Hey guys. Long time coming. Thank you for all of the reviews, support, and lessons you've given me since the beginning of this story. I'm sorry I haven't replied to reviews like normal. Things have gotten a bit crazy this month. I hope I see you at the next story!

Chapter 13

Recap:

"Babies." Liz corrected softly behind him.

Babies? Red mouthed, confused, before turning back to her. She held up two fingers in confirmation, a wide smile spreading across her face.

The festival grew as the night crept in. Music grew louder and food was brought out until there was no space anywhere on the makeshift tables. And still Kai did not come out of her wagon. Nuada was forced to sit between two guards on a bench outside it waiting for her. And he had a perfect view of the festivities. Of his sister laughing and dancing with tiny human and half breed children, or kissing the aquatic being she chose as mate, even soiling her hands to help with the preparation of food.

He turned away, ignoring the stiffening of his guards and the iron that still bound him, only to find the red one and his mate curled by one of the many roaring bonfires, an ale in his hand and an herbal tea in hers.

One of the guards yanked his chain and growled when the bound prince snarled at him. The other placed a hand over that of his companion. "Enough my friend. You heard the Little Queen." He took the chain from the other male before turning to Nuada. "She is in with the healer. It normally does not take this long though. We are worried. I apologize if that makes us..." He looked around searching for the right word. "Temperamental." Nuada nodded.

"She should be out soon. Then if the elders and councilors don't require her, she might be able to eat something."

"Is she always this busy?" The prince asked softly.

The talkative male laughed. "Yes. It worries many of us. This would not be the first time she has collapsed from hunger or fatigue."

One of the older children ran up with tankards of mead in her hands and handed one to each of his watchers before tentatively holding out the third she held to him. "Thank you." He murmured softly before taking it from her shaking hands. No sooner did it leave her hand then she took to flight back to the tables of food and the scuttling women that gave her another task. "I never knew the Rom still existed."

"Exist and most of us remain hidden." He motioned to a few that were obviously not human. "It's easier for some. But here, no one needs to hide. Here we are one. We are family!" One of the little ones came and crawled into his lap. "My son." The little boy waved with webbed fingers. "Here we are safe." He looked off to two men in armor that were headed their way. "So safe, even the gods see fit to walk among us!"

The guard stood, bowing to the two men. "My lords Thor, Loki!"

Thor clasped his arm in greeting. Loki following his example before glaring at the seated prisoner. "You'll have to excuse my brother, prince. While I know the Little Queen could handle the likes of you easily, he's a bit protective of those he likes. And you stabbed one of the few people he cares about." Thor smiled and turned to the guard. "Is she in with the healer?"

The door on the wagon swung open and Kai bolted from inside, tugging a loose shirt over her bandages. "No I am not! She's a crazy old lady who wants to put me on bed rest until her grandchildren are born."She yelled back at the wagon. "It's good to see you Loki." She hugged them both, wincing as her wounds stretched and pulled. "Thor."

Loki pulled up her shirt, exposing the bandages. "Thor, can you heal her?"

He gently prodded the wounds, ignoring the growling royal. "Maybe, if she takes it easy. Doesn't strain herself. Especially with the babes on the way." He studied the bandages. "But that will not be easy with the rebuilding."

"Then she'll come back with us!" And suddenly Nuada's world stopped spinning. "To Asgard!"

She smiled softly at the two men as Thor quickly eased the pain in her arm and chest. A quick burn as he applied the healing arts he knew and sealed the wounds. Hissing as their skin knitted closed, she patted Loki's face kindly. "Before I even think about it, this war camp needs music, I need food, and I need to pass judgment on the spoiled one."

Loki grinned wickedly and leaned his tall frame down, whispering against her ear, brushing her hair back behind her shoulder. In that one moment, something snapped within the chained prince. He bolted up, pushing between the woman and the much to close god of mischief. He barely felt the hand that caught his sleeve, but he felt the soft lips that pressed against his own. She held him still, pressed against him despite what he tried to do, to her, to the rest of world. She was still holding out one tiny thread of hope to him.

When she pulled away, she left the taste of honey on his lips. "He's baiting you Nuada." Her breath was warm against his cool skin, like the winter sun on fallen snow. "Come. I must speak with the council."

Around the council fire

"A thousand years before the prince and princess of the winter kingdom were born there was a prophecy handed down by the Norn to the kings of summer and winter. It stated very simply that there would be a joining of the two houses, a marriage alliance. That peace would rule because of it. And so a contract was written. That the first child of the summer king would wed a child of the winter ruler." Kai sighed, turning to Nuada and his sister as they sat on one of the logs that had been pulled close to the flames.

