A/N: Hello history lesson. I'd been reading other people's fics for fun and inspiration. Kudos to MikariStar and her fic, Secret Origin for giving me the inspiration for the part regarding Junior. Yes, I've been updating faster than I've been writing (I'm not a machine!) but I've trying to catch up with myself because I have a nagging paranoia about hard drive failure or somehow losing the rest of my story. I should probably stick it on a USB or something, I would just hate for anyone to find it. (Because I'm a secret writer, as it were. IRL, my friends and family do NOT know me as a person to write novel-length romance stories about video game characters, and in some regards, I'd like to keep it that way. With all the time I spend secret writing, a few of my friends think I've got a secret lover on the side, lol!) Hope you enjoy the chapter, thanks to all of you for being the best secret lovers ever.

Mario sat bored on another snowy Friday. He sighed at he looked over at his brother, hard at work on his latest video game. Mama would be coming for the holidays and she would be eager to meet Princess Toadstool. She would probably nose about in her typical fashion and ask Peach for details concerning their relationship. Mario shuddered to think of Mama discovering any part of his little white lie.

I'll just tell Mama that it's a surprise and that she shouldn't mention anything to the princess. He was saddened at the prospect of having to lie about his feelings to both his Mama and the princess. He wondered about how he might stop his lie from catching up with him. Maybe I can convince Mama that the princess rejected me. Suddenly an image flashed in his head of his strong-willed Mama chasing Princess Peach with a frying pan. He would not want to do that to Peach.

Suddenly, he felt a vibration in his pocket. He looked at his phone and his heart leapt. It was Pauline! He had been waiting for weeks for her to call, too nervous to call her himself.

He quickly answered.

"Mario? Oh my Stars! Listen; do you know what a hard time I had trying to find your phone number? I was afraid I'd never get a hold of you. Why didn't you call?" As Mario opened his mouth to apologize, Pauline continued. "Never mind, I'm just glad that I found it because I finally scored a ticket to my play for you. They're completely sold out, you wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get just one, and I'm the lead in the show! Is there a time you can meet me to pick the ticket up and maybe get something to drink?"

All of Mario's previous apprehension faded away with Pauline's invitation. After he made his plans on the phone he wondered if he might convince Mama that Pauline was Princess Peach, after all, Pauline was an actress. He sighed. Mama mia, that's just stupid.

"Well Princess, here we are," Bowser said grandly as the Clown Car touched the snow covered ground of the Darklandian Bazaar. "This place can be thick with thieves and while I doubt they'd try anything while I'm around, a little caution never hurt. Besides, it's always crowded and I'd hate for you to get lost so, if you don't mind." Bowser offered his arm to Peach. She looked at him questioningly and then slowly and carefully placed her dainty gloved hand on his arm, sending shivers down his spine.

The bazaar was just as Bowser had described on the way; it was loud, exotic, and extremely crowded. Stalls lined each side of the long alleyway selling almost everything you could ever imagine. Peach thought it looked a great deal like the seasonal farmer's market in her kingdom, except far more exciting.

"First things first," said Bowser, eying his favorite stand in the whole bazaar. "When I was a Koopaling, I always made Kamek stop here and buy me a drink."

Bowser took a couple coins out of his wallet and flipped them to the merchant. "Two of the usual," he growled. Turning to Peach with a cup of steaming beverage he said, "This stuff is amazing, you've gotta try it."

Peach accepted the cup and blew on the liquid to cool it off. She could not help but notice the points and stares of most everyone in the street. Many Darklandians had never seen Peach in person before, and certainly never this close to their ruler. Trying to ignore Bowser's subjects, Peach took a small sip of her sweet milky drink.

"Oh, this is--this is really good and really spicy!" She smiled. "So, speaking of kids, tell me more about your children so I'll know what sorts of presents to look for." She did not want to admit it, but she was having a good time amidst the enchanting scenery and she also loved the idea of bringing a smile to a child's face with some gifts. The only thing that was stopping her day from being perfect was her misgivings about her occasionally awkward host.

"Humph, where do I start?" he asked, strolling though the alley with Peach on his arm. "My oldest is Ludwig. He's a sharp one, but a lot of the time he doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I'm pretty sure he's just like that on purpose. He's kinda…reclusive; he's into music, like, opera music," he said, making a face.

"Does he compose?" Peach asked politely.

