Author's note: Sorry for such a long wait. I promise to work on getting more consistent updates. I've been working on my new tumblr storiesofthespawnofsydrian about Josh and Marti (and a little bit of Caroline) from my other Bloodlines world. To make up for the wait, look for some great Eddie/Misha moments in this chapter.

Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. Keep them coming!

Happy reading!

Chapter Nine

Adrian walked into the nursery just as Jill lifted their son off the mat where his diaper was changed. The nanny took the soiled cloth and placed it in a bin to be washed out immediately.

Jill turned and smiled. "Hello."

"Hello to you." He leaned down and kissed Misha's tiny face. "And how is my boy?"

"Doing very well. I think he may have a tooth coming in." She took his finger and stuck it in the baby's mouth. "Do you feel it?"

"I haven't noticed him fussing." He said as he felt the baby's gums. "But there it is."

Misha gnawed on his finger and then pushed it out with his tongue and turned his head.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure Mommy's hands taste much sweeter." He kissed his son's face again. He took in his wife's appearance. "Are you going out?"

"I thought I'd bring Misha to see Sydney for a while. When I was there yesterday, she seemed miserable."

"Understandable. The baby will be here any time, but not soon enough for any of us." They started for the door. "And our Misha is getting so big."

"Have you seen him crawl?" Jill asked suddenly.

He smiled fondly. "Yes. He was all over my room last night."

"You don't need to do that, you know. We hired a nanny for a reason."

"Yes, well, I like to spend time with my child. Unlike my father. Misha is the heir to a lot of important things. And I want him to know love above all else." He stopped her on the stairs and stepped down a few so he was looking up at her. "I need him to know he's just as important as all of my children. No more, no less."

She placed a hand gently on his cheek. "Why are you always assuring us? Sydney and I know. You love all of us in so many different ways, but you still love us. That's the important thing."

He looked at the baby she held. "I didn't expect him so soon." He said softly.

She smiled. "I didn't either. But he's here. With us." She watched him a moment. She caught a glint of something in his eyes and opened her mind. His thoughts were churning wildly. "Let me take some of that." She closed her eyes and pulled some of his pain into herself.

With a grateful smile, Adrian placed his hand on top of hers and healed the excess darkness she'd just gathered. "So, Sydney." He turned, a little more bounce in his step.

"Yes. Were you going there, too?"

"I was thinking about it. I've been here all day for fear of visitors."

She smiled. "I'll get Eddie. We can all go. She could use the company. And I think it would be fine for you to spend more time there. I can handle Misha. You should be there for her, just in case."

He nodded and paused to press a kiss to Jill's temple. "I'll meet you down there."

She nodded and walked off toward the back of the house. She found her lover in his office speaking with Petrov and Shane. He had a stern expression, but his eyes were slightly amused. He looked up and the corner of his mouth twitched at the sight of Jill and the baby in her arms. Misha babbled and reached a hand out to him.

"You two are dismissed. And if you can't get control, I'll have to change your shifts."

"Yes, sir." They said in unison. They stood and paused at the door to greet Jill and coo over the baby.

As soon as they were gone, she stepped into his office and he lifted the baby out of her arms and up into the air. "Hello, Misha! How is my favorite little boy?"

He made a happy sound and reached out for Eddie's face, babbling.

"Is that right?" He gathered the baby again to his chest. He turned to Jill with a satisfied grin. "Hi." He closed the door and kissed her softly. His hand found the back of her head and he deepened the kiss as he held her close.

She smiled against his lips and then stepped back. "Hi. Adrian is spending some time with Sydney. Misha and I were on our way there, too. You should join us."

"You think so?" He ran a hand down her arm and looked at the baby who rested his head on Eddie's chest. "What do you think, Misha-my-boy?"

He started babbling again and lifted his head up. He smiled and looked out the window. "Dada."

Jill giggled. "Did you hear what I did?"

Eddie chuckled. "I think I did. Do you want to go see Daddy?"

Misha grinned and looked out the window again.

"Then we'll go see Daddy."

