A/N: Hello! This is my first Fanfic, so be nice :) It will be novel-length, and updates will most likely be slow after the summer of 2013, because school is going to kill me :) R&R!

DISCLAIMER: I in no way own any characters, places, or events you are already familiar with. All of these wonderful occurrences belong to the lovely Colleen Houck. I am but a humble writer wanting to have fun!

I was running through a fog, with everyone I loved begging me to turn away from my path. Even my mind knew that I should turn around and go back. But I also knew I couldn't. There was someone special at the end of this road, and I knew that if I kept going, I would find the best place of my life. I heard a warm, smooth voice call to me from the sides. I steeled myself to resist it, but it wasn't what I expected.

"You can do it, iadala. I am here with you. We can do it together," my husband said, and I could feel him kissing me slowly, sliding his hands into my hair. I felt content, knowing that I would never be alone again. Suddenly, he was torn from me. I heard yells and roars.

"No! She is mine!" I heard a voice say, a voice that I hadn't heard in a very long time. "I was to wed her before you or your brother! I will have her!" Lokesh yelled.

"You. Will. Never. Touch. Her. Again!" Ren snarled. "You tore me from her once, and you will never do it again," he said darkly.

"Oh, you have no idea what I can do to get her back," Lokesh laughs. "I will have a son, and she will be his mother."

Ren roared, and I tried to sneak around past the fight to the end of this path, were I knew I would be safe. As I walked behind Lokesh, his hand shot behind him, and grabbed my wrist. I screamed, and Ren jumped at Lokesh, but not before Lokesh spun and disappeared, me with him.

~TR~

I scream, and sit up in bed with tears streaming down my face. Ren wakes up, and pulls me into his arms.

"Shhh, priyatama. I'm here, it wasn't real," he soothes me, rocking back and forth. "It's alright. No one can hurt you, hridaya patni."

I fold my hands over my stomach, and repeat my mantra of 'It's not Lokesh's, it's Ren's,' over and over and over. Ever since I found out I was pregnant last week, I've been having these nightmares. Last time, with Anik, my nightmares were a lot worse. I would wake up absolutely screaming in terror, and Ren would have to physically harm me, pinch me, or something along those lines, to calm me down. That's probably why he hasn't made the connection, that I'm pregnant, yet. I'll probably tell him today.

"Kells, I know you want anther child," Ren says, noticing my hands on what he thought was my empty womb. "I do, too. I'm really sorry I haven't been able to get you pregnant again. Do you want to tell me what your nightmares are?" he asks.

I sniffle. "I dream that Lokesh is back and trying to take me again. You know, to have a son. It starts out with me walking through fog, and people trying to get me to go off the path, but I know there's something special at the end. Then you come up and start encouraging me. When you start to kiss me, Lokesh comes up and you two start fighting. I try to sneak around and get to the end of the path, but he grabs me. You try to stop him, but Lokesh disappears, taking me with him. That's when I wake up," I say, tears flowing again.

"Rajkumari, it's alright. Lokesh is gone forever. You destroyed him yourself. We are safe in Oregon, and we are going to have a family, with dozens of children." I laugh at that. "We have a normal life now, even if our brother is a goddess' husband," Ren comforts me with a chuckle. "He can't touch you. Even if he did somehow come back, I would never let him near you."

"I know," I say and snuggle into his chest. "It just took me back to when I was taken and almost married Lokesh. What would you have done if Lokesh had married me before you got there?" I ask.

Ren yawns. "I don't know. I would have gotten you out of there, that's for sure. I never would have let you stay with him. If he had married you, then before we got married, you would have had to get divorced, but I don't think you would have had many qualms about that, would you?"

"No," I say, and start to pull away from him to go check on Anik.

"No, you don't, Mrs. Rajaram. You are staying right here. I plan to keep you here all night," he says, and hugs me closer.

"No, Ren, I'm going to make sure that I didn't wake Nik up," I say, using my nickname for Anik.

"Okay," he says as he releases me. "I'll come with you."

"No, I want to be by myself for a little bit, okay?" I say, sliding into my slippers.

"Okay," Ren says softly. "I love you, meri aadoo."

"Mujhe tumse pyarhai," I say with a slight smile. The only way I keep myself from staying is the need to see my son.

I pad softly down the hall to Nik's room. When we found out that I was pregnant, Ren and I knew that it was a boy, so we decorated one of the extra rooms accordingly. There is a dark oak crib, with a mobile above. The mobile is three tigers, one white, one black, and one orange. The walls are painted with trees, monkeys, and a general jungle theme. There are pictures everywhere. On the dresser, on the changing table, hanging one the walls, and one giant mural of a white tiger face with blue eyes on the ceiling. On the changing table, there is a picture of Ren and me, Nik and me, Ren and Nik, the three of us, and some pictures with Sunil and Nilima thrown in. It took two years before Nik was born after Ren and I got married, and it's been eight months since then. I know that isn't a lot of space between kids, but Ren wants a lot of kids, and I don't really care, so I'm happy either way. In the corner right by the crib is a dark brown rocking chair, and on the opposite side is a toy chest filled with stuffed animals and books. Across the room is the changing table, and the closet holds the dresser and some clothes that are too big for Nik.

