I didn't proofread it! Why's that? Because lately, I haven't been liking anything that I proofread and I feel like deleting it all and rewriting it from scratch. I don't want to do that to this chapter. This chapter was too much fun to write ^_^;



NR was the first child in the house to wake up. The fact that he happened to be twenty-two and therefore legally an adult was countered by the fact that he was living with his aunt and uncle and was therefore considered by them to be one of the children.

He wasn't the first one in the house to wake up, because Nome was up long before he was making breakfast.

NR, who happened to be up quite early for a college student, entered the kitchen to fix himself breakfast, but stopped when he saw his uncle. "Hey Unca Mantis," he greeted, sounding a bit confused. Nome was very rarely up this early, especially now that he worked outside the house.

Nome glanced back at him. "Hey. Go ahead an' fix yourself breakfast. This is for a couple special people."

NR blinked, firstly in confusion at why his uncle would only be making breakfast for a couple of the members of the household, and then in confusion because his uncle seemed to look different today. "You, um..."

"What?"

"Something seems different about you."

"Oh, right." Nome paused, glancing back at NR. "Trust you not to realize right away. You're almost as bad as I am. I just have a mustache now instead of a full goatee."

NR blinked again, with surprise this time. "What? You shaved it off? Why?"

"D's been bothering me to for years. Of course, she wants me to shave it all off, but I like my mustache. I've had it longer. Since I was...what...thirty, I think."

"Why now? What's the occasion?"

"Mother's Day. Same reason I'm fixing breakfast for Doron and Janae and nobody else."

The otter's eyes widened at this statement. "Wait. Today's Mother's Day?"

"Yeah."

He swore, quite loudly, and immediately rushed back to his room to change out of his pajamas. Nome was wondering why he had left in such a hurry, until he reemerged, dressed in his normal jeans and vest, and shouted, "Goin' to the store, be back later!"

"Right, he forgot..." Nome muttered to himself as he continued with his cooking. "Sis'll be pissed."

It wasn't long after that that Gajda appeared in the kitchen. "What smells good?" he asked, after catching the scent of breakfast cooking.

"It's not for you. You get to fend for yourself."

"Oh, right, Mother's Day." He walked to the fridge to pull something out, but instead stared at its contents for a while. "We don't have anything. You sure you won't fix the rest of us breakfast?"

"Sorry. Fix your own. Copper's off limits, though."

"Oh, hey, Mom's already awake. I went to go tell her happy Mother's Day and she was up, dressed, and brushing her hair. Should be down soon."

Nome frowned. "That's not cool. I was gonna give her breakfast in bed. What about Janae?"

"Still sound asleep as far as I know. Guess I should wish her a happy Mother's Day too, huh?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Oh well." He shut the fridge and wandered back to the kitchen doorway. "You know, if you look at traditional household roles, you're actually more the mother."

"Really..."

"Happy Mother's Day, Dad!" Gajda said with a grin.

"Thanks..." He sounded rather sarcastic, though.

"From this day forth, I shall admire you on Mother's Day, and Mom on Father's Day!" This statement was followed by a rather evil sounding "Mwahaha" sort of laugh. Nome decided it was best to ignore him.

Doron appeared in the doorway. Gajda cut his laughter short and smiled up at her. "Good morning, Dad."

She blinked. "What?"

"See, you're the breadwinner, and Dad's the homebody," he explained. "That makes you Dad, and him Mom. Therefore, I celebrate him today, and you next month."

"I see. Well, as long as you got him something, then. And as long as you don't forget and get him something again next month."

"Oh, don't worry. I gotcha covered there."

"Gods, you're not gonna start callin' me 'Mom' are you?" Nome questioned.

"Of course I am, mother dearest."

Nome sighed.

Doron chuckled, walking over to Nome, and put her hands around his waist, leaning her head against his back. "Happy Mother's Day, dear," she smiled.

"Don't you start."

She leaned around him to see the stove. "What are you making?"

"Usual Mother's Day special. Guess I get to eat yours then, don't I?"

"Hey! That's not funny!"

"Then don't encourage him."

"Fine." She stepped back from him and walked over to sit at the table.

