"No, no, no!." Bo screamed as their doorbell rang. "Mom." She sighed tiredly.
"Wrong time?." Aife looked around the room as she stepped inside.
"No. I'm just being a mother and Dora is just being a baby. A curious baby." Bo laughed as they walked into her makeshift office.
"Ahhh. I see." Aife laughed. "Come to grandma." She held her arms out. She laughed at the scene in front of her.
"I had been working on those sketches since Lauren left for work. I turned my back for two seconds and she walked all over them. The ink hadn't dried yet." Bo pointed and laughed too.
"So, get a desk and let the baby be a baby." Aife cooed as she spun Dora around.
"You'd think Kara would be the more curious one since we named her after Lauren." Bo brushed her daughter's hair with her hand.
"They are both her daughters. They will both be curious." Aife smiled as she squeezed the baby.
"That's true." Bo rubbed the back of her head. She bent down and picked the papers up. She balled them up and tossed them into the trash. "I will bypass a desk and get a computer. That way I can save my files before I step away from it."
"That's a better idea." Aife sat on the couch and held Dora above her head.
Bo laughed as she cleaned up the rest of her office. "Did you need something?." She asked over her shoulder.
"Just thought I would stop by. It's not often a woman raises twins. Fae twins. If you need help, I'm here. If you need air, I'm here." Aife spoke softly as Dora played with her hair.
"Lauren said the same thing. She wanted to stay home today. I won't hold her back like that. She needs to be a doctor. She has been one long before I met her. We had a big breakfast as a family and saw her off to work before I put the kids back down. Dora lasted about an hour before she was up and at it again. I got this. I got my family. I can work for a few hours, get dinner ready, and wait for Lauren to come home." Bo dropped into a chair and took a long drink of water.
"I'm proud of you, Isabeau. Proud to be your mother. Proud to be born then to become your mother. I know you got this. I just wanted to remind you. It looks like you already have your hands full but there are other hands available whenever you need them." Aife walked over and handed Dora to Bo. The young succubus laughed as soon as she felt Bo's hands holding her. Bo smiled and kissed her. They played as Aife made her exit. "Let's go check on your sister. She probably needs to be changed like you do." Bo stood and walked upstairs.
Lauren.
The doctor was elbow deep in emergency surgery. A car accident nearly ripped a patient's leg off. She was doing her best to save it before they would have to cut it off. Even as she worked, she thought about her own life. How she had almost had her legs cut out from under her with the Fae. Cursing her gf only to learn she had been Fae all of her life. Now she has a new gf and a family full of Fae. Bo had been adorable in how she had pushed the blonde out of the house to go to work. She had also been right. Lauren is never going to be happy being a housewife. She can't sit on her ass and not do anything. But Bo isn't a housewife either. She's working from home. Working on changing the kids when they need it and feeding them. They are all contributing to their future. Something she had assured the succubus of on many occasions. Bo feels she's not Lauren's equal but she is and has been on so many levels. She's smart, warm, kind, loving and extremely helpful to those in need of help. When she learned the whole truth about Nadia, she immediately wanted to help. They both knew they were in love with each other. Bo put her feelings aside to help Lauren be happy. She was. But it wasn't the same. Not like the happiness that she feels now. She feels full and Bo helped to make all of that happen. "Keep this elevated as you take him back to his room. Tell the family, I will be in shortly." She spoke softly as she finished up. After speaking with the patient and family, she made a phone call. "Hey, do you want to have lunch with me? You can even bring two dates with you." She smiled into her phone.
Bo smiled and looked at the time. "I've got a few hours to spare."
"See you soon." Lauren smiled as she hung up and scrubbed her arms and hands clean. When she looked publicly presentable, she walked down to the first floor to wait for Bo and the kids. She smiled when the succubus pulled up in her convertible. "Hey gorgeous, going my way?."
"Absolutely!." Lauren smiled as she climbed in and gently kissed Bo before turning around and kissing the twins. "Hello my loves."
"Hello, back." Bo winked as she gently pulled off. "So, what do we want to eat?."
"Anything you pick will be fine with me." Lauren squeezed Bo's free hand.
"So, this is a change in our routine. Shall we make it a new daily thing?." Bo asked.
Lauren gasped at how beautiful Bo looked as her hair blew in the wind. "We don't have to. I just wanted to see you. The three of you."
"Lauren, it has barely been three hours yet." Bo laughed.
"I love you, Bo. I love everything you have brought to my life. Had I never met you, I wouldn't have known who you were and been involved in your life as you entered your dawning. That has brought the three of us here. Right here. As a family." Lauren smiled as they held hands.
