ꜱᴏ, ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴏꜰ ʙᴀʙʏ ʜᴇʟɪᴏꜱ? ɪ'ᴍ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇꜱ ɪ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴏꜰ ʜɪᴍ ɪɴ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀꜱ, ꜱᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀɴ ᴀᴄᴄᴜʀᴀᴛᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴇɴᴠɪꜱɪᴏɴ ʜɪᴍ ᴀꜱ.

ʜɪꜱ ᴀʀʀɪᴠᴀʟ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀɴɴᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴍᴀᴛᴇꜱ, ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ'ᴛ ɪᴛ? ᴀ ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ, ᴀ ʜʏʙʀɪᴅ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ ꜱᴜᴄʜ ᴀꜱ ʜɪᴍ ɪꜱ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛʀᴏɴɢᴇꜱᴛ ᴄᴏᴠᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴇxɪꜱᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ. ᴛᴜʀɴꜱ ᴏᴜᴛ, ʙᴀʙʏ ᴄᴜʟʟᴇɴ ᴡᴀꜱɴ'ᴛ ꜱᴏ ꜱᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴀʟʟ.

ɪ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴅᴏ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴏʟᴛᴜʀɪ ᴀʀᴇ ᴍɪꜱᴜɴᴅᴇʀꜱᴛᴏᴏᴅ. ɪ ᴍᴇᴀɴ, ᴍᴇʏᴇʀ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴏɴᴇ ᴅɪᴍᴇꜱᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɪɴꜱ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴇᴀꜱʏ. ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɪɴꜱ ɪꜱ ʜᴀʀᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴇ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴅᴏ ɪᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴏʟᴛᴜʀɪ. ʟᴇᴛ'ꜱ ʙᴇ ʜᴏɴᴇꜱᴛ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴏʟᴛᴜʀɪ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʏᴘɪᴄᴀʟ ɢᴏᴠᴇʀɴᴍᴇɴᴛ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜʟʟᴇɴꜱ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀᴡ, ᴛʜᴇʏ ʜᴇʟᴅ ᴀ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜʟʟᴇɴꜱ ɢᴀᴛʜᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴀɴ ᴀʀᴍʏ, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ꜱᴇᴇɴ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛ. ᴀɴʏᴡᴀʏꜱ, ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜰᴜɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ. ʀᴀɴᴛ ᴏᴠᴇʀ.

ᴍᴇ, ᴏᴠᴇʀ ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴘᴄᴏʀɴ ᴍʏ ᴅᴀᴅ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴍᴇ-

Time alone with our new baby was cut short when our own daughter came running into the room, ready to fight whatever she thought was keeping us in here for so long. The look on Jane's face when she realized that we were all fine and dandy was memorable.

The true priceless expression came when she took her first look at her new baby brother. "What the fuck is that fucking fuck of a baby-"

"Jane," Marcus looks at the vampire girl, "It's the excessive use of profanity for me."

My soul daughter stares at Helios, who was huddled in my arms, quite happy to be held and have Aro cooing at him. Caius was still almost as shocked as Jane was, not really knowing how to react to the fact that in the span of a few minutes he had become a father to a hybrid child that he had no idea would be able to even exist.

"Mother," my soul daughter turns her head up to me, "Why does it smell weird?"

"Helios smells weird because he is half human and half vampire," I try to explain. My daughter just opens her mouth, about to object to such a statement, but Marcus and Caius just shake their heads at her. "He's so cute, isn't he? Come, Jane, say hello to your new baby brother."

Taking a few steps forward, Jane looks down at her brother, taking in the fact that she just became a sister to yet another little man. My daughter places her cold hand on Helios' warm cheek and lets out a whine of terror, taking a few more steps back. At that moment, her twin had walked into the room, much calmer in his stance.

"Sister what is wrong-" he cut himself off once he saw Helios, who pointed at him and cooed, causing Alec to take a small step back. "Mom, why are you holding a baby?"

"We found out something really cool today," I informed him. "Male vampires can impregnate women, but only human women. Unfortunately, his biological mother," I point to Lana's dead body, "died giving birth to him. It was bad. There was blood everywhere. I don't even know how I survived the ordeal. Anyways, out pops this lil' man and now he's mine."

"It really was brutal," Marcus mutters, eyes darkening at the thought of all of the blood on the bed and the floor.

Alec takes a single step forward, looking more intently at Helios, who just smiled and giggled at him, causing my son to give a small smile at the baby. With much less fear than his twin, Alec walks up to his brother and rubs his exposed head, actually letting out a laugh at the warmth that he was letting off.

God, I would keep him wrapped around me forever if I could.

"What are you going to do, mother? The guard will want to know about a little hybrid prince running around the castle. I mean, the fact that he isn't an immortal child is important for them to know," I sigh at Alec's question.

"Where is everyone right now?" I ask.

"Outside, waiting for us all to come out. No doubt in my mind that someone is going to come in if we don't get out here fast enough," Alec tells us.

"Come along, then. We need to see what happens when his skin meets the sun anyways," Caius grumbles, opening the infirmary doors back up. "I'll have someone bury her body so that it doesn't look suspicious."

I mouthed a thank you to my mate before propping the baby up on my chest, allowing him to see around the hallways as we walked down them. His eyes were filled with curiosity and wonder, cooing everytime someone would even give him an ounce of attention. While the hallways seemed much darker than before, I was able to pull myself to the outside.