Jill took the baby again as they walked out the door. She saw Eddie subtly check his pockets for weapons.

"So what was all that about?" Jill asked.

Eddie smirked. "I caught them kissing when they were supposed to be on duty together."

She giggled. "Well, I guess that means you and I can't do the same thing while you're on duty anymore."

He laughed. "I guess not. But I am the boss. And I know how to pay attention to my surroundings while I'm kissing you." He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it.

"All I can say is, it's a good thing our wards are so good."

He laughed again and kissed her hand.

The small house that had been built for Sydney lay several yards away from their back door. It was close enough to be part of the property, but far enough away that Sydney retained her own privacy. The sun was just starting to set. There were plenty of trees to give long shadows to cover them on their walk. Adrian opened the door when they knocked.

Jill grabbed his arm. "You'll never guess what your son just said."

"What?" He said, taking the boy from his mother's arms and kissing him.

"Dada. But just once. We were in Eddie's office and he looked out the window and said it. Clear as day."

He laughed. "Did you hear that, Sydney?" He walked into the small sitting room and put the baby on the floor to explore.

"I did." She smiled. "Hello, Misha."

The baby made a straight line for the lady of the house and looked up at her with a smile. With much difficulty, Sydney reached down and picked him up. He laughed and started talking to her in a long string of nonsense. She smiled and nodded and inserted the proper exclamations when she could.

She let out a small gasp and pressed a hand to the side of her stomach. "I think your younger brother or sister likes your story."

Misha looked down at her bulbous stomach and rested is head there. He started talking again.

Adrian chuckled. "How sweet."

"How is he today?" Jill asked, taking a seat beside her and pulling the baby over into her lap.

"Fine. Active. Was that how it was for you?" She asked nervously.

Her friend nodded and kissed her son's tiny face. "This one moved around a lot."

Eddie watched the women fondly.

Adrian took out his sketchpad and started scratching away as they talked. Misha grunted and wiggled on his mother's lap. She put him down and he crawled toward the box in the corner that held the toys his father and Sydney had put there for him. He picked two up and started banging them together.

"Misha." Adrian said in a warning tone.

He stopped and looked up.

"No. Too loud." His father said.

He looked down again and started banging them together.

"Mikhail, stop." Jill said.

He looked up at her with a smile and banged the toys together a moment more. Then he dropped them and went about the room exploring. Eddie got down on the floor with him after a moment and the pair played together, the baby laughing at the faces the guardian made at him. He lifted the baby up in the air.

"Misha can fly." He said.

He laughed and reached for the guardian's face.

"You don't say." He pulled the baby back to his chest and kissed his tiny face. He then put him on the floor and crawled around after him some more.

Jill broke off her conversation to watch them. He blushed slightly when he noticed her scrutiny and continued to follow the boy around.

"Do you think Misha would like to go out to the beach for a few minutes?" Jill asked no one in particular.

Eddie stopped and rolled onto his back. The baby crawled over him, flipping over as his hand met the floor and he lost his balance. He started crying, his arms and legs waving in the air.

The guardian rolled him back onto his stomach. "Now that's enough of that, my boy. You'll fall a lot in life. But you have at least four people around to lift you back up again." He kissed Misha's cheek and then stood and scooped him up off the floor. "Your Mommy wants to take you to the beach. And your Eddie's going with you."

"So you can kiss Mommy a little?" Adrian asked, closing his sketchpad. He stood and moved to the couch to sit beside Sydney.

"Maybe." He said, slipping a hand into Jill's as they walked out the door.

"It's about time." Adrian said as soon as they were alone.

Sydney laughed and pushed at him playfully. She took his hand and placed it on her stomach as the pair made their way out of the house.

"Oh, wow." He breathed as he felt the baby moving around and kicking in his lover's womb.

"Do you want another boy or would you like a girl this time?" She cupped his face and rubbed her thumb across his cheekbone.

"I want a healthy baby." He kissed her softly. "The last name can't be mine."

"It won't be." She said barely above a whisper. "Are you sure you want all this?"

