Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot of this story and my cute little OCs.

A/N: aww.. THANKS so much for the reviews minna! I promised to post before Christmas so here it is. Some of you had said that Chap 4 was quite short so I extended it in the spirit of the holidays!!! And also if I included the male preg info in this chap it would be quite too long.

This chap is not angsty coz I've got the holiday cheer syndrome, but it's rather sweet.

And I decided to give out some gifts to those who read, reviewed, and asked for some details:

Mucho thanks to: pikeebo, XZanayu, alice22, NinetailsKyuu9, phantome101, MSYOU, cruzdrac, yumi, pototay

BloodRedViolet: I extended chap 4 : )

Princess Sin: there are hints to your questions somewhere in this chap.

Stephke23: the mystery woman will make an appearance again in a later chap : )

Joey Heika: I extended chap 4 : )

Priestessmykala: I extended chap 4 : )

juntomatsu: I extended chap 4 : )

traxex: ans. yuuri

rowen raven: i kinda love that line too. : ) mpreg detail on extended chap 4, wolf's letter is still two chaps away

Kairi Alyssa Kamiya: I'm not sure how many chapters yet. the story comes to me in parts so it's not yet done inside my head…

suki53: aww wolfie won't be in pain…

AmePiper: refer to the extended chapter 4 for details of my version of mpreg. teehee!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS MINNA!!!

EXTENDED CHAPTER 4! You might wanna read that first before this: )

Part I Chapter 5 Precious Painful Moments

The breeze gently blew upon the snowflakes leisurely fell onto the white covered ground. Together with several barren trees with frost tipped branches scattered here and there, they provided a scenic backdrop for a quaint little log house in the middle of a quiet winter evening.

Inside this humble abode the cold air seemed to thicken in tense anticipation. A moment or two passed before a loud wail pieced the stillness of the atmosphere and two sighs of relief echoed through a bedroom.

On the bed laid an unconscious, beautiful figure, sedated by sleeping herbs and numbing potions. To his right a tall, silver-blue haired mazoku stood wrapping a still crying newborn in a wad of soft red cloth, a huge grin plastered on his lips. On the left side of the bed leaning over the unconscious patient, a red-haired ex-soldier-turned- housekeeper-now- turned-healer palmed the still distended flesh gently but firmly pushing the glowing lump within to move further south. His brows furrowed in concentration as tiny beads of sweat began at his temples.

Earlier that afternoon, the usually ever-composed Lord Shardan von Christ dashed through the snow-covered yard yelling for Rowan before even reaching the house. At his panicked yell, Rowan quickly opened the door and saw newly conscious form of Wolfram von Bielefeld who moaned in pain.

Getting over his initial shock, his healing instincts kicked in. He ordered Shardan to put Wolfram on the bed and told him to go and boil water to sterilize the instruments. Rowan then rushed to the kitchen cabinet to retrieve the numbing potion and sleeping herbs that he had a certain sapphire eyed noble purchase a few days ago in case an emergency like this happens. He then administered these to the agonized prince and saw that the latter's stomach was now glowing brightly. The book had stated that this was a sign that the child is ready to be birth within the next few hours. Even though it was still over a month before they were supposed to be delivered, the bright glow meant that the babies are already strong enough to sustain themselves and their own maryouku. As the sedatives began to take effect, Rowan went towards a storage chest where they had placed the necessary supplies just two weeks earlier.

Taking off the blonde's tunic, light-tanned fingers began to feel the underside of the stomach to determine where the incision will be made. As soon as Shardan arrived, Rowan took a deep breath and began his appointed task.

An hour and a half later, Ryden von Bielefeld was out of his parent's womb and into Rowan's able hands crying his healthy lungs out. His younger twin though was quite stubborn. His form refused to cooperate with the healer's gentle, manipulating fingers and kept pushing back against Rowan's palms, intending to stay in the warmth of Wolfram's womb. Finally after more than twenty minutes of coaxing, Aidan von Bielefeld quietly came into the world. His silence initially worried Rowan and even as he was tapped, the babe did nothing but release a soft whimper, until his older brother cried out again, hungry for some sustenance. It was then that the younger twin made good use of his strong vocal chords.