"One day the king of the summer saw a young gypsy girl dancing by the flames of a fire." She smiled over to her parents, a blanket wrapped around their shoulders as they held each other. "He fell in love with the girl, just past the age of innocence. For years he courted her and gradually she came to love him. They wed under a star filled summer sky and conceived a child. Nine months later, the contract between the kingdoms was sealed with the blood of a newborn girl child."

"And a few days ago that contract was fulfilled." Her hands found their way to her still flat belly. "Two kingdoms now one!" Kai motioned to her father and to the seated prince. Reaching her, they held out their hands to her, joining them when she held them up. "Now we work to rebuild our world!" Music broke out at her announcement. Cries of joy and hope soon joining them as the drums began thumping out a beat and the fiddles began singing.

Shadowed golden eyes drank her in as the celebration began. They soaked up the sight of the firelight dancing in her hair as she turned to the smaller group of elders, telling them of the offer the gods made, even as she held his hand tightly. Each word hammering in the fact she might actually leave. And what seemed like hours later she drew him into the conversation.

"Now," Kai smiled softly, squeezing his hand in support. "I have a few ideas of what would be suitable punishment for the prince, but before I decide, I would appreciate your guidance."

Time lapse of the coming months

The elders argued for hours, until night fell and the shadows embraced them. And finally it was decided. Each day he would work to rebuild along side everyone else, no title, no authority but that which he was given, no servants. He would be guarded day and night. Red volunteered for that detail with a smug little grin, Nuada remembered, punching one of the walls of his cell in frustration.

He worked until every muscle ached and his vision blurred, repairing everything from the giant cogs that worked the rest of the city to the crumbling walls. Each day he saw Kai as she shouldered the same work that she asked of anyone else as her belly swelled, expanding as the children within her grew. Her afternoons were spent with the council, deciding how to rebuild their world. The gold from the soldiers went into buying land and supplies, sometimes even bribes. These meetings, which humans attended by means of the technology that the fiery one and the one called Abe oversaw, he was forced to watch. Nuala one one side and himself on the other. Not a word was he allowed to say before the council, but they took care to listen to him rave as soon as they were dismissed for the evening.

It soon became obvious that his sister was a much wiser politician than he could ever hope to be. She could see the greed that threatened their newly formed and tenuous freedom, from the humans and fae alike. Between Kai and Nuala, they skirted the pitfalls with a disarming smile.

He had to laugh when Kai muttered a quote from a long dead human. "Walk softly and carry a big stick." She would remind herself at least once a day, but especially on the two days a week when she held court in the market places. She would bring food to those who need it and listen to their problems until she could barely stand. Finally his sister and the fiery human took the tools from her hands or called for himself or Beriothien to carry her at the end of each day and forced her to her modest quarters for a bath, that they were shooed away for, and rest.

And at the end of the day, after she fell asleep, his sister brought him to her room to speak to his unborn children. That was the highlight of his day. Seeing how they grew within her. Touching their young minds. Telling them stories of his world in his language. Even reading the fairy tales of the humans that he saw laying on her lap one day. He would gently touch the soft baby quilts and clothes that somehow made their way into her quarters and imagine the children he created with her.

Abe accepted him easily enough, using him as a dictionary for all things fae. Creatures, customs, places, things long forgotten, tales of heroes long dead, histories, and so much more were pulled from him with a tenacity that would put an ogre to shame. And so each evening he would have dinner with his sister's mate. In turn he learned much of the outside world, things that as a casual observer he had missed. Similarities between the two worlds, human and fae.

Red was less accepting at first. At least until the hatred of the close minded began to ignite. Kai, his sister, and the Red one's mate had gone into town around the sixth month of their pregnancies, and someone had recognized them. Word spread like wildfire and soon a mob surrounded them. Angered words and threats flew like sparks. Although the women were more than capable of protecting themselves normally, in their pregnant state, they were more vulnerable. One human threw a punch, another a bad apple, another a rock, another a rotten tomato. Kai had stepped before the other two and taken the first hit, but refused the fight back.

Nuada had appeared from the shadows where he watched and pointed a sword at the man who hit his mate. Kai simply placed a hand on his raised arm and pushed it down. Turning to the crowd, she looked out at them without hate. Seeing only fear in them, she sighed heavily. "Remember this day. We did not start the violence done here." Green eyes turned up to meet his burnished gold ones, only faith and trust in their depths. "Let's go home. I think we've had enough excitement."

Liz silently threatened him every time he was near. Bits of her would burst into flame, scorching him if he was too close. That still didn't change. But at least the glare that accompanied it diminished at times. Not often though.

