Riley woke up that Saturday morning with joy she only felt twice a year: Christmas and her birthday. Today wasn't technically her birthday, but because her parents had planned a wedding on her birthday, this Saturday had been turned into her birthday. Her new family was coming over to celebrate her, there would be a little cake (nothing like the one she would get on her actual birthday, but it was chocolate), she would get her birthday presents, and she would play games. Essentially, she was queen for the day, and no one could bring her down.

With a cry of excitement, she burst into her parents' bedroom and jumped on their bed, "Wake up! Wake up! Today's my birthday party day! Wake up!"

She dove between her parents and, using Mia as leverage, pushed Kevin off the bed with her feet. Kevin rolled off the bed with a startled cry.

"Riley!" Mia sat up after seeing and hearing what happened to her fiancé, "That's not nice."

"You guys have to get up! You promised today was going to be special! Hurry up! Everyone is going to be here soon?"

"Not until eleven," Kevin muttered. He pulled himself up to his feet using the bed and grabbed Riley. He put her over his shoulder and walked with her downstairs. He dropped her on the couch and then left her behind as he went to the kitchen to get his coffee.

"Another Saturday ruined," he sighed. He waited for the coffee to brew, and got about five seconds of peace before Riley wrapped her arms around his leg and started bouncing enthusiastically.

"Where are my presents? When is everyone going to get here? Are we going to play games? I can't wait to blow out my candles! Let's play a game now! Kevin! Kevin! Kevin!"

Kevin ignored his daughter. The coffee finished brewing so he poured himself a cup and limped to the table, dragging Riley with him.

"I want a birthday crown! Can you make me one? Kevin? Kevin, I want a birthday crown! A pink one! Please, Kevin. I can't be the birthday queen without a crown!"

"MIA!" Kevin called as Mia came down the stairs pulling her shirt over her head.

"Riley, you know you're supposed to leave Kevin alone until after he has his coffee."

"But… today is special."

"It will be," Mia pulled out Riley's chair at the table and told her to sit, "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Ice-cream!"

"Easy enough," Mia opened up the freezer, grabbed a tub of ice-cream, and put a scoop into a bowl for Riley. Just as an extra birthday treat, she added sprinkles on top. Riley was in heaven when her breakfast was placed before her.

"Best birthday ever!" she screamed before digging in. Kevin winced and took another sip of his coffee while Mia got started on a real (and healthy) breakfast for herself and Kevin.

Halfway through her bowl, Riley heard the doorbell ring. Her aunts and uncles weren't supposed to arrive until eleven and it was only eight in the morning. Riley couldn't tell time, assumed it was them, and ran to the door. She opened it, but found herself staring up at a group of strangers.

"I don't know you," she said and started to close the door. Kevin rushed up behind her and stopped the door with his hand. He took Riley in his arms and welcomed the group into the house. His parents, Mia's mother and her grandmother stepped inside. As they took off their jackets and their boots, Kevin set Riley down on the stairs.

"Don't you remember your grandparents? You met them once before."

"No," Riley shook her head, "I don't. Who invited them?"

"They're your grandparents," Kevin chuckled. "They love you, and they want to celebrate your birthday with you."

"We brought presents," Noa held up a couple gift bags.

"Okay, they can stay," Riley nodded. She jumped down from the stairs, took the two bags and then saw her other grandparents had two bags each as well. She turned around and looked at Kevin, "I already love them!"

She collected the bags, carrying as many as she could on each trip to the living room while her grandparents gathered in the kitchen. There was no Christmas tree to put the presents under, so Riley placed them all under the television. Then she joined the adults in the kitchen and had a look around.

For the most part, she could tell who was who. It looked like she had a grandmother and a grandfather from Kevin's side of the family, and then two grandmothers from Mia's side. She gave her pink ancestors a curious look.

"Are you gay?"

"What?" Mako laughed and shook her head, "Sweetheart, where does a question like that come from?"

"It's okay if you are," Riley assured them, "My uncle Jay Jay and my uncle Tonio are gay and I love them."

