Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.

Tha is for all the reviews guys! We're almost at a hundred :) Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to KeepCalmAndDream because you asked so nicely ;) Review and let me know what you think or if you have any ideas!

I ran the paintbrush across the canvas in quick, smooth strokes, finishing up the painting I'd been working on for the last couple of days. I'd been having more and more paintings commissioned lately and I'd been uncommonly busy for a guy who usually did as little as possible, but I'd made time to work on this one. It wasn't for a client or gallery. It was way more important than that.

I stepped back, taking in my genius as a finished product. The painting was good, if I did say so myself. And the recipient of this masterpiece was going to love it.

Of course she would, I thought, I painted it. And I meant that in an I'm-the-best sort of way, not a she-loves-me-and-thinks-everything-I-do-is-fantastic sort of way. Even though that was certainly true, as well.

I was just finishing cleaning up my art supplies when I heard a car pull into the driveway. I smiled to myself and went out to the living room to get the door. Good thing too, because I'd no sooner gotten it open then Sydney fumbled with her keys while trying to get them in the lock, almost dropping the grocery bags she was carrying.

"Whoa, Sage. Give me those," I said, grabbing the bags from her. She smiled gratefully and turned around to get the rest from the car.

I leaned out of the door a little, watching her go. My God, she looked good today. Not that she didn't always look good, but she looked especially good today in a pair of tight jeans and a silky red blouse I'd bought her for her birthday. It was the first time she'd been able to wear it and I gave myself a little mental pat on the back for picking it out. I had awesome taste.

"DAAAADDYYYY!"

I had the urge to cover my ears at the high pitched squeal, but with the groceries in my hands it was impossible. I put the bags down on the living room floor and turned just in time to catch a speeding blonde bullet racing towards me. A speeding blonde bullet that most people said was an exact clone of me.

"Daddy! Guess what Mommy got me at the store!" Adrianna said, throwing her arms around my neck as I bent down to grab her. I flipped her up into my arms and stood. She pulled back to show me a big red lollipop wrapped in her delicate little fingers.

"Wow," I smiled. "That looks awesome. Can I have some?" I leaned in close and she pulled the lollipop away from me.

"No!" she laughed, "Here!"

To my surprise, even though it probably shouldn't have been, she waved her little hand toward Sydney and the bag she was carrying from the car. Sydney jumped slightly when a lollipop lifted from the bag and started floating towards Adrianna. She juggled the bag in her arms quickly and grabbed the lollipop before a neighbor could notice it flying around of its own accord.

"Adrianna," Sydney admonished, hurrying over and handing our daughter the lollipop. "You know the rules. You can only do spells in the house during your practice time."

"Sorry," Adrianna said, lowering her gaze and pouting. Even though I hated having to tell the kid no, Sydney was right about using magic outside the house. It'd be bad for everyone if some nosy neighbor noticed. "I just wanted to get the lollipop."

"I know, baby," Sydney said, her features softening at Adrianna's pouty face. If the kid inherited anything from me other than my green eyes, it was that pout. Sydney gave in whenever I made that face, no matter how annoying I was being, and Adrianna was way better at it then I was.

"Mommy's right, though," I told Adrianna, then turned to Sydney. "Can't have Mrs. Kravitz catching Tabitha twitching her nose and popping a play house into the front yard."

Sydney rolled her eyes and mouthed, She doesn't understand that. I knew the kid wouldn't understand the reference, but Sydney did. I'd gotten her to watch Bewitched with me recently and she wasn't impressed by it. Guess she didn't think it was as funny I did. But then again, she wasn't the one living with two beautiful, blonde witches.

Adrianna bounced in my arms, her way of saying she wanted down, and I placed her on her feet.

"Here," she said again and shoved the extra lollipop at me. "It was supposed to be for Lily, but now it's for you."

"Oh," I raised my eyebrows at her brusque tone. She was sort of a live wire sometimes, but other times she could be so much like Sydney I wanted to laugh. "Well, thanks."

"Mommy said Lily isn't old enough for candy," she went on perfectly business like, ignoring me. "I said I'd keep it until she gets older, but she said you'd eat it by then anyway, so I might as well just give it you now."

I smirked, first at my wife who lifted her eyebrows, challenging me to say it wasn't true, and then at my surly little daughter. "Mommy was right, like always. Thanks, munchkin," I said, messing up her hair.

"Daddy! Please!" she complained, pulling away and smoothing her hair back down in a way that made her look more like a clone of Sydney than me. Then she unwrapped her lollipop and jumped on the couch to watch cartoons.

