#I feel I can't call two 13 year old young men 'kids' anymore

[sunmontuewrites]

Tomorrow night we will be introducing M&W to the Sherlock Holmes TV Series... Hubs and I are quite excited about this.

Also this week W read the entirety of Check Please, including Madison. We talked about my writing of fanfic for that media and he was most interested in when I had written stories with sad endings... We discussed how and why sometimes sad endings were sometimes more realistic, especially when dealing with professional sports men and being bisexual or gay.

[twstarchives]

Hello! There used to be a list about which characters have mentioned to have siblings/be only childs but I can't find it anymore ;; do you still have it or was I imagining it? If so, do you know what is there so far about each student's family life?

Riddle

Parents

Riddle lives with his mom, the status of his father is unknown. He has implied that his parents don’t get along.¹ Both parents are magic doctors, but his mother seems to be more well-known. To Riddle, she is extremely overbearing and planned out nearly every second of his life: controlled his education, his schedule, his diet, his clothing, the supplies he used, and which friends he could have. She put a heavy emphasis on studying and always being the best.²

1. Riddle Ghost Marriage voice lines 2. Main Story 1-19

Ace

Parents

Older brother

Grandmother

His brother is 7 years older than him and a Heartslabyul alumni.¹ He seems to have often messed around with Ace & make him angry on purpose, but it was all in good nature; they are very close. Apparently his brother was even more excited than their parents when they found out Ace got into NRC.² Ace has also mentioned his grandma a few times; she taught him about the Ghost Camera³ and warned him about magic blotting.���

1. Ace School Uniform PS 2. Ace Ceremony Robes voice lines 3. Main Story 0-19 4. Main Story 2-4

Deuce

Mother

Grandmother

He is an only child¹ and loves his mom very much. The entire reason he’s trying so hard to be an honors student is so that he can become a son she can be proud of. He once cried when she called him to tell him just that.²

The only time his grandma was mentioned was when he told a story of his mom crying to her on the phone, thinking she’d failed as a parent (during Deuce’s delinquent days).³

1. Jack Dorm Uniform PS 2. Wish Upon A Star 12 3. Main Story 1-13

Trey

Parents

Younger brother

Younger sister

His family runs a bakery. As the oldest child, he often had to take care of his little siblings (ie. ensuring they all brushed their teeth at night)¹. They all would pester him to bake them desserts,² but he cared for them a lot—one time his little brother really wanted to go to a live magift game so Trey spent his whole allowance to get him a ticket.³

1. Trey School Uniform PS 2. Ace School Uniform PS 3. Trey Wish Upon A Star voice lines

Cater

Parents

Two older sisters

Because of his dad’s work as a banker, their family had to move about once every two years, all over the world.¹ Cater hadn’t had any long-lasting friends because of this.

He has described his sisters as “unreasonable,” his dislikes in his profile are listed as “having to suck up to his sisters,” and when everyone was going home for winter holiday, he said he’d rather stay with Trey’s family.² In his voice lines, he mentioned that he can’t relate to Yuu feeling homesick because his sisters would just be waiting for him at home. His sisters rated everything by how cute it was, and if something “wasn’t cute” to them then Cater would have to redo it.³

They would get more excited about his birthday than he would, and buy him all kinds of presents he didn’t particularly like (such as stuffed animals, dolls, perfumes, soaps, etc). But they weren’t trying to be intentionally mean, and recently have started paying attention to what he really wants.⁴

When he was about 10 years old, his mom and sisters were always baking sweets. Cater was excited about this at first because it meant he could get lots of treats, but his sisters would make him eat everything. If he refused, they’d look so disheartened, and Cater couldn’t say no to that, so he kept forcing himself to eat. Because of this, he now hates sweets.⁴

1. Cater Scary Dress PS 2. Main Story 4-3 3. Cater Lab Coat PS 4. Cater Birthday PS

Leona

Falena (older brother)

Cheka (nephew)

Sister-in-law

Leona is a member of Afterglow Savannah’s royal family. His brother and his sister-in-law are the current rulers, and Cheka is next in line to the throne. Leona has constantly felt inferior and bitter that he and Falena are treated so differently based off nothing but birth order.¹ But he greatly respects his sister-in-law; she’s one of the only people he would never talk back to.² Cheka is very affectionate and clingy towards him.

