Sweet Dreams

[Frances Mauven]

Frances had spent the morning in her home waddling up and down the stairs, desperate to find something to busy herself with, though failing with each trip she made to the second floor. Becoming a stay at home mother was most certainly not the woman's style, she had always worked and the way that Tamas pampered her made her feel helpless at times, though she was ever so grateful for it. Standing in the living room she looked down, trying to remember whether or not she had put socks on that morning. With her belly so big now she could not spot her own feat beneath her distorted frame and it had already caused an incident or two when she had gone out to the mailbox in bare feat, and once to the shops in odd shoes. Being pregnant for the second time after eighteen years had been a shock to the thirty-five year old's system, she hardly remembered how tough pregnancy could be as her daughters were all grown now, but despite advice from many family members she considered herself an expert on pregnancy and babies even though it had been so long since her last one. Because of this she had refused to go to any appointments at St. Mungo's except for when she had confirmed the pregnancy on the night of her honeymoon nontheless. Looking down on her belly Frances let out a sigh, her husband was getting ready for work and she was hungry again, despite having just devoured four pieces of burnt toast for breakfast.

Waddling into the lounge she reached into the back of the bookshelf and rescued a crumpled packet of chocolate biscuits, she had been advised to eat healthy foods for the baby's sake, but her cravings most usually got the better of her. Opening the packet and pulling out the last biscuit from her stash, she shoved it in her mouth and devoured it in only one bite. Melted chocolate sat on her lips and she smiled down at her belly, she loved that the baby growing inside of her gave her an excuse to eat more of whatever she wanted, afterall she was eating for two, or so she thought. Licking her lips, Frances rubbed her belly, "Thank you baby," she whispered, for she had the baby to thank for letting herself eat such rubbish food so often. She felt a kick beneath her shirt, after eight and a half months she had gotten rather underwhelmed with such things, but her family still seemed content with holding her belly, the same wonder in their eyes each time they felt some sort of movement. Frances was not so excited by the kicks, they had been getting rather painful that morning, and this time they seemed to bring stabbing pains with them. Lowering herself onto the nearby armchair Frances opened her eyes widely, her last labour had been short, but she had been seventeen years old, she could hardly remember exactly how the pains had started. "Tamas? Tamas!" she called out, her fingertips spreading across her swollen belly, she wouldn't be surprised if this was early labour, after all of the stress she had been through with Riley and her own pregnancy. "Either I just wet my pants or," she didn't need to finish her sentence, she was sure that her husband knew what she meant. ​

 

[Tamas Mauven]

Tamas rose out of bed with a yawn before looking at his wife and rubbing her stomach gently to try not to wake her but to say could morning to their baby before he left for the day. And with that he had gotten up to take a shower and start the day because he had a fair amount of paperwork to do for one of the restaurants and they were filed away there instead of where they should be: his office. The man wrapped a towel around his waist as he left the bathroom and turned his gaze to the bed where he saw that Frances was up and out of bed, probably somewhere downstairs eating her abysmal food. He chuckled at the thought of the baby recognizing that Frannie was a bad cook and wishing for something better - of course lately it had been sweets. He knew this because he had come across quite a few and he never ate any of it unless tasting a dish that he had made or one of his other chefs had made to add to the menu.

Tamas changed into one of his many suits and walked down the stairs briskly and smiled as he saw Frannie and as he brushed past her, he kissed her cheek softly and continued on his way to find his briefcase where he had already put all the forms he needed to fill out excluding the ones that were in Paris. He put his shoes on and was just about to call out to Frannie that he was going now he heard her voice, more frantic than he had ever heard it before, call for him. Quickly he ran to her side, instantly seeing what had just happened and said, "I hope you're ready, beautiful." He chuckled nervously before kissing her lips quickly and rushing to the cupboard where there was a suitcase and pillow left and had been made only a few weeks ago to prepare for the big day in case it was a little earlier than expected. With that in his hand he returned to his wife and asked, "Are you set?" Apparating with Frannie made him anxious because he didn't want her or the baby to get hurt in case something went wrong or in case she wasn't supposed to apparate at all. He really didn't know much about this because he had been reading baby books but all of them seemed to be written by clueless muggles and it made his life only a tad more difficult. He expected Frannie to tell him if he was doing something wrong, though, because she was already a mother and he was a novice with four children that weren't his. Now he was to be a father for the first, official time and he couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach that he might mess something up and his baby would end up being scarred because he was a sub-par father but he would try his hardest to do everything that the baby and Frannie needed because he loved them both so completely.​

 

[Frances Mauven]

Frannie swept her golden locks into a ponytail and took a breath and with that she nodded but once towards her husband, acknowledging that she was ready. Well, at least that she was as ready as she would ever be, and she did not really have a choice, her baby was coming now whether she liked it or not. She did wonder whether the new addition would be a boy or a girl, she already had three girls, but so long as the baby was happy and healthy she would be fine with it whatever the gender. Once her husband had fetched the bag they had packed she grabbed at his hand, not realising it wouldn't be the first time that day, and pulled her swollen form up and off of the armchair, grunting at the effort it seemed to take. One thing was for sure, their baby was going to be a big one, her belly was larger than it even had been when she was pregnant with Riley and Kalani. "I'm ready." she said simply with another nod as she held his hand tightly and they apparated to St. Mungo's. Being within the hospital brought back memories, memories that still made her nervous, the memory of her twins' birth more specifically. She had gone through the birth with her sisters Frida and Kensington, they had all been so young and scared and they had all known it was a mistake. But this time everything seemed right, she was married to the man of her dreams and she would not go through it alone. "Ow, buggering, ow." she muttered, clutching her belly as they came to reception, the mother was going to let Tamas do the talking. "Ring everyone, will you?" she asked of him, they had made a list of their family members early on in the pregnancy, Frances was adamant that Frida and Kenny would not be her only support this time around.

Frances sat herself down and helf her belly for dear life, the pains were getting stronger now, and she was not going to let go of Tamas' hand. She smiled and gritted her teeth, the memory of the pain of her last birth was coming back to her, and it was not at all comforting to her. She wondered how long it would take before the healer was ready for her, she hoped that it would be soon. The thirty-five year old leant in and kissed her husband on the lips. She was nervous, but excited and if she was completely honest the nervous feeling in her stomach could have been the labour pains, and it most likely was. "How much longer is it going to be? I-" a jolt of pain cut her sentence off and she clenched her fingers around Tamas' hand, her fingernails digging in. Seeing the healer wave to her she pulled herself up and followed her into what she assumed must be the room she was going to give birth in. After changing into a robe and getting comfortable on the bed, as comfortable as possible whilst in labour, she lay her head down and droozily smiled at Tamas, she was overjoyed that they were about to become parents together, it really was the beginning of their lives together. ​

 

[Tamas Mauven]

