Chapter 16

Zreti couldn’t believe that PiTa was still around and after Blaidd.  “And she had the gall to leave the protection of her house and face us,” she was saying to anybody who’d listen after Pita had left.  

Kunzite placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, “I know, but you really should calm down.”

Zreti sighed.  “I pity the child inside of her,” she said, “that it will have to grow up with Pita as her mother.”

“She’s probably saying the same thing about you,” Arian said as she walked up to her daughter, “if she even realized it.”  Arian placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder and looked her in the eye, “now go inside.  It’s too cold for you to be outside.”

“But-” Zreti protested as Kunzite and Arian both pushed her towards the door.

“No buts.  We both know you shouldn’t be out here.  Didn’t your first pregnancy teach you anything?”

Zreti grumbled and complained about being treated too softly the entire way.
“Wait,” Ryn said after a moment, “Zreti’s pregnant?”

“Only a few months, but yes,” Ignis said as he walked to where Ryn was.  “Maybe a few more kids will help tame her.”

“You knew this whole time?” Cariad inquired of Ignis.

“Yeah, but I guarantee she didn’t want anybody to know,” he said.  “She’ll probably disappear once it becomes painfully obvious, then reappear once they’re born.”

“They?” Blaidd asked, “As in more than one?”

“Most likely,” Ignis shrugged.  “Twins run in the family, and Drwg did say sons instead of son when he threatened her.  Or did y’all not catch that?”

“I was unconscious.” Cariad stated, though she and her mother had been filled in later.

“I missed it,” Ryn admitted, “but how would Drwg know?”

“I have no idea,” Ignis said, “but mom once told me that Drwg had told her she was going to have a son and a daughter before she even knew she was pregnant with us.  So I’m inclined to believe him.”


“Why’d you have to say that mom?” Zreti complained once the three of them were settled on a couch inside, away from the door where everyone was slowly trailing in.  “They didn’t need to know.”

“They would have found out anyway,” she said simply.

“No,” Zreti countered, “I could have disappeared for a while then…”

“Then shown up without kids every so often?” Kunzite called her out.  “No, they’re my kids too.  I won’t have them being kept a secret.”

“And people would wonder why you suddenly disappeared,” Arian added, “and I would have told them the truth.”

“It was going to be a surprise.” She grumped.

“Yes, but a surprise once they started school” Arian said.  “All three of us know you would have kept it a secret for as long as possible.”  She looked her daughter square in the eye.

Zreti matched her mother’s stare for a few seconds.  “Fine.” She said as she looked out the window.

“You’ll be glad we did this,” Arian said with the tone she gets when she gets a glimpse of the future.  “You’ll be glad you’re secret wasn’t kept from everybody when your sons get older.”

“And exactly what is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll see,” Arian said as she got up to leave, “you’ll see.”