What a cute story it was! It was heartwarming and it is not often that this particular problem is addressed in fiction. Zel and Amelia's journey as a couple wanting a child to a couple of adoptive parents was handled very well imo.
Thanks for sharing!

Finally I have some time to read this!
Poor Amelia, reading her dissing justice as a 'rotten thing', was that's something! But I do understand her frustration, as a royal she has to be the epitome of fairness to set the example, even though the situation and the people are obviously unjust.
It was a smart move to show her good side and wait for the parents to be exhausted by their own children (triplets sound like a nightmare, I had a hard time dealing with one infant, I can't imagine with three! Plus young twins). Gene's reluctance to let Benny go was also understandable, in similar circumstances who wouldn't act like him? I think you did great with the psychological aspect of things, on both sides actually.
"Kill someone with kindness", hahaha typical Amelia, and I'm glad it worked out for once!

Talk about a flimsy excuse for a hissy-fit when Gene doesn't know how hard Amelia and Zel work. His assumption might be right about Gracia, but certainly not about A/Z. Somebody had a major stick up his butt, and for a change it wasn't Zelgadis.

It's good to see Amelia have a winning strategy based on justice and compassion. Often times she metaphorically falls on her face because people don't act the way she assumes they would in the face of "justice," and Lina or Zel have to come to her aid.

Amelia just keeps hitting justice quandaries. They' re good for her. And keeps her from being one dimensional.

You resolved the problems the found family presented nicely and found the almost perfect villain's revenge-doing nasty good. Good thing Benny's aunt was so exhausted and financially concerned that she could be kinda hard-hearted about taking Benny in.

Hey, Zel, welcome to the world of most mothers with toddlers. When my daughter was a toddler and I'd drop her off to daycare, her little tear-streaked face would be plastered against the window as I drove away to work. The daycare people told me as soon as the car disappeared, she stopped and cheerful went to play with the other children. Manipulative guilt trip much?

Naga is a surprisingly good mother and friend. She may be crass, but she seems to look out for her little sister and sister's husband.

Hahaha, Zelgadis being bribed by Naga! I can relate, I'd be desperate for some quiet, too! Yes, grand principles about education can easily crumble when you actually have to put them into practice.
My favorite sentence so far: "What's really not just is that none told us it would suck" YES! It is so true, people are always emphasizing about how great having children is, and they conveniently omit the difficulties they have encountered, making young parents feel awful and incompetent when they do feel lost in parenthood. There is a backside to everything, parenthood included.
On another note, I really liked the conversation between Lina and Amelia about Zel's conduct. I love their friendship and the trust they have in each other. And despite her bluntness Lina's probably a breath of fresh air for Amelia who has to endure the court and its obsequiousness. Too bad Lina and Gourry are leaving just when things were taking a dark turn.
I can't wait to learn more about the suspicious relatives. Thanks for sharing such an interesting story!

This screams veracity!
Poor Amelia, so disillusioned, the arrival of a child in the family, be it adopted or not, is always like a tsunami, and settling in the new situation is easier said than done. As Lina stated 'it wrecks havoc with your life", new dynamics in the couple, new issues, new joys too! Moreover, I agree with you wholeheartedly, the terrible two often turn into the terrible three, and handling a boy this age must be so difficult! Tantrums, irrational fears, fruitless opposition...my daughter is 4 and barely got over it, so good luck Zel and Amelia! They didn't have the first two years to learn about their child and come up with appropriate stratagems, poor them.
This chapter presents a really interesting description of what parents can be confronted to: adopting (or giving birth) to a child is not all rainbows and roses, despite what the media say about maternity. The fear of not being able to bond properly is real, especially if your socially incompetent husbands manages to do it faster than you. You showed perfectly the frustration, doubts and jealousy it generates. I do like Lina's very pragmatic piece of advice about not dwelling on the past. She's getting wiser ;)

