"mum, its not a big deal. It is just hair dye." Sera had her arms crossed on her chest, giving me a look as I frowned at her bright almost fire engine red hair. Her normally, long, golden blonde hair had absorbed the color and it was incredibly bright. Her coconspirator, Kenzi sat next to her, "yea momma doc. We can always change it back in a few days." Kenzi looked over her obvious handiwork with a smirk.

I had come home from working with my mother to find Kenzi and my teenage daughter using one of the wash sinks in the lab, finishing up the final rinse. Sera raised her eyebrows as I still frowned, "or, I can shave my head."

I sighed, "you will not shave your head." I rubbed at my temples, a mild headache was creeping in, "we will see what your mom has to say when she gets home." Kenzi winked, "score! Bo Bo will love it!"

The two high fived, making me frown even more, "Sera did you finish your homework?" I cringed at how motherly I sounded, she rolled her eyes exactly like Kenzi, "uh, yes. I am even ahead of the teacher. I have been helping most of them write lesson plans after school." She stood up, "mum, if you are done being a prude about my follicle color choices, I need to go finish up AK's birthday present." Sera had started calling Kenzi, AK when she turned twelve, it stuck and Kenzi loved it, said it gave her more street cred.

As soon as Kenzi heard birthday present, her eyes lit up, "ooooh is it diamonds or shoes? Or diamond encrusted shoes?" Sera giggled, "you wish AK, but you know I still have not figured out the complete chemical structure and growth process to make you the synthetic diamonds you asked for last Christmas. I need to work on the viscosity equation, I still have not gotten the clarity just right."

I looked at Kenzi as her face went blank, she blinked like a cartoon then uttered, "from super cool to super nerd in less than sixty seconds." she looked at me, "your kid fo sho."

I smiled and nodded, Sera was definitely mine through and through. I unfolded my arms, "yes you are free to go, but your mom will be home soon, and we can talk about this." I motioned to the blazing red hair my daughter sported. Sera smiled and walked over too me, she was on the verge of sixteen going on thirty five. She was a little taller than I and was stunning for her age. She had certainly taken the most after Bo, even dressing like her and Kenzi mixed. Favoring black tank tops and dark jeans, with splashes of jewelry she would borrow from her Aunt. Sera was tall, lean and athletic. She stood out with her golden blonde hair and the bright emerald green eyes that were gentle and soulful even though she was just a teenager. Sera was a smarter than I had been at her age, already in the beginning of her senior year of the fae high school Finnegan placed her in at her request. The school was close to the compound and was a mix of humans and faes, allowing Sera to have options and not feel so stuck to honoring her fae family life.

Sera hugged me, "you know I love you mum, I just got bored with my hair and wanted something different. Don't blame AK, I talked her into it." I sighed a hard motherly sigh and hugged her back, "i know, but now you kind of look like a comic book character."

Sera backed out of the hug, a huge smile on her face that brought out her dimples, "exactly what we were going for." She winked at me and threw Kenzi their own little gang sign, and proceeded to run out to the garage lab.

Kenzi stood up to leave after Sera left us. I pointed at her, "you. Stay. We need to talk." Kenzi frowned and froze in place, "come on, hotpants. Its just hair! It grows out." she batted her eyes at me, "this is nothing like the time I let her drive on her ninth birthday."

I shook my head at the memory, "you are lucky Dyson is a cop, that is all I am going to say." Kenzi and Sera had taken the Camaro out on the kids ninth birthday since Sera was certain that she knew how to drive. She managed to swindle Kenzi into it and they went on a joyride that lasted a few hours until a local cop thought it was strange the driver of the yellow Camaro was a small child. They were pulled over and both of them tried to talk their way out of trouble, but ended up talking themselves into even more, so much more that Sera became upset and her eyes turned purple, freaking the very human cop out. Bo had to call Dyson to help the two delinquent our, as she and I raced to bail them out. Dyson managed to talk the cop out of charging Kenzi with child endangerment and putting a permanent ban on Sera ever getting her license.