When Kai collapsed from exhaustion, it felt like the seeds of like that grew within him screamed in pain. She was seven months along and he was worried. Her mother ordered bed rest and like the meek, mild lamb she most defiantly was not, she obeyed. How long did human females take? Elves took a year or more sometimes. Having heard that humans took less time, Nuada was concerned.

And then there was that... that... Loki... He almost never left her side every time he was on earth. That alone was enough to make him use the box that humans called a TV and even get one of the gypsys to explain the internet. After seeing the destruction in New York, Nuada stuck as close to her as his guard detail and her bed rest would allow. He saw her smile, and laugh. More than she had ever done with him.

It was then she asked if he would mind taking over the court hearings in the market, with her father as councilor of course, since she and his sister were now waddling like ducks with lower back pain and reflux and a list of other problems. But she insisted that he have dinner with her and tell her everything that happened. Then she smiled. When he told here about the round little dwarf who yet again complained about the cabbages in the marketplace, she laughed so hard that she snorted juice from her nose. When he told her about the grieving mother, he held her while she cried for the women. In time his guard detail was relaxed, if only around her.

One day he came in raving, brushing spoiled cabbage from his tunic. "This is indeed a thankless job. You listen and you do your best to help and they throw rotten food at you!"

She covered her face, trying to hide her laughter, almost rolling on her small bed. "It has taken you how many centuries to figure that out?" Then she hugged him, cleaning the wilted leaves off him. Once the greenery had been cleaned off him, her small hands took his while she stared at his face. At once as if making a decision, she kissed him, soft and tender still tasting of honey. When she pulled away, he followed, sliding onto the small pallet bed with her and wrapped his arms around her waist. After a while she broke the peaceful silence. "I hear you talking to them at night, you know?"

"You never said anything." The prince whispered, curling his fingers into her hair. "I will stop if you desire."

Fingertips grazed his arm over her swollen belly while the silence stretched to infinity before she answered. "No." Turning to him, she smiled. "They need to know their father. To know more than just what I can teach them."

When he couldn't stand it, the silence and undefined closeness when the memories of her playfulness with the dark god were so vivid, he asked a question that clawed at his belly. "The elders approached me a month ago. They asked if it wouldn't be wiser if we, what is the human word? Divorced?"

The quilt that covered her lower half made it's way to her shoulders as she turned to face him, tucking her head under his sharp chin. "And what did you say?"

"That it was your decision and only if it would make you happy."

A soft chuckle and two murmured words were all he received in reply. "You're learning."

Chapter 14

Recap:

The quilt that covered her lower half made it's way to her shoulders as she turned to face him, tucking her head under his sharp chin. "And what did you say?"

"That it was your decision and only if it would make you happy."

A soft chuckle and two murmured words were all he received in reply. "You're learning."

Outside the birthing room

Nuada was figiting. His folded legs bouncing against the carved marble floor as all three of the prospective fathers waited to be let in the birthing room. Loki smirked, his face set in stone as he waited, plotting. It was what he did best after all.

People kept thinking that he had designs on Kai, which was quite laughable. His taste was closer to women with dark hair and sparkling dark eyes. Kai knew this, every day they spent together, she laughed at his inability to talk to the one girl he actually wanted. Silver tongued indeed, she'd say. Then she'd force him to laugh at himself. Between Thor and Kai, he was finally learning what it meant to be... human, he supposed. They were his best friends and he couldn't ask for a better brother, as a sister, if he could choose, it would be Kai.

So it only made sense that he was testing Nuada. So far he was a mildly disappointed. The prince was growing as a person, as a potential ruler, but that didn't mean it was necessary to like the fool.

Thor bumped him, nearly sending him to the floor in his unchecked excitement. "This is a glorious day!" He boomed.

Hellboy flinched at the sound. Mara and the specialists she had all but kidnapped from the human and the fey world, had been keeping the fathers informed at every stage of the babies development, and with each passing day he worried more. He wasn't normal, neither were his children.

Liz had turned into an emotional fireball and torched the rooms that they had been provided with, turning it to ash, when she was informed that a natural birth was out of the question. Kai, who seemed to have no emotional upsets during the entire pregnancy, and Nuala, who hadn't grown any larger during hers, found him in the hall surrounded by terrified cats. With a laugh, they pulled they fiery woman into a freezing shower. She yelled, they yelled back.

The things you could get away with when you were pregnant were amazing, he decided. Like stealing all the chocolate cake and no one said a word. Yelling was another one.

"Silence Thor!" Loki ordered as another woman rushed through the room carrying towels. "Two of them are only human! They are fragile!"

Nuada had enough and stalked to the door that barred the men and hammered on it. "Open this door or I will tear it from its hinges!"

When the door swung open and Mara stood like a bouncer from Hades barring the princes way. A scream split the air and the two remaining fathers sprang to their feet. "It seems prince, the mothers are calling." She turned to the entire group. "Fathers, take your places."