Tamas, despite all his excitement, felt sick. Thoughts of his own childhood led him to believe that perhaps he would be as 'wonderful' a parent as his own father, who seemed far more irresponsible than Fyodor Karamazov, a character in a book which played a part in his relationship with Frances but lacking all the credit. He loved his child already but with the way that Simone turned out and with Riley's condiion it seemed that you had to have the fear of God in them or risk them harming themselves or their family and Frances was actually a great moother, he could see it in her daughter's eyes, but he and Simone were distant because of her promiscuity and how disappointed in her he often felt when he wished to be prideful to call her the girl he took into his home and raised as best as he could. Tamas tried his hardest to dispell this feeling because he didn't want to welcome his child into the world with a dark heart because of his anxieties that Frances seemed to be so wrong. She had faith in him and as he touched her arm and apparated with her he couldn't help but feel that this was all that mattered and he would have to trust her judgement. Immediately upon entering the hospital he could smell and almost taste the lingering appearance of disinfectant on all that he passed and even more so as he held Frannie's hand and carefully led her to the front desk, moving as quickly as her pain and waddle would let them. The man looked into a woman's eyes who were much less frantic than his own and he said, "My wife is going into labour." Of course she could see that, everyone could see that as Frannie clutched her swollen stomach and sucked in a breath to lessen the pain, which he responded to with a soft glance and as she asked him to call everyone he couldn't help but wince. There were certainly worse parents out there than he and if there weren't he could learn but the phone was something he could never master but he did not say his to Frannie, not wishing her any more stress. It had been a point of great enjoyment for his muggle workers, it was thankful that there just happened to be a squib that he trusted very closely and made all the phone calls for him.

With this new thing to unsettle his stomach he looked back at the nurse who asked him to fill out some paperwork before they gave Frannie a room which he hastily did before they were led into a room, equally as clean as the others and the added sound of hearing other women from doors down screaming in pain as they went through the miracle of birth that he knew came only moments after everything was finished and the child was wrapped in a blanket and falling gently to sleep in a way so sweet that it could bring both father and mother to forget any pain brought. After a kiss on the lips, Tamas excused himself to make several phone calls to their family to tell them to come so that they could support Frannie and greet their little baby when the dust was settled. Quickly the man returned, hoping that he had not missed anything but only arrived to see that Frannie was about to change into her gown which he helped her with before getting her into the bed which crinkled from the sounds of the plastic mattress covered by scratchy linens. Tamas pulled up a chair and sat by her, holding her hand and looking into her blue eyes and returned the smile she gave to him as he wondered anxiously what lay ahead for the family.​

 

[Frida Alexandra]

Frida had been painting her toenails when she received the call from Tamas. Squealing into her blackberry phone she had dropped the bottle of polish, splaying a spectacular pink across her bedspread, but she hardly cared. The excitement was so great anybody would have thought it was her own baby she had been waiting on, but she was close to her sister and so happy for her, mainly because this time around she had gotten herself married, to the very man that had made the phonecall. Pulling on a pair of flat shoes and grabbing her wand, Frida apparated to St. Mungo's and directed herself immediately to the room her sister's husband had described over the phone. Being back there seemed to familiar, though she was now twenty-nine, she had been only eleven when her sister Frances had first given birth and had spent the whole time fretting that her parents would discover she was supporting the teenaged mother and be just as ashamed of her for doing so. But this time was different, and although her parents and aunt would most likely not be present at the birth she knew their support would be with her sister this time. Bursting through the doors the bubbly young woman threw her arms around her sister "Frannie!" she squealed ever so excitedly before stepping back and hoping she hadn't hurt the woman who was quite obviously in labour. Frida's smile beamed, the same smile that each of her two sisters had and she looked so alike to Frances, there was no disputing that they were sisters. Kensington was yet to arrive however, she was the only one in the family who posessed dark hair, something that had lead to much teasing from the three Alexandra siblings, though now at their adult ages they saw better than that.

Frida brushed a loose strand of her sister's hair from her face and smiled once more, "I'm so happy for you." she said simply and truthfully, Frannie was an amazing mother to Riley, Lani and Lea and there was no question that this new addition would be no exception. Riley's current predicament was grave, and Frida understood why her sister was so disappointed in her daughter, but the twenty nine year old had tried her hardest to comfort Riley and give her support because she knew that she would need it as having a baby was a tough thing to go through, but even more so at the age of eighteen. Looking around she wondered where everybody was, and why they had not rushed to arrive so soon as her. Little did she know that labour could take hours, she hardly remembered this from the birth of her nieces. "What's the hold up?" she asked, as though Frances was holding the baby in so that the rest of the family would be there to see it arrive, covered in purple goop. Frida leant against the wall and picked at her nailpolish that she had not quite been able to finish applying. She hoped desperately that riley would turn up, it would be important for her to see the birthing process despite her current relationship with her mother. But Frida was certain everything would all work out, there seemed a touch of calm within the room, as though each of them were preparing the atmosphere for a small and beautiful child, the hush seemed perfect for a baby to arrive in, and for its sake Frida wished it would stay just the way that it was. But as the next guest arrived it became apparant that this would not be so.

 

[Kalani Mauven]

It was the beginning of a long night for Kalani Mauven but for a reason she had not expected. When she woke up and hopped into the shower she had expected that after a practice and a performance she and the rest of the company, or at least the more esteemed members, would be going to a celebration of the directors birthday. Although she knew she had to show up, she really would have preferred not to so she dreaded apparating to Russia unlike most days when her stomach tingled with excitement for a new day. The blonde was early as always and as she walked through the corridor and saw Edgar slide in beside her she beamed brightly. "Good morning," she hummed just as they reached the door for one of many studios. Kalani was already dressed in everything but her pointe shoes and her hair extensions already so she dug in her bag for both and once her shoes were on both of her feet securely, Kalani slid down onto the ground into splits and begun fixing her hair as she spoke to Edgar and the man who played Von Rothbart who Kalani simply adored. She thought he was perfectly friendly and understanding when she wasn't, almost as if he was an older Edgar who she now walking past to get a closer look into the mirror to secure the blonde hair into a tight bun, relieved that the faux hair was no longer touching the nape of her neck because it tended to disgust her and question her reasoning for cutting her hair in the first place. With the hairnet and copious amounts of hair pins and bands all in place Kalani turned back to the group that had grown in size and were getting ready. She made her way over to the barre when she began stretching herself out only to see Edgar walk up from behind her and earn him a smile. "Hey," she said as she leaned over her waist to touch her nose to her knee and her fingers gracefully dancing around her foot as if they were satin sheets.

After a few more moments of stretching Kalani looked around to see if one of her friends was around to stretch out her leg but only saw Edgar so she asked him and grinned as he agreed to it although she had to admit she was a little nervous for a repeat performance of their first meeting as she laid down on the ground with her back to the floor, her palms flat and one knee bent as she waited for Edgar to push her leg upwards over her head and as he did she looked into his eyes and smiled nervously, her breath shallow for more than just the burning of her muscles but this was stopped when her phone rang from her bag, a ring that was Tamas', which never happened so she said, "Hold on, that's my Dad." A slight smile found it's way onto her lips as she thought of Tamas as her father. For a girl who had never had one it was quite nice to be able to think of someone as it. She answered and nearly squeeled out of joy but remembered promptly that this was not the place to do that so she snapped her phone shut and began taking off her pointe shoes and putting them carefully into her bag, preparing herself for the deep anxiety that apparation and hospitals gave her. Kalani walked over to the girl that was her understudy and explained it to her, recieving a hug from the girl of congratulations to her mother who she had met once but only during the auditions when they had been each other's competition. The girl was not pleased for Kalani's family but for herself because there was only one short period when she was on stage each night and that was as Odile for the opening scene.

