*Just some Kaider shorts I wanted to put down because I love them and wish there was just an entire book of their whole lives.

Part of Their Happily Ever After

Cinder and Iko emerge from a side room and meet Kai in the hallway. Cinder has changed into a white pantsuit; she refused to wear another dress – especially while on a ship – but compromised with Iko by not wearing a shirt or bra under the suit jacket. Apparently, in Iko's words, now that she's married she needs to 'keep the sex appeal alive' and Cinder learned long ago to only limit her best friend so much – saying no to all of her ideas never ended well and if Cinder was being honest she actually liked how she looked in her suit and how easy it'd be to take off, not that she'd tell Iko that.

Kai's definitely a fan of Cinder's outfit, his eyes widen when he first sees her and he quickly walks to meet her and to place a lingering kiss on her mouth.

"I told you he'd love it, now let's get you on that ship and off to enjoy your honeymoon!" Iko practically skips toward the doors. It's just after three in the morning – their reception had lasted for hours – but there is still a crowd of guests waiting to see the Emperor and new Empress off.

Cinder grabs Kai's hand and they walk out on the landing strip and towards the ship that will take the two of them to a very private, very tropical oasis off the coast of South America. The crowd claps and shouts and throws glitter – also Iko's idea – while Cinder and Kai walk forward, waving at well known faces as they pass.

At the end of the throng their friends wait to see them off. Cress and Winter are crying again, Jacin looks bored, and Scarlet and Wolf are smiling at the new couple but sneaking glances at each other with gooey love filled eyes. Thorne's the only one that looks like he always does – like he has a juicy secret and will only tell you for a price.

Kai and Cinder are hugged and kissed and given 'best wishes' before they go to board the spaceship. Before Cinder has taken two steps up the ramp Thorne calls her name before walking up to her.

"I almost forgot to give you this," he rummages in his suit pocket before pulling out a book – an actual book, not a digital copy.

Kai looks over Cinder's shoulder to see what Thorne is handing over. The Captain has a very mischievous sparkle in his eye which makes both Kai and Cinder wary and turn to look at Cress.

She mouths 'I'm so sorry' while giving a nonchalant shrug, she's the most used to Thorne's antics and she knows she can't stop him every time.

Cinder takes the book somewhat cautiously before reading the title. "'The Kama Sutra,' what is this, Thorne?" She goes to open the book for a clue but Throne stops her hands.

"Trust me that you don't want to open that with cameras around. Also, while I haven't needed to use this magical book since my teenage years, you'll find that it's full of useful knowledge for couples." He winks at them and Cinder scowls a little bit.

Kai, ever the gentleman, thanks Thorne before continuing to board the ship.

Cinder holds the book to her chest and does the same. Thorne just steps off the ramp and smiles at his two friends' backs.

"Cinder's going to kill you when she sees you again, you know that right," Cress says to him when he's within earshot.

He wraps his arm around her shoulders. "No, no, I've done a lot of research with that book and all final findings showed that women love that book without even knowing it exists. She and Kai will be thanking me."

Cress just shakes her head and watches the ramp close.

Cinder lets the door close firmly before she opens the book, the pages falling open somewhere in the middle. She takes one look at the page and her eyes blow wide. She turns a few more pages and then a few more before slamming the book closed.

"THORNE!" She yells into the ship. The group outside looks up and Thorne actually looks a little bit sheepish at hearing the tone of Cinder's voice.

"Time to go," Thorne says before grabbing Cress's hand and pulling her toward the palace and their guest room.

Kai, after hearing Cinder scream, runs back to her from the cockpit. "What's wrong?"

She all but throws the book at him. "Thorne thinks he's so funny, but just wait until we get back home!" She stomps into the ships small barracks – they didn't want to call too much attention with a fancy ship so maybe others wouldn't try to follow them – and falls down face first onto one of the beds.

Kai opens the book, curious at Cinder's reaction to it, and after seeing only one page his ears redden slightly. He follows Cinder into the bedroom and lies down beside her.

"I know you don't usually succumb to Thorne's jokes so easily so what's the real problem with this?" He puts the book between their heads.