I leaned against the kitchen counter, "i know you and my kid are practically inseparable, and I am so happy of that. But. You have to maintain some sort of adult to kid line." I looked at the Russian girl, now a woman, who was edging closer to forty but still looked not a day over thirty. I let out a breath, "you know how hard it will be to get that red out of Bo hates it?"

Kenzi shrugged as she walked past me and to the cabinet next to me, pulling out a bag of chips. "look, hotpants, its harmless. You and I both know that. You gotta let the kiddo live a little outside of the nerd box. Its not like I am taking her around town showing her how to rob and carjack."

I raised my eyebrows, "no, but you have taught my daughter how to be a very proficient con artist. You do remember her eleventh and twelfth birthdays?"

Kenzi rolled her eyes as she chomped on handfuls of chips, "we gave all the money to charity."

"kenzi, my kid has been banned from the casino for life, for card counting and figuring out the timing payouts on slot machines."

Kenzi jiggled her head at me like a bobble head, "maybe you should thank me?" she then leaned against me on the counter, "doc, you know I love that kid as much as if she fell out of my own vagina. I would never put her in harm, but she has to live a little before she starts college at seventeen and her succubutt powers come into play."

"thanks for reminding me."

Kenzi bumped my shoulder with hers, "don't worry about that, any boy or girl will have to go through me as well." I looked down at her and smiled, throwing an arm around her. "so, your birthday party at the dal, any more special requests?"

I wanted to change the subject from the impending sexual revolution in my teenager. Kenzi bit, and clapped excitedly, crumpling her chip bag, "ooooh yes! The big three seven!" I watched and listened as the small woman began to ramble on about the big party she had planned. I smiled with a twinge of sadness as I thought about not having these ridiculous but memorable moments with Kenzi.

Just as my smile was fading with the sadness, I heard Sera bickering with someone as she came back into the kitchen. "I totally get the respect your elders part of life, but you really need to stop bothering me about everything." Sera was in a obvious huff and looked at me as Tamsin followed her into the kitchen. The Valkyrie was also in a huff, "i just asked about school and if you liked that boy I saw you talking too yesterday." Tamsin was more than in a huff, she was flustered.

Sera met my eyes, "Mum, can you tell the old Valkyrie her to leave me alone?" She brushed past me and left the kitchen, running upstairs to her room. The door slamming closed a moment later. Kenzi looked between Tamsin and I, then made a silent and quick exit, only the soft crinkle of her chip bag echoing in the tense silence.

Tamsin didn't hesitate in going to the fridge and removing two beers. "i cant win with that kid, Captain." she handed me the second beer she took out of the fridge.

I took it willingly, my head was swimming from dealing with my teenager. "Commander, she is still mad at you." I said it softly, knowing it bothered Tamsin still.

"i know, I know. I was gone way too long. But that was years ago, I came back as soon as I could." Tamsin looked at me with sad cool blue eyes that showed how downtrodden she was.

When Tamsin left to take care of her sister, she was gone for almost two years. Bryn had been ambushed by a group of dark fae that was upset with Tamsin for, what they thought, aligning with us and betraying her fealty to the dark fae. Bryn, in time, started her next lifecycle right as Tamsin was knee deep in the fallout and recovery of her family that she had, in her own words, abandoned over six hundred years ago. Tamsin opted to stay and fix what she had broken, when she returned, she asked Finnegan to accept her as an unaligned fae and aid her in starting the process of separating herself from the dark fae. Tamsin realized how important family was through us and she so desperately wanted to reclaim her own family.