I tiptoe to the edge of the crib, and gaze softly at my son. His small tuft of brown hair sets off his pirate-doubloon-gold eyes. Before I'd fed him tonight, I had put him into a set of monkey pajamas. This boy should never be afraid of jungle animals. He'll have grown up with enough of them. Ren and I even decided to keep the stuffed tiger that I got when I came back to Oregon after the first quest at the foot of Anik's crib.

I quietly pull Nik into my arms. "Shh," I shush him, so he doesn't wake up as I displace him. His head fits perfectly into the crook of my elbow, and I smile slightly as he moves his hand to suck his thumb. I reach into the toy chest and come up with a small stuffed dragon. I smile and think of Yinbailong and the Ice Palace. The smile leaves as I remember what I said to Ren that night, and I think of how different things might have been if I had said that to Kishan, or Damon, now. That leads me to think of Anik's sibling that only I know about.

I pad down the hall back to the peaches and cream master bedroom. Ren turns over and smiles at me.

"I didn't hear him crying," he says, and frowns at the thought.

"That's because he didn't. I didn't want to leave him, when I saw him sleeping," I explain.

"That's how I am with you. Sometimes I wake up and think about going to the store or something, then I look at you sleeping, and I can't."

I climb, gently, into the bed and set Nik down between us. I stroke the soft down on his head. Ren captures my hand and kisses it. I smile, and think of how clueless I was five years ago. I snicker, and Ren gives me a look.

"I was just thinking about my senior year of high school. I mean, I got a summer job and-bam!-I fell in love. I got entangled in a curse that turned two three hundred plus year old Indian princes into weretigers, fought the Kraken, dragons, vampires, vampire monkeys, managed to get both brothers to fall in love with me, which was a disaster, have the one I really love publicly beat someone up to date me. It was so not how I expected my life to play out," I snort.

"I'm glad that it did, though," Ren says seriously.

"Me, too," and I fall asleep with my hand cupped around my son.

~TR~

The next morning, I turn over to give Ren a kiss, but find a note instead.

Iadala-

I went to the gym. I'll be back at about 8.

Love,

Ren

I look at the clock and find that it's seven. What time did he leave? I wonder. I also look down to put Nik back in his crib, but he's not there. I sprint down the stairs calling him frantically, even though I know that he won't be able to answer me, and run into Ren at the bottom of the stairs.

"Nik's gone," I say, and he laughs.

"No he's not. He's right here," he chuckles. "I brought him down with me so that he wouldn't wake you up if he woke before you," he says as he strokes my cheek. I dip my head, and kiss his palm.

"Don't do that!" I admonish, ineffectively. "Thank you, though. Where is he?" I ask with a laugh as we walk into the kitchen.

"Well, I had him in the seat thing," he says, referring to the bouncer that we keep in the kitchen, "but I took him out because he looked squished, and I put some blankets on the floor of the living room.

"Okay. Do you think that I should put him back in his crib?"

"No," Ren says. "I've been checking on him every ten minutes. Do you know if we have any more bacon?"

"I think I used the last of it yesterday morning. I'll go to the store and get some today. Is there anything else we need?"

"Well, we are almost out of milk, and there are only six pieces of bread left. If we go, we might as well get some butter, too," he lists.

"'Kay. Just let me get dressed, and we can leave. What happened to being gone until eight?"

"I was going to stay until eight, but I started thinking about all the things that could happen to you and Anik while I was gone, and I came home. Of course, you were both still sleeping. I just decided to stay here, and go with you later. That is, if you want to," he explains.

"I thought that was weird when I saw the note. But sure, I'll go to the gym with you. I'll put my workout stuff on, and then we can go to the store before or after we go to the gym," I plan. The phone rings. I look at the caller ID. "Huh, it's Nilima. Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Kelsey," she says.

"Nilima, I think that we've known each other long enough for you to call me Kelsey, without the Miss, don't you?" I tease.

"Yes, M- Kelsey. You'll never guess what happened!" she squeals.

"What?" I ask, intrigued.

"Sunil proposed!" she squeals.

"Oh, congratulations!" I exclaim. "Ren, Nilima's getting married!" He beams. "That's wonderful!" I tell her.

"Thank you, M- may I please just call you Miss Kelsey? It's what I'm used to.

"Yes, that's fine," I smile.

"Thank goodness," she exhales. "Do you think that you and Ren could come down and help plan the wedding?"

"Of course! We'll be down by the end of the week. I'll have Ren book our flight."

"You're a dear friend and sister," Nilima says gratefully.

"Don't think about it," I say lightly. "I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye, Miss Kelsey."

I hang up with a happy sigh, and turn to Ren.

"Can you believe it?" I shriek. "And now we'll all be related!"

"Yes, I can believe it. Sunil called me and told me that he felt weird proposing to a girl before asking the father, so he asked me," Ren says with a smirk.

"And you didn't tell me?" I say. "Why not?"

