“You’re here!” Adeline exclaimed, clasping her hands in joy. She heard clothes being ripped and turned around in time to see Elios and Adelia had escaped through the shirt.

Before either parents could say something, Elios dashed towards Weston and Lydia’s daughter and son.

“Layla, Wesleyan, let’s play, let’s play!” Elios demanded, grabbing his close friends by their hands.

Instantly, Layla hesitated and hid behind her father’s legs, holding tightly onto him. Her red eyes flickered to Weston, her midnight black hair reaching past her shoulders. She resembled neither Weston nor Lydia, her adoption evident, but she did resemble her brother, who had also been adopted.

“It’s alright, Layla,” Weston gently said, patting the back of her head with a reassuring smile. 

Layla always clung to him. She was shy to Elios, despite growing up with him. She was two years old when she joined Weston and Lydia, making her four this year. Months after the wedding, Weston and Lydia had adopted a pair of siblings with a traumatic childhood from a pair of parents that didn’t bother giving them proper names

“Elios will play house with you, won’t he?” Weston added on, glancing at the Crown Prince of Wraith. The little Prince’s eyes went wide, his mouth gaping in disbelief.

“N-no, I want to play police and robbers—” 

“Elios will play house,” Adelia interrupted, shoving her older brother aside and shooting him a glare. Layla was evidently younger than them, and she was too frightened by loud noises to play such a tedious game.

At the mention of “house,” Layla’s eyes shimmered and she looked towards Adelia, admiration flickering in her red eyes.

“I want to play house as well,” Wesleyan said, stepping forward to grab his younger sister’s hand. Ever so protective, he stood in front of Layla and shielded her from Elios’s view.

“Alright, I’ll play the husband, and Layla will be my wife then,” Elios immediately stated, stepping forward, his attention instantly latching onto the timid Layla.

Wesleyan narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening on Layla. 

“Is this a childhood friend to lovers arc I smell?” Lydia snickered, ruffling her son’s hair to ease the tension. But Wesleyan’s dark glower was still directed towards Elios. 

Elios didn’t back down, his gaze growing as frigid as his father. He took a dangerous step closer, testing the boundaries.

“Why can’t I be the husband?” Elios shot out, even though no one had denied him the privilege.

“Because you’d make a horrible husband,” Adelia snorted, shoving him aside. “Why do we have to play parent house? Why can’t we play a different kind?”

Wesleyan let out a small sigh at her words, his faze softening a bit at Adelia’s determined expression.

“Addy, how great would it be if one of your children got married?” Lydia gushed, looping her arms around Adeline as they took a seat by the couch.

“We could be in-laws!” Lydia added on, ignoring Weston’s troubled expression, Elias’s glare, and the children’s bewilderment.

“But I don’t want to marry Elios…” Layla finally said, her voice coming out in a timid whisper. When she met Elios’s surprised stare, she hid her face. She hugged her father’s big thigh, and tightly clung onto him.

“Then Wesleyan can marry Adelia,” Lydia teased, her heart squeezing when she saw Weston bent down to pick up Layla. 

“No one is getting married,” Weston announced, much to Layla’s relief, and Wesleyan’s disappointment.

Layla nodded at his words, burying her face into his neck. She felt the safest in his arms. Her father had pampered her dearly and it reflected on how much she clung onto him.

“Ah, you shouldn’t say that, my bookworm, look at Wesleyan’s gloomy expression,” Lydia laughed, her son’s face turning bright red. 

“Would you like to marry Adelia, Wes?” Weston softly chuckled, glancing down to see his son was looking at anywhere but their eyes. “If you do, say it now, and I’ll help you.”

Weston could never say no to any of these children. It was in his nature to spoil them with everything in the world. There was not a single thing they lacked. He made sure of it.

“Over my dead body,” Elias said under his breath, leaning back on the couch, knowing nothing could ever get passed without his approval. He was relaxed, despite Adelia’s suddenly red face.

“But they’d make such a cute couple,” Adeline said to her husband, grinning up at him, her eyes sparkling at the idea of being in-laws with Weston and Lydia.

“Ugh, if you’re talking about couples, then it’s the wrong time for me to enter,” Easton said, standing at the doorway. He heard the entire gang was here, and wanted to pop in for a few minutes.

Lately, Easton had been busy running from his aunt who was trying to matchmake him with any vampiress. He finally managed to sneak away from today’s blind-date, only to discover they were talking about relationships and marriage. 

What a bore.

“No one invited you in anyways,” Weston said, turning around, his grip tightening on Layla.

Instantly, Layla perked up more, reaching her hands forward. “Uncle Easton!”

Weston scowled, hugging his daughter even more. He hated how effortless Easton attracted children. Easton didn’t need a lot of effort to get children to like him. His bubbly nature, handsome face, and large smile was enough to convince young minds that he was a good person.