The biggest hurdle for Tamsin was when she came back. There was evident distance between her and Sera. Sera never forgot the promise Tamsin made and two years in little kid time was an eternity. When Tamsin did come back to our house, the little girl was furious at the Valkyrie and would not budge an inch when Tamsin tried to spend time with her or make amends. They never got back to where they were when Sera was five and saw the sun shine through Tamsin's entire being. A handful of years later and it was still there, the tension. Sera constantly felt annoyed by Tamsin, more so than her two mothers. To the Valkyries credit, she never gave up.

Tamsin sighed and sipped at her beer, "i don't know anymore Captain, I scared her in the lab when I went to hang up my extra uniforms. She got pissy pants with me when I asked what she was working on and how school was, yadda yadda. Then she got real pissed off when I asked about that lacrosse player boy the succubus is not at all fond of."

I laughed and nodded, Bo had been picking up Sera from school over the last month, we would alternate months, and once Tamsin came with Bo as they drove back from meeting with Kenzi at the dal. Bo had already started to become protective over her only daughter and the expected attention she was beginning to received from boys and girls alike. The after school pick up was made worse by the fact Bo was waiting for her, two it was her mom the infamous unaligned succubus and the dark fae Valkyrie that had created her own legend in the fae world. It was almost likened to having Madonna and Michael Jackson waiting for you. Everything was fine until Tamsin could pick up the lacrosse boys thoughts as the watched Sera giggle with him outside of the school, then Tamsin let it slip to Bo. At the end of the ride home, I was thankful that the lacrosse boy was a fae. A simple wood nymph who quickly met the blue eyes of a protective succumom and mixed with the death stares Tamsin threw his way. The poor lacrosse boy refused to speak to Sera after that.

"i feel bad, I didn't know she really liked him." Tamsin drained her beer, "i know the kid is more powerful than all of us...but." she sighed, "this is why I will not have kids, ever."

I smiled, "she is a normal teenage girl, Commander. No matter that she is a almost super fae, she is just as temperamental as the next human girl her age. Maybe giver her some space?"

Tamsin frowned and then handed me a folded up piece of paper, scribbled with formulas and equations, "call me a narc, but this is what the midget was trying to hide in the lab when I spooked her." I took the paper and scanned over the intricate formula and slowly recognized some of my original work. I pushed off the counter and furrowed my brow, "this is incredible." Tamsin reached behind me and grabbed the half empty beer, "incredible that she will hate me more if you tell her I showed you this? I could tell she was freaking out when I caught her. I am just hoping it isn't some zombie virus or like that other thing she made a few years ago."

My eyes moved quickly to the new patch of concrete in the driveway. When Sera was thirteen, she created, innocently, a chemical that ate through anything like it was water on fire. Tamsins truck was the first and last victim. The truck was melted down to the cab and sunk into our driveway when Sera spilled it racing to show me. Bo made me promise, after we bought Tamsin a new used truck, that I would keep a close watch on all of our kids endeavors in my lab. Tamsin mumbled something, then went to the fridge, "i will be with Moscow red. I promised her a pre birthday round of vodka shots and the movie of her choice." Tamsin grabbed the vodka bottle out of the freezer and walked out of the house, shouting, "remember, captain, I did not give that too you."

I was lost in thought as I read over my daughters clear and concise handwriting. After a third read through, it struck me. I whispered, "holy shit, kiddo, you did it." I picked up the paper and folded it into my pocket and headed upstairs.

I stood outside of her bedroom door, knocking lightly. "i know its you mum, come in." Sera's voice was softer and I could tell she had calmed down from her back and forth with Tamsin. She definitely had Bo's temper at times. I pushed open the door, Sera was sitting at her desk reading one of her graphic novels from Kenzi. Her red hair seemed brighter as the afternoon sun poked through her window and picked up all of the red. I sat on the edge of her pristine bed, Sera's room was immaculate even as the walls were covered with music, movie posters and random photographs of the family. The bookshelves that lined the walls were full of ancient texts from Finnegan, new science books and tons of comic boos and graphic novels. Over her desk was a bulleting board filled with her science project successes and a picture of Bo, her and I, taken on our family vacation to England earlier in the year. I smiled as the wealth of having a family, my family in particular overwhelmed me.

