slumber party

"Half-blood Prince? Well, there's a title I didn't think I'd ever hear again." April said as she leaned over to give Jos and Shelly each a hug.

Jos jumped to attention. "But you've heard of the term?"

April furrowed her brows as she glanced between Shelly and Russ first before glancing over at Jaden nervously who was coming up behind her. "You two have never heard the term before either?"

Both adult wolf twins shook their heads. "We were raised away from the clans and this island, remember." Russ reminded her as he pulled out a chair for Jaden.

A frown marred Jaden's expression as she silently took the seat. Her eyes seemed to lock on the children even as she began to speak. "It's a very popular term in wolf clans, especially within the ruling class…" Her voice was very monotone, reflecting her distraction.

Picking up on it, April continued. "Yes, I believe the term you guys would be most familiar with would be bastard… but since it would be seen as an insult to the prince and the kings of the clan to refer to royal blood as such they would call the children of the kings and their mistresses half-bloods."

Jos furrowed her brows in confusion. "So, it was used to refer to any child that was not of the king and queen's blood?"

April and Jaden both nodded though Jaden's attention was still on the two small children playing with one another in the center of the table.

"And it's still a practice in clans today?"

April shrugged. "It was last we were part of our clan… I don't see things changing that dramatically in only 13 or so odd years."

"I see…" Jos rubbed her chin as her focus shifted to Shiori and Cam. "So… Perhaps Hecate's warning wasn't about Cam after all."

Arei gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure it wasn't. So let's just enjoy the party, alright?"

"What was the warning, anyways? If you don't mind me asking?" Shelly interjected.

Jos blew out as sigh. "It was this thing about how she would be cursed to hardship if she met the half-blood prince, but there was nothing that could be done cause once they met their paths would forever be entwined."

Shelly laughed. "Well, it's definitely not baby Cam. He's no prince and his not a half-blood if that's the definition of one."

April pressed a fingertip to her chin. "Well… that's not entirely true… He would still fall under that title. You're of royal blood who had a child outside of what would be considered a recognizable or approved clan marriage."

"Gah! So, we're back exactly to where we started! This was no help…" Jos whaled as she let her head bounce against the tabletop. Moments later warmth spread through her as a tiny hand cupped the back of her head.

"Well… isn't that something…" Everyone except Poseidon watched in stunned disbelief as the air shifted around Jos and Shiori and the shimmer of magic radiated from the child's tiny palm. Arei moved to stop him, but Poseidon caught him instead. "Not to worry son, it's healing magic. She must think Jos hurt herself. Watch."

Jos smiled as she lifted her head. She scooped the tiny child into her arms, noting the flicker of the small gold-tipped fox ears that were now more noticeable on her head. She stroked her hand gently over Shiori's head. "Thank you, Shiori… but you really must be careful doing this around other people. Some may not take well to your cute little ears."

Cam flicked his wrist to produce a tiny spark of magic as well then quickly felt the top of his head. Disappointment reflected on his adorable face when he realized he didn't have ears. He placed both hands on his head and cried out ears, and before Shelly or Rin could stop him had his own set of fox ears. Pleased with himself, he crawled across the table to Jos and Shiori. He reached out to feel her ears before moving his attention back to his and changing them once again. Once happy, a bright smile curved his lips. He took Shiori's hand and brought it to his new ears. "Ears too!"

Poseidon chuckled. "Well, one thing is for sure. She'll never have to worry about anyone at this table not taking well to them… or any other part of her for that matter."

April grinned widely. "Agreed… "I'd say it's nothing short of love at first sight!"

As the party was coming to an end Shelly stood the give Jos one last good night hug but instead caught her midsection. "Oh no…"

"What's wrong" Rin had no sooner gotten turned around and gotten his arms wrapped around his pregnant wife when the answer began to soak through his cloth shoes. His eyes widened as he looked at her and then down at the puddle of water surrounding them. "Your water… it…"

"It did…"

Arei began taking steps back as he shook his head. "Nope not this time. That shit never ends it just keeps coming… and with twin this time… it's going to be like busting a goddamn dam!" He held his arms out and flapped his fingers. "Here give us Cam. He can crash with Auntie and Uncle tonight… and the new love of his tiny little life." Cam and Shiori had refused to leave each other's sides the entire night, even falling asleep holding hands, in fact, Cam still sported his fox ears, but the magic had begun to fade and so were they.

"Thanks, guys," Rin called out as he scooped Shelly into his arm. In the blink of an eye, he was gone but back just as quickly.

Jos giggled as she handed him Shelly's handbag. "You also need to stop by the house at some point and get her hospital bag… or we can ride it up to you guys in the morning."

"In the morning will be fine," Shelly said.

"Or we'll just get mom to bring it," Rin added.

Jos sent them a warm smile before throwing herself at them in an awkward hug. "Take care. Text us the updates!"

"We will!" With that, they had vanished again.

Poseidon chuckled. "Here, let me give you guys a hand."

Jos's heart nearly stopped as she walked into one of the spare rooms of their home. "You did all this? While we were at the Embassy?"

Poseidon nodded. "This and a few other things… You have three spare rooms. I left one as a guest room. This room is the nursery being that it is closest to your bedroom, and the one downstairs will be the playroom for now until she grows out of it of course. Shelly and I have updated the spaces at the galleries as well as the nurseries at the palace…" His attention moved to the bundle of snuggled babies in his arms. "Though I may have gone a bit overboard with the space I thought would be required. It looks like these two will not be requiring a lot of space after all…"

Jos sighed. "Yes… and I'm still deciding whether that's a good thing or not…"

"This Hecate rubbish still? Knowing her, she was probably just fucking with you. She loves spouting off useless prophecies just to stir the shit pot. She feeds chaos. Don't think too much into it, alright?"

Jos nodded but still felt uneasy. "Alright…"

Poseidon ruffled her hair like he would a child. "That-a-girl. Now you two go up wash up and get comfortable, and ol grandpa here will get these two settled in."

When Jos seemed to be about to hesitate Arei scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. "Sounds amazing, dad. Thanks. We'll be back in a little bit."

"Take your time, no rush."