1. Main Story 2-27 2. Ruggie’s Chat w/ Jack

Jack

Parents

Younger brother

Younger sister

Grandparents

Jack is the oldest in his family with an 11yo brother and a 7yo sister. He and his siblings are all very athletic; they used to play tag with each other for 6 hours on end.¹ Jack has said that wolf beastmen pick one soulmate to spend their whole life with, and his parents + grandparents are always at each others’ side, when they wake up, go on walks, eat, and go to sleep.²

1. Jack Happy Beans Day PS 2. Ace Ghost Marriage PS

Ruggie

Mother (deceased)

Father (unknown)

Grandmother

Ruggie's mother "became a star up in the sky" shortly after giving birth to him. His father went away for work and never came back, and to this day Ruggie doesn't know what happened to him.¹

He lives with his grandma in the slums of Afterglow Savannah. They were poor and struggled to find food to eat, but his grandma could make delicious food out of any ingredients they could find. Ruggie learned to cook from her.² He described her as very kind but also tough.

Ruggie seemed to have taken care of the other kids in the neighborhood too-- when everyone went home over winter break, he brought home leftovers from the cafeteria to feed his grandma and the kids.³

1. Ruggie Birthday PS 2. Ruggie School Uniform PS 3. Main Story 4-3

Azul

Mother

Stepfather

Grandmother

His mom fell in love with her divorce lawyer while separating from Azul’s biological father. She’s also the owner of the Ashengrottoes’ famous ristorante in the Coral Sea.¹ Because of their business, Azul grew up a foodie and was exposed to a lot of different foods from a young age.²

His stepfather is kind and honest, and very clever when it comes to his work. Azul respects him and they seem to have a good relationship. He taught him about law and contracts.¹

Everyone in the Ashengrotto family is a mage, but Azul’s grandmother is said to be especially powerful. She was known for helping those in need, and very “merciful,” just like Azul.¹

1. Azul Birthday PS 2. Azul Dorm Uniform PS

Jade & Floyd

Parents

Their parents started teaching them self-defense since they were little.¹ We don’t know many details of their childhood, but there was an interesting exchange between them—Jade once said “he made the right choice choosing Floyd as his partner,” and Floyd replied that “he’s glad Jade is the one that survived with him, too.”²

In Floyd’s Wish story, he brought up how their father told him to buy a nice pair of shoes when he went on land because “men who don’t pay attention to the small details get patronized” so your appearance is very important. Hearing this gave Idia and Ortho an uneasy feeling about Mr. Leech.

1. Jade PE Uniform voice lines 2. Floyd Dorm Uniform PS

Kalim

Parents

30-40 younger siblings

Kalim’s father comes from a long line of merchants and is supposedly the greatest one in the family. But despite how busy he is, he’s always wearing a smile. Kalim’s mother is the only one in the family who can use magic. She’s described as very kind, is always praising Kalim, and almost never gets angry.¹

Kalim doesn’t know the exact number of siblings he has, but he can put names to faces for all of them, and he often plays hide and seek with them in their house. He doesn’t come from a royal family (they’re just extremely rich), but some of his distant relatives are actual royalty.² One of his distant cousins apparently owns a tiger.³ His family has about 100 servants along with specialists like a personal doctor⁴ and a beast tamer.