Two relieved mazoku smiled at each other before placing both babes at a crib beside the bed. Shardan boiled some water anew for the infants' milk while his brown-eyed companion turned to carefully stitch up the cataleptic prince who had just gave birth to two beautiful, precious little treasures.

Wolfram woke up the next morn, his body a bit tender from the operation, but the first thing he did was demand to see his children. As the twin were brought Wolfram felt a profound sadness as he realized that their other father wasn't here to witness the miracle of their birth. But as soon as he held both of them in his arms, Wolfram tearfully realized that these little ones are his world now. He would live and die for them. Protect them, nurture them, and treasure them. He now understood what his father had felt a century ago. For these precious little lives he would find a way to ensure that the curse will never touch their future.

Looking at their sweet little faces, Wolfram forgot all about the woman who sang the sorrowful melody he had heard in the forest as the troubles of his aching heart had been set aside to experience the new delights of fatherhood.

That was also the exact moment when the little lord brat grew up.

Time moved on. Some days passed by like a whirlwind while others drifted by like eternity.

Two more chambers were added to the wooden house. A flower garden decorated the front yard. At the back, Wolfram and Rowan started to grow a vegetable garden which yielded bountiful harvests under the duo's patient hands. The twins were proving to be a handful, always demanding the attention of the people they had wrapped around their little fingers. With the help of Rowan and his uncle, the young father was able to survive the late nights of babysitting, the constant double wailings at the most inopportune moments, the messy feeding, and the dreaded changing of smelly undergarments. But the twins big bright eyes, innocent faces and gurgling laughs was more than enough to make up for any inconvenience that they might have caused. Wolfram eyes stung when Aiden spoke his first word "daah!" and he delightfully clapped when Ryden managed to take his first step. And with each beautiful memory made, he can't help but wonder what it would have been like if Yuuri had been here to see their children grow up. A part of him wanted to write the king a letter but a big selfish part of him wanted his sons all to himself for what could be the last eight to nine years of his life. His children made him a better individual. Because of them he found the strength to wake up every morning and look forward to a new day. Because of them he understood the meaning of responsibility. Thus, Wolfram decided to work. And work he did, and he has learned to love his profession. After all it was home-based and gave him ample time to spend time with his kids and occasionally allow him to visit his sanctuary for a much needed break or search the old temple site. His work also allowed him to unleash his creative spirits because believe it or not, the Bielefeld heir was now a successful painter. His paintings became hot commodity in town and are even exported to other regions after Shardan brought one of his distinctive works to a local art dealer. From then on his uncle became his middleman in town and kept his anonymity. He used a pseudonym: Marflow Dlefeleib. The money he earned from his 'masterpieces' was more than enough to support their household if only his uncle would actually let him give his share. But Shardan von Christ would not hear of such things stating that since he is Wolfram's stand-in father he gets to be the head of the family and thus he should be the one supporting it. The former von Christ heir reasoned that he had stowed away enough resources to last him lifetimes when he was still fulfilling his obligations to his clan and insisted that Wolfram's earnings be used to for other worthwhile things like indulging the twins and saving up for the future.

Speaking of the elder mazoku, he was often out in town for business, pleasure and research. He always comes home before dinner six days a week, and spends his time cooing at the twins, discussing with his nephew, translating the tablets and of course annoying the hell out of a certain cute redhead.

Their efforts to unravel the mystery of the curse has begun to bear fruit. As Wolfram pored over the Bielefeld memoirs and scrolls, Shardan was able to translate some of the marble tablets that they had acquired. He learned that the ancient grounds used to be a Temple of the Elements. It was a place wherein the elemental guardians would bestow great elemental powers to those they deemed worthy through a series of tests. A portion of the temple grounds also acted as a place of worship for both humans and mazokus alike.