"I love you too, Lauren. That's very sweet and very true. But I would have found you. Somehow, some way, I would have found you. Human or not, I would have loved you as much as I do now. Right now. We don't have to make this a daily thing. I wasn't insinuating that at all. I was just curious if you had the time to spare. I don't want to take you away from anything that you want to do. Before you say you were taking me away from my work, you didn't. I was actually playing with them. I think we should come up with a way for you to spend time with them during your working hours. I don't want them to be close to me and not to you. It wouldn't be fair." Bo made a turn and still kept her hand in Lauren's. It was warm and gentle.
"I can take an hour or two for lunch. Just for me and them. But Bo, that would be excluding you. I don't want to do that. Ever." Lauren spoke softly as she took in the view.
"Then we will make this a daily thing. We can take a few hours together for lunch or whatever, as a family." Bo nodded.
"I love this. All of this." Lauren sighed contently.
"I know. We all do. Right girls?." Bo cooed over her shoulder. The mothers laughed when Kara and Isadora laughed. "We can do a little shopping today, if you want to go with us."
"What do you need?." Lauren turned to Bo.
"A computer. I couldn't keep your daughter from walking on my sketches. I need to get a desktop or laptop to work from. That way I can lock the screen whenever I need to step away from it." Bo explained.
"My daughter huh? What did Kara do, again?." Lauren laughed.
"Okay. Okay. It was Dora. But her curiosity is a you trait." Bo laughed.
"It's a Bo Dennis trait, too." Lauren poked Bo's arm.
"Well, either way. She ruined one of my best sketches before the ink could dry. So, shopping it is after lunch." Bo pulled into a restaurant and each woman grabbed a baby carrier.
Stephen and Albert's.
"Isabeau has her hands full but I told her, her hands aren't the only ones that need to raise the babies." Aife sat in a plush chair nursing a glass of whiskey.
"Hell no. Uncle Stephen can always babysit." Stephen laughed.
"Is she really okay?." Albert asked.
"She's well. I just went over to give her a little reassurance. Those girls are a lot to handle. Even for the five of us." Aife smiled.
"We are just the backups. We are not the starters. They are." Stephen replied.
"You know it, son." Albert smiled.
"We need something to do. Something to keep ourselves busy." Aife looked around. "Berlin. I need to check on things there." She laughed.
"Girl is a queen of something and she's not even there." Albert laughed.
"I don't think I want to know who she upset to get that position." Stephen smiled and raised his hand up.
"She's the Blood King's only child and daughter. That was probably in the mix." Albert replied.
Stephen shrugged. "Why don't we do something? Like go hiking or something. We don't have to be gone all day. Just something to do." He suggested.
"We could also take in a hockey game soon." Albert suggested.
"Oooo. I haven't been to one of those in so long." Stephen laughed.
"Been to what?." Aife asked.
"A hockey game." Stephen answered.
"Well, shit boy. We are going to fix that." Aife laughed and pulled her phone out again. "That's it. We will see the Maple Leafs and Flames this Thursday night." She smiled and hung up her phone.
"Cool. Hiking for now." Stephen turned back to his grandfather.
The men gathered their gear and took Aife home long enough for her to change clothes. Soon, they were off with music blasting from the car stereo.
Kenzi
Kenzi sat in a local diner listening to humans talk about their days while she ate lunch. Nothing in their conversations were interesting to her at all. Women whining about their husbands coming home late for dinner or not coming home at all. She looked around the room and wondered. Who were really human and who were Fae. She met Bo because she had picked the wrong guy's pocket. Bo isn't here to save her if she does that again. But she could find a male Fae to bond with. To get back into that life with a new life. Lauren's brother is gorgeous but he knows her and is a major asshole to her. Stop it, Kenz, she said to herself and dove back into her meal. She looked out the window and spit her food out. Bo and Lauren had just driven by that restaurant. She jumped from her seat to see if she could get a view or idea of where they are headed next.
"Don't even think about it. They are gone." A male voice came from behind her.
"Damn, how did you find me?." Kenzi asked.
"There will always be eyes on you until the day you die." The man coldly replied. He turned to walk away before Kenzi could size him up or get a good read on him. He looked like someone Bo would take to bed but was built like someone Aife had taken to bed before. She went back to her plate and dropped her money on the counter. She wasn't hungry anymore. She asked the waitress for pen and paper and took her seat again. She scribbled something down and handed the note to the woman. "Tell Aife that Kenzi wants to see her" was all it said. She didn't give a location. She knows the succubus will find her without it. Her eyes were probably on Kenzi before she even stepped outside of the restaurant.
Lauren and Bo.