Ha, finally little Benny comes into the picture! It's nice to read how he was discovered, and how Zel and him managed to bond in the beginning, very cute. The bit where Zel makes the parallel between the child and himself when being Rezo's charge especially gave a nice insight into Zel's own childhood. Rezo was like a father figure to him after all.
And finally a ray of hope with this ending! Yes Zel, remember why you married Amelia in the first place and forget all those horrible people at the court! And good luck with the 3 yo, they're a handful at his age :)

Oh my, how annoying it must be to see such private matters evoked so crudely! No wonder Zel is so mad about it, I would be, too. It requires an entire life of training in diplomacy and following etiquette not to react very harshly after such a stunt. Countess Zora will regret it in some way or another I bet(or so I hope!). But what a bleak situation for Amelia! Everything is spiraling out of control, Zel's going back to his bitter and vengeful self, and even if sending her husband away for a bit seems like the only option to prevent him from going insane or murder said countess, it doesn't really solves anything.
The ending of the chapter was very sad, for both protagonists. Amelias' fear to lose her beloved was heartbreaking, like Zel's doubt about his ability to be a suitable husband for her.
So much drama! These two deserve some happiness now

Oh I'm really behind on this, so many chapters posted while I was away!
It's a real pleasure to read Zel and Amelia's side of the story (Slayers Expecting is a favorite of mine), their struggles are very touching and their changing feelings of hope, disappointment, anger, resignation and bitterness are very well rendered. Being royalty and dealing with the nasty comments of the court being the cherry on the cake, especially for the wild and broody Zelgadis...so many frustrations to deal with at a time!
His heart-to-heart with Gourry was heartwarming, despite his apparent denseness Gourry is good at speaking the right words of wisdom. Who knew it was even possible ;) I'm happy to see that their mutual honesty allowed them to keep their friendship intact.
Now let's hope that Zel and Amelia are on the right path to salvage their relationship!

You've done an excellent job of showing a side of Amelia other than the ever cheerful justice freak most consider her to be. Even children who haven't been traumatized definitely can be a challenge to sanity and a marriage, especially when they need so much attention in their infant and toddler stages.

Benny will help Amelia and Zel deal with the intrigue of the court indirectly by his being there to love and help grow, as Zel surmised, but there's always something where ambitions and resentments are active.

Anyway, looking forward to more of your endeavors in 2017. Merry Christmas!

Gracia is so...Naga, even though it was a good defense and accomplished what she wanted. The mouth is still dressed in Naga clothes, even if she's in princess garb. It does show she can sum up a situation and form a workable strategy, even if she did go overboard. Being subtle in diplomacy is not her thing, unlike Amelia.

I am wondering what that nasty Duke may cook up, although Zel's going away could give the royal family time to work diplomacy with him as well as the Countess Zora. You'd think more nastiness or sucking up would to Gracia, though, since she is the Crown Princess, not Amelia, and Gracia has produced more than one heir. Although not so close in iine for the throne anymore, Amelia does seem to have more governing skills and experience. The nasties in the court may want to lessen her influence so they can eventually influence the eventual Queen and her children?

I saw you corrected the nephew/grandson thing. I'm having fun switching back and forth from this and Slayers Expecting to see how they intertwine, like with the conversation between Amelia and Lina and Lina reading about babies.

King Phil knows Lina only too well. i hope she realizes he is also a good friend as well as king and employer.

Nice scene with Gourry and Zel. (The Gabriev's have a thing for first names beginning in "G," don't they?!) It seems Gourry is good about getting people to cry and unburden themselves. I see Zel appreciates his friends more than he used to when he was searching for a cure.

i went back and read Expecting. You tied it in very tightly with the Lina and Gourry arrival and conversations. There was just one small mistake. King Phil took his grandsons, not his nephews, for a slumber party with the other children.

Zel's jealousy must be so heavy that he thinks so disparagingly of Gourry's intelligence, since Gourry is the closest I think he has to a best male friend. He has worked with Gourry long enough that he should know Gourry is not an idiot when it comes to noticing feelings or sizing up situations. In fact, Gourry steered the conversation from Lina's pregnancy by asking about court life, even though he was glowing about their upcoming parenthood. In Expecting Gourry definitely remarked on and is concerned about Zel's attitude before Zel goes off on the diplomatic mission.