1. Kalim Birthday PS 2. Main Story 4-8 3. Silver Lab Coat PS 4. Main Story 4-17

Jamil

Parents

Najma (younger sister)

His family has served the Asims for generations. His parents knew Jamil was a very bright child, but they insisted that he must always let Kalim be better than him, and would reprimand him for talking too casually to his young master.¹ Jamil seems to share a typical sibling relationship with his sister Najma. They often bicker with each other, but they’re on good terms. Najma used to bake him cookies for his birthday² and they would also get into fights because she’d tell him his cooking looked too plain.³ Jamil gave his VDC plus-one ticket to her during Episode 5.

Najma made her first in-game appearance during the Aleab Naria event. Their father had sent her to deliver a message in-person to Jamil, since he isn’t versed in technology likes PCs and phones and didn’t trust that a text would suffice.⁴

Najma claims that she and Jamil look nothing alike, but they tend to make near-identical expressions. She was relieved to see that he has a few friends at NRC because he never talks about them whenever he comes home.⁴ In one scene, Jamil reminds her to wipe her hands before eating and gives her a wet wipe, and she huffs at him to not treat her like a child. Trey notes how well Jamil looks after her, but Cater thinks he is a little bit overprotective.

1. Main Story 4-36 2. Jamil Birthday PS 3. Jamil Dorm Uniform PS 4. Aleab Naria 3-4, 3-5, 3-7

Vil

Eric (father)

Vil’s father is an extremely famous actor and goes by the stage name Eric Venue. Even the Leeches’ father is a fan of some of his movies.¹ Vil has mentioned that his dad would come home dressed in special effects makeup & costumes every Halloween,² and also used to read him stories about the Beautiful Queen.³

1. Vil Scary Dress PS 2. Vil Scary Dress voice lines 3. Scary Monsters 3-2

Epel

Parents

Grandparents

Aunt & Uncle (uncle is biological)

Male Cousin

Epel’s family lives on an apple farm that’s been around for generations. They all live in the same house. His village is also made up of farmers, and they often help each other out during the busy season and have big barbecues together. It feels like they’re one big family.¹

His relatives often send him apples from home since they have such an abundance of them. They seem to have some business struggles; Epel taught himself how to beautifully carve apples when he was young because many were blemished and wouldn’t otherwise sell.² He has also mentioned wanting to make a potion that strengthens weak apple trees to make his grandpa happy.³

Besides Epel, his grandma and great-grandma are the only ones in the family who can use magic.⁴ They ride brooms to pick apples that are too high to reach on foot. Epel wanted to help them when he was little so everyday he would get on a broom and try hopping up and down, and then one day it worked! Ever since then he’s helped with that task as well.

1. Epel Birthday PS 2. Epel School Uniform PS 3. Epel Lab Coat voice lines 4. Epel Ceremony Robes voice lines / Birthday PS

Idia & Ortho

???

The Shrouds are a noble family and famous for some reason, but Idia has said that being from a noble family isn’t all that great.¹ When he was worrying about being seen at the entrance ceremony, he expected people might gossip about how he’s from “the cursed Shroud family,” and that he’ll “spread misfortune to them.”² At another time, he mentioned that the audience would be apprehensive about what kind of “weird research” he did if he had to present his research on stage.³

1. Idia PE Uniform PS 2. Idia Ceremony Robes PS 3. Main Story 5-3

Lilia, Malleus, Silver

Malleus’ grandmother

Lilia was one of the Queen of the Valley of Thorns’ most trusted soldiers when he used to fight for the royal family.¹ In Cater’s Lab Coat story, they created mandrakes that reflected parts of themselves, and Lilia’s was said to “carry the cry of a tragic hero.”