Next Kalani walked over to Edgar and said with a tone of slight disappointment, "Sorry. I have to go to St. Mungo's." She added so Edgar wouldn't fear that she was hurt in anyway because the last thing anyone needed was an injured ballerina, "I'll be back tomorrow though. Would you mind telling the director Happy Birthday for me and explaining that I had some family matters that needed attending to? I'm not so sure Ivana will." Briefly Kalani glanced over to the brunette girl who had a smile as wide as day on her lips as she gushed to the other girls. The last thing she wanted was to be cut from the role because her mother was in the hospital giving birth to her little brother or sister.​

 

[Edgar Kane]

Another morning at the studio, another day of hard work and tired ballerinas. Edgar thought that by now he would have completely settled into the tight schedule and long hours, but it seemed that Kalani was doing much better at getting up so early than he was. He had never been a morning person, so as he slipped into the studio he popped a mint in his mouth and prayed nobody would notice that all he had had for breakfast was an instant black coffee. He body moved around Kalani's playfully as he made a dash for the barre, laughing slightly as he smiled back at her, he had snuck past her and beat her to rehearsal by just a second, something he shouldn't have been so proud of. "Too slow Mauven," he joked, winking at her as she chimed a good morning. She seemed to be in a good mood, so Edgar tried not to push it like he usually did. He slipped on his ballet flats and stretched his abdomen sideways, his arms reaching over his head as he admired Lani from behind. He was often sad that she pulled her short hair back with extensions into a bun, he thought it was beautiful and unique, but he didn't dare to mention that to her, after she had left the morning after they had spent the night together he felt as though his feelings were confused. They had merely slept in the same bed together, which was the reason that Edgar could not understand her reasoning for trying to dash away the morning after. The eighteen year old had tried to bring it up, but there did not seem to be a good time as the show's opening night was drawing closer and the rehearsals were subsequently becoming tougher and tougher. But his smile was ever so obvious when his friend asked him to help her stretch out, and he knelt in front of her as she pulled her leg in close to her abdomen, extending it close to her head.

Unfortunately the moment seemed to be taken over by the ring of Lani's phone, Edgar stood up and hung his head, he certaily hoped it wasn't anything too serious, or another excuse for Lani to get away from again. It seemed it was her step father, but he cocked his head to the side a little when she mentioned St. Mungo's, he was her friend and he knew her well enough to know that she was scared of hospitals, though that was not something she would readily admit. "St. Mungo's?" he clarified, then he took a step closer to her as she sorted out her replacement. He nodded in agreement about her replacement, he was sure that much of the reason Kalani had been chosen for the part over Ivana was that the swan queen often attended dinners and dancers with the director, she was his prize and Ivana was not exactly intellectually suited to the position. "Wait, I'll come with you?" he suggested, "Just as moral support of course." he added, so she did not think he was playing on her weakness when it came to hospitals. Before she answered he hopped over to his understudy, who he happened to know had a crush on Ivana and he certainly did not object to getting to dance with her. He mentioned to the director personally that he and Kalani had personal matters to deal with and he quickly made his way back to his friend. Throwing on a sweater and kicking off his flats he put his arm around Kalani, and raised his eyebrows, "So, what are we going to St. Mungo's for?" he inquired, wondering what sort of family emergency it was. But before he required an answer he concluded that it must have been Lani's mother or sister giving birth, and judging by how pleased she was he concluded it was her mother. He waited for this conclusion to be proved correct by her, then apparated, this time separately to Lani, arriving in St. Mungo's just before her. He could not easily recall being in the building before, apart from a few small injuries he had sustained from his older siblings, for girls Josie and Bailey sure did pack a punch.

Kalani arrived next to him and he smiled, he wanted to make sure she knew he was the male in their friendship (he had a tendency to slip into the less dominant position) so he moved towards the reception and smiled. "We are looking for a Mrs Mauven," he commented, guessing that this was the correct name of her mother. They were lead to a room, but Edgar was not certain that he wanted to enter, judging by the wailing noises that seemed to be coming from behind the door. The ballerino shot a look at his dance partner and his eyes widened a little. He was sure that Mrs Mauven did not want him seeing her at such a vulnerable time, especially seeing as this wouldbe the first time he would meet Kalani's parents. "Are we supposed to, ah, go in?" he asked, before a loud scream from within the room answered him and he jumped at it, grabbing Kalani's hand. Perhaps she was ot the only one who had an aversion to hospitals.

 

[Kalani Mauven]

Kalani was in high spirits today, despite her anxiety for another performance tonight and being shown off like a little doll at the celebration tonight. She feared that she might not bite her tongue if something was said because Kalani Mauven was many things and one of them certainly was opinionated. If she had to be shown off for nothing more than her appearance and a prize to the director. She had worked hard all her life for this and refused to have people believe that he made her who she was as a dancer when he was only a facet of her just as she was a facet of him. Besides all of this, Kalani thought that Edgar was the person who taught her most about ballet and herself than any other had in her life, which admittedly was short in the grand scheme of things. The ballerina did have a lot to learn but she would be damned if her director took credit for hers, or Edgar's, hours upon hours of training as he had in years previous without any other girl's making a sound like obedient dogs, waging their tails with pleasure if their master gave them so much as a glance. During this event Kalani was going to keep her strength with her, possibly the first time she had around Edgar, but also be subtle about it to keep her position. As talented as she was there was always someone ready to replace you if you got cut. Around regular beings you may be one in a million but in a company such as St. Petersberg you really realized just how unspecial you truly could be so there was a fine line that tonight Kalani would have to work with. She only hoped that Edgar would leave everything out of it because the last she needed was to explain her emotional traumas when she was meant to be impressing those who donated to the company. She had to be Odette for the night and only hoped that her Siegfried would not call her on also being Odile. But this didn't seem to be the case because Edgar also seemed to be pleasant as he whisked himself around her playfully, earning a smile from her gentle lips. "Watch it, Kane," she warned with a playful smirk, enjoying this type of work relationship more than the one that was nestled underneath every step she took with Edgar, every time she took his hand for support, figuratively and literally, before preparing herself in the same routine she had day-in and day-out.

This calm, easy going friendship that Kalani and Edgar played seemed to end when he leaned over her and pushed her body further as their eyes locked together. Her stomach lurched and there was a faint feeling of regret and wooziness as Kalani flickered her gaze from his eyes to the lips that had once found her's. Often times she felt like she was missing something when her body twirled away from his and despite how many romantic comedies she had seen in the past, Kalani couldn't allow herself to feel these things and was relieved when her phone had rung telling her the news of her mother's labor. Even a hospital would do to flee from these stirrings inside her. But telling Edgar had been a mistake, her warning had led him to come with her, not giving her any options as always. She wondered briefly if Edgar hadn't been such a kind person how this 'quirk' of his would be taken but she heaved it off as she walked with him and said that it was, in fact, her mother who was having the baby today and not her sister. It was quite the relief because the ballerina wasn't sure if she would have gone if it was her sister's. Not with what this night could have meant to her career. This kid better be cute, she thought with a light chuckle to herself before she reached for Edgar's hand to apparate him over to St. Mungo's with her when he had done it before her. It phased Kalani for just a second, as if she was somewhat offended before she realized how rude she had been to him in the past and remembered that she would have given up eons ago on a person like her; sometimes if felt like she actually had given up on herself.