"Kells, calm down. You're going to wake Nik up," Ren says with a smile. "And I didn't tell you because he asked me not to."

"Oh," I say as we both turn to the living room at Nik's whimper. We dash in, and Ren scoops him up before I can.

"Shh, Nik. It's alright," Ren whispers, and soothes him in Hindi. I smile, and absentmindedly touch my abdomen. Ren looks up, and walks over to me. "Kelsey, are you pregnant?" he says directly.

I look up at him, shocked. "How did you know?"

He smiles. "I found the pregnancy test when I was taking the trash out," Ren laughs.

"Of course you did. Are you mad at me for not telling you?" I ask cautiously.

"Were you planning to never tell me?" Ren asks.

"No. I just-well, hadn't-um, told you yet," I stutter.

"I know, it's okay, Kells. I was never really mad at you," he says with a smile. He walks over and kisses me, not deeply, or even sweep-me-off-my feet worthy, except that it's Ren. But then I kiss him back, and he grabs my arm with one hand, and walks me backwards so I am pushed up against the wall. I put my hands around his neck, and then we remember that he's still holding Anik, but only because he whimpers at being squished so tightly between Ren and I. I smile, jiggle him, and coo at him and Ren hands Nik to me. I smile and kiss Ren one more time.

"I'll make breakfast, then I'll feed him, then we can go out," I say, breathless. I grin, glad that Ren knows. "Can you get the flight over?"

"Yes, rajkumari. Don't worry about it," Ren says, and lightly touches my stomach. "Boy or girl?"

"I don't know, but I want a girl," I say and walk over to the kitchen. "What do you want?"

"I don't care. As long as it's ours, it could be half tiger, for all I care."

"Well," I trail. "It kind of is."

"Not anymore. Beast was made mortal," Ren says cheerily. "Though I do miss being able to have you scratch my ears."

"That's weird," I snort. "I wonder if Anik will like tigers," I speculate.

"Well, we've surrounded him completely with them; he will either love them or hate them. I'm hoping the former."

"Me too." I head into the kitchen, and bend down to get a pan. "And if you make me go on bed rest when I get to six months again, I will not be happy," I warn.

"Yes, dear," Ren jokes.

I grab some eggs, a bag of shredded cheddar cheese, and a bag of frozen hashbrowns.

"Oh, a Scramble!" Ren says as is face lights up like a five year old in a candy store. "Now I really wish we had bacon."

"Hold your horses. I just remembered that I have to let it sit for two hours. So, eat a bowl of cereal or something while I get dressed, then I'll feed Anik. I'll mix bacon in when we get home."
"Okay," his face falls, like a kid who doesn't get the cupcake he was promised.

"Don't look like your dreams were crushed. I'll be back down in a few minutes." I take Anik from Ren, and go upstairs. I change his diaper, and dangle things in his face to keep him distracted when I slip a new set of clothes over his head. I pull my shirt up, and guide his head to my breast. As he suckles, I think of the past two and half years.

When Ren and I got married, there was no real need to figure out how our money would be spent, since there was and unlimited amount of it, and there wasn't any reason to warm up to the house since we lived in it for almost a year before. So, we started trying for a baby right away. We both wanted to be parents. We were thinking that it might take a few months, but then it didn't happen.

We made a bunch of appointments, thought about artificial insemination, but eventually decided that it had only been a year, and it might have been a good idea to get used to living with someone else twenty-four seven.

Just after we had decided to let destiny do its work, I found out that I was pregnant. It was like the higher powers were saying, "You'll get what you want, but when we want you to have it, not when you want you to have it."

Just as I finish this thought, I look down and notice that Nik is sleeping. I adjust him, and my shirt, and put him down in his crib. I go into the master bedroom and slip into a pair of skinny jeans, a sheer lavender short-sleeved shirt that's longer in the back than in the front with a white tank top underneath, and a pair of white shiny sandals. I pull my hair back into a ponytail, and grab Nik on the way down.

Ren is waiting at the front door with the car seat. I snort and buckle our baby into the seat.

"You were gone longer than a few minutes," he says teasingly.

"Yeah, well, he took longer to nurse than I expected," I explain.

"Well, let's go!"

~TR~

On the way to the grocery store, Anik wakes up. He starts wailing and I try to think of what could be wrong as I try to comfort him from the front seat. Then I remember.

"Oh! I didn't burp him! That's why he's fussy!" I exclaim.

"Well, we're almost there, and you can burp him when we get there. Is that okay?" Ren suggests as he exits the freeway.

"That sounds fine," I say, as I realize that we are only a minute and a half away from our destination.

When we pull into the parking lot, I jump out of my seat and snatch my son out of his seat.

I lay a cloth over my shoulder and pat Nik's back softly.

"Shh, mommy is very sorry that she didn't burp you before, but she is trying to fix it now," I say desperately. He finally burps, long and loud. I laugh gleefully and spin around. Ren holds my hand and I adjust Anik so he is situated on my shoulder.

When we get to the store doors, there aren't any carts left, so Ren goes to find one, and I wait for him. As I play with Anik, I hear a voice that I never thought I would hear again.

"Hey, Kelsey!"