Our house was ours again. As much as I love the company of my old friends, I loved embracing my woodland princess more. It was late at night and the kids were already in bed. I had just gotten out of the shower, ready to fall asleep next to my one and only. I was still very worried about some of his strange behavior in the past day or two. For the time being, I wanted to enjoy our company together and not question it.

When I did get out of the bathroom with nothing on except sweatpants, I found Devin in an odd trance. He stared out the window at the falling snow. Though it was subtle, there was sadness on his face. I'm usually good about closing the windows when it snows so he doesn't see, but I guess I forgot this one time. Devin was lost in the blackness that masked the distance as snow slowly fell.

"Baby, are you okay?" I asked, gentle in my tone.

Devin said nothing for a minute. He continued to stare out with his hands crossed over his abdomen. "I..." His voice cracked through tempting tears. Devin barely glanced back at me, like he was afraid to say what he was going to. "...I'm pregnant." He whispered. Devin smiled bittersweet as light tears fell from his decorated eyes.

"Oh, Beautiful," I quickly rushed to his side and pulled him in my arms, "Don't cry. That's nothing to cry about. That's wonderful. I couldn't be happier. Why are you upset about it?"

"When I just had someone attempt to kill me and you have to go overthrow your father, this isn't exactly the ideal time to be having a kid." He sobbed, "And it's also these fucking hormones."

I laughed out of nervousness as he rested his head in the crook of my neck, "Shh, Angel. The best things in life aren't planned. You know I will never let a single creature hurt you. We'll be okay. We always are."

He sniffled, "You really think so?"

"Of course." I smiled, "And I had a feeling you were pregnant before you told me."

"How?" Devin asked as he tried to calm himself down.

"I just know." I softly kissed the tip of his nose, "I know my Baby. Did this happen the other night?"

"N-No. I don't think so. I wouldn't know this soon. I think it was about a month ago. I... I can't believe the baby survived me getting sick."

"He's a fighter, like you." I replied.

Devin titled his head to the side curiously, "So far we have a 100% rate of girls and you think this one will be the boy?"

"As much as I love the girls, I want a mini-me. I just have a feeling, too. It's going to be a boy." I stated, even though I knew I'd eat my words if it turns out otherwise. "I really want you protected, though. Tomorrow I'm going to make a small trip to find an old friend of mine that will protect you from everything while I'm off helping Chris. We need the extra protection regardless. After, what happened."

"I would feel much safer with some extra hands around." Devin softly spoke. He broke away from my grasp to make his way to the bed. I couldn't help but watch as he pulled back the sheets, bending over and showing off that perfect ass.

No one will hurt you. I promise, on my life and my death.

| | |

Why exactly did I think it was a good idea to come back to this creep fest? I was technically still in the Spirit Forest, but the depths of the cave made any thought of the white trees very distance. Bats lined the ceiling and dim lanterns flicked along my path. Even as much as I love horror, this place was a little nerve racking.

In an ironic twist of faith, once I emerged to the home inside the cave system, I found very joyous creatures. Most the cave walls were still exposed, but many levels where built up. Each floor had furniture on it. It kind of looked like an apartment complex from the human world, except if you cut the front the apartments off so that you could see in each unit. The ledge I stood on overlooked a drop down to the base ground for their operations.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Andy's deep voice startled me as he walked along the side of the ledge. His hands were folded over his abdomen as he approached.

I caught my breath and replied, "Calling in a favor. I'll keep the story short, because I know you prefer it that way. Someone tried to kill Devin last week via infection. He's fine now, but we just found out he's pregnant. I'd like to get some security around the house until the baby is born."

His stare lingered. Andy spoke not a word as he leaped down from the ledge. He landed on the ground with power, causing dust to stir up. Andy walked through the camp of people. I stayed here, getting the impression he preferred for me to wait. There's always been a pretention about him, but he gets shit done and he does it well. That's all I could ever ask for.