"I thought it was a good idea," Gajda said defensively. "You want me to go wake up Janae, Mom?"

"Let her--"

He interrupted Doron with, "I wasn't talking to you, Dad, I was talking to Mom."

Annoyed, Nome turned to his son, glaring, and said, "Quit calling me that! I'm your father, not your mother!"

Both of them stared wide-eyed at him. Doron stood, almost in shock, and walked up to him. He stared at her, his annoyance having faded to confusion.

"You..." She reached up, running her fingers over his cheek down to his chin.

"Oh, right, that," he said, realizing what she was so shocked about.

Without warning, she grabbed him and pulled him down into a dip kiss. This lasted quite some time before finally she pulled back, keeping her mouth close to his, and whispered, "I want you."

"If I'd known you were gonna react like that, I'da shaved it off years ago."

"Forget breakfast. You can be breakfast." She kissed him again.

Gajda, having heard what she said, snickered. "I'll finish fixing Janae's breakfast, if you two are gonna go upstairs."

Nome pulled back from Doron and said, "No, don't you dare touch my copper. D, get off. I'll satisfy you as soon as I'm done with breakfast."

"Aww... But I was gonna--" Her voice lowered then, so that Gajda couldn't hear her, despite how hard he tried to listen.

"I...uh..." Nome found himself at a loss to respond to what she'd suggested to him. "Um... I'm almost done, anyway. Just hold that thought a couple more minutes." He struggled out of her arms to regain his feet and went back to manning the stove.

Doron, looking smug now, folded her arms and watched as he finished up what he had left to cook.

"What did you--?"

"None of your business," she replied, interrupting her son.

It wasn't too long before he turned off the stove and looked to Gajda. "Fix your sister up a plate and take it up to her."

"Okay."

"As for you..." he said, looking to his wife. "You hold that thought?"

"Oh yeah," she replied, with a grin.

"Wonderful." And with that, they both ran out of the kitchen to their bedroom upstairs.

Gajda shrugged and did as he'd been told. He carried the plate up to his sister's room and slammed her door open. He saw her close her eyes tighter and seek refuge beneath the blankets. "Happy Mother's Day, Janae," he said, far more sincere than when he'd said it to his father earlier.

She blinked and bolted upright. "What?"

"Happy Mother's Day?" he suggested. "You know, since you're expecting and all? Mother-to-be? Hence today would be a day to celebrate you?"

She blinked again, and looked down at her large midsection. Her twins which were due in less than a month. "Oh my god..." she whispered, as if just suddenly realizing this fact.

"Oh, come on, you went through this in August, Janae. You should be accustomed to the fact by now."

"But...life was just starting to be so normal again..." She sniffled, and, burying her face in her hands, burst into tears.

Gajda sighed, setting her plate on her bedside table, and walked back to his room which he was currently sharing with Diren. "Diren, your fiancee's getting emotional!" he shouted, in the manner of a child telling on his sibling to his parents.

Not too long after, Diren, still in his pajamas and looking rather bleary-eyed, walked into Janae's room and asked her what was wrong.

She looked up at him, her breakfast plate balanced on her stomach and her mouth full of food, and blinked. Then she realized the state of mind she'd been in mere seconds ago and swallowed so she could talk. "The twins are due at the beginning of next month."

"I see you're fine now, though." He walked over and sat down at the edge of her bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Dad's food can cure anything, I swear."

"Anything, huh?"

"Well, most anything. Emotional problems, anyway."

"Happy Mother's Day." He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I love you."

She smiled. "Thanks. I love you too."

"You'll make a great mother. I wouldn't worry about that if I were you."

"I'm not. I'm eating."

He laughed. "Well okay then." There was a silence for a while, as she continued to eat, and he continued to gaze at her. Finally he said, "You know, you're beautiful."

"You're not wearing your glasses," she pointed out, through a mouthful of pancake.

"I said you were beautiful. Not that you weren't blurry."

"Go me. We can't all be beautiful while we're blurry."

"I was gonna take you out to eat tonight. How's that sound?"

"Really? That sounds nice. Where would we go?"