Mia pulled Riley up on her lap, "They aren't gay, sweetie. Sobo is my grandma, and…"

"I'm grandma," Noa whispered, somewhat reluctantly as she glared at Christina.

"Grandma is my mom," Mia said with a bit of a laugh. "Sobo is actually your great grandmother."

"Why?"

"Because she's my grandma."

"But what makes her so great?"

"I got you the best birthday present of all."

"If that's true, then okay," Riley smiled. She turned to her other set of grandparents, "What about you? Are you great?"

"Just gran and gramps," Patrick said.

Riley looked to them sympathetically, "That's too bad."

-Samurai-

"We're not going to be late," Mike assured Serena as she, James, and Terran got into the car, leaving Mike and Emily behind which meant they would have to walk to Mia and Kevin's house by themselves. Serena gave Mike a suspicious glare but he shrugged it off. "We have to make a few stops on the way. If you drive us, we'll just be holding you back, and I'm sure Riley can't wait to dress Terran up in whatever princess costumes she has."

"Poor boy," James sighed and looked in the rear-view mirror to see Terran in his car-seat, completely unaware of the humiliation he was going to have to face later in his life. "I had an older sister, buddy. Don't worry, it turns you into a man… eventually."

"Just don't be too long, and keep your phones with you."

"We'll be fine," Emily smiled. She gave her sister a kiss on the cheek before sending her off. She then took Mike's hand and gave him a smile, "Thanks. It's going to be crazy at the party. I just needed some peace and quiet."

"No problem," Mike returned the smile as they started walking slowly down the sidewalk, "You know, I didn't know one year olds could have nightmares. Poor kid."

Emily nodded her head. She had had a rough night. Her morning sickness was less and less severe as the pregnancy went on, but she didn't have the luxury of saying it had disappeared. She had stayed up late feeling nauseous and puked into the toilet and sink a couple of times before finally crawling into bed. Just as she had been about to get some sleep, Terran woke up screaming and it took hours to calm him down. He knew a few words, but none to explain to his parents or his aunt and uncle what had woken him up in the middle of the night and what made him scream.

Eventually, they assumed Terran had had a nightmare thanks to Storm, who hung around his bedroom whining and tried to cuddle with him every chance she got. Storm was experienced in treating nightmares – having done so many times with Emily. Storm did to Terran as she did to Emily, which is what led everyone to believe he had had a bad dream. By the time everyone figured that out, and knew Terran was okay, they had only a few hours to sleep.

"What do you think his nightmare was about?" Emily asked.

Mike shrugged his shoulders, "He probably just lost his favourite toy or something. That's a pretty scary deal for him. James washed his blanket when you were out dress shopping and Terran screamed for hours because he couldn't find it. Poor kid was traumatized."

"How did you calm him down?"

"Took the blanket out of the dryer," Mike chuckled. "He's getting harder to fool. He'll be too smart for us, soon."

"Then what?" Emily asked and touched her stomach, "What do you do when the kid is too smart for the parents?"

"Wing it?" Mike shrugged. "I swear, that's what my parents did with me. What about you? When you were being a smart-ass, how did your parents deal with it?"

"Me? A smart-ass? Mike, I almost failed kindergarten… what if that's what happens with our kids? You never finished high school, and I can't even get organized enough to finish any online courses."

"Em, our kids will be fine. You never give yourself enough credit."

"What if our kids do that?" Emily looked up at Mike worriedly. "What if they take after me? What if they grow up feeling like I did? My parents did all they could for me, they really, really tried. Even Serena was amazing, but growing up always… sucked. What if our kids feel that way? Mike it was miserable…"

"Emily," he grabbed by the arms and looked into her eyes, "You weren't confident. I was overconfident. You have to remember, my genes are in there too. The kids are going to be fine. Besides, they'll always have each other."

Emily nodded her head and sighed, "I guess you're right. I just… I worry sometimes, you know. There's so much we can't control. So much we won't be able to do for them."