He has watched over Malleus “ever since he had an eggshell over his head.” An infant Malleus once singed Lilia’s bangs by breathing fire and Lilia was so proud that he raised a glass of tomato juice to him.²

Malleus is the heir to the Valley of Thorns, a descendant of the king “who rules over all creatures of the night,” and his only living relative is his grandmother, the current Queen of the Valley. He spent much of his childhood alone in the castle. He used this time to learn how to play all kinds of stringed instruments. His grandmother is so busy that she shouldn’t even have spare time to write him letters, but every year on his birthday, she sends him one without fail, along with rose seeds from the garden by their castle.³

Long after Malleus had grown up, both he and Lilia took in baby Silver for an unknown reason. Silver thought he was his biological dad when he was little, and continues to refer to him as “Father.” They lived deep in the forest in the Valley of Thorns before coming to NRC. Apparently Silver was very easy to take care of; he would fall right to sleep after eating Lilia’s homemade food.⁴

At one point, Sebek also became one of Lilia’s pupils. He and Silver are the only two from their generation living in the Valley.⁵ When they were little, Lilia would have them undergo training like soldiers, but then he realized he should raise them more like kids, and started making their training more fun. He had them play tag in forests crawling with beasts, hide and seek in vast deserts, and “the floor is lava” in the mountains of needles.⁶

1. Silver Ceremony Robes 2. Lilia PE Uniform PS 3. Malleus Birthday PS 4. Lilia Lab Coat voice lines 5. Sebek School Uniform voice lines 6. Lilia Birthday PS

Sebek

Parents

Older brother

Older sister

Grandfather

Sebek’s mother is a nocturnal faerie and his father is a human who works as a dentist. They met when his mother had an appointment at his clinic. She was immediately charmed and courted him despite her surroundings being against her marrying a human. Now, she works at the clinic as his assistant.¹

Sebek greatly respects his mother and raves about how she’s extremely gifted with magic and has a strong sense of justice. His opinion of his dad, on the other hand, is much different—his dad seems very loving and often showers his children in praises, sweets, and gifts, but it drives Sebek crazy. He doesn’t understand how his mother saw any appeal in him.¹

Since his parents were often busy with their clinic, Sebek spent his childhood running off to visit his grandpa, or fishing and playing in the water with his siblings. Based on the fact that Sebek and Silver were said to be the only ones in their generation living in the Valley,² his siblings are most likely considerably older than him.

All we know about his grandpa is that Malleus also knew him, and mentioned that Sebek shares his hot-blooded temper.³

1. Sebek Birthday PS 2. Sebek School Uniform voice lines 3. Scary Monsters event story

No current info: Rook

Last updated: July 27, 2021

[khaleesiofalicante]

Okay, okay, I read the new chapter. There's a lot to unpack here and I in now way have a clear headspace at the moment but. . .

First off, I am currently feeling bad and seeing the update was as if I injected some get well medicine into myself, and reading the chapter was the medicine taking effect.

Second of all, Selena is precious.

Reading about Selena developing early and dealing with it all, was something that made me so validated. I developed early, even earlier than my older sister had. I remember how people started looking at me differently but not at my friends who were the same age but hadn't developed yet. I was still a twelve year old but looked at by some as a grown woman. I remember being told "You're a woman now." and thinking but I'm not an adult? I was treated differently by the other parents, I couldn't do certain things anymore, I was told to buy longer shorts because I was going to get myself pregnant (I was 13, 14 then). I had grown men looking at me in ways I wished they'd stop because it made me uncomfortable. reading about Selena and how it's been different for her, and having been hit on even though she was far to young, made me feel seen in many ways. And brought attention to a real problem we deal with, sexualizing girls who are still kids just because their bodies look like a woman's doesn't mean they are, and the over-sexualizing of woman's bodies in general.

Lexi is adorable I can't-

David getting them the puppy was so precious, he loves them so much.

The Herondale-Fairchild family missing David is a mood but is also so cute, they all love him so much 🥺

Selena's crush on Magnus is adorable and funny (seeing Alec a little salty about it is even funnier, love him).

The moment I read Zara's name I was like "Angel give me the strength."