A portion on one tablets revealed that during those times mazoku clans were looked upon as the blessed ones by the humans and were turned to for protection and aid. It was said that the mazoku clans were descended from great ancestors loved by the gods and were thus rewarded with long life and some were gifted with the powers wielded by the deities themselves. That was the myth of mazoku origins.

These inscriptions awed the mazoku lord who realized that these fragments were more primitive than he had initially thought because even the merest whispers of such a myth never reached Shin Makoku. The tribes that came together under Shinou had come from all over yet none of them bore a story of their respective origins quite like this. It was difficult and probably impossible to pinpoint the exact timeline of the sites and the fragments of information from the artifacts they had retrieved are but miniscule pieces of the rich ancient history of this region.

Looking further into the archives, he found records of mazoku of Wincott ancestry residing in these parts during the time of the decline of the Bielefeld clan. This was hardly surprising, Shardan supposed seeing as the Wincotts of the demon tribe came from the neighboring Caloria.

What was startling was the fact that the emblems of both houses were inscribed side by side on a round marble disk. Examining the broken fragment Wolfram had found in their early days here (see chapter 3), the remaining image in the defaced stone seemed like an attempted fusion the symbols of both houses. In the days of Shinou's reign, several branches of lower mazoku nobles had a custom that if two heirs of minor nobility mated, they can combine their family seals to form a new seal and start a new line. Based on this documented tradition, Shardan formed the conclusion that perhaps one or several intermarriages had occurred between the Bielefelds and Wincotts way back in olden times.

But then the dilemmas come in. What is the connection between the Wincotts and the curse of the Bielefelds? Why was the line cursed? How can the curse be broken?

Before anyone realized, twenty seasons have come and gone.

Wolfram von Bielefeld's twins are now five years of age. As with normal mazoku children their looks belie their ages, appearing for all the human world to be only about three summers old and they are uncannily smart for their age.

Both twins have Wolframs beautiful green eyes and their other father's jet black hair and carefree smile. They are of the same height and look almost exactly alike. They also share a mischievous streak that is a common trait of children and both are starting to develop a high degree of stubbornness that was inarguably inherited from both sides of the family. The two of them are also absolutely devoted to their loving father, their doting uncles and each other. Alas, that's where their similarities appeared to end though, as their personalities seemed like night and day.

Ryden von Bielefeld is the older twin born a good twenty-five minutes ahead of his brother. He is an active and cheerful toddler who loves the outdoors. His skin is a bit tanned from all his hours in the sun. He enjoys playing in the garden and bringing home strange little critters he picks up from who-knows-where to keep as pets. His favorite food is Rowan's special omelette that he would have for breakfast lunch and dinner if given a choice. He enjoys goofing with his Uncle Shardan, (Shardan bristled at Rowan's suggestion to call him 'granpa' and insisted that he be recognized as 'Uncle'), gardening with Unca Row'n- if only to find itty bitty creatures to play with in the soil)- and his father's bedtime adventure stories. He was his twin's arms when it comes to doing little pranks like pouring blue dye on the bird that Rowan was suppose to cook for dinner or throwing flour 'bombs' at Unca 'Shada' when he comes home past dinner time, or painting their sleeping father's face with the long lasting ink they found on their uncle's desk. He is a delightful little boy who could charm his way out of trouble and into people's hearts, and has the ability to make friends easily.

Wolfram can often see much of his ex-fiance's qualities being developed in this cheerful, bright eyed child that sometimes the blonde prince had to keep his tears from falling.

The younger twin, Aidan von Bielefeld was a shy, dainty, but very curious little soul who preferred to sit his father's or uncles' laps or be carried by them. He hates getting himself dirty and would often cry when his brothers jumps on him and wrestles him on the ground. He likes to paint with his father and look at picture books. His imagination almost knows no bounds making him the crafty master planner of the tricks that his brother executes beautifully. He often likes to follow uncle Rowan in his chores, if only to see what things he and his brother could use for their next game plan. Aidan is also fond of bugging uncle Shardan to teach him how to read and write even at his age because he was fascinated by the fancy strokes in ink on the scrolls he had seen around the house. The boy is also a very intelligent and observant child, who liked to ask the most amusing questions at the most surprising times and won't be satisfied until he felt like he understood the explanations.