Sera looked over her book, "mum, I can read everything you are thinking. I love you and mom a lot too." She set the book down and faced me, that's when I caught that she was wearing one of my few concert t-shirts. An old Radiohead concert shirt, a now very vintage Radiohead shirt. I raised my eyebrows, and before I could say it, "i know mum, I will give it back...eventually."

I nodded as I reached into my pocket for her formula, "i know what you are going to say, but, please can you try and ease up on Tamsin a little bit?" Sera cut me off, mildly agitated, "mum, she annoys me beyond belief. She tries too hard, tries to be my friend. I am not five anymore." I saw a quick flicker of purple float across her eyes. "and I am totally pissed she told mom about what Danny was thinking, wanted from me. She has forgotten I can read thoughts too." She rolled her eyes, "i had no intentions on dating him or anything, I just liked that he thought I was cute." She frowned a little, "you know the kids at school don't really hand out with me cause of my massive nerd noggin and that my gramps is Ash. Then there is you and mom."

I took a deep breath, it had been hard when sera started school and the legacy she brought with her. In time she had managed to have a small group of outcast kids as friends, but on a whole she never really fit in because of her royal bloodlines and that she was smarter than most of the teachers. "Tamsin is a part of our family." I stopped suddenly as I felt the pain Sera felt the day Tamsin left to get her sister. I closed my eyes, "just try?" I was received with a frowning teenage girl when I opened my eyes back up, I held up the formula, "i came up here to talk to you about his." I held out the folded paper. Sera's eyes grew larger, "how did you find that?" I could feel her begin to panic she was in trouble.

"i am not mad." I smiled and held the paper out further for her to take it, "but is this what I think it is?"

Sera nodded as she gently took the paper, "its for AK, my birthday gift to her. I was finishing up making the full batch, when the old winged one walked in on me." Sera bit her bottom lip, still nervous I would be upset with her.

"honey, how long have you been working on this and does it, will it work?"

"about ten years on and off as I learned more about chemistry and using the lab properly, and since I found your original formula in that old notebook when we made mom's flower." Sera unfolded the sheet, "it works, I tested it on rats, then underfae in grams lab and secretly on one of gramps favorite human assistants, Simon." Sera reached into her desk and pulled out a thick notebook and handed it over to me. When it was opened it was filled with years of notes, charts and scribbled out formulas. " I used AK's blood samples you kept. This is custom coded to her, I was able to rewrite your human to fae formula to slow down the mechanisms of aging in humans, specifically in AK. I recoded her DNA with this formula, she wont be fae but I can get her the years we have. To accurate, I can get her twenty five years to one normal human year."

sera broke into a wide grin, "that's better than most fae species out there." she pulled out another notebook, "just a series of injections and a blood transfusion and AK will live as long as we do."

I listened as I delved into my daughters notebooks and marveled at the pure genius they held, I didn't hear or feel Bo walk in the room. "whoa, noodle, what is up with your hair?"

Bo stood in the doorway, shock on her face. Sera suddenly jumped out of her seat and ran to her mother, "more like what is up with your face, mom?" I turned my eyes to look at Bo, she had a busted lip, bruises and a cut on her forehead. I tossed the notebook aside and ran to my wife, "Bo! Are you okay?"

She smiled, "my two doctors. I'm fine, nothing you cant fix, Lauren." Sera groaned, "ew, mom." as she moved to her closet to grab a towel for Bo. Bo took it with a smile and wiped at the blood on her forehead, "i meant medically, noodle. I was chasing a tree giant and walked into one of his snares." Bo cringed while I examined her face for any broken bones or fractures, "one day you are going to retire from private investigator work."

Bo smiled as she held my hand against her face, "one day, but our healing time is hard to pass up, Dr." her eyes flicker blue as Sera groaned louder, "Again EW mom!"