"It's embarrassing. I know he's a flirt and he's always made jokes about us but actually giving me that book is just…it shows that… ugh, I'm the Empress now, can I have him arrested?"

Kai's mouth tilts up in a half smile, "For what exactly?"

"Insubordination or something, I don't know, I just never want to see him again," her voice is muffled by the pillow under her face.

Kai runs his hand down his wife's hair. "Cinder, I know you're upset and if at end or our two weeks off you still don't want to see Thorne I'll make sure he's not around, but can we not start our honeymoon off on a sour note. I'm not saying we need to use that book but I was kind of hoping to, and most people want this on their honeymoons, get to sleep with my wife."

Cinder is quiet for a long time and it makes Kai nervous – she usually has plenty to say – but eventually she turns her face to him and there's a small smile on her lips.

"I want that too, of course I do, I just don't want Thorne to ever think about that part of our life together."

"I hate to break it to you but I think he thinks about everyone's life that way at some point, he's Thorne and can that be the last time his name is mentioned on this trip?" Kai's hand that had been smoothing down her hair goes to rest low on her back and Cinder instinctually arches a little at the touch.

"Okay," a devious twinkle sparks in her eyes, "and I'm not saying we can't look at the book, I just don't want to mention it to anyone, ever, that we have it."

Kai doesn't say anything else just leans forward to capture Cinder's lips with his. She's ready for him and shifts so she's straddling his waist. She pulls away slightly.

"Ship, lock the door." And then she undoes the two buttons holding her jacket together, pulls it off, and goes back to kissing her husband.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

II.

"And the 'EC Tribune' wants to set up an interview with you to discuss the trade numbers so far this year with Luna. I was thinking Monday if that works for you?" Iko trails Cinder, port screen in hand looking through the Empress's busy schedule.

"Monday is fine, but remind me to look over the numbers before then." Cinder and Iko walk into the large formal dining room and see Tashmi Priya setting out different place settings for Cinder to look over. Priya is, by trade, a wedding planner but her and Kai get along so well that she agrees to help with most of the palace's events.

The older woman smiles when they get closer. "Your Majesty, Iko, it's lovely to see you both."

"You to and thank you for doing this, the European representatives will be so impressed I'm afraid they'll try to bribe you away from us." Cinder marvels at the beautiful and detailed table settings Priya has made up. For all of Cinder's talents, home décor is not one of them and she's dreading having to pick just one setting.

Priya chuckles, "I won't let that happen, Your Majesty. Which one do you like best? The first one that caught your eye?"

Cinder and Iko walk around the table, there are only five placements to look at but they take their time and take in all the details. Finally, Cinder stops at a gold and red setting, perfect for October and the history of the EC. She picks up the ornate crimson plate to show Iko and Priya when her diagnostics system sends her a message.

HIGH LEVELS OF HCG DETECTED. RESULT: PREGNANCY

The plate drops from Cinder's hand and shatters on the tile. Iko and Priya look up startled.

"Cinder, is everything okay?" Iko asks, staring at her frozen friend.

Cinder's mind whirls and she can't form a coherent thought, but then, "Kai," falls out of her lips.

"What's wrong with His Highness?!" The old name coming out shrilly off Iko's started tongue. She grabs Cinder's sleeve and it jolts the Empress out of her own head.

"Nothing is wrong with him; I just need to find him right away." Cinder starts to walk out of the room but turns around once more. "I'm so sorry to leave like this Priya, but I love the red and gold one. Iko, try to find Kai and send him to my office, cancel everything for the rest of the day for both of us."

Iko follows behind her baffled. "What about Torin? You know he'll need a reason to cancel everything. What's going on Cinder?"

"Just tell him it's an emergency." Cinder sends Kai a comm and runs to her office. She slams the door and sprints to the cabinet on the back wall. She pulls out a miniature android – one that not even she has been able to fix – and sets to work looking for the problem with it.

The task usually keeps her mind busy, but it doesn't work today.

It's not like her and Kai haven't been trying to have a baby, they have, she just never thought it would happen so soon or (foolishly) that her own computing system would just drop it on her in the middle of the day.