"I don't know. Wherever you want." He smiled. "My dad's one of those corporate types, remember? I'm never broke."

She smiled. "Yeah... Okay, I'll think about it."

"I'm gonna go get dressed now."

"Okay. I'll just sit here an' finish my breakfast."

"Sounds good." He stood and left, closing her door behind him, to go back to Gajda's room.

He met Gajda in the hallway, and told him that Janae was fine now. Gajda said a quick thanks, and then continued on his way downstairs to make himself breakfast. He was no chef, so he decided on milk and cereal.

He was halfway through his bowl when NR returned to the house. Gajda looked up at him, surprised to see his cousin so early in the day. "What are you doing up?" he asked.

"It's Mother's Day," NR replied, as if that explained everything.

"And...?"

"I forgot about it. Hopefully Mom gets that card before tomorrow, or I'm dead."

"I see."

"Where'd Unca Mantis go?" he asked, upon seeing that Gajda was the only one in the kitchen.

"Mom and Dad went upstairs a while ago. Mother's Day gift, I suppose."

"Um...okay."

Gajda sighed. It was really no use talking to NR. Subtle humour was completely lost on him. "Hey, Thek still asleep?" he asked.

"Yeah, last I checked."

"Mm. Okay then." He fell silent and went back to quietly eating his cereal.

"Why didn't Unca Mantis take Aunt Doron's food up to her?" NR questioned, seeing the plate of slowly-cooling breakfast that sat beside the stove.

"Cuz she was too hasty to get her other gifts first."

"Huh?"

Gajda sighed again, frustrated. "Never. Mind."

"Um...oh...kay..." NR decided that it was time to slowly back away and leave Gajda alone with his breakfast.

"Stupid clueless cousin..." he muttered, as NR left.

On his way back to his room, NR ran into Diren, who was coming down the stairs. "Mornin'," Diren greeted.

"Heya," NR responded, as he passed by to his room.

Diren glanced about, searching for somebody. He caught sight of Gajda in the kitchen, and walked up to talk to him. "Hey, where's Jon?"

"Mom and Dad are upstairs."

"Still asleep? I thought he was going to make breakfast for her today."

"He did. She forsook it for a little something else."

His eyes widened with realization. "Oooh, I see..."

"So what are you gonna do for my sister today?"

"Present her with the crib my parents chipped in to buy us, and then take her out to dinner."

"Where?"

"Anywhere she wants."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Too good for reservations?"

"Don't need reservations when you have an extra hundred Kasha."

"I see..."

"Learned that bit from my dad. Hosts always take bribes. It just has to be big enough."

"I'll remember that."

"You better treat my sister real nice-like, mister, else I'll have to bust out some wind magic on yo' ass."

"You don't need to worry about that."

"Good...good..." He looked up at Diren and smiled. "Hey, name one after me. Gajda Ray Iridia III! Sounds good, don't it?"

"Uh...we already picked names," Diren said, glancing away. "Gajda's not one of them."

"Aw, c'mon!" he said, indignant. "Why not?"

"Because I don't really like your grandfather."

"Dammit! That's right, my name isn't my own!" He stood, suddenly angry. "I was named after him! That's why there a Roman Numeral two after my name!"

"Yeah, that would be why..."

"Gajda Ray Iridia II... Oh, hey, wait a sec..." He sat back down. "It wouldn't be Iridia anyway. Your last name's Jurieno. So it'd be Gajda Ray Jurieno, Esquire. Which doesn't sound as cool at all."

"Right. So, we're not naming either one after you."

"Well that's a relief. I'd hate to be named Gajda Ray Jurieno, Esquire."

"So do you know when I should expect Jon and Doron to be available?" he asked.

"Um..." Gajda thougt for a moment, the answered, very knowledgably, "No idea."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, might be all day knowing those two. They've been known to do that before."

"I see..."

"Might as well go read War And Peace while you're waiting."

"I think I will."

Gajda blinked, looking up as Diren left. "Wait, seriously?"

"It's a good book, you know."

He stared at Diren, dumbfounded, as the Plains Elf walked back up the stairs to Gajda's room.