"All the time; but half the stuff he won't let anyone see or listen to, so what good is it? He says it's 'personal'. My next oldest is my boy Roy; he's a chip off the old block," he chuckled. "Yeah, he thinks he's the biggest, baddest, and coolest Koopa after me, and he won't let anyone else forget it either."

"I see." She giggled, imagining a miniature Bowser striking poses.

"Uh, after that, there are the twins, Iggy and Lemmy. They like to mess around a lot and play pranks like a couple of clowns. Iggy is some kind of great engineer though; he's always building some new machine, and Lemmy can balance on a ball like nobody's business. I guess they're putting on some variety show at school this semester; whatever that is."

Peach listened in silence as Bowser beamed about his kids. It was unusual to see him so happy and this excited about something other than himself.

"Then there's Wendy, she's a real case. She's really into fashion and all kinds of weird girl stuff. She's definitely a tough cookie, though. Next in line there's Morton and he, well, he loves to talk, whether you want him to or not. He wants to talk really tough and stand up to Roy, but he isn't big enough to back it up yet."

Peach had lost her place trying to keep up with mental notes about each Koopaling. There were so many! She figured that Bowser would be happy to remind her about each of them.

"Let's see, then there's Larry. Jeez, that kid has a ton of energy. He's little and fast, and is really into sports. He can already almost beat me at tennis--almost. Lastly, there's Junior. You've met him haven't you?"

Peach recalled her last vacation to Isle Delfino when Junior stole Mario's identity and kidnapped her. "Yes, I believe I have," she said with an eye roll.

"He tries really hard to be just like his old man but he never will be…he's too nice. I think the servants baby him because he's the youngest and also because he can be a whiny little brat."

"Too nice?"

"Yeah, he's a real softie; he cries easily and tries to get all cute. Don't be fooled though, he's a crafty one too."

The royal couple continued strolling though the bazaar, happily chatting and purchasing presents for the young Koopalings until they had eight tightly wrapped parcels ready to be taken home. On the way back to the castle, Peach looked over at Bowser who was contentedly piloting the Clown Car.

"Um," she started. "That was--I had fun. Thank you," she said slowly.

Bowser's heart fluttered. She had fun! With him! She had fun with him as if they were on a date.

"When do the kids arrive?" she asked

"Tomorrow morning," he said cheerfully. He could not wait to see the looks of surprise on their eight little faces when he announced their guest.

"Well, I guess we'd better wrap these presents tonight then," she thought aloud

"Wrap them? They're already wrapped!" Peach gave him an exasperated look. "But, I guess they should be wrapped better?" He had no idea women could be so particular about these things, but he was excited for the chance to have another activity with Peach.

Back at the castle, maids prepared a room full of luxurious papers, fabrics, ribbons, and bows for royal usage while the monarchs enjoyed a well-deserved dinner in the dining room.

Goombriella, one of the maids put to the task, nudged her pretty coworker. "Did you hear the gossip?" she whispered excitedly.

"No, I haven't been near a radio or seen a tabloid all week, what's going on?"

"The whole kingdom is buzzing about it, Princess Toadstool and His Highness were seen all over the bazaar today talking and laughing and walking arm in arm."

"No! You must be joking. Really? That's really something; I never thought I'd see the day when that girl finally came to her senses. They haven't been this close since--"

"Quiet!" Goombriella hissed. "They're coming!"

Peach's clear and beautiful laughter heralded their arrival to the paper filled room. Peach immediately took a seat on the soft rug on the floor and Bowser, with some effort, followed suit.

"I've never done this before either." He said matter-of-factly.

Peach smiled and grabbed the first present, a special-effects kit for Iggy. The kit came complete with fireworks, bubbles, smoke, mist, cold fire, and a director's wand to make it all work.

"Well then, how about you pick out the paper and some matching ribbon and I'll wrap it?" she suggested.

Bowser responded by picking a glittery green paper with brown ribbon. "Does this work?"

"Perfect, those colors look beautiful together." Sensing how much he enjoyed receiving praise, Peach had been carefully trying to provide selective small praise in hopes that it would simultaneously encourage "good" behavior, such as being friendly and hospitable; and discourage "bad" behavior, such as kidnapping her and being threatening.

You're beautiful. He watched her delicate hands fold the paper and expertly wrap each parcel.

They continued wrapping, Bowser occasionally lending his finger to hold a ribbon in place as Peach tied it.

"So, do Koopas usually have this many kids?" Peach asked.