With a delayed pop and a cringe, Kalani landed in St. Mungo's, with knees rattling from both the apparation and fear of hospitals; a deep seeded from some event that she could not remember and likely never would. Perhaps it was her fear Kalani let her hand fall beside Edgar's, hoping that he hold it but as he walked forward their hands simply brushed each others. Get yourself together, Lani! she thought as she followed him to reception and then walked beside him following a nurse before stopping at the door with him. Kalani knew that the last thing her mother would have wanted was a stranger in the room when she was about to give birth so she was somewhat relieved when he had the same thoughts although the howling coming from the room made her wish that she didn't have to go in for at least a moment. She turned to him, her cheeks suddenly warm from their hands touching, and she kissed his cheek. "No, it's fine. How about you go get us some of coffee from the cafeteria and I'll meet you in the waiting room?" she suggested before traipsing into the room. Immediately she saw her mother laying on a bed clutching her stomach as Tamas pet her hair and her aunt cringed. For a moment she stayed still and when her mother had relaxed the ballerina walked forward and kissed her mother on the cheek and put a hand on her stomach and said playfully, "Don't you break Dad's hand now," not noticing the beaming grin on his face when she had called him 'dad'. As she stood back she asked with a smile, "Is there anything I can get you?" She knew that this would be very painful so she wanted to help her mother out as much as possible.​

 

[Frances Mauven]

A commotion seemed to be stirring up in the room as more of Frances' family were arriving to witness the birth of her new child. It was a little daunting to the woman, as far as she remembered birth was not the beautiful experience that everybody made it out to be. Though as the labour pains continued, Frances became less and less concerned with her surroundings and more concerned with getting that blasted baby out of her stomach. When her first daughter arrived to see her she began to wonder where Riley might be, she would be giving birth to her own child in only a few months and seeing a live birth would have hopefully been the eye opener that it was not as easy as she might have thought. Lately, her eighteen year old daughter had been acting as though she was going to enter the hospital, have the baby and come straight home, then return to her normal working life. Frances hadn't dared fight any more with her so had left her to figure it out on her own. A light hearted, yet sweat laiden chuckle escaped the woman's lips as Lani warned her not to break Tamas' hand. She was holding onto it rather tightly, though she had decided that if she could go through the pain of giving birth to their child, a little crushing of his hand wouldn't be so bad. At last a healer had arrived to the room and after checking her belly and asking about the time between her contractions, it seemed that Frances was ready to push. It was a daunting thing to be told, and it wasn't so reassuring to see the look on Frida's face as she stood by her sister's legs. "Are you sure it's going to fit out of there? Because I'm having serious doubts," Frida mumbled to the healer as a scream of pain came from Frances. She grabbed Lani's hand with hers that was spare, and with her hands now held by her daughter and husband, she pushed.

"Is there any other way you can get it out?" Frida asked, turning around after expressing that she couldn't stand to watch any more. Frances had brushed off the questions the healer had posed as to why she had not attended regular check ups throughout the pregnancy. She did not want to get into the way she felt about the place, and had had plenty of nagging from her family members in the last few months. But the importance of this had not yet been made aware to Frances as her husband dabbed at her forehead, removing the sweat as quite some time later she gave birth to their child. Her head fell back against the pillow, her golden locks spreading around her head. She smiled at Tamas as the short amount of silence was followed by their child's cries. It was a girl, a beautiful dark haired baby girl. She was the spitting image of her father, unlike both Riley and Kalani who looked exactly like their mother with their cheek bones and blonde hair. "She is gorgeous." Frances said, kissing her husband on the cheek as he was handed their tiny daughter. Though the moment seemed to be short lived as the healer asked Frances if she was ready to start pushing again. The mother looked quizzicaly back at the healer, as she mentioned another baby, it seemed impossible to Frances that she could not have noticed that she was carrying twins once more. "The healer said that both heart beats were healthy," Frances said, turning to Tamas as she recalled her only check up at Saint Mungo's. "I thought, I'm glad of that, because I'm carrying a baby so my heart beat needs to be strong." looking up at her husband and daughter she nodded to the healer, she was having twins. Once the second birth was over, The Mauvens were parents to two girls, each with their father's olivey skin and dark hair. Frances and Tamas held a baby each as they were doted over by their family members.

Frances felt more blessed than she ever had before. She was now the mother of five beautiful daughters. Never had she thought that at her age she could have started over, and been given the life that she had wished for during her struggle as a single mother to both Riley and Kalani. She held her newest daughter in her arms and gently stroked her cheek, then the crown of her head as the spectators she liked to call her family left the room so that mother could feed her babies in peace. Frances could hardly believe that in just one day she had changed so much, and that she had gained not one but two daughters, more than she had ever prepared for. Gingerly switching the two babies with her husband, Frances took her second daughter in her arms and kissed her lightly on the forehead, taking in the all too intoxicating smell of the newborn baby. "I love you" she whispered to not only Tamas, but their twin daughters too.

 

[Tamas Mauven]

As Frannie's family piled in and Simone did not, Tamas did not even have time to feel the bitter sting of rejection from the girl he took into his home when she was eleven and had no where else to go. Perhaps when the contents of his stomach wasn't threatening to boil over and spew out everywhere from the anxiety of being a father for the first time Tamas would acknowledge this but not now. Instead he furrowed his brows in thought, only absently answering the Healers questions for Frances, the woman he had married only months before this. Yes, Tamas had wanted a family but now he severely doubted his skills as a father because everyone said it was natural and that you would have a great sense of intuition and just know what to do but as the man looked back on his childhood he didn't have the best of examples set for him and flinched when he imagined his baby like that but still knowing that there were rules that his children would have to abide by. Apparently the Mauven name could not be shamed and the rules were many but out of fear he had not told Frances about what their child would most likely be subjugated to and how each summer after their nineth birthday they must spend time with their grandfather as Tamas had with his own to learn the tricks of the trade and what it meant to be a part of a bloodline as regal as his own. To Tamas it was ridiculous and he knew that he would have to instill some sort of understanding into their child that whatever his father said was practically gibberish and was to be taken with a grain of salt. Tamas only hoped that Frances would understand that this was non-negotiable and that if they had a male child he would be made to kill before his nineteenth birthday or be killed himself. It was not something that Tamas took pride in but at the time one life was nothing to him but now that he thought back on it he cringed as he remembered seeing the life escape the persons eyes and their name lost somewhere in his memory. The man did not want to go to Azkaban so he stayed silent and worked hard as a penance to his crime against an innocent person who may have had a family as wonderful as his own budding one. Yes, with all this in his mind Tamas was not able to focus on the fact that Simone was not here to see her adoptive siblings on their first hours.

The Tamas stopped speaking and just clutched Frances' hand back, not nearly as tightly but still quite a strong hold, and sat in silence just trying to sooth Frances after every labour pain until the healer said that they would be parents in a matter of minutes after the several hours wait. The man's stomach flipped and he stroked Frances' hair away from her face with a damp cloth as she went through more pain. And all too soon everyone but healers and the two parents were left in the room with Tamas cringing as he caught a glance of the whole process in a way that a person was never meant to, speaking without realizing it, "Frannie! Merlin, how are you doing this?" A glare in his direction was all he needed to step back by her side and return his hand to hers so she could clench it and break bones which he felt but after seeing the 'miracle of birth' he didn't feel that he had a right to complain about the ache in his hand which could be fixed in a moment.

