"It worked this time," Shawnda announced as soon as her parents had greeted her.

"You're sure?" Dave questioned before Jazz could say anything.

"Positive," Shawnda said. "He healed just as fast as we always do when we're hurt. He did a shallow cut on his finger the first time and it healed in less than 10 seconds and a deeper cut the next time on the back of his hand and it healed just as fast."

"This is excellent," Jazz said smiling hugely really pleased that the blood worked so well.

"Yes, it is. Congratulations to the pair of you," Dave said relieved that another dose of blood had worked so well.

"At least now you'll be able to pass that information onto your daughters whenever they meet their mates," Spencer said.

"That probably won't happen for awhile," Jazz said. "Still, it's very useful information."

"Definitely," Dave agreed, as he put an arm around Jazz's shoulder. It was an affectionate gesture.

"Make sure you inform your godparents of your success," Jazz told Shawnda and Spencer. "They've been worried. The only reason Shonda hasn't been bothering you is we've kept them informed."

"I know mom. I told Spencer that just that before we came over and don't worry I will tell them," Shawnda promised. "It's not something we need to keep to ourselves as it's something that Uncle Aaron and Aunt Shonda need to know when their own daughters find their mates.

"I think a celebratory dinner is in order," Jazz added.

"Shawnda said you would probably want to make dinner because of our success," Spencer snorted in amusement.

"Of course we do. This is a huge thing for us," Dave told Spencer. "Not only are you now immortal it gives us a guideline of how to transform other mortal males when necessary. If that doesn't deserve to be celebrated I don't know what does."

"It's not that I'm amused about sir, it's because your daughter knows you so well she told me in advance that there would be a celebratory dinner," Spencer explained his thoughts. "Most children don't know their parents well enough to predict how they're going to react. That just shows me that you are closer than most parents are to their children."

"Yes, we do have a good relationship with all our children," Dave agreed smiling.

"We never try to force one of our children to go into a certain career and let them just develop their own personality and interests," Jazz added. "So many parents try to force their children to go into the same profession that it's ridiculous. Like if they are a doctor they want their child to also be a doctor.

"I totally agree with that," Spencer said. "My father wanted me to be a lawyer, even though he seemed to hate my very existence so it should be no wonder it's not a profession I considered for myself. Who knows I might take it up one of these days sometime far in the future since I'm immortal now."

"We'll worry about that later," Shawnda said. "I better contact my godparents and tell them the good news."

"You do that honey and your mother and I will get started on dinner," Dave said.

"So what would you like for dinner Spencer. It's your choice," Jazz asked.

"I eat about anything. I'm not a picky eater like so many people," Spencer said, "but lasagna is good I haven't had that in a long time."

"What vegetable do you want to go with it?" Jazz asked.

"Anything is good except asparagus or broccoli," Spencer answered.

"Well, you really will eat about anything," Dave said.

"Yes, sir, I will," Spencer answered honestly.

"I thought I told you to call me Dave," Dave told Spencer.

"You did, because I remember you saying it," Shawnda said.

"Sorry, I'll try not to do it anymore," Spencer offered apologetically.

"There's no need to apologize for being polite, but we're family now and there's no reason to be so formal," Dave said. "We don't stand on ceremony in this family unless we really don't like someone."

"I won't say that hasn't happened a few times, but we get along with most people," Shawnda said.

"True," Jazz said. "There's no reason not to get along with most people."

"So what makes you not get along with someone?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Mostly its where somebody sticks their nose in where it doesn't belong," Dave said.

"There was this reporter once that thought she'd seen something unusual where it concerned us and was determined to prove it," Jazz continued.

"She started stalking us," Dave explained, "and we finally had to threaten to sue to get her to leave us alone. We could easily have taken her for everything she had."

"We were rich and powerful. If we'd said a word in the right ear she could've been fired and unable to find another job at least as a reporter or even in the news business," Jazz added.

"We basically could have ruined her life if we cared too so she finally did the smart thing and backed off," Dave said.

"We don't like to do that," Jazz told Spencer seriously, "but she was poking her nose into things that were none of her business. She was letting her curiosity poke at a hornets nest."

"We could've done much worse you know. We could've killed her instead," Dave added. "We all know how to kill someone and not get caught if necessary, though we'd rather not."

"I understand," Spencer said it was clear he did. He knew the way the world worked. "If you poke the bear you're going to get clawed and probably die. Rich people can get away with things that more ordinary people can't simply because they have money."

