Yzak's cousin stood before the couple, gushing, "Oh, thank you so much, Yzak!"

Shiho was struck by the glaring similarity the woman had to her husband, the stark straight, silver hair and pale skin, and suppressed a shiver. At her side, her husband grunted in reply, clearly displeased, and Shiho bumped him in the arm at his rudeness. Yzak merely rolled his eyes, and Shiho reluctantly relented because it was clear his cousin was hardly even interested in what they had to say, her cellphone held to her ear and a voice rapidly spitting out admonishments.

"Yes, yes, I know! The director made it perfectly clear that the quarter statements must be on his desk by six! Six! Not six oh five, not six oh two, six on the clock! Get it done!" Yzak's cousin screamed into her phone. She slammed the phone shut and gripped it tightly in her hand.

"Er, everything alright, Cera?" Shiho squeaked.

"Oh, yes!" A bright smile appeared on the woman's face, a stark transformation from the infuriated woman she had been mere moments before. "Everything's going so well! Especially since you and Yzak agreed to take on the kids!" She threw her arms around Shiho and hugged her forcefully. Taken by surprise, Shiho could only pat her cousin-in-law on the back awkwardly, throwing Yzak a look for help. He only smirked and made no move to assist her.

"Oh, I don't know what I would've done without you two!" Cera continued speaking. "Nona, my usual babysitter when I have to leave on a business trip is terribly sick with some flu—she's half Natural, you know? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but oh, they get sick so easily and I probably shouldn't have her near the kids but she's such a darling that I can't help myself! And Mom's gone on her vacation with her new husband—it's her third, did you know? I mean, none of them compare to my Daddy of course, but Mom's still hung up on him and his mistress way back when and oh goodness, it's almost two! I'm going to miss my flight! Marciel! Marciel! Oh, where is that girl? So much for a helpful assistant! She's always missing whenever I need her!"

"Is your whole family usually this eccentric?" Shiho muttered out the side of her mouth as Cera frantically ran around the foyer, poking her head out the windows trying to find her missing assistant.

"Generally. That's why I tend to avoid them. And why I didn't want to watch her children for the entire weekend." Yzak threw her a forceful glare which she only giggled at. She grabbed his hand and pecked him on the cheek.

"C'mon, it'll be fun."

"Fun? Are you seeing the same raving madwoman as I am? How can her children be any better?"

"Oh, there she is!" Cera piped up, rushing to the front door and pulling it open.

Yzak and Shiho leaned forward in anticipation. Right outside the door stood a young woman, arms full of bags and suitcases, three small children hiding behind her skirts.

"Oh, come in, come in, my little dears!" Cera cooed. Three heads popped out from behind Marciel, large purple eyes wide in fear and anxiety, and blinked slowly at Yzak and Shiho.

Marciel stepped forward, and the three children followed mutely behind, hands grasping her skirt tightly.

"Put those down, Marciel! We've got a flight to catch!"

"Yes, Ms. Cera," Marciel replied obediently, gently putting their luggage down. She pried the children from her skirts and shoved them forward.

"There's three of them?" Yzak mumbled unbelievingly.

"Yes, didn't I tell you?" Shiho answered, cooing at kids before her. She knelt down and waved at the stoic children, offering a friendly smile.

"No, you didn't," Yzak grumbled as Cera rushed Marciel out the door.

"Thanks again, Yzak! I'll be back in a few days!"

The slamming of the front door jolted Yzak out of his angry tirade, and he turned sullenly to the children in his foyer. They were triplets, probably around six years old, three little demons with the same silver hair Yzak inherited from his mother, and the dark purple eyes of their mom. Cera was his first cousin on his mother's side; apparently silver hair was a distinctive feature in Ezaria's family. Yzak's father himself actually had very light blonde hair.

A butler came to take their bags to a room Shiho had prepared for the kids, and Yzak frowned as he watched his wife quickly befriended the children.

"Aw, aren't you three cute?" she gushed, fingering a strand of the silver hair on the girl closest to her.

The girl blinked her sizeable eyes, and stated, "You have the same color eyes as us."

Shiho tilted her head, still kneeling before the kids. "So I do." She smiled. "What's your name?"

"Yumi," she answered, clearly the leader of the trio. She pointed to her sister, "This is Aria," and then her brother, "and he's Jiro."