And then the cries of Frannie's pain weren't the only ones and the man eagerly looked down and smiled contentedly as he saw a bundle of pink blankets being walked their way. Tamas had expected the little girl to be handed to Frances but as he held her in his arms the man looked down to his daughter and he suddenly felt the world collapse around him as he looked into his daughter's deep brown eyes and even if she may have looked most like him, he saw Frances and adored that they were mixed together in this one little person. He looked over to Frances briefly and nodded his head softly but he became distracted when a Healer said that she would have to push again. A surprise of the sex of their child was one thing but not knowing that there were multiple children was another so she shot Frannie a questioning look and she was as bewildered as he so she pushed once more and again another little girl with a patch of brown hair atop her gentle head. "They're perfect," he said softly with an anxious chuckle as his word trailed off, making it clear that he was afraid to break the perfection of his little girls because of traditions in his family or his inexperience with newborns.

Tamas leaned down and kissed Frances on the cheek, lingering for a long moment before looking down at their daughters and realizing, "They still need names." He smiled as he looked down at his daughter and spoke in the accent he worked hard to hide, "Wendla. What do you think of Wendla?" He looked down at his little girl who gurgled at the sound of the name 'Wendla' as if it was some sort of answer to his question which he had been asking Frances. With that it had been decided Wendla Gretchen and Gwendolyn Tabitha were the newest members to the Mauven family.​

 

[Edgar Kane]

As Edgar watched Kalani slip into the birthing room there was nothing much he could do other than what she suggested. He felt as though if he stayed outside the door too long he would look suspicious, afterall he was the only one who wasn't in the room to watch the main event. Instead, he had a seat on the sidelines, but to Edgar it was still worth it, just to let Lani know that he was here for her because he felt he needed to stress those feelings more. Pushing himself up from against the hospital wall, the muscular young man threw his jacket over his arm and walked along the hall before apparating with a pop. He shook his head as his feet arrived on the cobbled grounds of his home town in Scotland, where he had attended Hogwarts just a year ago. If he was going to get coffee, he had decided he may as well get the best. His siblings had eached served their time as waitresses and waitors in the small coffee shop during their ascent into adulthood, and all Edgar's teenaged years he had known of it and longed to be old enough and sophisticated enough to sip their famous brew. Now, here he was ordering two cups to go, barely taking in the coffee bean aroma before turning an empty corner and arriving back at St. Mungo's with a slight ringing in his ears. The nineteen year old made his way back to the door he had been leaning against, he felt too awkward to sit in waiting room watching healers distribute various potions to the ailed witches and wizards. Sinking down onto the ground, Edgar sat on the floor and leant against the wall, bringing his knees up as he cradled the paper coffee cup in his hands. Taking a sip, he noticed the door next to him open, and amidst the screams he saw Lani's legs and shoes step through the door frame.

He thought of stroking those legs, he had often admired them, pale and slender as they danced around him. When he and Kalani danced he almost thought she was ethereal, but he was smart enough to know that the steps had been rehearsed for hours and backed up by grueling exercise and stretches each day. The concert was growing nearer, though Edgar did not find himself worrying over steps or lifts that he had to perform, no. What concerned him now was the beautiful young woman who took the spot next to him on the floor, and the extra cup of coffee. "Not as beautiful as they make it out to be, is it?" he joked, Kalani would know what he meant as the muffled noises of childbirth could be heard from where they sat. Edgar took another sip and looked straight ahead, he couldn't bring himself to look Lani in the eye, because as much as he wanted to hold his feelings in, he knew at that moment what he had wanted to say was going to spill from his reluctant lips. "What is this?" he began simply as he played nervously with the label on his coffee, picking at it with such concentration. "What we have, my feelings, we're more than just friends aren't we? I want to commit to you." the young man didn't know the seriousness of the word commit, and what it meant to the girl he so longed to love, but soon he would know. He thought that perhaps the reason he had spilled his feelings all over the St Mungo's hallway had something to do with his older sisters. Maybe it had everything to do with the fact that as a child he had grown up being kissed by his mother and sisters when Oliver had pushed him from his trike, or when a girl had broken his heart at age nine. Though the more edgar thought of it, the more he began to think that it could have had nothing to do with any of this. He was an open person, but Kalani seemed determined to keep her feelings locked inside of her.

It had crushed the ballerino when he had discovered her trying to sneak out of his apartment after spending the night with him, and it seemed to weight his heart down each time he danced with her. Was Kalani the black swan, the way she toyed with his heart? Though he knew the answer, she was the white swan, she was beautiful, light, graceful and when they danced he felt it. But his companion had secrets he didn't know of, in certain lights, like the flicker of the hospital he would see another side of her, see his Odile. ​

 

[Kalani Mauven]

Kalani knew that, in theory, birth was going to be disgusting and it would hurt her ears to stand by her mother but when it was time for everything to begin it was clear she hadn't grasped how strange this all was going to be. Almost immediately Kalani's face went completely pale and she felt sick so quickly after her Auntie had left Kalani followed glancing over at Tamas with a look of pity because he could not leave and return once the mess of childbirth was over. The blonde could not wait to go to the waiting room to sit with Edgar but then she realized that if he spoke with her - really spoke with her - she could not run away like the scared child she had been every other time. And it was clear that as she glanced down at him with the gentlest of smiles that this was what he had planned. But she didn't dare bite the bullet and start the conversation herself, instead she sat beside him on the ground and took the coffee graciously before chuckling shakily, "It makes you wonder why women have babies at all." It was almost ironic that Kalani had said this because when she was a little girl there had been only two things she wanted - the first to be a world renown prima ballerina and the second to be a mother. What she hadn't known at the time was that the two could hardly coincide because being a ballerina meant total dedication and forgetting any relationships outside of the close knit one with your partner who possibly knew your body better than you knew your own and having children depended on forming at least one relationship. One simply had to make their decision. The Mauven twins had made theirs. Riley with relationships and Kalani with her art - not that she wished to be pregnant at eighteen. But Kalani was frightfully virginal so she needn't worry about being in her twin sister's position. Edgar didn't know it (or Kalani just hadn't told him) but she was thankful he had turned her down when she had drunkenly tried to bed him. The thin-legged ballerina brought her knees up to her chest on instinct as this crossed her mind, mirroring Edgar's position on the floor with her pink lips touching the rim of the styrofoam cup to judge if the coffee was hot enough as to burn her tongue.

It wasn't long after Kalani had taken her first sip of the coffee, which was by far one of the best coffees she had to date, that Edgar had sheepishly asked her what she had known he wanted to the morning she had been caught sneaking away from him. The girl glanced over to him about to avoid the true meaning of his words by answering cheekily 'Why that's a label, Edgar' but he continued and emphasizing a word that made her cringe on the best of days. There was a long pause between Edgar's words and her own when Kalani drank from the coffee trying to compose herself in front of Edgar, as well as trying to muster up some bravery. It would take a whole lot of it to tell Edgar this truth. "I care deeply for you," she finally answered looking away from him as she said this to try to hide the extent at which she really did. There was another long pause in their conversation when Kalani starred, fixated on a flickering light in the corridor to the right before she returned her gaze to her Siegfried's. "I just... I just can't do it," she said weakly referencing the word commit but not saying so and just hoping that Edgar didn't take offence to this.