"Nah, big families like mine were a little more traditional in the old days when times were bad; when there were wars and you didn't know who was gonna make it."

"What about you? Do you come from a big family?"

"Nope, I was only child. I guess my folks were gonna have more but they never really got that chance."

"Oh?"

"Uh, do you remember hearing about the last Darklandian war, or were you too young?"

"Admittedly it's a little before my time, but I've read on it a little."

"Well, it turns out, that arranged marriage that my dad stepped away from probably would've prevented the war. Stuff between the nations was already pretty bad and the marriage was supposed to patch stuff up. Problem was, the princess was a real pain in the ass, and my dad was already in love. So, when he walked away from this princess to marry some peasant girl, she was pretty much outraged! She called it a 'humiliating disgrace' and vowed vengeance. Let's just say she got it. On my mom and my dad."

"Oh no! I'm so sorry. If you don't mind me asking, what happened next? I'm ashamed to say I hadn't heard of any of this before, and it's my job to know!"

"Well, it makes sense; we were still at war, so there was a big cover-up. Then, I became king in title, but things were still really unstable and wartime is really no time for a Koopaling to be king. So, the council appointed Kamek to be my chief adviser; which really means he took over for me. From then on, I spent almost my whole childhood learning how to be a king. That's why I'm so good at it! But, when I finally got to the throne, I was really angry and all I wanted was revenge. It turns out that the other kingdom was mostly already destroyed by good old corruption and civil war by the time I got to it."

"So what did you do?"

"Uh," Bowser halted, looking at Peach's innocently hopeful face. She had stopped wrapping presents in order to listen to his story with rapt attention. He wasn't going to lie, but he didn't want to tell her the gritty truth, after all, he had almost done the same thing to her kingdom. "I don't think it's a good idea that you know. I was young and really angry. I wanted revenge on everyone."

"Oh," said Peach, suddenly very quiet. Bowser had always been a menace to the Mushroom Kingdom but she supposed she had taken it for granted that he had never made a serious military move on her land.

"Yeah. I don't say it very often but, sometimes I feel kinda bad about it. But, now that land is all part of the Darklands and being under my rule is way better than whatever messed up situation they were heading into."

They continued to wrap a gilded megaphone for Morton, a new ball for Lemmy, an ornate composition journal for Ludwig, a lil' oink bank for Roy, a jeweled and feathered headpiece for Wendy, a badminton set for Larry, and a magic art kit for Junior.

"Mm," Peach stretched as she yawned, "That was a lot of work, and I'm pretty tired. Which way to my room?"

Bowser was sad to see her off so early, but was also unwilling to push his luck. "It's kinda tricky; I'll just take you there, if you want."

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

Bowser slowly lead Peach though the extravagant palace halls in relative silence.

He fumbled for something to say as they reached her door, but Peach spoke first. "Before I go to bed, is it possible that I may speak with Kitty and Kamea, the assistants that previously attended me?"

Taken aback by the seemingly arbitrary request, Bowser stammered, "Well, yeah, you can do whatever you want but...why?"

"I have some personal matters to attend to and I may require some assistance. Please?"

Bowser, burning with curiosity, thanked the stars he could remember which ones were Kamea and Kitty. He summoned the two attendants and, after the three girls left him standing alone in the dim hallway, was given no choice but to return to his room.

Kamea rolled her eyes and stood up from her comfortable perch on a plush ottoman. "He's finally gone."

Peach smiled at her old friends and then took a deep breath, "I have decided that I want to get a present for King Bowser," she said hesitantly. "But, it looks like I'll be busy with tasks and preparations and won't have any time to pick anything up."

Kitty smiled widely. "That's great! I'm sure His Highness will be so happy!"

"So, I thought I might ask you, if it's not too much trouble, to pick something up for me and deliver it to my room."

"We can get you anything; it's no trouble at all. What would you like to get him?"

"Well, when I was looking at all of those portraits on the wall, I noticed that they were mostly of him and some of the previous kings and there were hardly any pictures of his kids or, more importantly, him with his kids. So, I was thinking it would be really nice to give a photo album that could be full of pictures of the Koopa family."

"A wonderful idea," Kamea replied. "We'll have one made to your specifications and delivered post-haste. Is there anything else we can do for you?"

"I don't think so, I think I'm just going to take the night off and relax. Thank you so much."

