Play time in the castle is truly a sight. My children tend to enjoy a wide range of activities that more often than not includes their interpretation of the family. It's fascinating to see how each child portrays 's favorite seems to be mimicking me. I have to admit that he pulls it off nicely. He likes to take the eye patch from 'Mama Bunny," place it over his eye and order whichever one of his brothers happens to be 'S'bastain' as they say, to do his bidding. Sometimes I wonder if he really knows how close he's gotten. Rachel on the other hand, seems to find joy in showing me my more maternal side, though she does add her own spin to it. It's amazing what you learn about yourself from watching your little ones.

For the sake of their games, Sebastian and I created a 'prop box.'The little ones have named it the 'silly box'. He and I add some of our old things to it and allow them to use their imaginations. I've given a few of my hats and jackets along with my old walking stick and Sebastian's donated his butler uniform, which he made a smaller version of as well as several items from his own childhood. Everyone contributes and the children love it. Even Ann and my family offered an item or two, they enjoy seeing it all put to good use.

Once in a while, they pull a few of us into the game and today, it's Alois, myself and Sebastian's turn to play. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

The three of us rummage through the box and it doesn't take long before 'mommy' comes to help us.

"You are not ready to play with us." She states, turning to the box. "Do not worry, I will find you happy things." She promises, diving head first into the props. She soon disappears among the clothes and other items.

"Look mommy." She calls after a moment of searching, her head barely visible. "I am a Mommy box shark!" she informs us. Sebastian shakes his head in amusement. Neither of us have any idea where she gets these ideas from.

"Goodness, I've never heard of such a thing, it must be a new discovery." He says playing along with our daughter. I love that Sebastian takes the time to play with our children and that he really gets into the game.

"Oh yes, I am good at hiding, see?" She covers herself with my old brown jacket and giggles.

"You know what, I think we might have to find a boat and catch that box make us famous." Alois adds. Evian repositions his eyepatch and joins us, using his best 'grumpy' face.

"What are you on about over here?" He asks, tapping the cane on the floor. Sebastian feigns surprise.

"Ciel, I didn't think it was possible, dear one, but it seems that you've gotten even smaller." he teases, Evian giggles and removes the eye patch and hat.

"Silly Dad, it is me, Evian, your baby. Mama is right there beside you." Evian points to me and Rachel peeks out of her hiding place to laugh at her father. Sebastian turns to me.

"Ah, so he is. For a moment I was worried he may be shrinking. I don't know what I would've done, he's so small already. If he gets any shorter, it's going to be difficult to see him." I cross my arms in front of me as the children continue to laugh.

"You'd better behave yourself,"I warn.

"But dear one, I'm only-"

"Getting yourself in trouble, that's all. I know. I know how hard it is for you to resist."

"Darling, I wouldn't dream of-"

"Don't you 'Darling' me, Sebastian Michaelis, it'll get you nowhere."

"No, No. You should not be mean." Rachel scolds, shaking her finger at us.

"Now you've done it," Alois smirks. "Mummy box shark doesn't like arguing."

"Mommy and Daddy, I am a mommy box shark so you have to listen to me." She continues. "It is not nice to be mean. Mommy is not tiny, I am a tiny Rachel but Mommy is big." She shifts more of the props. "Oh, and it is your turn to wear the big floppy hat, Cousin Alois." She hands him the hat, which he takes and places on his head with a smile.

"Finally." He chuckles. He knows how happy it makes the children when they see how 'excited' he is to play dress up. He doesn't actually like the 'floppy hat'. He's really changed since bonding with Naveen and having children of his own has taught him patience and understanding, just as my little ones have taught me. It didn't take long for me to see that Sebastian was right about his cousin, Naveen is good for him. He's managed to give Alois the feeling of security and love that he'd been needing. It's made all the difference.

"How does it look?" he asks. Rowan tilts his head to the side and stares at him for a moment in silence as if he doesn't know what to say.

"Sister Rachel…" He says cautiously. "Are you sure it's a Cousin Alois hat, it's too floppy." Rachel narrows her eyes at her little brother.

"Yes. I am Mommy box shark, Mommies always know. He is happy to play with it, right Cousin Alois?"

"That's right." He confirms. He and I have been friends now for several years, looking after each other's children and such. But to this day he amazes me, so much in Alois has changed as I said, it began with Naveen and he continued to improve after Lenora and Cayden were born. He really turned his life around and I'm actually thankful to Sebastian for sending Naveen to meet him. I was beginning to feel sorry for Alois.

"What else do you want to play with?" Rachel asks.

"Let's see...how about the tea cup?" He answers. She grins showing off her little fangs.