This was not the first time that Kalani felt like a frightened, foolish child in front of Edgar and if she was being honest she was getting quite fed up with it. She wanted nothing more than to be that confident young woman she portrayed but she simply was not and never had been but companies did not want a weak leading lady, they wanted a strong, healthy, sound of mind and body girl to play their roles so she tucked it all away. But as she looked into Edgar's eyes she knew he could tell it was more than just not being ready for a relationship and he would persist until she told him. "Men have never been people I could depend on," she finally answered wincing as she thought of her biological father and how before he had even known her as a person had decided that she was not worthy of his affection. To say Kalani had 'daddy issues' was an understatement but Edgar didn't quite know how much of one it was... yet.​

 

[Edgar Kane]

Edgar shifted awkwardly in his spot when Kalani questioned why women bothered with children. He felt a slight pang in his heart when she said it, because secretly he had longed for Kalani to have his babies. Not that he would ever admit this, he didn't want to come off as a thirteen year old girl. So he shook it off, they were not even dating, let alone married and thinking of children. But he did think of them that way, he thought maybe it was a little silly for him to think of this since he was a guy. But Edgar Kane was the kind of guy who had had his dream wedding planned out since he was seven. In a completly heterosexual way of course. Being with Kalani's mother whilst she was giving birth and knowing the circumstances that had befallen Riley, Edgar could not help but thank the heavens that he had been raised right to respect women, if he had not denied her drunk advances all that time ago they could have found themselves in the same predicament as Will and Riley, something which frightened him so much that he did not even want to think about it. He noticed Lani mimick his position on the ground and realised this was quite a serious conversation for them to be having in St Mungo's in the hall where everyone could see and hear them. But as Kalani started to open up to him Edgar realised that he couldn't have cared less where they were, his heart wanted to sing that she felt as thought she could talk to him. He wanted her to trust him more than anything, but if recent events were anything to go by he would need to earn it, which was what he vowed to himself to do. Edgar turned his head to face Kalani, even if she wasn't looking at him and opened his mouth to speak. But for that moment he did not know what to say.

He took her words in, but knew that she was looking away from him because she felt weak. When they had first met they had called eachother names and made fun of eachother, he had never thought he would be the one who would make her weak, the one she broke down around like she had when she had admitted that Riley was pregnant. Putting down his coffe cup Edgar attempted to speak again, he wanted to be completely open with Lani because he knew this conversation could make or break their relationship. "Have I ever done anything to hurt you in the past?" he began, feeling his palms growing sweaty. He was usually so cool and collected around women, but Lani made him so nervous. "There's no buts, you know I would never hurt you because I'm Edgar. And you're Lani," he uttered, tilting his head so that she was forced to look him in the eye as he said her name, "and I like you a lot." he finished, feeling a weight drop from his chest, he felt as though he was finally airing his feelings for her. Sitting on the floor brought Edgar back to the first time he had kissed Kalani, and he wanted nothing more than to touch her lips again, but right now he could see that they had things to talk about in order to begin to understand eachother. Edgar took Kalani's hand in his and gave her a knowing look. He wanted her to elaborate on why she felt she could not tursy men, and he knew that she would know this by the look in his eyes. ​

 

[Kalani Mauven]

Kalani's gaze flickered over to Edgar's when she heard the faint sound of the cup touching the floor before looking away from him once more and taking a long drink from hers but stopped when he asked her if he had ever hurt her before and she was quick to object, "No but-" But her partner interjected and she looked into his eyes as he said that he would never hurt her and shared his feelings. In spite of herself this made the ballerina want to embrace Edgar because she felt the same way despite her deep-seeded trust issues. However, Edgar's confession was not the only one that was necessary because in the man's eyes Kalani saw that he wished her to tell him the whole truth. She looked down to her hand that was in his and gave a weak smile before forcing them together in thought before she spluttered before she lost her nerve, "My father." The girl looked over to the door where just inside her mother and Tamas were having their first child together and furrowed her brow as she tried to say this in a way that wouldn't make it so clear to Edgar that she was so much weaker than she seemed. These feelings were nothing new to the girl but she'd never shared them to anyone but a journal and once to her mother on Father's Day when she had gotten in trouble for hexing another girl who's father was one of her many professors.

"He left and didn't even care to meet me before he decided Riley and I weren't worth knowing," Kalani mumbled quietly, "If I can't trust my father... How can I trust you?" She looked into his eyes, expecting him to leave because she had revealed so much of herself to him in a matter of moments. Kalani had showed Edgar the inner workings of her mind and the wounds that had gotten worse over time since she had known him with the exception of moments when she was at her best but more often than not it was truths about herself, it was her weaknesses that she told and yet she still knew so little of him. Yes, she knew almost every inch of his body as he did hers and yet Kalani knew only the bare minimum of his personality while he got every inch of her's. It made her wonder what was so 'special' about him because no one else had this job of listening to her vent and watch her cry and hold her tight when she was too stubborn to admit that this was all she needed. "You know so much about me but I feel as if I know nothing about you," she accused to try to turn the attention from her to him because it was suffocating to be this weak like a little doll. When the girl was young she had decided that no one would hurt her again and it became that the only way to avoid it was to be numb, to avoid big topics but with Edgar it was all but impossible. Perhaps it was because they saw her everyday or because he demanded honesty from her. Or perhaps there was a third option that made her have a great deal of nausea whenever she mused it because she knew that after love came a great deal of pain. This was why Kalani's relationships were nothing more than fun and lasted until the fun was over making her longest lasting relationship three months. It lead people to think of her as promiscuous but the girl was anything but as Edgar Kane knew very well. And so she waited for some reason for her to let down her walls completely as she looked into his eyes.​

 

[Edgar Kane]

Edgar gave Kalani a nod as she mentioned her father. It was something he had never asked her about, he knew that Tamas was not her father by blood but he had not wanted to pry with questions as it could have been a touchy subject for her, and it turned out that it was. He listened intently to the young woman's strained words and there was one thing that remained on his mind. Edgar Kane wanted to find this man and make him face up to the pain that he had caused his beautiful daughters and their mother. Edgar was aware that Kalani's mother had given birth to her when she was only seventeen years old, which made Edgar feel even more bitter towards the man that had abandoned the three beautiful women. He knew that when he was seventeen that he would not have been prepared to have a baby, let alone two, but he knew when it came down to it that it was a man's duty to care for his women and children, something that Kalani's father should have done. Now, because of this man, Kalani felt as though she could not commit to Edgar. This made the eighteen year old want to track her father down, make him realise how his walking out effected the Alexandras. But it was their business, not his, so he knew it was not his place to become involved. Edgar had never had a serious relationship, because he had never been able to admit to himself that the girl he was dating was 'the one' but sitting next to Kalani and holding her hand sent tingles through his arm, he knew it the minute they had kissed or even before that, she was the one. He wanted to be her boyfriend, he wanted to kiss her whenever he wanted, he wanted to surprise her with gifts and hold her each time she cried. Dancing with her each day was not enough anymore, for Edgar lusted after her, more than that. He loved her.