She gives up tinkering and just lays her head down on her desk. What is taking Kai so long?

As if on cue her husband sprints through the door, "Cinder, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" He reaches her and runs his hands over her face and arms looking for an injury.

Cinder grabs his hands with her own, stopping his movement somewhat. "Kai, I'm alright, I just have some really important news for you." She stands up to be closer to him and takes a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

His hands still and his eyes widen slightly. "Are you sure?" he whispers.

Cinder's internal system has never been wrong before so she nods, "yes."

Kai's hands tighten around hers and he smiles the grandest smile she's ever seen. As he sinks down to sit on her desk he exclaims, "I'm gonna be a dad," and the look of pure, unadulterated joy on his face has her eyes stinging with tears she can't shed.

He pulls her closer to him, arms around her back, and places a kiss to her stomach. He keeps his forehead against her ribs and Cinder runs a hand through his hair.

The couple stay that way for a long time before Cinder hears Kai sniffle – something he almost never does. She tries to pull away slightly but Kai doesn't let her.

"Are you crying?" She asks, incredulous.

"No," he replies, but his voice hitches and she knows he's lying.

She drops her hand to the side of his face and makes him look at her. "Let's go to our room. I had everything cancelled for the rest of the day; we can just be together, the two of us."

"The three of us," he corrects her, but he stands up and takes her cyborg hand in one of his.

"Kai, the baby is probably smaller than a piece of rice, so maybe the two and a quarter of us." She believes the words but she also thinks that she might need to work on her maternal instincts before the baby is born.

Kai just smiles again and leans down to her abdomen. "Don't believe your mom, sweetheart, she's just nervous, but I'll get her to come around. She's going to melt the first time we see you, trust me." His words trigger something and he quickly straightens.

"We should go see the doctor, she'll probably be able to do a sonogram," he pulls Cinder through her office door, almost jogging.

"Kai, stop for a second. I already sent my doctor a comm and we have an appointment with her first thing tomorrow morning. Right now, I just want to share this with you. Our country has waited a long time for this so I want just one day where only we know, okay?"

Kai stares into his wife's eyes. He sees fear and excitement and love and hope for the future looking back at him. He leans forward and kisses her. Cinder falls into the kiss and wraps her arms around his neck. It's soft and sweet and slow and leaves them both breathless when they break apart.

"I love you, more and more every day. Let's go to our room. You're right, I only want to be with you right now," he says.

Cinder smiles at him this time. "I love you too and you're going to be the best father in the whole universe."

Kai kisses her cheek as they start walking down the hall. "Even better than Wolf?" Their genetically engineered friend had taken to fatherhood like moth to a flame and his and Scarlet's twins adore him over everyone else.

"Even better than Wolf, I promise," she assures him and they make their way to their room to spend the day together. All three of them.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

III.

Cinder has had a ridiculously long day. She thought being a new mother meant she'd have at least three months off of empress duties but that hasn't been the case. Peony is only seven weeks old and Cinder hates being away from her for more than a couple hours, but one of the Lunars on the council she'd put in effect was caught bribing citizens to vote for him again and they'd called Cinder into an all day video conference to help dilute the problem. Now all she wants to do is lay in bed with Kai and their daughter and eat a carton of ice cream, but its midnight and she knows Peony and Kai are probably asleep by now.

She goes to the nursery anyway, just to see the tiny sleeping face she adores. Kai had been right, the second Peony had been placed in her arms, screaming and slightly slimy, she melted. It was like her heart had grown ten times bigger and she'd basically cried with no tears because she was so, so happy. Both her and Kai had gotten a full week completely off after the baby was born to get used to being new parents and it had been the best week of Cinder's life.

Cinder is close to her daughter's room when she sees the door cracked. She walks closer curious but stops when she hears Kai singing softly, somewhat off-key. Her brain immediately let's her know that the lullaby is old, dating back to the Second Era and she wonders where he learned it. She peeks into the room and sees him gently rocking Peony in his arms. Cinder stands in the hall watching her husband get their daughter back to sleep and she can't help but think she might be the luckiest person on Earth.