Something we don't actually acknowledge is how the Nephilim went from calling Clary a freak and Jace a freak who had Valentine teach him things to "oh, they're our saviors. oh, they powers are amazing." Like it totally ignores the hurt they probably caused. And let's face it, they don't acknowledge Clary and everything she did enough.

I feel like Lexi and Max are gonna be throwing some hands for their siblings in the future, but I loved how it was Selena who punched, give me a minute. . . Raphael. Can we talk about he doesn't deserve that name?

“I AM SO SORRY I TOLD YOU I DON’T WANT YOU, LITTLE FRIEND. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I WILL PROTECT YOU WITH MY TWENTY TOY SWORDS!”

This part had me like "same, girl. same."

Lexi loving swords is amazing.

“Hello,” she said gently. “I’m Selena.”

Daddy took hold of a tiny paw and waved at her, micking the voice of…well, something she guessed. “Hello, Selena. I’m Dorian Gray.”

Lexi started screaming again.

“I LOVE YOU DORIAN GRAY. YOU ARE THE ONLY MAN I WILL LOVE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.”

“Hey!” Daddy said. “I’m right here.”

I laughed but went "Poor Jace." Also, Jace is such a dad. Like we knew, but he is such a dad, you know?

Killing off Jocelyn? I see what you did there 👀

“Just because he looks like a movie star, it doesn’t mean everything should be handed to him,” Anjali answered, rolling her eys. “Entitled piece of shit.”

Me at this part:

“Dang, girl. No practice swords for you, huh. You just straight up went for the mortal sword. I like your style.”

“Uncle Kit!” Selena yelled and ran towards him.

She knew daddy had called on her uncles for security – “just to be safe” he had said. Her uncles were two of the most powerful shadowhunters in the Clave. So, she was glad they were here to protect the institute.

“Uncle Ash!” Selena screamed and launched herself at him. “You came!”

“I had to drag him here,” Uncle Kit pointed out and Uncle Ash rolled his eyes.

“Happy birthday, my angel,” he told her, and Selena blushed. “I got you something from faerie.”

Uncle Ash spent half his time in the faerie court, because he was a faerie prince or something. So, Selena didn’t get to see him much.

Uncle Kit only visited once in a while too since he ran the London institute with his boyfriend. But apparently, Uncle Kit was a faerie prince too.

Selena wasn’t too clear on the details. There were too many princes these days.

Uncle Ash took out a beautiful red flower from his jacket and gave it to her. “It only blooms once in every century.”

“Oh,” Selena said and took the flower carefully. “It’s beautiful. I will take good care of it.”

“It’s actually from both of us,” Uncle Kit cleared his throat.

“Is it now?” Uncle Ash raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Thy flowers are my flowers, you dick!” Uncle Kit pointed out.

Uncle Ash gasped and covered Selena’s ears.

The two of them were parabatai – like Daddy and Uncle Alec.

Her mother had told Selena that Uncle Ash and Uncle Kit had to become parabatai to save the shadow world. It was their combined power that had defeated the Seelie Queen and the rebellion led by some man called Anus or something.

THE WAY I SCREAMED AT THIS PART! Kit and Ash being uncles and parabatai? This is the best thing ever.

Also the whole interaction with them and Lexi was priceless, priceless I tell you.

Selena and Izzy interaction was so precious, I love them.

Simon wanting to keep Georgia near the cohort is so understandable.

She knew he was her uncle. But Alec Lightwood let no one forget that he was the Consul. He didn’t have to tell anyone or remind them like most people in power did.

Everyone just knew him. They knew of his name. They knew of his power.

Selena noticed her father was looking very emotional. She couldn’t blame him.

“My liege,” Daddy bowed deeply.

“Cut it out,” the Consul smacked him. “What’s the status?”

This entire scene was amazing, but this had to be one of my favorite parts. Also, Jace and Alec brotp 🥺 but Jace is such a hoe for Alec Lmao.

Rafe is a badass, you can't change my mind.