When Lani asked him how she could trust him he felt as though she had stabbed him in the chest. He had done all he could to prove that he was trustworthy when he had looked after her those two nights, denied her drunken advances and even given her his own bed. Though he had to put this past him, it was another man's fault that she had trust issues, he needed to tell himself that he had done nothing wrong, it was not his own fault. This was a hard thing to do, but Edgar continued to listen, as hard as it was to hear her words, he knew he was hearing the truth. She had bared her heart and soul, and she was right in saying that he knew more about her than she did he. But if he made her his girlfriend they would have time ahead of them to grow to know everything about oneanother. "You know that I love you, isn't that enough right now?" he responded to her question with another question, though he intended it to be rhetorical, because he believed it was enough for them to start a solid relationship on. He moved closer to her, so that their shoulders were now touching and he almost jumped when Frances' cries ceased and were continued by a newborn baby, Kalani's new brother or sister. "We can learn as we go." he stated, referring to the rules of relationships and trust. He wanted nothing more than to restore her faith in men, he vowed to himself to do so. Hearing the cries of the newborn in the room behind him made him feel happy, it was supposed to be a joyous occasion and he was grateful to have shared it with Kalani and her family. Turning his head to her he smiled, a little cheekily, "Can I kiss you?" he asked, wanting her trust. He imagined Tamas and Frances would be sharing a kiss at this joyous occasion, and he wanted the same for himself and Lani. ​

 

[Kalani Mauven]

Kalani had been expecting Edgar to stand up and leave without saying another word or at the very least share something personal about himself. Instead he blew his expectations of him out of the water as he did nearly every time they were together. He told her that he loved her. The blonde stammered and the palms of her graceful hands started to sweat noticeably. The only time she'd heard these words directed to her from a boy it was from a pathetic one who said the same thing to every girl, changing girls after every rejection which were quite frequent. It was clear to anyone with common sense that he was just hoping to get lucky and normally he was pitied into a polite rejection but there were girls like Lani who had laughed. The fact that this was what the acne-ridden boy thought that she would want from a relationship amused her to almost no end. It lead to people believing she was a lesbian just as Kalani had thought Edgar was gay. At one point the girl had even thought she might be because of the obvious distance between her and the male sex but after reflecting on her decisions and parts of her personality she discovered that the abandonment from her father not only left her fatherless but mistrusting of men in general. This was why she felt the great need to run away when she looked into Edgar's eyes with disbelief because to her love was fiction as it would only lead to pain which Kalani never wanted. But here was Edgar Kane, defying everything she wanted for herself because of his unbelievingly stubborn personality. And yet this did not mean that she could return the words but if he looked deep enough into her hazel eyes he would see the feelings were there but hidden by her wall and the greatest amount of confusion.

Kalani felt quite sour because she couldn't return Edgar's words but she nodded her head slowly as he said they would learn as time went on. Like all things, the ballerina guessed, you did learn as you went but she wondered if she could learn to trust. If that was possible at all she hoped that Edgar would still be around when she did so as he asked if he could kiss her, Kalani smiled softly and leaned in to touch her lips to his. As they kissed she couldn't help but smile at the realization that she and Edgar were actually together instead of the strange relationship they had due to her avoidance but as she pulled away she said, "You're a jerk, do you know that?" She kissed his cheek softly to let him know that she didn't actually believe him to be a jerk and that it was only because he had forced her to be as honest as she was ready to be with her feelings.

It wasn't long after Kalani had accepted that she and Edgar would be in a relationship when a pile of healers left her mother's room and she looked over to Edgar and said softly, "Come with me." She kissed his lips gently as if trying to convince him to go into the room with her when she first saw her little brother or sister because she didn't think her mother would really mind as she would simply be too enamoured with her new baby to notice and even if she did Kalani wasn't going to hide it from her mother. Aside from Edgar the woman knew her the best so why shouldn't Kalani share this with her, it wasn't as if Edgar would do or say anything outside of the social cues.​

 

[Riley Mauven]

Today had been one of the hardest for Riley. She had attended a Quidditch game featuring her own team, the Holyhead Harpies and they had lost. Since the eighteen year old had taken 'injury' leave from the team she could feel the tension building between the members. Shortly after she had left Keira Potter had left to have a child, and Riley could tell that the other members of the team blamed the pregnancies for their poor performances as of late. It pained Riley more than anything to watch the seeker that had replaced her play so terribly, all she wanted to do was pull off her sweater that concealed her baby bump and jump on the field, take care of business for herself. But the fact that her coach had lied for her and told the media she was on injury leave meant that even showing up to watch a game was risking them finding out and putting her reputation on the line. Each day her boyfriend Will trained with his Quidditch team and it left the eighteen year old sick with jealously. They were in this mess together, yet because she was carrying the child it meant that it was her career that had to be put on hold. Never had Riley understood why her mother had so intensely preached safe sex until now. Until she realised that her mother had been right, teenage pregnancy could make or break you, and it certainly changed everything. It was a sheer miracle that the Quidditch magazines had not found out she was carrying Will's child, two players procreating? It screamed front page headline. After attending the game the eighteen year old had been certain that the scarf around her head and the dark glasses had concealed her identity well enough, but she had been confronted by her friend Jennifer, something she hadn't counted on was how greatly her pregnancy would effect her friends and family. Jenn had yelled at her, blamed her and her 'horny blonde boyfriend' for the team's losses and stated that if Riley had never gotten pregnant, the team would not have lost. She had wanted to fight back so badly, but protecting her honor was the last thing on her mind, so she had left the feild to Will's apartment hoping that somehow the media hadn't overheard Jenn's rant, though deep down knowing that the next morning she would awake to the Quidditch headline 'Riley Mauven pregnant' in large bold print.

Not only would such a headline hurt her chances at ever returning to Quidditch it could cause problems for Will too, who was actually succeeding in his matches and overall career. Riley wanted to scream, at herself for not listening to her mother, at Will for failing to use protection, at her friends for not accepting this. But she knew that yelling was not going to help anything, and before she had gotten the chance she had been called by Tamas to inform her that her mother was in fact giving birth as they spoke. For hours following the call Riley had stayed in her boyfriends apartment, lying on his bed and breathing in the scent of his pillow, the scent of him, and hoping that he would soon be home to touch her belly protectively and tell her that this would all blow over. Feeling sorry for herself soon wore thin though, and so she made it to Saint Mungo's, holding her belly as she reached her mother's door and heard the family inside, all cooing over the fresh miracle of life. Throughout her own pregnancy the young woman had tried not to think about the fact that she was going to have to somehow get the baby out of her at some point. It seemed like no matter whether she was nearing her term or not, that the end of the nine months war far away, that she did not need to think about it just yet. But pushing the door open and seeing her mother dripping with sweat, and holding not one, but two pink bundles brought a flood of realisation crashing into Riley, that baby had to come out of her, just as her two new step sister had come out of her mother somehow. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Riley said as she stepped towards her mother, a nervous chuckle being the tell tale sign that she was beginning to worry about whether or not she would succeed in giving birth to her own child. There were so many things that she hadn't thought about, like how big was Will's head? What if their child was the size of a watermelon and she just had to stay stuck up in her womb. How long could you keep the baby in there? Stepping across the room, Riley took a spot next to her twin sister and a young man that she seemed to recognise from the Graduation party. She raised an eyebrow towards her sister, but did not expect a response to this facial expression as Kalani was surely still mad at her for getting pregnant in the first place.