He gestured towards one of his companions as he said, "Jake, take some troops with you. You're getting assigned to a security job in the hills. I suggest you pack some Hellfire weapons, if you have them."

"What am I protecting and for how long?" He asked as he stood up.

Andy glanced back to me waiting on that ledge. There was contempt in his eyes. For what, I had no idea. It's not like my leaving the kingdom ever effected the vampires. They never wanted anything to do with us. When they did, it was just to ask for favors that they rarely ever returned. Andy knew where values lied though. He was far from a fool.

"Ex-communicated half-blood prince of the demon kingdom. His husband is a dryad, and pregnant with their third child. You're official assignment is the duration of the pregnancy, but I'll let you make a judgement call if you need to stay longer than that when the time comes." Andy informed him.

Jake nodded and retreated to his room to collect some things. From here, I could see him slip a Hellfire sword into his belt loop. I couldn't blame Andy for assuming my attackers were my own king. They most likely were. Jake's two dogs followed him out as he walked along one of the cave wall's edges towards another room. He told a ground of younger guys to grab their shit. I've seen them before, but didn't know a single one's name.

They walked my way. I didn't find the need to address them and began to show them the way back to my house. They were just security guards, anyways. It's not like I have to develop an insanely close bond with them. Jake will be the only one aloud in the house even. I trust no one except who's under my roof and who's in my back pocket.

Along the walk, I decided it was for the best to know exactly who I was entrusting my family's life with. I gave some looks to the three vampires Jake had chosen to tag along. The palest one had hair teased to the Heavens and a scar right between his eyes. One that looked to be the oldest, had some scraggly dark hair, tattoos all down his arms, and a button nose. The third had olive skin, the longest hair, and an innocence the other two lacked.

"I know your skills," I told Jake, "But educate me on your friends' abilities."

"I hope you're not thinking they're rookies, because they're not." He responded.

"I know," I said, "I've seen them plenty of times before, but I need to know who's protecting my family."

"I understand. As far as the dogs go, you already know Trixie, and the one that looks like a frog is Ernie. And for the vampires; Bret, JC, and Ray. Bret likes to set shit on fire, which is a dangerous game when fire is your one weakness, but whatever makes him happy. JC is a skilled swordsman, and Ray is a very good archer. He's also a pixie half breed, which helps."

I looked at the fair skinned, doe eyed one. "I don't mean to be rude but, how exactly does a pixie mate with a vampire?"

"I could ask you how your husband ended up pregnant." Bret snapped back in Ray's defense.

Ah, how I didn't miss that about vampires. They are thick as thieves. You barely speak one bad word about one, and the whole pack will rip you to shreds. Vampires share a special kind of bond that demons don't posses the ability to grasp. It's similar to the bond when lovers intertwine their souls. Similar concept, at least, except there's no sex and multiple people can be connected by this bond. It makes them insanely protective of each other.

I glared at him for daring to talk back to his employer that way. "Dryads are hermaphrodites." I stated numbly, "And I don't believe I asked you."

"I don't exactly want to think about my parents having sex, so I've never stopped to ask." Ray softly answered me.

"I don't blame you." Jake replied, "Who wants to ever think of their parents having sex?" He shuttered.

I understand the reasoning, but I'm still curious. Pixies are the size of a grapefruit, and vampires stand taller than most humans. They tend to be shorter than the majority of demons though. There's a sweet spot in between. Unfortunately because of my human side, I was not graced with the height gene. It's never bothered me much, actually. It doesn't even bother me with Devin.

He finds it cute when he has to lean down to kiss me, even if he is the "girl" of the relationship. We've never really concerned ourselves with gender roles. Devin might be the one to carry the kids and cook dinner, but I still clean the house and play princess with my daughters. Neither of us care about stereotypes. Please, us? Care about fitting into a mold? That ship has sailed and sunk.

It'll make me sleep much better at night to know we'll have security. The type of vampire I've hired, they only sleep once ever three days. I'll assume they'll be switching off their sleep schedules. Honestly, I don't care how they decide to work. As long as they protect my girls.