Bo giggled and kissed me before going to her daughter for a hug, "what are you two up too in here?"

Sera threw me a look, uh, mum and I were just talking nerd talk and what to get AK for her birthday."

Bo kept Sera in a half hug, "Shoes. The girl loves shoes and vodka."

Sera smiled as I spoke, "we were just talking about that." Bo squeezed her daughter, "i am going to change and maybe the three of us can hit the mall, find something for Kenzi together before dinner." Bo let go of sera and walked past me, dragging her hand down my arm and winking at me before she left, code for me to meet her in the bedroom asap. I sighed as Bo walked out. "i so wish sometimes I could not read thoughts. Even with grams training you two blaze gross at times." Sera picked up her notebooks and waved me away." go, go. But can you guys wait like ten minutes until I am with AK and the old blonde in the crash pad?" she pulled her hair up into a pony tail, "and maybe talk mom into keeping my hair, I can feel she really doesn't like it." She flashed me a grin and started to walk out of her room. I caught her arm, pausing her steps, "sera, what if kenzi doesn't want it?"

immediately, her hand covered mine, "She does. Its all that she thinks about and has since I was born. That and shoes and vodka." my daughter bent and kissed me on the cheek, "go gross out with mom so we can go to the mall, I want to look for jeans and some new earrings."

Sera and I stood next to each other, waiting for our smoothies as the pimply faced kid made them, casting glances at us. "there is two different equations on the paper, what is the other one?"

"the other formula is the same formula that I made for AK but I change two small components so it could be made into anti wrinkling cream. I figured I could submit it with my college application and sell it to a cosmetic company, getting me into a good school as well as paying for it." Sera smiled lightly as she caught the pimply boy staring, "i was thinking MIT, Harvard med or maybe Yale." Sera smirked at me.

I couldn't help but smile, "Yale? Really?"

Sera handed me a finally completed smoothie, "i am thinking about biochemistry or genetics, Yale has good programs for both, but I am also seriously thinking about going to cosmetology school and becoming a body waxer."

Bo walked up to us, "Noodle, that is the one thing I will say a total no too. Even as much as your Aunt would love it, you are better off sticking to a college who's name doesn't end in school of barbering." Sera giggled and rolled her eyes, "i know! I was trying to get a reaction out of mum, but it worked on you." Bo poked her kid in the ribs, "sera, you are picking up the best and worst of Kenzi." Sera was still smiling when she looked up, "mom, I will be right back, I want to say hi to my friends real quick."

Sera handed off the rest of the smoothies and trotted over to a group of girls that looked like mini Kenzi's in the way they dressed and how their hair was styled. Bo stood next to me, leaning into me as her hand found mine. We watched our daughter with her friends, a couple of them even waved at us. "Lauren, is it just me or do you not want her to ever grow up?"

I smiled and kissed the top of her head, "if I could have found a way, I would have kept her at five forever." I pulled at Bo's hand in mine, "come on, lets go look at those shoes Kenzi wants. Sera will find us."

Bo and I held hands as we walked through the mall, we drew looks and stares, but it was primarily directed at Bo and not that there was two women holding hands, "i want to make sure this birthday is amazing for Kenzi, I can tell lately she's been moping around about getting old and starting to look older than us now. I want to make sure that we show her we love her no matter what, Lauren." I pulled Bo into a bookstore, where I knew we could be alone and it would be quiet for what I had to tell her. We walked to the never occupied travel section of the store and turned Bo to face me as we stood in the corner, "Sera has a surprise for Kenzi." bo looked at me as she finished off her smoothie. "what, a trip to Vegas? I thought that ban was for life." I laughed lightly, "it is, but our kid has figured out a way to keep Kenzi around without making her fae."