"You can call me Aunt Shiho," his wife answered, then pointed to him, "and that's Uncle Yzak."

Three pairs of eyes turned to him then, and Yzak could've sworn Jiro narrowed his eyes at him.

"I'm going to my office," he spoke harshly, not looking at his new wards. "The chairwoman's sent me a proposal I need to look over. Get them settled."

"Okay," Shiho answered, not turning around as he left. She reached out both hands to the girls, and they eyed her cautiously. Shiho gave them another bright smile, motioned with her hands to get their attention again, and gave a small, satisfied laugh when they each slipped a small hand into hers. Catching Jiro's eye, Shiho motioned with her head for him to follow her as she lead them to their room.

A loud crash reverberated in the hallway, and Yzak nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around swiftly to see that an 18th century vase from Italy has fallen off its pedestal and rested in several broken pieces scattered around the floor.

Furious, he scanned the area for the perpetrator. To no surprise, a silver-haired head quickly ducked behind a small sofa situated in the hallway. Yzak stormed over and plucked the child up from behind the sofa, ready to start berating the irresponsible child for ruining a family heirloom. Before he could even speak a word, a voice cut him off.

"Put him down, Yzak!" Shiho chided him.

Yzak dropped the boy—Jimo? Jiko?—and swiveled to face his wife, fury radiating off his body. He was about to protest, saying the boy should have ample punishment, when he saw the look on her face. She was livid, apparently at him, hands planted on her hips.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, a warning in her tone.

"I was about to discipline one of those brats for breaking the vase!" he retorted.

Shiho sighed, impatient. "Jiro was just playing hide-and-go-seek with the girls. I'm sure he didn't mean to break the vase, right, Jiro?"

The boy had managed to scramble his way over to Yzak's wife, hiding behind her legs and peering at Yzak with large, doe eyes. He nodded.

"See?" Shiho asked. "He didn't do it on purpose. I'll get someone to clean it up."

"I don't care if he did it on purpose," Yzak started to protest. "He—"

Shiho shut him up with a sharp look. She guided the small boy out of the hallway, glaring daggers at her husband.

Yzak narrowed his eyes.

Yzak settled himself down into his favorite plush chair in his bedroom with a sigh, reaching for his wineglass. He had just returned from an impromptu council meeting that had lasted several hours, and had finally returned home. Taking a sip of wine, he reached for a folder of documents he had yet to look over. While it wasn't his ideal form of relaxation, there was much work he still needed to accomplish.

He opened the folder, and promptly dropped his glass, wine spilling onto the floor and staining the carpet a dark shade of red.

"Shiho!" he bellowed.

When his wife finally burst through their bedroom door, haggard from chasing three children around the house all day, she huffed and announced sharply, "What?!"

Yzak threw the folder of documents onto the floor, picked up his spilled glass and slammed it down on the dresser.

"Oh," said Shiho upon noticing the large pink and blue doodles marring the official documents scattered over her bedroom floor. She bent down to retrieve them, admiring the childish pictures that were drawn on every page.

She laughed. "Look at this one!" she spoke into the tense air. "I think it's us. There I am with my long hair, and there you are with your angry eyes and scowl. Aria must've done these, she loves to draw. How cute!"

"Shiho!" Yzak hollered, turning around to grab the documents from her hand. "They are not cute! I cannot turn these in to the council with scribbles all over them!"

"They are not scribbles, Yzak, they are drawings from a six-year-old girl," admonished Shiho, snatching the papers back from her husband. "And they're adorable."

Throwing his hands up in despair, Yzak asked, "When did she even get in my office? I always keep that door locked."

Flipping through the papers, Shiho answered nonchalantly, "Oh, I brought her in with me when I was looking for a photo album. She must've brought her markers along and saw the papers on your desk."

"You were looking for a photo album?! Of all the stupid—"

"Yzak! It's not that big of a deal. Just call your assistant for copies. Geesh, you're such a baby. I already have three kids to look after, I don't need another one," she said crossly, walking out of their bedroom and slamming the door after her.

Yzak grit his teeth.

"You'll have it all prepared by then?"

"Of course," Yzak snapped. "Unlike you, I actually care about my work. It's halfway finished anyway."

Deakka smirked, used to his friend's condescending tone, and continued his way to the foyer. Stepping underneath the glow of the high chandelier, the two men reached for their jackets, intending to head out into the evening cold.