"We try not to do the wrong thing," Shawnda said, "but sometimes it's necessary. I know a lot of rich people use that money to commit crimes and are never caught just because they are clever or because they bribe someone."

"Or they make their money through criminal activity," Spencer added.

"There's a lot of truth in that," Dave said agreed appreciating Spencer's intelligence.

"So I need to start cooking," Jazz said, "if I want everything ready for dinner. I believe, I have all the ingredients on hand, but I need to check. I might need to go to the store."

"I'll help you honey," Dave offered. "It'll take less time if we both do it."

"It's appreciated," Jazz said giving him a kiss of thanks.

"We'll leave you to it," Shawnda said.

"Be back at 6:30," Jazz told the pair. "Everything should be ready by then."

"I'll contact Aaron and Shonda and tell them to be here by 6:30 for dinner," Dave added. "Make sure you tell them the good news within the next hour sweetie."

"I'll call them right now," Shawnda promised.

Dave nodded and watched as his daughter and her intended headed out the front door before heading to follow his wife into the kitchen. It was quite the relief that Spencer was now immortal and he knew that Jazz felt the same. They both loved their daughter and Spencer was her mate, which meant Shawnda would be very unhappy without him so Dave was glad that the process had worked so well. Spencer had accepted their rather fantastic story with not the disbelief he would have expected but with quiet acceptance. He suspected that Jazz's eclairs had a lot to do with that and probably the fact that Spencer loved his daughter helped.

~~~Shawnda and Spencer~~~

"Welcome to the family Spencer," Shonda greeted him as soon as he and Shawnda had arrived at the Rossi home. She gave him a hug, which Spencer accepted smiling.

"Thank you I'm glad to be here," Spencer said shaking Aaron's hand.

"It's always a great day when an immortal meets their mate," Aaron tried to explain. "It happens so rarely..."

"There are a few more immortals out there," Shonda added. "Aaron and I have met a few over the decades."

"No more than 10 or so," Aaron agreed. "I'm sure they're are more out there that were changed we just haven't met them yet."

"It's not like there's anyway to keep track of other immortals unless you know one personally," Shawnda said.

"That is so true," Shonda agreed giving her goddaughter a hug as well. "Still, there are a lot more immortals in the world thanks to Aaron and me having children and also Dave and Jazz, even if they are related to each other."
"They are probably more out there all the related to one family or another," Spencer said, "I'm sure other immortals have met their mates over the years and had children."
"Likely true," Aaron admitted appreciating Spencer's intelligence just as Dave did. "We live quietly for a reason which means we don't normally make waves."

"Dinners ready folks," Dave announced coming into the living room where everybody was.

"Good, because I'm starving," Shawnda said.

"So am I. The smells circulating certainly smell fantastic," Spencer added sniffing the air appreciatively.

"Yes, they do," Aaron agreed, as everyone headed into the dining room. "I've been eating a lot better ever since Shonda and me mated. I won't say I didn't eat well before, but most restaurants can't compare to a home cooked meal and Jazz is one of the best cooks I know."

"Especially of desserts," Dave agreed, with a grin "and she is a great cook of regular food as well."

"So are to dad," Shawnda said loyally.

"You are," Shonda said. "I've tasted enough of your cooking to know that you're just as good as Jazz, with the exception of desserts. There Jazz has you beat."

"She does," Dave chuckled not insulted. "Thank you for the compliment Shonda, but I learned how to take care of myself long before I met Jazz, which included learning how to cook. It just happened I had a talent for it. Some people simply don't."

"I have no idea if I can actually learn to cook other than simple things like a sandwich," Spencer said.

"I'll teach you some time," Shawnda said. "You might have a talent for it for all you know."

"With your scientific mind it should be easy to learn the basics," Dave told him.

"Plus, with your memory you'll never forget what you are taught, which is a great advantage," Aaron said.

"We'll worry about that later," Shawnda said. "Right now, let's go enjoy the lasagna mom and dad made, because it's one of Spencer's favorites."

"I love lasagna," Shonda said.

"Who doesn't?" Aaron told his mate affectionately.

"No one, so long as it's made right. Jazz has worked out her own recipe, so it's better then any I've eaten in restaurants," Dave said.

"Your wife has quite a talent in the kitchen," Spencer complimented Dave.

"Yes, she does," Dave preened just a little at the sincere compliment Spencer had paid him.