When I turned back to Sydney she thrust the grocery bag she was holding at me and said, "Where's Lily?"

I pursed my lips, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know. She was in the art studio before, crawling around—"

"Adrian!" Sydney cried, pushing passed me, but I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Kidding, Sage," I laughed. "Relax. She's napping. I checked on her ten minutes ago."

She rolled her eyes, but flushed the cutest shade of red, embarrassed she'd fallen for the joke. I leaned down and kissed her, and it wasn't a quick one even though our three year old daughter was in the room.

When she pulled away and went to the kitchen, I picked up the other bags and followed her in there, browsing through the bags. I pulled out a box of sugar coated donut holes and raised my eyebrows.

"This looks like something I'd buy," I said, placing the box on the counter.

"Shut up," she said simply.

I smirked. "She gave you the puppy eyes, didn't she? The puppy eyes never fail."

She pulled out a bag of carrots and placed it on the counter. "Don't you have something you can go do?" she asked, trying and failing to sound truly exasperated.

I leaned forward and kissed her again, pulling her against me. "Well, the kid's distracted right now and the Lil Monster should be out for a little while longer. We could sneak away for a couple minutes..."

"Mmm," she murmured against my lips, before pulling away and picking the carrots back up, much to my disappointment. "Go play with your daughter," she smiled. "And we'll discuss our playtime later."

"Yeah?" I asked, sounding a little more desperate than I'd wanted to.

"Oh, yeah," she grinned.

It'd been a while since we'd had any "playtime" so to speak, what with her just having Lily. But if she was feeling up to it again, I was game. I left her in the kitchen and grabbed Adrianna off the couch, throwing her over my shoulder and bringing her into the art studio with me. She giggled the whole way.

"Are we painting?" she asked excitedly, trying to spin herself around to get a look.

"Not today, munchkin," I told her, pulling her down so she was seated comfortably in my arms. "I finished working on something, something really important that I need your opinion on."

"Ooh!" She smiled. Adrianna loved when she got to paint with me, but she loved it even more when I let her decide whether a painting was finished or not.

"Alright, close your eyes." Once she'd obliged, I turned the easel I'd been working on before around, putting the canvas on display. "Open your eyes."

I watched her little face, the face that looked so much like mine, light up when she saw what I'd done. She grinned, leaning forward to get a better look, but knowing not to touch the wet canvas.

"You think it's done?" I asked and she nodded seriously.

She narrowed her eyes, taking in every inch of the painting. "I do."

I heard Sydney walk up behind me and then felt her hand on my back before she squeezed in next to us and looked at the painting. It was colorful, lots of purples and pinks and blues, and unlike my usual paintings this one wasn't an abstract. It was very obviously a big pink pony with a small blonde girl with giant green eyes on its back.

Sydney stifled a laugh when she saw it, but Adrianna was still taking it in like it was a piece in a museum. Finally, she sat back in my arms and looked at me and Sydney very seriously before saying, "It's badass."

I laughed, because what the hell else was I going to do with that statement, but Sydney pinched my hip, looking at me like I was the three year old who'd just cursed.

"Adrian!" was all she said, but I caught the silent lecture that was hidden underneath.

"What?" I asked, putting Adrianna down and trying to control my laughter. "She could have learned that from anybody, Sage!"

Sydney didn't look convinced, but she did shake her head, a grin breaking through on her face.

Adrianna tugged on my sleeve to get my attention. "Can I keep the painting, Daddy?" she asked. "I'll take good care of it."

"Of course, baby. We'll hang it in your room when it's dry," I told her, causing her to hug my leg in utter three year old happiness.

It was a trivial thing really, but it made me happy knowing that I'd made her happy. Sydney smiled at me and when our eyes met I knew it made her happy, too. We both grinned, watching our daughter bounce around planning exactly where in her room the painting was going to go.

Maybe it was the way we'd both grown up, with our fathers constantly getting on us for every little thing, but when Sydney and I first got married we made a sort of unspoken pact that we'd never treat our kids the way we were treated. Even before we were married and had Adrianna I'd always thought, Hey, if our kids were super smart blonde bombshell's with unrivaled magical powers, so be it. We'd love them no matter what. Or maybe they'd have dark hair and refuse to apply themselves in school and drink and act out...

Well, we'd have to step in in that case, but as long as we raised them right I figured we could avoid having a mini me running around. The point was, however our kids turned out, we were going to love them and they'd know it.

And from the way Adrianna was grinning up at us, I knew she knew it.