Queen Angella had a particular reputation among the members of the alliance. She had always been a private person and was careful to maintain a kind, but serious decorum in public spheres.

The confused stammering from her allies and subjects alike had been an endless source of amusement for Micah when they'd announced their engagement. It had been worse when she'd announced her pregnancy. Apparently, her public persona didn't mesh well with romantic inclinations or motherhood, at least in the eyes of her people.

Honestly, the husband and child had been a surprise to Angella herself and their existence in her life would have come as quite a shock if someone had informed her of the development a decade ago. She'd lived a long life, much of it without a family of any sort. It was nice to have someone to glance at during difficult meetings and feel her chest loosen even if she and her husband were carefully professional when meeting with the princesses.

It was nice to know that after this long, tedious discussion about resource distribution, she would be able to take his arm and retire upstairs to watch their daughter sleeping peacefully in her crib.

Her attention drifted to Micah, whose eyes were currently focused on the discussion that was bordering on an argument between Lucia and Marguerite. His pen moved across the paper in front of him as he nodded along. Suspicious, Angella tilted her head slightly so she could see his paper. He noticed her watching and grinned sheepishly even as he tilted the paper, so she could better see the unflattering doodle of an angry Lucia and Marguerite he'd been sketching. She bit the inside of her cheek.

Her attention was drawn back to the table as she heard Lucia's voice raise. "Enough," Angella said in a firm voice, standing up with her arms braced on the table. The argument quieted immediately. "Now…" Something tingled suddenly at the back of her neck; instinct had her arms coming up a moment before a shower of sparkles appeared and quickly coalesced into a baby. "Glimmer!" she said in surprise, "wha-" There were suddenly baby fingers in her mouth. Angella could taste something sweet and sticky in the second it took her to draw away from her daughter.

"Yummy!" Glimmer enthused, waving the hand covered in what Angella identified as chocolate syrup. Her other less messy (but certainly not clean) hand had found purchase in Angella's hair.

"Yes, indeed, dearheart," Angella agreed with a wince as her hair was exuberantly tugged on. Micah was already on his feet, one arm wrapped around Glimmer and the other working on loosening her grip.

"Hey, sweetie, why don't you come to daddy," he cooed. She looked over at him with a brilliant smile.

Oh no.

She dissolved into a cloud of glitter and immediately appeared near his shoulder. He yelped and grabbed for her, but she disappeared again right as his fingers brushed her plummeting back. Angella lunged left toward a giggling child before she was gone again, landing directly on top of Micah's head.

After the two parents unwillingly played a few rounds of hot potato with their daughter, the shock that had silenced the room wore off. Angela heard Marguerite let out a giggle.

Glimmer apparently also heard it and decided to investigate. She teleported over to sit on the table in front of the princess and slapped both of her hands against her cheek with a laugh. A brown streak of chocolate was left on the woman's face.

Angella and Micah dashed around the table, but Glimmer's eyes had been opened to the fact that there were more people in the room than just her parents and, as any proper princess would, decided that she needed to be sure to greet all her guests properly. By the end of it, she'd managed to smear chocolate and spittle all over all of the most important dignitaries. Micah had stopped being useful a while ago, doubled over laughing as he was.

"Glimmer, please come here," Angella said when her daughter appeared on top of the decorative fruit bowl in the center of the table.

Glimmer paused her rampage to look at her. "Mom-"

"-my." The last syllable was said into her ear. A weight had settled on Angella's back. She felt small feet slot into the notches where her wings met her back and a chin land on her shoulder. Angella tilted her head to look at her daughter. Glimmer gave a soft yawn as Angella watched and pressed her nose against her mother's neck. Their almost identical hair mingled together, Angella's becoming a curtain over Glimmer's head. There was something so natural and right about how her wings supported the small child's weight that Angella inexplicitly felt herself get a bit chocked up. A sloppy kiss was pressed against her cheek, leaving a bit of spittle in its wake. It was amazing how firmly Angella's heart was set in her little chocolate stained hands.

Micah had apparently wrestled control of himself because he stepped around the table to them. Angella felt a slight blush creep up her neck when she remembered that they were in the war room surrounded by the alliance. "She is your child," Angella said, her lips in a firm line.

"Ah, yes, only mine," he said seriously, his eyes shining at her and their daughter.

"Apologies about the interruption," she addressed the room at large before moving to reclaim her place at the table, being careful to sit forward on the chair a bit as to not crush the child cradled in her wings. "We were talking of trade agreements, yes? Lucia, what were your concerns?"

They quickly went back to business as usual, though Angella caught some of the attendees waving and making faces at Glimmer when they thought her attention was diverted. A panicked staff member came in a few minutes after her daughter's arrival, but Angella just gestured to the child on her back and waved them off. Glimmer fell asleep against her shoulder a bit before the meeting adjourned.

Micah dabbed at a puddle of drool on her shoulder before pressing a kiss to Glimmer's forehead. "Da…" she mumbled, more asleep than awake, her fingers clenching and unclenching in the fabric of Angella's dress. Micah's eyes shown.

"Your offspring is going to ruin my reputation."

"Probably," he agreed. He was using a strand of Angella's hair to tickle Glimmer's nose and make her face scrunch up. "But yours is going to make a fantastic princess."