"It's going to be difficult. But plenty of Moroi have human or dhampir lovers that produce their children. We'll be fine."

"I'm sure few of them live on the same land, plan on raising all their children in the same home."

"True. We're unique. And I like that we're unique." He pressed a kiss to her lips. "I love you. And I love our baby. And I love our whole crazy family."

"I love you, too." She pulled him to her for another kiss, taking this one deeper.

"Let me take you upstairs." He begged.

"No. Jill and Eddie may come back. And I am not in any sort of sexy mood right now."

He smiled. "All right, love." He kissed her again. "I'm going to stay with you until the baby comes."

"About time." She said with a grin. "I miss you when you're not here. I know you want to be close to Misha—"

He cut her off with a kiss, rubbing his hand over her stomach. "I want our baby here now."

"I want him, too. Or her. What shall we name it?"

He kissed her. "Do you have one in mind?"

She smiled. "Joshua."

"Joshua." He said it slowly. "I like it. And for a girl?"

"Marta."

"I like that one, too. Middle names?"

"Joshua Tyler. It was my mother's maiden name. Marta Daniella. For your mother." She pressed a kiss to his lips. "What do you think?"

"I like them." They shared another soft kiss. He pulled her close and kissed her lazily. The kiss continued until the front door opened and the sound of laughter drifted to them. He sat back, pushing hair out of Sydney's face.

The other three came in soaked head-to-toe. Misha laughed even as he shivered.

"I'll get him some dry clothes." Adrian said, coming and taking the baby from Eddie's arms.

"We'll go back up to the big house and change ourselves." Jill said, moving her hands over her clothes and removing some of the water. "But we can take Misha, if you want."

"He looks tired." Adrian kissed the boy's face. "I love you, son. And I had you all last night, so you go with Mommy and Eddie and sleep for a while. Let them have some alone time." he winked at his wife and leaned in to kiss her cheek. He whispered, "Maybe make you another sibling."

"We're going to wait a bit longer for that one." She took the baby again. "We'll see you later. Tell Daddy goodnight."

Adrian kissed his son once more. "Goodnight, my sweet boy. I love you." When they were alone once more, Adrian asked, "Are we eating soon?"

"There are some things I can throw together." She hoisted herself up off the couch with his help.

"I can't believe you sent your maid out as soon as I got here."

"She'll be back soon." She stopped. "Well, that's unexpected."

"What?" He asked, his eyes wide.

"I think the baby will be here soon."

"Soon? How soon?"

She laughed. "Well, I'm not experiencing any pain, but the carpet will need to be cleaned."

"What do I need to do?" He was a little hysterical.

She put her hands on either side of his face. "Calm down and stay that way. It could be a while. Let Jill change first, but get her here. Send someone for the doctor. I'm going upstairs to change."

"Let me help you with that." He helped her up the stairs and started to help her undress.

She grabbed him suddenly and gritted her teeth as a contraction took hold. "Oh, god!" She panted and released her grip as the pain subsided.

Adrian finished helping her change and then kissed her softly and helped her into bed. "I'll get Jill. Hold on." He hurried out the door and down the stairs. He stepped out the door and saw Jill hurrying down from the house, Shane hot on her heels. He turned and ran back into the house and back to his lover's side.

"Jill saw. She's on her way." He informed her.

"Good." She rubbed her stomach. "He's moving around a lot."

"Yeah?" He leaned down and kissed her stomach. "Not too crazy in there, baby. And hurry. We all want to see you."

Jill came in a few minutes later followed closely by Shane. "How are things?"

"New contraction." Sydney said, holding her stomach.

"This is happening awfully quickly, isn't it?" Adrian asked in concern. "Jill took hours to get that close."

"All are different." Shane said. "My mother is a midwife. I help her when I go home to visit." She placed a hand on Sydney's stomach. "How close are they?"

"About twenty minutes." Adrian answered.

She nodded and continued an examination.

"How did we not know you were the daughter of a midwife when my wife gave birth?"

"No one asked." She said simply. "And I wasn't sure until recently that I agreed with how you were conducting yourselves."