In any case, this was her mother's time to shine, Tamas' time to shine. She did not want to detract from this again like she had when her parent had attempted to announce the conception of the twins in the first place. "Twins again mom!" Riley commented, trying to make it seem as though this family interaction was not forced at all, "What are their names?" she asked sincerely, her mother and Tamas would have been surprised to find that she had been carrying twins, no wonder Frances had had such a healthy appetite lately. Releasing one hand from the protective position on her belly, Riley moved in towards her mother and with her free hand placed it on her head and kissed her forehead gently, it was the only way she could think to congratulate her and also she hoped Frances would realise how sorry she was for being such a failure in her eyes, for making the same mistake she had when she had gotten pregnant with Riley and Kalani. ​

 

[Frances Mauven]

Now that she was holding both of her daughters in her arms Frannie wondered what she had to be afraid of in the first place. This was not like the birth of Riley and Lani, this time around she had family supporting her and she was happily married to the one man that made her feel completely safe. Looking into Wendla and Gwendolyn's eyes she knew she had given them a gift on this day, the gift of a father. She and Tamas were together and she knew that this was how it was going to say. To this day Frances could not forgive herself for what she had done to Riley and Kalani when she had lied to their father. She would never forgive herself, because who knew? Perhaps if they had had a solid father figure in their lives her daughter would not be becoming a mother at the age of eighteen? She knew truly it was not her fault, that Will and Riley were teenagers and that the pregnancy was a mistake that she could not have stopped, she could not have known about it. But her heart ached to know that her daughter was going to go through what she had when she was seventeen. For now she had her family surrounding her, and this was enough to calm her and almost to wipe the memory of her eldest daughters' father from her mind. Looking over at Kalani she smiled, she was beautiful, intelligent and talented, things she never thought her daughter could become when she had raised her on such a tight budget and without the help of her parents or a husband. She smiled contentedly and Wendla gurgled beneath the bundle of pink blankets, "Would you like to hold one?" Frannie asked gently of her daughter Lani. For now she ignored the fact that a strange young man was in the room with her, she was too tired and overwhelmed to bother to pin him down and make sure he was not going to impregnate her second daughter. Instead she handed one bundle to the short haired blonde who was the spitting image of her as a teenager and watched the sisters begin to bond for the first time.

"Hi baby," she cooed as she held Gwendolyn in both arms now, she gently stroked the small tuft of brunette hair on her head, she looked so much like her father, "Hi," she whispered again, as if if she introduced herself enough times the newborn would understand she was her mother and she meant everything to her. Just as the thought of Riley having a child of her own soon enough crossed the mother's mind, there her daughter was, boasting her baby bump as she entered the room and noticed her two new sisters. The kiss that she received on her forehead seemed to be apologetic, and Frannie could do nothing but accept it for her own mother had disowned her when she had been pregnant with Riley and Kalani, and she knew that she could not do the same to her own daughter. Instead for now she had to stand by her and let her know that she was frustrated, angry, hurt, but that she would still support her as family were the only people who's love you would always have through thick and thin. A chuckle escaped Frannie's lips as she reached for her husband's hand, she hoped he would laugh with her at Riley's comment on child birth and how it could not be as bad as all women made it out to be. She would find out for herself soon enough, she only hoped her daughter would not hate her for not forewarning her of the pains of child bearing. Keeping a grip on Tamas' hand, Frances shifted over on her bed and made space for her husband to take a seat next to her and their daughter, and when he did she leant her head against his shoulder, silently praying for all that today had blessed her for, even though she was not so religious at all. She wished that every day of the rest of her life could be like this, because truly how could one feel safer than she did now? Surrounded by one's closest family, surrounded by love and certainty. Family was what she had always longed for and now she had that, and more. More than she could have ever imagined she deserved.

Before long, the Mauvens and the Alexandras began to leave the room, one by one they did so until it was only husband, wife and their two newborns left in the silence. Slowly steadying her tired body, Frances Maeve slid out of her bed and placed a kiss on Gwendolyn's forehead before placing her in her hospital cot next to that of her sister Wendla's, who was now fast asleep, her chest rising and falling almost in synch with her mothers. She would protect these daughters with all she had, and give them the life that her first two daughters had deserved, but she had not been able to give them. She vowed this as she watched them, "Sweet Dreams" she whispered as she leant on the cots. Returning to her bed she held her husband's face in her palms and kissed his forehead gently, then his lips more passionately before letting her tired head hit the pillow, "Thank you" she whispered as she closed her eyes and fell into an exhausted slumber, and she meant it, for everything. ​

 

[Tamas Mauven]

Tamas bore a large smile as Kalani walked in to the hospital room, noting the boy but not giving him a deep glare because on this occasion, when he held his newborn little girl he couldn't bring himself to be threatening and he knew that his daughters couldn't experience such darkness around them within the first ten minutes of their life. Instead all the man felt as he watched his wife introduce their daughters to one another was adoration and relief. As much as Tamas knew he would be proud to have had a son he knew it was safer, that if he kept this part of his life from Frannie all would be well but this was merrily pushed from the foreground of his mind as he touched his lips to the sweaty brow of his wife and carefully passed her Gwendolyn. No sooner had this happened when Riley had come through the door and for a moment he had hoped it was Simone because even if she was not truly his daughter he wanted her to be apart of this strange family that he and Frannie had built together. Instead he simply chortled tiredly before sitting down beside the blonde woman and wrapping an arm around her shoulder as the other hand gently cradled their babies head by holding Frannie's hand as she did so herself.

"This is Gwendolyn Tabitha and Kalani is holding Wendla Gretchen," Tamas answered with great pride, already knowing his two children would lead great lives and be strong, smart young women because they had a wonderful role model in their mother despite the shame she knew she felt for being such a young mother originally. As much as Riley's pregnant belly said otherwise Frances had been a wonderful mother to the two blonde twins who slowly filed out of the room with the nameless young man. He was grateful, truly grateful, that he was exploring fatherhood with a woman who could teach him all he might need to know from changing diapers to feedings that he would no doubt be giving at obscene hours in the night to give this woman the sleep she would so desperately need. Even now he felt her exhaustion so as the two newborns were put into the cot supplied by the hospital he kissed the knuckles from her hand and responded to her gratitude with his own, "I love you, Frannie." He was thankful that someone loved him enough to have not just one child with him but two. Someone who would spend their life messing up these children in new and exciting ways but loving them wholeheartedly. As his wife fell into a much needed sleep Tamas walked over to the cot and softly held a hand of each of the little girls while humming a soft lullaby that he remembered his mother had sung to Nusa when she was a baby. At least before his mother had been murdered. He knew that his mother would have loved to meet these two little girls and would have helped him protect his kin from Nikolai Mauven but for now he hoped that nothing would go wrong, that they would stay these perfectly innocent, beautiful creatures that they were.​