“My my, if it isn’t my favorite niece! I almost didn’t see you there,” Easton laughed, stepping into the room.

“Dad, put me down,” Layla said, staring into her father’s eyes.

Weston let out a sigh. He supposed he should be grateful that she wasn’t kicking her way out of his arms. He settled her onto the ground and watched as her tiny legs dashed towards Easton.

“Light as a feather,” Easton laughed, picking her up and swinging her around, earning a squeal from Layla.

“Did you nitpick at your food again?” Easton teased, carrying her with one arm and ignoring the irritated expression from Wesleyan and Weston.

“Only a bit, just the carrot, peas, broccoli, green peppers, the cucumbers and—”

“Basically her entire meal then!” Elios shouted, his eyes going wide. He spun to his father, who never let him nitpick at anything. He was jealous of Layla’s privilege, but when he met his father’s raised brows and stern expression, Elios turned back to his mother.

“If you eat your vegetables, you’ll grow up to be a big boy,” Adeline said. “And you’re the oldest, Elios, you have to set an example by cleaning your plate, right?”

Elios sulked to himself, begrudgingly nodding his head. 

“You don’t want to end up like your mother,” Elias snickered. “She doesn’t like to eat, and look at how tiny she is.”

Elias patted the top of Adeline’s head, earning a sharp slap at his hand. He laughed at her reaction, wrapping his arms around and pulling her close. Even when they were sitting down, she was shorter than him, her head barely reaching his shoulders. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, despite her elbowing.

“But she’s the perfect size for me to hug,” Elias said, resting his chin on top of her head, smiling at the envy in Elios and Adelia stare. They always wanted to be near their mother, except only one of them was good at voicing that.

Elias couldn’t understand why they didn’t cling onto him. He was such a good father! He teased them as any father should, made jokes, and provided everything for them. He was so great that he couldn’t understand why they stuck to their mother’s side like baby koalas.

“I want hugs too!” Elios complained, dashing up to the couch, only to see shadows creeping from underneath it. He yelped and stepped back, staring at his father as if he had been wronged.

“His Majesty used his abilities—”

“His Majesty always plays unfair,” Adelia said.

“It’s Papa,” Elias deadpanned.

“It’s His Majesty!” Elios exclaimed, knowing this was his way to get back at their teasing father. Then, he grabbed Adelia’s hand and began pulling her out of the room before there was a scolding.

“Let’s go, Adelia. Let’s play house!” Elios shouted as Adelia grabbed onto Wesleyan. 

Time seemed to stop for them as Wesleyan stared down at her hand in shock. Then, his pale face went pink as he bit on his bottom lips to suppress a smile. He allowed her to pull him, even though he had the strength to stop her. 

Seeing her brother leaving, Layla panicked. All she knew was him, her father, and her mother. If either of them wasn’t with her, she was terrified. 

“Uncle Easton, put me down, put me down, I want to play,” Layla urgently said, her eyes trembling at the sight of Wesleyan getting closer to the door.

“Don’t panic, Layla, Wesleyan is waiting for you, see?” Easton said, placing her onto her feet.

Sure enough, the three of them were waiting for Layla by the door. They were patient as Layla walked towards them.

“Let’s go, Layla,” Adelia said, pulling her hand away from Elios to grab hers. She watched over Layla like an older sister, smiling reassuringly when Layla hesitated.

Layla shyly grabbed Adelia’s hand and the four left the room, accompanied by a heavily armed group of bodyguards. Needless to say, when you had such children with such influential parents, there were always people who viewed the children as their one and only weakness.

“Sigh, look at them go,” Easton said, smiling a bit. “There is bound to be a crush in the group, and someone is bound to get heartbroken.”

“Reminds me of our parents,” Adeline said to Lydia, recalling the fond memories of her parents joking with Lydia’s parents.

“Yes, it’s so humoring how history repeats itself,” Lydia responded, sighing in relief. “Except, let us hope none of the traumatic past repeats itself.”

Adeline nodded. When she did so, she caught Elias’s stare. No. More. Kids. Even though she was a Pure-Blood now, he still didn’t let her take any chances. She was on birth-control, and he was always by her side, caring for her and ensuring there were no negative reactions to the medicine.

“As long as we’re satisfied with what we have, the trauma won’t happen,” Elias said. 

Adeline firmly nodded, squeezing his hand. She saw his shoulders visibly relax, his expression soft and gentle.

“Let’s hope our children have a magical childhood that neither of us had,” Weston stated, taking a seat beside his wife. He felt like his life was complete now. He was married, with an amazing wife, lovely children, and a solid future. 

Everyone in the room shared the same sentiment, except the forever-single Easton.