After the girls left, Peach changed into her warmest pajamas. Thinking about her day as she removed the glittering pins from her hair, she wondered about the Koopaling's arrival tomorrow. Would they like the decorations? Would they like her? For some unknown reason, Peach felt a nervous excitement about tomorrow's introductions and suddenly, she was no longer feeling very sleepy.

She opened the bedside drawer with the chocolate truffles and smiled to herself as she took the truffle with the prettiest design. If she was going to be here, she figured, she might as well enjoy the amenities. The white chocolate truffle had creamy lemon chiffon filling that made her feel giddy in just one bite. Pulling the rest of the truffles out of the drawer, she decided she would watch a video to take her mind off her day. Once again, amidst the various shows and movies available, a tape with a white label and an untidy black scrawl, which read Koopa Family Home Movies (Vol. III), caught her interest.

"Hm, maybe the Koopalings will be in this, so I can see what they're like before I meet them tomorrow," she said to herself, rationalizing her decision to watch the tape. I'm sure nobody would mind, after all, the tape is in my room with other things I'm supposed to watch. Nonetheless, she turned the volume down on the television before she pressed play and waited anxiously for the movie to start. Peach's reward was an extreme close up of an aged Koopa's face.

"It's on!" As the camera panned out, Peach could see that the aged face belonged to Kammy, who was operating the camera. "It's a momentous occasion today; we are witnessing the birth of Lord Bowser's eighth and presumably final son! What have you got to say, Your Highness?" she asked, panning in on a worried looking Bowser who was sitting with his head in his hands.

"First of all, Crone Face, I've only got six sons, 'cause Wendy's a girl. That makes Junior my seventh son. Now turn that damn thing off, every time you run it something bad happens or it makes me look stupid."

"But My Lord, don't you want this on record? Not only is this royal history, the birth of another glorious prince, but it is scientific history, the first Koopa-Human hybrid, made possible by magic."

"Don't call him a hybrid, Worm Breath. He's my son."

"My apologies." The camera panned right to view a large egg swaddled in a torn pink cloth, which bore a strong resemblance to a dress Peach had once ripped while being kidnapped by Bowser. She could never forget it; the dress was one of her favorites at the time. The egg was reddish-orange and slightly marbled with light spots on top. It looked warm in front of the large brass fireplace where a fire was roaring to simulate the inner-warmth that would radiate from a Koopa mother.

"I told you to turn that thing off. You'll probably jinx everything and he'll come out with three--! He's hatching!"

Despite Bowser's demand, Kammy angled the camera for a close-up on the hatching egg, which now had a large crack in the middle.

"C'mon, buddy, you can do it. Let's go." cooed Bowser's voice in the background. Peach froze with morbid anticipation as she quickly ate yet another lemony truffle. How odd to hear Bowser speaking like that, so soft and worried.

Finally, a tiny claw, covered in goop, broke out of the shell. Then came the next claw and a bit of the head until the egg tumbled over and a small, wet Junior dragged himself out of the remainder of the shell.

"He looks--he looks--well, he looks just like you, Sire." Kammy said.

"Yeah," said Bowser, in a tired and disappointed voice. Meanwhile, Junior had fallen onto his side and given a tiny yawn. "Maybe it didn't work." At this, Junior turned to the camera and his eyelids parted for the very first time, revealing bright, shining, innocent blue eyes, which reflected the flickering light of the fire.

"S-Sire, you may want to see this."

Alarmed, Bowser roared, "What! What's wrong? What did you do?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong, see for yourself."

The camera lost focus as Bowser picked up his newborn son for the very first time and saw his eyes. The Koopa King's own eyes filled with tears and he shouted, "It worked! I can't believe it. I really did it. This is my son, Kammy," he beamed, looking over at the old Magikoopa. He changed tones as he noticed the running camera. "Kammy! If I have to tell you one more time to turn that thing off, I will personally charbroil both you and the camera."

"Yes My Lord, sorry."

Peach stared blankly at the snowing screen. Those eyes! She looked into the vanity mirror at her own shiny blue eyes. That cloth! She recalled the soft, slippery feeling of the silky pink fabrics of her favorite dresses. On Isle Delfino, Junior had called her Mama Peach.

A Koopa-Human hybrid? Did Bowser…? No, why would he…? The more she thought, the less sense anything made and the uneasier she felt. She instantly regretted watching the movie and quickly rewound it, wishing that she could do the same to her mind. She carefully replaced the tape in its original position, turned out the lights and tried to silence her thoughts to drift into an anxious sleep.