"It worries me too," Mike wrapped his arms around Emily, "but we're going to be there for our kids, no matter what. I mean, hey, we loved Terran and he was born half Nighlok. Our kids can't possibly be that bad, right?"

"Now they will be," Emily groaned, "Mike, you need to know when to shut up. You just jinked it. They're going to be twin terrors."

"We'll be able to handle them. There's nothing they'll be able to do that I haven't done or tried before. And if they do get too bad, we'll send them to boot camp."

"Boot camp!"

"Yeah, a week with Aunt Serena should straighten them out," Mike teased. Emily shoved him playfully.

-Samurai-

"Left, Riley, go left!"

"No, right! Go right!"

"Left!"

"Don't listen to them. Sobo and Grandma aren't on your team! Right, sweetie, right!"

Riley pulled off her blindfold and turned around to face her grandparents, "I don't know what side is left or right."

"This is the most intense game of pin the tail on the donkey I've ever seen," Kevin muttered as he watched the grandparents play with Riley. Mia shrugged her shoulders.

"I've seen worse."

The doorbell rang and she left to answer it. Kevin gave her a look before turning back to the game. Riley had put her blindfold on and it seemed her grandparents had already helped her decipher her left and right. Following instructions, Riley got closer and closer to the poster of the donkey, and did manage to pin the tail close enough to the target.

"We win!" Patrick cried as he jumped out of his seat. He took the plastic gold medals Mia had bought for the party and put one around his neck. He gave one to his wife and passed the final one to Riley, "We make an awesome team, don't we, kiddo?"

Riley smiled and nodded her head, "Let's play again. This time, I want to be on Sobo and Grandma's team."

"Someone's celebrating a birthday!" Antonio burst into the room carrying a rainbow of balloons for the little birthday girl, with the rest of the Samurai right behind him. Riley turned around, spotted her aunts and uncles and her jaw hit the floor in awe. She was instantly captured by all the balloons and the presents they had brought in with them.

"Best birthday ever!" she screamed happily and bounced excitedly. She tried to grab all the balloons, but Antonio wouldn't let them go. He had gone a little overboard with the number of balloons and seeing as they were all filled with helium, and Riley was a small girl, he was worried that she would float to the ceiling if she took them all herself. He kept a hold of the string and walked with her to attach them something sturdy and heavy enough to weigh them down.

"Try driving with all those balloons in the car," Jayden muttered to Kevin.

"Especially when one pops," Lauren rolled her eyes.

Kevin chuckled, but then saw Kate desperately combing through her hair with her fingers.

"You okay?"

"Two words," Kate grumbled, "Static electricity. That pop wasn't an accident. The balloon was asking for it."

"Can we open presents?" Riley asked, seeing a lot of people were now at her party, she assumed it was time. She looked to her mother and shook her head.

"After cake. I told you this, Riley. You need to be patient."

"Besides, we're missing two guests," Serena whispered in Mia's ear, "Mike and Emily insisted on walking."

"Why?"

"You tell me."

"Lauren!" Riley cried and pushed through the crowd to find her aunt. She took Lauren's hand and pulled her towards the couch where her grandparents were seated, "Auntie Lauren, look, I have grandparents!"

Riley tugged on Lauren's arm, asking her to bend down to whisper in her ear, "Sobo and grandma aren't gay."

"I… okay," Lauren nodded her head slowly and looked up at Mako and Noa, "What…"

"She doesn't understand the family tree yet," Noa chuckled.

"And Sobo's a great grandma. I don't know what makes her so great. She looks like a normal grandma to me."

"See."

Lauren nodded her head, "Got it. Hey, Riles, if we're quiet, I've got a little present in the car, you can sneak a peek at it if you want?"

"Really?" Riley asked. Lauren put her finger over her lips and nodded her head. Riley did the same and started to tip-toe to the door. She walked right past Mia but assumed that because she was quiet and because she was on her tip-toes, Mia didn't notice her.

"Where are you going?" Mia asked Lauren.

"I've got something special for my goddaughter and I wanted to give it to her in private. She'll surprise you with it later, I promise."