"That is a happy idea. I will get the set, Mommy and Daddy can play too." Again she dives into the box and returns with the required items. She offers us each a cup.

"Wait, Mommy and Daddy cannot have tea without being dressed up. Do not worry, I am good at finding things."

Seconds later she reappears, offering me one of Lizzy's old hair ribbons and Madam Red's crimson hat. Sebastian receives one of my old top hats and Mey-Rin's old apron. I'm not the least bit happy about the pink ribbon, but the hat is big enough to cover it so I don't protest. Vincent laughs as we put on our costumes.

"You are all so silly, I like it lots!" He giggles. Rachel ignores her twin.

"Now, you have to pick names to play." She instructs.

"All right then, I'll be...Mrs. Nesbit." Alois announces, lifting his teacup into his hand.

"Mrs. Nesbit, really?' I shake my head.

"Yes, what's wrong with that?" He asks but I don't offer a reply.

"What are your names, Mommy and Daddy?"

"Hm. let's see now…" Sebastian thinks for a moment before answering. "I think I shall be...Ian Marsh, an undercover detective in search of information."

"Really Sebastian. You're wearing an apron and-"

"Well, I did mention, that I am undercover, dearest." He insists.

"Mommy, it is your turn now. Who do you want to be?"

"I'm not sure. I think you should choose."

"Rachel. You are a Rachel now, just like me!" Everyone she loves would be called Rachel if she had her way, her brothers included.

"But then who will be Mum?" Rowan asks. "Mum isn't a Rachel, he's Mum."

"Silly brother, we are only playing. Mommy is still mommy." Sebastian digs in the box, pulling out his father's pipe, until we were creating this little gift for the children, I had no idea my father in law smoked.I've still got a lot to learn, I suppose. He stood up, raising the pipe to his lips, standing before the fireplace.

"Well, this promises to be quite an evening. Tonight's cast appears to be made up of an interesting assortment. We have a box shark, a miniature Ciel, a smaller version of myself, a detective, a..Mrs. Nesbit. And a Rachel..what could we possibly be missing?"

"I know!" Vincent cries, jumping up excitedly. "Dad needs helpers, Brother Rowan, we can be helpers to solve the mystery."

"Hold on, You're all forgetting something." I tell them, readjusting my hat.

"What is it, Mommy?" Vincent asks, his head tilted in curiocity.

"We haven't decided on a mystery."

"Mama, I want to do the mystery of the missing chocolate, can we please?"

"Oh yes, that is a good mystery, I hope we will find it. Who will be the bad person that takes it?" Rachel asks.

"Well,perhaps we should see how it plays out, inspiration will present itself when the time is right."Sebastian answers. It may seem like just a game to them now, but Sebastian tells me that it will be useful to them later when they need to make their own contracts. Something I'm not at all happy about.

"Are you ready to play?"Vincent asked.

"Yes, Brother, we are all ready. I think we should all be on a big boat having tea together."Evian suggests, everyone agrees.. "First, Sister Rachel does not have a baby. She cannot be a mommy shark without a baby shark." He runs from the room. I can't help but wonder what he's up to, Angelina and Kathryn are asleep so he couldn't be bringing them into this.

A short time later, he returns to us and I can see he's brought one of Eve's kittens with him. Rachel's called this one Baby Rachel, or simply Baby. Her eyes light up instantly as she takes the cat, cradling it lovingly. All of my children have inherited a love of cats from their father, not that I've ever hated them myself. If not for my allergies, I may have allowed Sebastian to keep one or two during our contract. Not that I'll ever admit that to him. Naturally Sebastian has to greet Baby as well and a few moments later, our game begins.

Evian sits down as Vincent, who has taken the role of his father, stands up.

"It is tea time, everyone."He announces. "We are going to have snacks too. I will get the chocolate." he rushes to the prop box.

"Sister,"He whispers to Rachel. "Please find me a good chocolate box." Rachel gives a short nod and once again dives into the props. It's always amazed me, seeing how the children help each other so willingly.

Within seconds she pulls out an elegant tin box, handing it to her brother.

"Good job, sister." He grins, bringing it back to us. 'This candy is so yummy. I will share." He opens the box which is of course empty and pretends to be surprised.

"Oh no!"He cries. "My yummy chocolate is all gone, everyone will be so sad. Who took my candy?" He glances around. "I will have to call a 'tective." He rushes over to the 'telephone'

"Ring..ring.." he waits and before long Sebastian responds.

."Ian Marsh, world famous detective."Vincent and Rowan giggle.

"Hello, it is me. S'bastian. My chocolate is missing and my family will be so sad. Please come help us, we are having tea on a boat."

"Fear not, I shall be right there."they 'hang up' Vincent comes back to us.