Adrian smiled at her. "Good thing you're honest. How is Sydney?"

"She's fine. The baby is fine from what I can tell. It might still be a while. Make yourselves comfortable."

The baby came a few hours later, just after the doctor arrived. The doctor and Shane agreed that it was a very fast process for a first baby. Jill placed him on Sydney's chest once he was deemed healthy.

"Hello, Joshua." She whispered.

"I like it." Jill said, running a hand over his dark head.

"Adrian and I agreed on it tonight." She kissed his small face.

"I'll let him know." She stood and took a step away.

Sydney reached out and grabbed her hand. She pulled Jill down on the mattress. "Our sons are brothers." She said adamantly.

"Of course they are." She said with a smile.

"No, I mean, I don't want them to ever be segregated because Misha is a royal and Josh is just some plain dhampir."

"He's not going to be 'plain' anything, Sydney." She smiled down at the baby. "He looks like his father; almost too handsome for his own good. And he'll be strong like you. And he won't have to worry about the fear of an element, especially spirit."

"Misha will be fine. We know more about it. His father is a spirit user. If his element is spirit, he'll be able to handle it better." She squeezed the other woman's hand. "We're in this together now, Jill."

Jill kissed her cheek. "I'll go tell Adrian his son is ready to meet him."

"His second son." Sydney reminded her.

She nodded. "Of course."

Adrian bounced Misha nervously on his knee. Jill watched them a moment before she cleared her throat. He stood and hurried toward her.

"Sydney and Joshua are both fine." She said, mirroring the words the other woman had spoken to him just eight months before.

"Another boy." He pressed a kiss to Misha's cheek. "Let's go meet your brother."

"I'll bring our son back up to the big house once you're done so you can have all the first night adventures."

He chuckled and buried his face in Misha's hair. "Two boys, Jill."

"Two very adorable boys. With a very adorable father." She patted his cheek and then pushed him up the stairs. "Go on. I'll be waiting down here."

He galloped up the stairs, the baby on his hip laughing as he bounced. He babbled in Adrian's ear as they walked down the hall.

"Are you as excited as I am, Misha?"

He smiled and continued to babble as they walked onto the bedroom at the end of the hall.

Sydney sat on the bed with the baby at her breast. Shane and the doctor conferred in the corner and then stepped apart. The guardian met them as the doctor left.

"Anything you need, send for me. I'm sure Guardian Castile wouldn't mind allowing me to stay close for a few days."

"Thank you, Guardian Shane." Sydney said. "For all your help."

"Any time, Miss Sage." She left the room.

Adrian sat down on the bed.

"Adrian, Misha, meet Joshua." Sydney said, holding the baby out for them to see.

The older boy smiled and reached out a hand to pat the baby.

"That's your brother, my boy." Adrian said in awe. "God, he looks just like me."

"Yeah. It's frightening." Sydney agreed with a fond smile.

Misha started talking to his brother. The newborn blinked slowly at him. Misha looked at his father and smiled. Joshua started crying softly.

"Time to sleep, I think." Sydney said, moving to get out of bed.

"Let me." Adrian said, putting Misha on the bed beside Sydney and lifting his younger son out of her arms. He walked around the room, crooning to him as he fell asleep in his father's arms.

"So what do you think, Misha?" Sydney asked, finally tearing her eyes away from her lover and gathering the boy in her chest. "Hm? You're the older brother now. That's a big responsibility. Even if it's only by eight months."

He cooed and rested his head against her chest. He patted it and sighed happily. Adrian laid Joshua in his basinet and walked back to the bed.

"Jill's waiting downstairs to bring Misha back to the house."

She nodded and yawned. Then she chuckled. "He's snoring." She rubbed the boy's back.

"He's had a long night, too. I'll bring him to Jill and I'll be right back."

"I love you, Adrian."

"I love you, Sydney." He pressed a kiss to her lips and then lifted the baby off her chest. "I'll be back, love."

"Hurry."

He smiled and kissed her again. "I will."