Tell Me About Her

Jim smiled and lay a hand on Lary's head while the boy scrambled the eggs. Petunia stood on his other side mixing together the pancake batter.

"And you're sure I can't do anything to help?" Aja leaned up on the table.

"No!" Both children shouted.

"It's tradition, AJ." Jim assured her, flipping the bacon carefully, "Mummy doesn't cook on Mother's Day."

She rolled her eyes. Jim had cooked with the children many times before but this was the first time they had been together for Mother's Day and the first time that she was not allowed to join in.

"Ready, Dada!" Petunia pushed her bowl over to him.

"Thank you, Princess." He took the bowl and began pouring out the pancakes.

Petunia grinned and ran over to Aja. Aja sat back and pulled Petunia into her lap. Jim smiled over the stove. He took the bowl from Lary and started cooking the eggs. Lary scurried over to join Petunia in his mother's lap. Neither five-year-old was allowed to use the stove or knives yet. Jim only took fifteen more minutes to make breakfast.

"Pet, Lary, can you help me put this on the table?"

"Coming, Dada!" They both wriggled out of Aja's arms and ran over to him.

They set the food on the table before Aja and Jim helped both children make their plates.

"Are we going to call Tio Krel and Flip after breakfast?" Lary looked up at Aja, stabbing his eggs a little more aggressively than necessary.

"That's right," Aja assured him, "As soon as we finish doing the dishes."

Lary nodded, satisfied. A short silence fell over the table for a moment before Petunia shyly tugged on Jim's sleeve and waved him down.

"Is something wrong, Petunia?"

She shook her head, "Can you tell me about Mami while Mama and Lary talk to Flip?"

Jim smiled and kissed her forehead, "Of course we can."

She grinned and shoved another forkfull of pancake into her mouth. Aja smiled across the table at them. As soon as they were done eating, she gathered the plates before Jim could protest. She waved Petunia and Lary over to help her with the dishes. Aja washed, Lary dried, and Petunia sat on the counter to put them in the cabinet.

As soon as everything was clean, Aja scooped Petunia off the counter and lifted Lary off the floor. Jim snapped out of his dazed state to hold Petunia. Aja kissed him before taking out her communicator and delving deeper into the keep to call her brother and nephew.(1)

Jim smiled and carried Petunia into the livingroom, grabbing a photo album from the shelf as he went.

"What did you want to know about Mami this time, Princess?" He sat on the sofa, balancing her on one knee and the book on the other.

"How did you actually meet Mami?" Petunia lift the cover of the photo album.

"That depends," Jim chuckled and flipped to a page with photos of Claire when she was a little girl, "I knew your Mami for a really long time. We were even younger than you and Lary are."

"Really? You were babies!"

"Pretty much," Jim laughed, looking at the photo from that day. "We all met that day. She was friends with both Auntie Darcy and Tanta Mary for a long time before we started to spend more time together. And she was even friends with your Mama."

"Yeah!" Petunia lit up and pointed out a photo of Claire, Darcy, and Mary from that same day, "Tanta Mary and Onkel Toby said they had to trick you into spending more time with Mami."

Jim groaned playfully and leaned back, "This is what I get for letting you spend so much time with Tanta Mary."

"I like spending time with Tanta Mary and Shauna," Petunia insisted, "She knows about having a first mommy and a new mommy. And not like how Lary has you and his daddy."

"I know," Jim stroked her hair, "I like that you like to spend time with your family. Your Mami did too. Maybe we'll call Abuelo later and he can tell you even more stories about her. Ones I was too young to remember."

"Really?"

Jim nodded and sat back up, flipping through the book again, "That's right. She especially loved spending time with your Tio Enrique and Chitea. She was always bringing him down here when he was a baby and asking Chitea about what new animals he had. She wanted to show you off to all of them as soon as possible.

He stopped on a page full of pictures in the grotto. Not just of Claire but of Enrique, Angor, and even Petunia as a baby. Petunia reached out to take one from the page. Claire was seated on the ground, completely surrounded by the animals that lived there. Tio Enrique, no older than she was now, stood by her shoulder with his fox familiar, Ruckus, held tight in his arms. Stardust was nestled comfortably in Claire's lap. Her rounded belly let everyone know that Petunia was in the photo as well.(2)

"Do you think Mami would like me?"

Jim kissed her hair, "I'm sure your Mami loves you. Just as much as I do and Mama does."

Petunia grew quiet and nuzzled closer to her Dada's side. Jim played with her hair.

"Is something wrong, Pet?"

"Am I bad?" Petunia whispered, pressing her face into his ribs.

"What?" Jim sat up, pulling her back into his lap, "Where in the universe did you get an idea like that?"

"Because…" Petunia looked back at the picture in her hand, "Because I love Mama…maybe more than I love Mami…"

Jim felt an odd churning in his belly. He had been warned. Darcy had warned him that Petunia would start asking about Claire on her own. Onkel O had warned him that there would be questions he couldn't answer; that he might have to ask Claire's parents. But it had been Nana who had warned him about this question.

Petunia had only been two at the time. He hadn't even started dating Aja yet. Yet Nana had warned him that Petunia might grow more attached to her 'second mother'. He had pushed the thought out of his mind, still unable to even CONSIDER remarrying.

"No. No, Princess. He set the photo album on the coffee table and hugged her closer, "It's not bad that you love Mama. Or even if you love her more. You've known Mama longer than Mami." He leaned back again so that she was lying against his chest, "Think about it this way: Are Tanta Mary and Onkel Toby bad because they love Tanta Jay and Onkel O?"

Petunia shook her head.

"Than how can you be bad for loving Mama?" He kissed her hair and smiled, "I know I love her. And I still love your Mami. It's just that the love I feel for Mama is a bit different. It's…It's ok to love again after losing someone very important to you."(3)

"It is?" Petunia looked up at him through her long eyelashes.

"It is." He promised, "I promise that I will never be mad at you for loving someone and you could never be bad just for loving them. Love should never be kept a secret. Do you understand, Flower?"(4)

Petunia nodded, "Yes, Dada."

"Everything ok in here?" Aja poked her head through the door.

Jim smiled over at her, "Yeah, AJ. Everything's ok."

He stood up and made his way across the room. Aja took Petunia but didn't get a chance to step away before Jim pulled her into a tight hug. Lary latched onto his leg. When he finally leaned back, he pressed his forehead against her forehead.

LLB

AN: I feel like I should at least explain who the kids are...

Petunia Strickler is Jim and Claire's daughter. Claire died not long after Petunia was born. Kind of like Chucky's mom in Rugrats.

Lawrence "Lary" Palchuck is Aja and Steve's son. She and Steve split mutually a few years ago and have joint custody of Lary. Steve's house isn't far from the entrance to Heartstone.

Flip Terron-Pepperjack is the son of Krel and Eli. They all live on Akoridian 5.

Shauna Giladrigal is Seamus and Mary's daughter. They live in a cottage they built my Mary's lake in Heartstone.

These are the only ones mentioned in this chapter but Toby and Darcy also have two kids. Issac, who's birthday is Father's Day, and Eudora, who is a selkie, adopted, and the same age as Enrique (10).

There will be more kids in the future but these are the only ones that there are at this point.

LLB

1) Flip doesn't have a mom so he celebrates Mother's Day by calling his Tia Aja.

2) If Enrique was born when Claire was fifteen than he would be about five when she was twenty. Also, not sure how this happened but my mind decided that Enrique is a wizard too and Ruckus is his familiar now.

3) I guess both Jim and I had something to work through here...

4) Did I steel quotes from both Spiderman 2 and Tangled? Yup. I like this reference just a little too much.