~~~Shawnda and Spencer~~~

"No, I don't know how to dance," Spencer said shaking his head negatively. The dinner last week had been fun as the five of them simply chatted to each other as they ate the lasagna Dave and Jazz had fixed. They been joined by Aidan, Shawnda's little brother who was only four as well as the Rossis other two children whom he hadn't met before last night. Aiden had taken to Spencer immediately and had sat on his lap after dinner and fallen asleep with his head pillowed on his chest. When Spencer asked why he hadn't met the rest of the family before Jazz had explained that Dave and her should've been too old to have children at this stage in their lives and for Shawnda to have a little brother who was only four years old should have been impossible. Once Spencer knew about immortality however, the younger children could join them for dinner. Once it had been explained Spencer understood why he hadn't been introduced to the current crop of Rossis.

It was Jazz that had asked him that question. The two of them were sitting in the kitchen while everybody else was elsewhere.

"Well, you need to learn to dance for your wedding if nothing else," Jazz informed him. "You might not use the skill much after that, but you'll always remember what you learned, because of your eidetic memory."

Spencer made a face. "It's not a skill my mother had time to teach me and I've always been so clumsy I just never bothered to take lessons. Besides, I've been busy with my veterinary practice."

"That's no excuse not to learn at least a few basic dances for your wedding if nothing else," Jazz informed him. "There is the bride and groom's first dance for example. You and Shawnda will be on the dance floor all alone until the song is over. There's also the dancing after that, though I suppose you don't have to dance after that one time, though most brides and grooms dance quite a bit at their own weddings, even if they don't after that."

"I suppose that I'm gonna have to learn how to dance then," Spencer said not looking enthusiastic about the idea. In fact, he looked rather resigned to his fate.

"I'll have Shonda teach you, because I'm simply too busy to give you lessons myself," Jazz said. "Between my bakery and helping to plan my daughter's wedding I have my hands full. On the other hand, I like keeping busy, because being immortal isn't exactly an easy road."

"Boredom is one thing about living your life endlessly," Spencer said in understanding.

"Oh, absolutely," Jazz agreed. "We can be killed by the way, but there's only a few ways to where we die permanently and not just temporarily."

"I had figured as much," Spencer said. "I figured you called yourself immortals, because you do live forever, unless you lose your head for example, as I can't see you recovering from such an event."

"Well, with all the information you been given I'm surprised you figured that out so soon," Jazz said impressed.

"I've had a lot of time to think," Spencer said simply, "and Shawnda and I have talked a lot."

"Of course you have, as your mates after all and you still have a lot to learn about each other," Jazz said.

"It's still hard for me to believe such thing as immortals exist, not to mention magic," Spencer said.

"I don't blame you for that," Jazz said. "I had trouble believing in immortality as well, but Dave proved it to me. Also, I grew up with magic so while I had trouble believing in immortality I also knew that there were forces in the universe that could defy logic and science. Most people have no idea that these forces exist, which is probably a good thing, because we both know what happens to those that are different."

"You'd be killed off," Spencer said and Jazz nodded.

"That's a likely possibility, as we are a minority group and immortals especially fall into that category," Jazz conceded. "Someone could also experiment on us, try to get our immortality for themselves. I doubt there are more than a few thousand immortals out there, but then they're good at acting normal, because we are basically human after all."

"You try not to draw attention to yourselves," Spencer said.

"We do try, but that doesn't mean that occasionally we don't," Jazz agreed. "I have no doubt there would be riots and they would probably never actually kill immortals they'd end killing ordinary folks instead. Anybody who is actually immortal would stay out of it and move as far away from the violence as they could so they wouldn't get caught up in it. So about those dance lessons."

"I was hoping you had forgotten," Spencer admitted. "I suppose I should learn so I can dance with Shawnda at our wedding. I doubt I'll ever be graceful though, as I'm just too clumsy to be, but so long as I don't trip over my own feet I'll be satisfied."

"I'll contact Shonda then and ask her to give you some lessons," Jazz said. "I'll give her your number if that's OK with you."

"Why don't you just have her contact Shawnda? She has my number and we're nearly always together anyway unless I'm working," Spencer suggested.