The two boys were quite a handful, yet they are just too adorable for words. Not to mention quite powerful as well. As young as they are, their inherent maryouku has already manifested in random occasions. Ryden's maryouku is similar to that of his father- fire. Aidan on the other hand inherited his other sire's element- water.

The twins both share a similar enjoyment, the monthly Big Market day at the central town, though for different reasons. Ever since their first trip six months ago, the brothers would coax their elders to take them every month. Ryden enjoyed seeing the different creatures they have on display at the live beasts section and enthusiastically gaped at every new treat he sees, while Aidan was genuinely fascinated with the colorful wares sold by the merchants and infinitely asked two questions in his cute little voice: 'what's this papa?' and 'what's it do uncle?'.

Their wide eyed, innocent little faces and charming countenance easily won the hearts of even the most hard-faced vendor. More often than not the twins brought home several freebies for being such 'delightful little darlings'.

On this particular market day the twins were wearing matching knitted hats that totally hid their raven locks from view. Their hair had been cut really short after an incident which involved scissors and two sets of dainty curious hands two weeks past.
Ryden had been eagerly watching a new furry animal being brought at a pet stall that his Uncle Shardan and Uncle Rowan had gone a few feet away arguing about something as usual. Ryden knew that they had told him to stay close so he ran towards them about to yell, when he bumped into someone nearly stumbling but the man was able to hold him upright..

"Are you alright little fella?" the man asked.

Ryden looked up to see a smiling man with brown hair and matching eyes.

The little boy smiled and nodded. The stranger had a surprised look on his face.

"Are you lost?" The man had a gentle voice.

Ryden shook his head the man and pointed towards his uncles.

"Unca Shada." The young boy, hearing that his uncles frantically call his name broke into a run towards them.

Black orbs under brown lenses watched as the child who bumped into him run towards two men. The man with the silver blue hair ruffled his knitted hat, while his red haired companion enveloped the boy into his arms. The boy's eyes eerily reminded him of the one he was searching for.

Suddenly he felt his two companions reach his side. He took one last look at the beautiful boy when he saw a blonde figure approach the group with a toddler in his arm that looked about the same age as the child he had collided with. His eyes grew wide with recognition. He saw the young boy in the redhead's arms squirm and got off only reach out to the man who had just arrived.

"Father!" He heard the kid exclaim as the boy hugged his father's knee.

The handsome man with the golden locks laughed and handed his other son to the redhead and lifted the boy hugging his knees and perched the cheerful unto his shoulders.

The stranger heard two sets of young voices yell 'Berry cakes!!' before the group proceeded to turn left towards the sweets shops.

They didn't see sad eyes watching them as they go.

The stranger looked at his companions and quietly said. "He seems happy doesn't he?"

There was a pause before one of his contemplative companions replied. "Yes he does."

The stranger could only nod a few times before sighing.

"I'm glad. Let's go home, Conrad. Yozak."

"As you wish Heika."

End Chapter

A/N: So how's this chap? Was it enough to get you guys through the holidays? Or did it suck? Did you lose interest? Do tell. How was the xtended chap 4?

Reviews would be a great Christmas gift! (LOL)

I posted a new fic at Weiss, it's a flangsty RanKen Holiday five shot fic, if anyone's interested. It's called "A Night Before Christmas".

Anyway, look for chapter 6 before the 6th of January. It's called "Morning After". Let yuuri's torture commence. (evil cackle!)

And if I finish it in time, I might post a YUURAM oneshot Holiday fic before the year ends!

Enjoy your Holidays!!!

83rd Twilight 2007