"Your car is outside, sir," a butler informed Yzak. The silver-haired man grunted in reply and turned to his friend.

"Kazner's meeting us at the restaurant. The prick wanted to show off for the ambassador, so we're going to Hollander's for dinner."

Deakka gave a small laugh. "I always feel as if the man's trying to compensate for something."

"Probably," Yzak agreed, opening the front door and ushering Deakka through. As they made their way down to the waiting car, Deakka turned his head and spoke, "Get a new landscaper recently?"

"What?"

The blonde pointed to the bushes lining the driveway. Or rather, the remnants of flower bushes, petals strewn all over the ground, leaves scattered over the pavement. The uneven edges of the bushes waved in the chill evening air, casting jagged shadows to creep across the walkway.

"What the hell?!" Yzak screamed, making his way over to the ruined shrubbery. He groaned, and spat through grinding teeth, "Yumi."

"Who?"

"That brat of a niece we're keeping this weekend."

Deakka paused, shocked. "Whoa, you're babysitting?! Someone left their child in your care? Who would be stupid enough to do that?"

Whirling, Yzak sent him a death glare. "Shiho is babysitting. And there's three of them."

As his friend fell in an uncontrollable fit of laughter, Yzak sighed. Grabbing the front of Deakka's jacket, he pulled the blonde toward their vehicle. Shiho had mentioned that Yumi loved flowers and took to arranging them as a hobby, but he never would have guessed she'd destroy their front walkway with the discarded shears he found near a bush.

He clenched his fists.

Shiho ambled to where Yzak laid stretched out on a sofa, leisurely flipping through a magazine.

"How was dinner?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the couch and plucking the magazine from his fingers and letting it drop to the floor. She leaned over and brought her face close to his, nuzzling his cheek with her nose.

"Terrible, as always." He was about to say more, but Shiho's lips brushed his cheek and made its way to the swirl of his ear.

"I talked to Yumi. She apologized and promised it won't happen again." Her breath sent shivers down his body.

"Are they asleep?" Yzak asked, suddenly finding himself breathless.

"Just finished tucking them in," she answered, brushing her cheek against his and darting her tongue out to drag across his ear.

Unable to stand more of her teasing, Yzak turned to capture her lips with his and reached a hand to back of her neck to keep her in place. They had barely begun to kiss when a series of gasps was heard and a small voice whispered, "Ewww…"

Shiho jerked up, quickly scanning the room for the intruders. Yzak growled as he spotted three silver-haired heads ducking behind a couch on the opposite side of the room. Shiho sighed and, standing up, gave Yzak an apologetic look as she walked over to the couch the kids had hidden behind.

She coughed expectantly, and slowly, three little children lifted their eyes over the back of the sofa, purple eyes blinking innocently.

"You three are supposed to be in bed," Shiho said, hands on her hips.

Immediately, excuses began pouring out of their lips.

"I couldn't sleep! Jiro kept moving around!"

"And I'm thirsty!"

"And it's too cold!"

"I miss you, Auntie!"

"And Yumi wouldn't stop talking!"

"And Jiro said there were monsters under the bed!"

"Only because you wouldn't be quiet!"

"I heard something outside in the hallway!"

"Aria hit me!"

"Because you said I was singing that song Auntie taught us wrong!"

"You were!"

They continued in their wailings, and Yzak groaned as Shiho ushered them out the door and back to their bedroom. When she returned, she laid down beside him and snuggled close.

"Sorry," she said. "They get anxious at night."

"I figured," he answered gruffly.

"Oh, don't be mad. They're just kids!"

"Annoying kids."

"You do realize that's probably how our children are going to turn out? Silver hair, purple eyes, and everything."

Yzak scoffed. "Please. Blue eyes are dominant."

Giving him a slap on the arm, Shiho nuzzled her face into his chest and breathed in deeply. "Can't wait to start a family with you," she mumbled against his shirt.

"I can," he answered simply.

She slapped him again, and he replied, "Fine, fine. I can't either."

Shiho smiled. Yzak did too.

Author Note: So sorry for the cheesiness. And the late updates. I've been taken by the Naruto fandom, if you haven't noticed, ha ha. Well, enjoy! And in regards to Sanctum of a Bloom, I have absolutely no idea where that story's going. I doubt I'm going to even finish it. We'll see.