Max is such a handful, but we love him so much.

Max missing David is adorable.

“Don’t worry, little nephilim. Uncle Magnus is here.”

Ah, yes. Our lord and savior Magnus Bane.

“It’s not babysitting when you do it!” Daddy said incredulously. “You’re their mother. It’s called parenting.”

Dad Jace spilling the tea that so many parents are not ready for 😎

Her father held Selena’s hand in his. “You better raise your son to respect women, Zara – Because I’m raising my daughters to break noses.”

I Stan Dad Jace with my entire heart.

But her parents and their friends had always been a little weird.

Selena supposed they were all freaks. She wouldn’t trade them for anything else.

Selena is all us TMI gang stans.

Michael and Selena, huh?

“The next time someone points fingers at you because you are a woman, go ahead and break them.”

Selena pulled back and giggled. “That’s bad advice.”

“That’s true,” her mother shrugged. “Don’t tell Daddy I said that.”

I loved this entire interaction between Mom Clary and Selena, but this was a favorite part. I kinda feel like Jace wouldn't care if his daughters broke people for that tho 😂🤭

But he had given her a purpose. He had given all of them a purpose.

Rafe was going to be their leader. He would be Selena’s Consul. She knew it.

Gigi was going to be just like Aunt Izzy. An amazing inventor. A chaos to be reckoned with.

Lexi was going to be the best fighter in the whole world. She would fly above everyone and everything.

And David and Max…Well, they seemed very happy with each other. Selena supposed that was enough. Like Uncle Alec and Magnus. To find something you can be happy with no matter what. Because sometimes there was no greater purpose than love.

And Selena….She knew exactly what she was going to do.

She was going to lead all of them back to Idris.

IS THIS FORE SHADOWING!!!!????

p.s. I copied a lot of these because I loved them so much. I loved this chapter a lot. I can't wait for the next one.

I love this, Bec! Thank you so much. Your thoughts are always so funny and valuable at the same time! I love it!

Also what you said about the oversexualization of women - especially young girls - is so important and so relevant. We even see a hint of it with Dru in TDA. Women are not safe anywhere I guess, not even in the shadow world.

But the lbaf gang will be okay. They have the world's best parents to protect them!

[thatssonanii]

Guess What

Parental Paragraphs / Daddy Ro Fluff Series

With Simba's birthday coming up the three families were spending a lot more time with each other. Trying to plan took all three sets of parents and the older boys running errands or babysitting. They spent this day at the Reigns' house.

"Y'all plan on havin another?" Jimmy asked his twin.

Jey shook his head immediately. "Hell no. Simba and Lo is enough. You see all these gray hairs."

"Well I want a lil girl," Apryl pouted.

"You must gon borrow Haleigh cause you won't get one from me. I'm gettin fixed."

Apryl pushed Jey's shoulder turning her attention to the other treo ladies. "What about y'all?"

"Jimmy wants another boy but I don't think my nerves can handle another boy. The twins and Eli are exactly like him," Trinity laughed. "No thank you."

Kandice shrugged at the question. "We want another but Koda and Haleigh have made it very clear that we're not allowed to have anymore."

"Yeah, Koda said his luck it'll be another girl," Roman laughed, "Princess stresses him out enough."

"STOP TOUCHIN MY HAIR!" Haleigh squealed loudly.

"NO WAY!" "NEVEEEEER!" The twins yelled after her.

Simba let out a loud attempt at his uncle's war cry. "HOLD HER DOWN! I GOT GLUE!"

"Who gave his bad ass glue," Apryl asked getting ready to get up. Jey stopped her telling her to wait. "She'll go to the boys first," Jey assured her. The next thing the parents heard were loud footsteps running from one end of the upstairs to the other. Then more arguing.

"STOP YELLING!" Koda's voice boomed through the house quieting the younger children. "Why are y'all yelling anyway?"