"That was nice. I'm stuffed." Lauren laughed as they walked out of the ice cream parlor.
"Me too. I can't eat another bite of anything." Bo smiled as they carried the kids to the car.
"We never got to go shopping." Lauren frowned.
"There's no rush, babe. I will drop you back off at work and I will get to work myself, at home. On a table if I have to." Bo laughed.
"They will learn to climb someday." Lauren laughed.
"Are you trying to scare me, doctor?." Bo leaned in and kissed the woman.
"It is bound to happen." Lauren whispered with Bo's lips still inches away from hers.
"It is and it is." Bo winked as she pulled away.
"I have a few hours left to go. I can come straight home and we can go shopping then. We can buy whatever you want and need. We can turn one of the rooms into a bigger office for you. Whatever you need." Lauren smiled as she turned to face the road.
"I need my family. The rest, come as it may." Bo smiled as she pulled off.
"Absolutely. There is no rush. You don't have to be successful your first time out. Take your time. Learn this new craft. I will help whenever you ask for me to. I will ask around at work to see who knows who and can help you get your feet wet." Lauren squeezed Bo's hand as they held hands again.
"Lauren, that is very sweet but let me do this on my own. Make my own contacts. If I happen to stumble on whomever you work with, great. Then we will both know them without me piggybacking on your contacts." Bo spoke softly.
"Bo, I want to help. There is no shame in this. You have done so much for me and my career. Hell, when we first met, you didn't snap at me like I didn't know what I was doing. I'm here for you. I can't really draw either but I can help reach out to people. Find empty lots for you to get creative with. Soon, we could be looking at your building creations as we drive around town. We can show the kids." Lauren smiled.
"Now, that is inspiring!." Bo nearly jumped out of the driver's seat. She was so giddy. This spontaneous lunch was much needed and wonderful. "Wave goodbye to mama." Bo cooed.
"I will see you later, my sweets." Lauren kissed the tops of their heads and leaned back to kiss Bo before closing the door and waving them off. She sighed at the sight of her family going home. Looking at her watch. It won't be long before she joins them.
Bo smiled as she drove the kids home. She couldn't love Lauren more if she tried and she is willing to try. Willing to settle down and allow them to help her. Let go of her long held pride of the need to protect Lauren from everything. The doctor can handle her own. She can certainly handle Bo. She pulled the top up on the convertible. It was getting cooler out.
Aife, Stephen and Albert.
"Is this little toad crazy?." Aife laughed.
"Who?." Stephen asked.
"Kenzi. She left a note in a local shit joint that she wants to see me. To call me out like she has the stones to do so." Aife deleted the picture from her phone.
"What are you going to do?." Stephen asked.
"A Queen doesn't go to a peasant. If she wants something, she can come to me. But I wouldn't recommend it." Aife laughed.
"You're not at all curious why she would reach out to you and not to Bo?." Stephen asked.
"On second thought. Have that fool brought before me. If she goes near Isabeau and all that they have going on, it will be the last breath she ever takes." Aife popped her hat to the side and went back to hiking.
It wasn't long before Kenzi was standing before the succubus. "First of all, never summon me. You don't have that luxury of me granting your request. Secondly, what the fuck do you want? If it has to do with my daughter, you are dead where you stand." Aife slowly turned around.
Kenzi froze at the woman's demeanor but stood her ground. "As a mail carrier, I've made some good money. I'm here to pay you back for what I stole. This should cover the Queen's ring and any damages done to it."
"Is she for real?." Aife laughed.
"This is me owning up to what I did. This is me trying to make it right. This is me literally paying for my mistake." Kenzi stood taller.
"That ring is priceless. Just like Isabeau and her family. You will not buy your way back into this family. You lost that right when you stole what wasn't yours. She's not yours. They are not yours. Get out of here before I really think about the Queen and crush you like the peasant you are."
"Go, Kenzi." Stephen shook his head and waved his hand towards the car door that was open and waiting for her.
"Find some ice, hockey sticks and a puck. We are going to play our own game of hockey, right now." Aife seethed as she watched Kenzi's car pull off.
Bo
"Shit! What now?." Bo shook her head. The kids' eyes were a solid blue again. "Who's in trouble?." She asked as if they could answer her. She called Lauren and was surprised the doctor was walking into the house before she could say hello.
"Hey, what's going on?." Lauren asked into her phone.
"It's Aife. Her succubus is in control." Stephen explained.
"Pack the kids. We are going to see grandma." Lauren smiled. She knew it was bad but didn't need to worsen it around the girls.
"After we check on mom. We really need to talk to Kara and Dora. It is time for that." Bo spoke softly as they walked out of the house.
TBC