There waiting were the coven members that we had brought with us to the battle. The entirety of the guard and their mates, as they could not be so far away from them and be comfortable, stood around the remains of the fire they had put out. Most of them were irked and one of them even growled about how they had just put out the fire for the Immortal Children. I huffed, knowing that Helios was far from an Immortal Child.

"The hell is that smell, dude?" Santiago questions everyone, sniffing the air for what I assumed to be Helios. "Doesn't smell normal 'round here anymore."

"My queen, you do not need to deal with the immortal child yourself, one of us can do it for you," Demetri suggests the unthinkable. I growl and go to the front of the group of my covenmates. Taking a deep breath, I tell them how it was, plain and simple.

"This child is not an immortal child and will never be destroyed by anyone, do you understand?" The guard and company slowly nod their heads. "I would like to introduce the first vampire-human hybrid the Volturi has ever seen. Yes, it is possible."

"We are dead, Anna," Demetri deadpans.

"Yeah, well I do hope that you aren't planning on sleeping with any human women, Demetri, cause you could end up with one of these little cuties. No vampire man in this coven is to sleep with a human woman anymore. Yes, I do get that like none of you were planning on doing that, but it had to be said. Maeve and the original mother have confirmed this information, so nobody here is to deny the facts," the guards just nod their heads, eyes focusing in on Helios, who smiled at all of them from my chest, turning his head back so he could properly see anyone.

When I finally stepped into a place of sun, I could see his skin start to light up. His diamond skin was nothing like what I was used to from vampires, less bright and more glitter-like than any in my coven. His light even looked a little bit pink from the blood that likely ran through his veins.

I allowed my son to continue to look around at the guards that would become his friends and family. He would be their prince. The title did sound like a lot for the little boy, but he looked like a happy little thing that could bring out joy in anyone.

"Helios is our son now," Aro announced, "I do hope that you will show him the same love and care that you would show everyone else in the coven. I do not know what he will grow up to be, but it seems that he is growing, even with only being alive for about two hours."

"What would the world think of him?" Felix asks. "We will love him, but the rest of the world may not be so inclined with the fact that he is technically still a child. Half mortal or not, some will not see this as a good thing."

"Telling the world about the prince will not happen until we need it to happen. Our halls are known for being secretive. Nobody really knows how many people are in this coven or what gifts the guards have. I do believe that keeping this a secret until further notice should not be so hard. I mean, who really comes to the castle? People we execute may be able to get a glimpse of him, but they would be dead before they get the chance to tell anyone about it," Aro confirms what I had previously wanted.

Keeping Helios a secret from the world would mean keeping him a secret from people like Rose and Jasper. It would hurt them, not knowing that I had adopted a son, but the truth was that Edward and Bella could not be trusted with the knowledge of hybrid creation. They could try it without even considering that Bella could die.

Part of me thought that if they did know, Edward would say no and Bella would do something to get herself pregnant. She just seems like the kind of woman who would do that to herself. Reckless and moronic, she is.

"Life will be different around the castle, but it will be worth it in the end," Marcus adds. "This could be the best thing that has ever happened to us. For thousands of years, we have all thought that we would be nothing more than a family who punishes the vampires of the world. Now, we have the ability to be a parent and sibling to a child that we can not accidentally hurt, of a child that can grow up while still having the same characteristics as us."

Most of the guards had grins on their faces at the thought of being a sibling. A few of them were siblings to one another, whether biological or soul. The people that had no siblings in their human life or just did not remember if they had siblings or not because of Immortal long term memory loss could have a small child that they could prank and do all the things that siblings did with each other.

"We should get going," Caius comes back to the group, looking at Helios with the same shocked expression as before. "Anna, let Aro have Helios, I need to carry you across the water."

I let out a whine of protest, not wanting to give up my son. Why can't he just stay in my arms forever? Would that be such a bad thing?

Walking over to Aro, I hand him the naked baby boy. My mate almost swoons as he holds the baby under his coat, kissing his head sweetly. Helios giggles at his father, his voice high and infantile. My mate took in a deep breath and giggled at him, that weird giggle that he gives the criminals when he wants to scare them. Although, Helios isn't scared, just giggling along with him.

Giving my son one last look, I jumped up on Caius, causing him to stumble a bit as he tried to hold my weight on him, caught off guard.

The rest of the guard ran out to the edge of the water, waiting for us there, knowing that we would likely have to have a moment alone.

"So, a baby now, cara mia?" Caius asks, kissing my head. "I come back from battle and I find you holding a little strange child with the brightest brown eyes I have ever seen."

"I know you love it, il mio re, you just have too much pride to say so. Don't be so shocked and scared, Helios is a good boy and probably won't bite you," I tease.

"He could. I hope he isn't venomous. Those bites are just the worst sometimes," My blonde mate whines, "The child is cute."

"Where do we keep the little one, Annalise? What kind of crib would we buy a prince? He must have the best in the land. I would never accept anything less for my own son." I laugh at Caius' vanity, something that had become something like a comedy in my eyes. The way that he would tend to his hair, his clothes, and most importantly, his room and our nest. I was sure that it would be messy due to Aro, but Caius had kept it in order.

"Do we have any people that would know about anything having to do with hybrids and their potential growth cycles?" I ask desperately, wanting to know just how long my baby would stay a baby.

"Don't ask me, I have zero clue what I'm doing over here. No person I have met has been interested in the potentials of a halfling. I myself have never even thought over the idea. We are supposed to be undead," I nod, knowing that he was right. Nobody really would know about this. How the Romanians found out would remain a mystery.

"We can do this. I know that we can do this. Being parents to a little cute hybrid can't be that bad," I try to lighten the mood.

"Just keep him happy in the nest and we will be fine, mia regina."