's smile was, too. "It's not that I don't like them, but I'm not too big on Katie," She said.
"I could see that," Kaden said as they strolled into the gardens.
"What are we doing?" Serena asked.
"Going for a walk. We need the fresh, brisk air," Kaden said as they strolled the gardens. They stopped at the fountain. "If this doesn't bring back old memories," Kaden murmured.
"Like the first time we made love," Serena said softly.
Kaden smiled, remembering. "You know, it's still hard to believe that we're all grown up," Kaden said.
"Yeah. Just yesterday, I was a teenager getting myself into more trouble than I could handle," Serena said.
"I don't know about trouble, but you were definitely getting yourself into something," Kaden said with a laugh.
"Erin always said trouble should be my middle name, and Lilly always countered saying it should be my first," Serena said with a smile.
"Hey, Sere, do you ever wonder what would happen if those two ever stopped fighting?" Kaden asked.
"Yeah. The world might come to an end," she said sarcastically.
He laughed. "Seriously though, what do you think would happen?" he asked.
"I think that they might actually find out that they get along. I used to think, before he and Lita got together in the Silver Millennium, that if I could just get them to stop arguing for ten minutes, they might actually find out that they liked each other. I used to think that if they talked instead of arguing, they could be civil to each other without fighting all the time. One can always dream," Serena said.
"We ought to lock them in a room together for awhile, and see what happens," Kaden said. "Lock whom in a room together and see what happens?" Erin asked, appearing from nowhere.
Serena and Kaden smiled. "We were just talking about you," Serena said.
"You're planning on locking me in a room with whom?" he asked, slightly confused.
"Lilly. It was a theory of mine while we were growing up here, since the two of you were constantly at each others throats," Serena said.
Erin frowned. "Why? That would accomplish nothing. Ask your head of the guard. She tried it. Lilly simply smirked at her through the window and teleported out of the room," he said.
"Sounds like Mina. Act first, think things through later," Kaden said.
"Unfortunately, I'm not one to jump in head first anymore. I would put a magic block on the room. You could use your magic inside, but it wouldn't work to take you out or bring anything into the room. That, and it would be a suite, not a room. Lord knows how long we'd have to have you locked up in there. I wouldn't want you both starving to death, now would I?" Serena said smartly.
Erin laughed. "I have to love the way your brain works," Erin said.
"Thanks. What are you doing here anyhow?" she asked.
"I came to bug my sister, but I see that I should have called first," he said.
"Erin, as much as I love you, I've been really busy. Luna has to schedule time for me to sleep and eat, or I wouldn't be doing it. So please tell me what you want," Serena said.
"OK. I need your help," he said.
"With?" she asked.
"I've been trying to go through contracts and everything, and I swear papers keep appearing and the stacks double overnight. I'm in over my head. I don't know what to do or where to begin," he said.
"You've had two months to get things started, and what have you done?" she asked.
"Reconstruction," he answered.
"Have you even been in the offices?" she asked.
"Yes and no," he answered.
"What's that mean?" she asked.
"I've been in there long enough to see that I'm in over my head," he answered.
"I can't teleport, or I'd offer to come and help sort through the papers," Serena said.
"What if I teleported you?" he asked.
"I didn't organize my offices by myself," she said.
"How'd you do it then?" he asked.
"Dad, Kaden, Lilly, Ari, Gabe, Diana, and some highly trusted maids. You should try it some time," Serena suggested.
"How'd you get Lilly to help you?" he asked.
"She asked, dumb fuck. You should try it sometime," Lilly said as she joined them.
"I am not a dumb fuck. Don't you know any better insults?" he challenged.
"Yes, but I'm not allowed to use them. It just shows the signs of my maturity. The likes of which you don't have," Lilly taunted.
"Oh yeah, your so mature your vocabularies been restricted. What's your reading level at now, one or two?" he asked.
Tears stung Lilly's eyes. She turned on her heel and left as fast as she could run. She'd always had problems reading. Having dyslexia made it hard. She had surprised them all though, working tirelessly to get her Masters in economics. "That was a low blow," Serena said and did something she'd never done before. She slapped him. Hard. It left a red hand print on his cheek. He stood there, stunned, while Serena ran after Lilly.
"Keep it up, Erin. You're just pushing your family further and further away," Kaden said and walked off.
"You're pushing your luck, you know," a female voice came from behind him.
He spun around to see Rei standing there. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Originally, visiting Ari and Lilly. I came to tell Rena I was heading out when I saw what happened. Why do you keep hurting her?" Rei asked.
"Whom?" Erin asked, confused.
Rei smacked him none to gently in the back of the head. "Lilly you, dumb ass," Rei said.
He rubbed the back of his head. "What are you talking about? I was just giving her a hard time like I always do," he said defensively.
Rei gave him a dirty look. "Yeah, just giving her a hard time about her reading," she said.
"Yeah, so? What's the big deal?" he asked.
Rei studied him for a minute. "You really have no idea, do you?" she asked, surprised.
"No, or we wouldn't be standing here in the cold waiting for you to tell me," he answered.
"Lilly struggles with dyslexia. She's worked very hard to get through school, without too much attention paid to it. When you said that tonight, it cut her deep," Rei said. Erin looked stunned and Rei knew that no matter how great of an actor he was, the surprise was real. "How did you not know?" Rei asked.
"When it comes to Lilly and I, all we ever do, and have done, is argue. I'm leaving. When Serena's done being angry with me, tell her to call me," he said and disappeared.
Rei shook her head and walked in the direction she'd last seen Serena.