"I am sorry, I cannot find the chocolate, do not worry, I called for help."Evian shakes his head.

"You are slipping S'bastian. You are very old,and sometimes you are up and find my chocolate or I will not be happy anymore." he crosses his arms. Vincent places the back of his hand on his forehead. I can't stop myself from smiling in amusement at my sons' portrayal of us. It's interesting to see how close they come, mixing the past and present

"Oh no!"He cried. "Do not be sad, I will do it. 'Tective Ian, you have to find them, hurry!"

"Of course. The first thing we must do is question the guests. Then we search for clues." The boys nod and move to stand next to me. They narrow their eyes suspiciously.

"What were you doing when the chocolate was taken , Mama, I mean Miss Rachel?" I shake my head.

"That depends on when it was actually taken." I reply. "For all any of us know, it could've been gone for weeks and you just found out today." Evian moves closer to me.

"If it is true, what will you say about this?" He turns, searching for something around us until he finally chooses his item." He gently places the toy rabbit on the table in front of me. Mama Bunny has been his favorite since the day Sebastian brought it home.

"I would say it looks suspiciously similar to my son's rabbit. But how did you get it, are you hiding him?" I counter playfully. Instantly his demeanor changed back into my little Evian as he lifts the eye patch to see me clearly.

"Silly Mama." He laughs. "It is me, your very first baby. I am Evian and I am only pretending." I pretend to be surprised by the reveal, earning a laugh from the other children as well. He slips the eye patch back over his eye, grinning as he continues to interrogate me.

"I am sorry Mama," he says "I know you were not happy when you were like this, but you are so silly and it is happy." I pull him into a hug.

"It's alright,Evian. You don't have to be exactly like me. In fact, I'd rather you weren't even during playtime. I don't like to see my little ones unhappy."

"Even if we are being a box shark?" Rachel asks.

"Even then. I'd hope you're a happy box shark, especially when you have such a big box to swim it."Rachel grins showing off her teeth. One of many signs of true happiness in demonlings.

"You are the happiest Mommy to have, I am so happy to be your Rachel baby!"

"I'm glad, because it makes me happy too." It takes another half hour to conclude that Alois was the thief and his punishment should be to be thrown to the box shark. It truly was amusing to see him climb into the box beside Rachel. She grinned up at him.

"Do not be afraid Cousin Alois, I am not a real box shark, it is just me, Rachel Ann M'chaelis. I will not bite you, I love you. She threw her arms around him. The children really do love Alois.

Not long after our game ends, Naveen arrives and chuckles at the sight of his mate sitting in a chest full of props and pretending to drink tea with a shark.

"My goodness, precious one, what sort of adventures have you been involved in today?" He asks. He walks over to the prop box and kisses the top of his head lightly. Alois shrugged.

"You know, stealing chocolate, being thrown off a ship, having tea with A box shark..usual things."he replies.

"I am the box shark!" Rachel announces proudly. Naveen kneels in front of her.

"The best one, I'd say." He pats her head, causing her to giggle. Naveen is one of only a handful of people I would ever allow to approach my children, I would trust both him and Alois with their lives as I have already entrusted Sebastian's to him in the past. In the years I've spent as a demon, I've never met a more loyal group than the one we call our guard, never hesitating to follow us into any and all situations. I'm truly grateful for them, my staff were also given such permission along with Cynna.

"Can Cousin Alois stay and play?"Rachel asks.

"Well, that's up to him, but one of us needs to get our babies home so we can get ready to see my mother."Alois rolls his eyes.

"That's today?"

"I'm afraid so, Precious.I know it's a chore and I won't put you through it if you're not up to it."Naveen promises.

"You know how I feel about that old dragon."

"I do. I could tell her you-"

"No. it wouldn't be fair to make you go by yourself with the little ones.I'll just have to deal with insults I suppose."Naveen lifts Alois out of the box.

"If she is mean to my Cousin Alois I will send puppy to bite her!"Rachel growled, crossing her arms.

"Then I will kick her face, just like Dad does to the red man."Vincent and Rowan say in unison.

"And I will yell at her." Evian promises. Alois smiles at the children.

"Thank you. You're all so kind."

"Because we love you lots, you do not have to feel sad anymore."Evian said, wrapping his arms around Alois, they're soon joined by the other children. "We will make you safe too."

"But won't you be afraid, if she's bigger than all of you?" He asks.

"Oh no. We are M'chaelis babies and we are not afraid of dragons, we are very, very brave babies. Mommy said so and Mommy always knows." Rachel replies confidently. It's true, time and again my children have surprised me with their courage and willingness to protect each other as well as our family. Sebastian and I simply couldn't be more proud of them,