In a blink Nuada was behind Kai, on the bed, holding her as she strained. Her fingers wrapped around his and squeezed until his hand began to creak under the strain.

Hours later

All three fathers held a set of twins in their arms, each a boy and girl pair. The lights set low while the mothers slept.

Nuada sat next to the bed Kai rested in, his son and daughter curled together on his lap. His son was golden like the woman that captured him without trying, their daughter looked like a miniature of her aunt.

"They're not connected, Nuada." Kai whispered, as if she knew what he was thinking. "Not like you and Nuala. They should have individual names."

"Nuana and Kainan." He replied, brushing their hair. His eyes never strayed from them as he brushed the newborns hair. "Connected to us but individual."

Reaching for his hand, Kai smiled. "Showing wisdom my mate."

"Am I?" He looked up, meeting her glittering eyes. "Am I still your mate?"

"My mate, their father. For better or worse."

"I've erred so much though."

She laughed softly. "A bit."

"I wish my father could be here to see his grandchildren. Of all the things I've done, I regret his death the most."

Her fingertips traced his lips, warming the cool marble of his skin. "Ask the Dichotomies."

"What?"

She smiled, scooting to the far side of her bed and patting the now empty space, waiting for him to climb in. "I'd like to introduce the next generation. Nuana, the Beginning, and Kainan, the Ending. Meet your daddy."

The end... of this story.

Epilogue

"So here's where I give you an overview or what happened after this story." Kia laughed, rocking little Nuana to sleep. "I married him... again. You, your brother, and your cousins both adopted and blood, are the six Dichotomies. Do you know what they are little one?" The little princess blinked and cooed. "That's right. The Beginning, End, Wisdom, Foolishness, Love, and Hate. These are what you'll rule over when you grow up."

The king of the old winter kingdom smiled from the doorway. His eyes no longer the tired yellow of many summers long since passed, but bright polished gold as he looked at the four adult females that filled the room. His two grandsons resting in his arms, distracted him by yanking on his beard. A year ago he never could have imagined that not only would he see his family restored, but also be holding the next generation.

After their children were born, the former team of the BPRD and they're royal mates threw themselves into the rebuilding of the fae world. As a result, the protected forests and national parks of every country doubled before the three sets of twins were a month old. By the time they were a year old, all cities that housed less than five thousand humans had been rebuilt and redesigned to have a nonexistent carbon footprint. Within five years all but the largest human cities had been destroyed and rebuilt to be stronger and healthier.

Farms, that since the great depression had been pumping harmful chemicals into the planet, were now scrubbed clean of anything man made and producing crops faster that were larger than anything the farmers had ever seen before.

By the time the children were six years of age, crime of any kind was almost unheard of. Wars ceased and disappeared. Violence was a thing of the past.

"Nuada..." Kai began, her hands trembling as she tried to sip the tea her mother had dropped off that morning. "We need to talk."

His breath froze in his throat, his fingers hanging in midair as he panicked. After six years of marriage and two children, was she finally done with him? Would her human blood give her the strength to walk away even if her elf genetics tried to force her to stay? He schooled his face into a blank mask. "Yes, my love?"

"I know we haven't really discussed any more children..." She sipped the hot liquid, staring straight ahead, not looking at him in case he reacted as poorly as she feared. "But I'm pregnant."

Nuada stood abruptly, and Kai felt her heart drop to the floor. Tears filled her eyes as she placed her cup on the table. She would never regret Kainan or Nuana, but they were created from a night of too much alcohol, and Nuada was a wonderful father. He was kind and compassionate with them. She had hoped that the little one that rested within her had been produced from love, that it's father would love it just as much as he... It was no longer fair to think like that.

She hadn't told the twins, but it seemed as if they already knew. That morning they had laid their small heads on her belly and said hello. It had been such a tender moment that she dared to hope that

Nuada would at least accept a third child. But now she prepared for the worse.

Nuada stared at her in shock. He hadn't noticed the changes before, but now he saw that her clothing was tighter, her face softer. She held her hands protectively over her stomach. Now he noticed that her tea smelled of ginger, lavender and honey. It was little things that he had missed with the twins, that he saw now. Now he had a chance. A chance to do all the things that he had ached to do with her during her first pregnancy. To be the mate she deserved during those months.

"How long?" He croaked.

"A few weeks."

He smiled, feeling her anxiety, as he gently cupped her chin and pulled her up to face him. Pressing a soft kiss to her lips, he brushed her hair. "I think we should go celebrate."

"What?"

"Nuala will watch the children. Because you and I are going to our quarters, and I do not intend to leave until we have properly celebrated."