"THEY KEEP TRYING TO PUT GLUE IN MY HAIR," the 13 year old pouted.

"GET HER BRODDER! HOLD HER DOWN!" Simba yelled once again.

"SIMBA, GIVE ME THE GLUE! WHO GAVE YOUR BAD BUTT GLUE ANYWAY?" Milo asked in a strained tone that told the parents he was holding his little brother back. More commotion ensued which meant they were now fighting.

"AYE!" Eli screamed. "WHICH ONE OF YOU GREMLIN TWINS HIT ME IN MY EYE?"

"LET ME GO, KODA! I'M GONNA TAKE THAT LIL MUNCHKIN OUT!"

"NO, HAE! AUNTIE APRYL WILL TAKE YOU OUT!"

"GET THOSE DOUBLEMINT TWINS OFF MY HAIR, KODA!"

Kandice reached out to pat Roman’s knee and he called out for the children to come down. A minute or so later the seven children came down the stairs still pushing and arguing quietly. They stood in the living room in front of their parents. Eli reached out to pluck his little brothers behind their ears for hitting him in the eye which started another fight between all of them.

"Hands in your pocket!" Jey yelled stopping their fighting. "Now what is the problem?"

All the kids stated to talk at once. There was something about glue in hair, playing a game, complaints about being hit and kicked and Simba just letting out another war cry.

"STOP! STOP! One at a time." Trinity sighed. "Hae, you first."

"I was watching YouTube, minding my business and those munchkins tried to attack me and put glue in my hair," she said glaring at her younger cousins. "Then they tried to attack me and my KoKo." Koda wrapped his arms around his little sister for the dramatic effect.

"Okay. Milo?"

"All I know is they ran in there jumping on us then bad butt," he said flicking Simba's arm, "Told me to hold her down and tried to attack again." Simba glared at his big brother then kicked him in the shin making Milo yelp.

"Feet to yourself," Trinity repeated. "Eli?"

"Look, all I know is one of these gremlins hit me in my eye and if it's bruised they're both bein put up for adoption."

"Jadyn and Jalyn, y'all have something to say?"

"No, Mommy," they answered.

"Simba?"

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" He yelled jumping on Haleigh’s feet.

"Oh that's it," she sneered picking the young boy up and turned him upside down. "Koda, open the back door. He's goin in the pool."

"Koda, don't you move. Princess, give him to his parents," Roman instructed quickly. Haleigh narrowed her eyes and tossed the young boy into his father's lap. "Who gave you glue, Simba?"

Simba laid against Jey's chest trying to look as innocent as possible. "It was in TK room. I borrow it."

"Were you supposed to be in there, Josiah?"

"No, Daddy. But Jadyn open the door."

"Hey! That was not me, that was Jalyn!" The eight year old said pointing an accusatory finger.

"Snitch," Jalyn mumbled.

"Stop arguing. No more arguing," Kandice demanded softly. "Y'all have done enough of that for one day. All of you sit down and calm down." None of the children moved just glared at one another.

"I think she told y'all to sit y'all asses down." Apryl repeated with a slight raise of her brow. She watched them all until they sat down peacefully.

Jimmy started to laugh catching them all off guard. "Y'all remember when we didn't have kids?"

Jey nodded. "Good times."

"Don't talk about us like we not here. That hurts," Eli asserted touching his chest.

"Yeah," the other kids agreed.

Apryl shrugged at him. "We love y'all but y'all are A LOT."

"But wait," Kandice laughed, "Remember when we told them we were pregnant with the boys?" Jey, Jimmy and Roman sucked their teeth at the thought.

--- 16.5 years earlier ---

The women invited their fiancés over to their shared apartment for dinner and a surprise. "Sooooo, are y'all gonna say anything?" Kandice asked. Apryl, Kandice and Trinity had just watched their other halves open their cards. And now they sat in silence.

(Jey's Card, Roman’s Card & Jimmy's Card)

Jey looked at his card, at his fiancé then back at the card. "I'm confused."