"Not a bad suggestion," Jazz admitted.

~~~Shawnda and Spencer~~~

"I'm pregnant," Shawnda told Spencer.

The two of them were relaxing on Shawnda's very comfortable sofa when she dropped the bomb.

"You are?" Spencer blinked in astonishment.

"I am," Shawnda confirmed.

"But we aren't married yet," Spencer said.

"Do you think that really matters in this day and age?" Shawnda asked Spencer seriously.

"Oh no, that's not what I meant," Spencer said as he realized he had dug himself into a hole. "I just meant that I didn't realize you would get pregnant so easily, because when I was mortal I never managed it."

"That's because you were mortal Spence," Shawnda told him. "Remember what I told you about the possibility of me getting pregnant once you were also immortal.

"In hindsight, I should've started using condoms whenever we made love once I was immortal," Spencer said.

"I didn't think to mention it," Shawnda admitted. "It never even occurred to me, even if we had talked about the possibility. Are you really not happy about this baby, just because we won't be married for a few weeks."

"Of course not," Spencer said his expression outraged. "I was just surprised that's all. I don't want others to look down on you just because you got pregnant before the wedding."

"I don't care what others think Spence. I've told you that before," Shawnda told him firmly. "Except for my family and they will be happy for us. They're the only ones that matter. They'll be ecstatic at getting a first grandchild a little earlier than planned. It's not like it hasn't happened before in our family as Uncle Aaron got Aunt Shonda pregnant before they were married many centuries ago. Some people in Moonlight Gorge tried to claim that the only reason Uncle Aaron was marrying my aunt was because he got her pregnant but those people didn't know squat. There was one guy in particular named Rick Pryde. He was on the town council and as crooked as could be. Jazz's mother didn't have any evidence in order to get rid of him so he was on the council for more than a dozen years. I never did like him and mom will tell you the same if you bothered to ask her."

Spencer wasn't so sure Shawnda's family would accept the pregnancy and not be disappointed in the two of them for getting pregnant ahead of the wedding but he said nothing. If Shawnda's story was anything to go by some people hadn't accepted that her godmother had gotten pregnant before the wedding, though that was centuries ago Shonda had set the precedent for before marriage pregnancies.

"They'll be very happy for us trust me on that," Shawnda told Spencer seeing his doubt. She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand in affection.

"If you say so," Spencer said uncertainly. "In my experience parents can be unreasonable when their child gets pregnant without being married first."

"A lot of parents can be," Shawnda admitted, "but not mine and not my aunt and uncle either. They have different priorities then most parents. Remember what I just told you about my Aunt Shonda getting pregnant before marriage so they can't exactly be disappointed that we did the same considering that the same thing happened to them to. So do you want a boy or a girl."

"I don't really care either way," Spencer said. "If it's a girl though I'd like to name her after my mother."

"So what was your mother's name," Shawnda asked. "You never have said."

"Diana," Spencer answered. "Her name was Diana Connors before she married my father.

"Diana is a very nice name Spencer and it's also classical, so I shall have no problem naming the first little girl after your mother. So any ideas for a boys name if we happen to have one instead of a girl?" Shawnda asked.

"I've always liked Lucca," Spencer answered. "It is Italian in origin and means person from Lucania."

"That's really pretty," Shawnda said. "Any other suggestions?"

"Well, Isaac is good. It's old-fashioned enough that it isn't used much anymore," Spencer answered. "I can suggest at least 100 names right off the top of my head, but we can worry about that later once we know the sex of the child."

"Wise," Shawnda agreed finally. "You're right, we don't even know the sex yet, though I will agree to name the baby Diana if it happens to be a girl, but other than that, we have plenty of time to discuss names."

"Good," Spencer said very pleased. "Oh, by the way, never suggest William as a name for a son and in fact don't bring up the name at all if you can help it."

Shawnda was about to ask why and then it clicked that was likely his father's name, which was why Spencer naturally hated it.

"That's your father's name," Shawnda said with certainty.

"It is," Spencer said not surprised that his fiancée had figured it out and she was very intelligent like both her parents. "That man doesn't deserve to be honored by us naming a child after him, even if I know it's a perfectly common name just like David or Aaron for that matter."

"There are plenty of gorgeous names in the world for both sexes so that's gonna be no problem," Shawnda said. "We'll be having plenty of children over the centuries just so you know."

"I won't mind that at all," Spencer said kissing his fiancée gently. "It sounds like an adventure. I'll promise to be a better father than my own was."

"I have faith in you," Shawnda said. "From what little I know of William Reid you're nothing like him and that's a good thing. I think you're more like your mother then your father, because it's clear that you care about people and it doesn't sound like he does, not even his own son."

"You have no idea how right you are," Spencer said before effectively distracting her by kissing her again.

~~~Shawnda and Spencer~~~

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