Kai's song peters out but he keeps humming and rocking. He turns slightly and Cinder get's a good look at his profile, there's a tender expression there and she's hit with longing like a two-by-four. She hasn't really felt lust since before Peony was born and it makes her breath catch in surprise and anticipation.

Quietly, Cinder heads to her own room and into the closet. She rifles around in her dresser and pulls out an old pair of cargo pants and a black t-shirt. She changes quickly and writes a note for Kai, leaving it on the bed before heading down to her garage to wait.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kai places a now sleeping Peony in her crib. He leaves the nursery, closes the door, and heads back to his and Cinder's room. His wife isn't there and he wonders if she'll ever get off the video call from Luna. He saw her only once today and he unabashedly misses her.

He changes into his pajamas and goes to get in bed, that's when he notices the note. All it says is 'meet me in the garage' but the young emperor rushes from the room in excitement.

Cinder's garage is really just a large room Kai had converted into a work space for her first birthday in the palace. He'd known she missed tinkering and he had wanted her to have her own space in their tremendously busy world. He smiles now remembering how excited she'd been when he showed her the room for the first time and how she'd said 'thank you' to him later that night.

He finally makes it and walks through the door. The smell of grease and metal and circuitry assaults his senses but all he sees is his wife focusing on a project at one of her work tables.

Cinder looks up when she hears his footsteps. The smile she gives him almost stops him in his tracks.

"You got my note I see," she says and stands up.

Kai walks over to her and puts his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him. "I did. I've missed you today, so has P." He kisses her nose.

"Mmm, I missed both of you too. What was that song you were singing to her?"

Kai's ears redden a little which makes Cinder grin. "I don't even know what it's called but my mom used to sing it to me when I was sick or scared and Peony really seems to like it."

"You've sung it to her before?" Cinder is surprised she hasn't caught him sooner.

"Anytime I go in her room at night to let you sleep I sing it. I must have a calming voice because she goes back to sleep every time."

Cinder lightly kisses Kai's lips. "I hate to break this to you but singing might be the only thing you're not great at, but that's not why I brought you down here." She pulls away so he can see her outfit. Being empress doesn't give her much free time but when she can she throws on her cargo pants and heads to her garage to tinker. She's often caught Kai spying on her when she's working. She likes the pants because they're comfortable and hold a lot but Kai likes them for a completely different reason.

"See anything you like?" Before the Lunar Revolution Cinder would have hated anyone staring at her for too long but in the seven years since then, she's gotten used to and even loves when Kai stares at her. It's like he's in awe of her very presence every time and it always makes her heart stutter.

It takes him a few seconds but he finally meets Cinder's eyes. "I think you know I do," he says with a bit of challenge.

Cinder backs up so she's leaning against her workbench; she crooks a finger and beckons him closer. He obliges.

Kai puts both hands on the bench beside her hips and leans in. Their kiss is soft and slow and sensuous but faster than either of them suspected, it becomes heated and hurried.

Kai presses himself even closer and reaches behind Cinder to clear away the tools and debris – really he just swipes it all to the side. Then, surprising Cinder, lifts her up so she's seated on the table, all without taking his lips off hers.

She wraps her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and they kiss for what feels like hours.

Cinder's hands find themselves under Kai's t-shirt, tracing the ridges of his spine and Kai's hands trace along the top of her cargo pants, stopping at the button in the middle. He breaks away before undoing the button. "Are we allowed to do this?" He asks breathless. "Didn't the doctor tell us we had to wait a certain amount of time?"

She smirks. "That's not like you, forgetting what the doctor said." She pulls his shirt over his head. "And she said six weeks," she kisses his chest over his heart, "and it's been seven."

"Good," is all he says before popping open the button of her pants and bringing his lips back to hers.

*Okay, so this is it for this fanfic, hopefully you guys like it. I think Kai as a father would be so cute and swoon worthy so I tried to portray that here. Also, if they had a daughter I feel like her name would definitely be Peony. Cinder would be honoring her sister and getting satisfaction over the idea that Adri would hate it. Thanks for reading!

Little snippet where kai is singing a lullaby his mom sang to him to his newborn daughter and cinder over hears him and swoons a bit