Bo shook her head, mildly freaking out, "oh no, I am not making out with my best friend or going through anything close to what I did with you when I made you fae." I leaned forward and kissed my wife a little less innocently than a bookstore dictated, "and for that I will always love you." I pulled out the copy of Sera's work I had made and handed it to Bo. She took it and looked at it, squinching up her face, "i understand some of this from our sexy scientist nights, but."

I tapped at the end of the formula, "sera has figured out how to slow down Kenzi from aging. Better than if she was fae." Bo looked it over again and smiled, "you're serious, aren't you."

I nodded, "i am. I told sera that all she had to do was make sure this is what Kenzi wants." I suddenly felt my daughter coming close. I pulled the copy from Bo's hands, gently pushing her against the bookshelves, kissing her.

"UGH! I cant go anywhere with you two." Sera huffed as she saw us kissing. "you two already healed mom at the house, so you can totally stop acting like the gross parents every one talks about, making out in corners."

I smiled and broke off the kiss, pulling a sad sigh from Bo. I whispered as I straightened us up, "keep it a secret." Bo stole another kiss, despite our daughters audible displeasure. "with kisses like that, of course, doctor."

"will you guys please stop? I am hungry and this is really making me want to barf. And I want to eat before we look at jeans." Sera pouted and turned to walk out of the travel section as fast as possible. Bo and I, in unison, answered, "yes noodle."

"UGH! One day you are gonna have to stop callllliiingg me that!" Sera was shouting as she exited the bookstore.

Bo kept giggling as Sera walked in front of us, eternally embarrassed like a typical teenager. "i never thought I would be the embarrassing mom."

Sera yelled back, "you totally are! Mum is too!"

I laughed as Sera sped up towards the food court. Bo and I followed and stopped on the edge of the oval shaped food court, looking over the immense offerings of gourmet mall food. Bo leaned against me, "you know we need to figure out how to get Tamsin and Sera back on non yelling terms. Kenzi told me about the blow out. I feel bad, Tamsin has been and is very protective over her ever since she started her new lifecycle."

I quickly thought about tamsin, "i wished I could help Sera understand." I looked at my flame haired daughter as she walked up to us with a giant drink in her hands, she looked at me dead in the eyes, "if you made her move out and leave me alone, I would understand. Cant she just go back to Valhalla and stay there? Forever?" She looked at both of us requesting more than questioning, "cause that would be awesome."

Bo spoke before I did, "Sera, noodle, Be nice to her. The old Valkyrie, as you feel so necessary to call her, has saved our lives more than once." I was surprised at Bo's stern, firm tone. I was usually the hard egg to crack.

Sera chuckled, "mom, as I fondly recall many of the stories, you hated the Valkyrie for a very long time, especially when she facilitated my disappearance." Sera walked cautiously around the last part, even thought I could feel her complete distaste for Tamsin, she knew it would hurt her mother more, "so yea, don't try using the she saved us all defense with me."

Bo shook her head, she was getting irritated, "you loved her so much when you were little, you even dressed up as a Valkyrie for Halloween one year. What happened?"

Sera clenched her jaw, "the Valkyrie broke a promise." She huffed, "she's a nosy old lady that thinks she can walk back in like nothing happened." sera looked away as her eyes flickered purple, "can we not talk about her anymore? I am getting cheese fries." she set down her giant drink at the table in front of us and walked back to order, her arms were folded tightly against her chest and I could feel the heartbreak that was reignited in her.

Bo sighed, "i wish I knew..." she drifted off and looked at me, I shrugged. I was also at a loss of why my daughter was so hurt, especially since she had only experienced Tamsin at her best. I let out a breath, "we can only wait until she is ready." We both stared at our daughter loading up a tray with cheese fries, "come on Mrs. Lewis, I am craving a corn dog." Bo looked at me, "EW really?"

More to come, next is Kenzi's bday bash and some interesting things to happen there that will develop into something interesting. and of course the succubus powers are about to hit the kid genius...TBC