Roman scratched the back of his neck, still staring at the card. "What's a DILF?"

"I ain't make shit."

All three women sucked their teeth. "God I hope these babies have our brains," Apryl huffed.

"Babies? Who having a baby? I didn't agree to none of that," Jimmy said quickly.

Trinity sucked her teeth. "I think we both agreed to it when you let your little swimmers loose."

"Kandi," Roman called softly, "You still didn't tell me what a DILF is."

"Dad I'd Like to Fuck, slowness. But now I dunno about all that."

"So y'all tryna tell us that the three of y'all just happened to get pregnant at the same time?" Jey asked putting the card in his lap. "Y'all planned this."

"Clearly, I did. Did you read the card? I trapped your ass, now you're stuck and if you think you're leaving me with your big head baby you've got another thing coming, Fatu."

Jimmy got up from his seat to examine Trinity, stepping back in surprise when he lifted her shirt. "What's that?" He asked pointing at her stomach.

"It's a baby bump, fool. I'm almost four months," she said moving his hand to her stomach. "You can't feel him or her move yet but there's a baby in there. Our baby."

"How far are you?" Roman asked.

"Two months almost three," she approached him standing in between his knees. "I just look bloated right now."

"And you," Jey asked nervously.

Apryl smiled putting a hand to her pretty much flat stomach. "Just hit two months."

"Are we ready for this? I mean these are babies." Roman asked. His voice shook with anxiousness.

"Whether we're ready or not they're coming, Roman. One quicker than the others," Kandice joked looking back at Trinity and Jimmy.

"Mama is gonna beat us. You can tell her Jimmy."

Jimmy sucked his teeth. "I'm not worried about her. I'm worried about Pops, he gon whoop our asses. And then he gon fuss and i don't wanna hear that shit, dog."

"Y'all are 21. Are y'all really that scared? He's not gonna whoop y'all," Trinity laughed.

"Nah, nah," Roman shook his head, "You're sayin that cause you don't know. He is gonna beat them."

"Oh, please." Kandice laughed. "You're scared too I take it."

"For them, yeah. I'm just tryna figure out what to do with a baby. Never had one."

"I should hope not, Roman. None of us have either, we'll get through it together."

Apryl folded her arms across her chest. "All I know is, these babies are coming whether y'all are ready or not so y'all better do whatever you need to do or I'm getting my knife."

With that threat, all three women walked out of the living room to the back room slamming the door behind them. The men sat quietly, staring straight ahead until sniffed filled the room. Roman and Jimmy stated at Jey in confusion. Jimmy sucked his teeth. "I know you ain't cryin, Uce."

"Shut up," he fussed wiping his eyes. "I'm emotional, shit. I'm having a baby, mane. This is serious."

"But is it serious enough to cry?" Jimmy asked laughing.

"Fuck y'all, I'm happy."

"I'm happy too but my apartment is too small for a baby." Roman sighed.

"Bruh," Jey laughed through his tears. "A baby ain't that damn big. He'll be cool." Jimmy sat quietly, his mind moving a mile a minute. "You alright over there, big bro?"

"What are we gonna do with babies? Shit, they take care of us most of the time. And they want us to be responsible for lil tiny ass humans."

"It'll all work out, Uce. But right now we gotta fix what we just did," Roman said standing from his seat.

--- Present Day ---

"Did y'all really bring cribs home, Pop?" Koda asked laughing.

"That and a bunch of other shit," Apryl laughed. "Cribs, play pens, tubs, bottles, clothes. Our lil ass living room was filled with shit from y'all daddies."

"But had we known what we know now," Trinity chuckled. "None of y'all would be here."

"What? Mama you told me I was your pride and joy. The best thing that ever happened to you." Eli said scrunching his face.

"Did I?" Trinity asked still laughing. "Must've been drunk or sleepy."