And another important anniversary.

I dozed off by like 6:30 am, I think, and only because the three girls had already fallen asleep. I rested my eyes for a moment, and the next thing I knew I was in the all familiar dreamspace, shaped after the sex room where I’d fallen asleep. I think Frey just liked the place more than anything else.

I saw her sitting on the couch with a drink in hand, just like last time. I went over and sat beside her, finding a glass of what looked to be whiskey sitting on the table waiting for me.

“You know, our own anniversary was technically yesterday, but I thought it more appropriate to come talk today,” Frey said.

I picked up the glass and we clinked ours together. I took a sip and, what do you know, it tasted like actual whiskey, if only in a dream-like way.

“Sorry, I didn’t think of a way to celebrate it.”

“It’s fine. I don’t think it’s something we should celebrate, anyway,” Frey said, sighing.

I frowned. “How come?”

“We ended up getting along, and we’re in as ideal a situation as we could be. I didn’t have any of this in mind when things started, actually. Honestly, my own plans were a lot less wholesome, but you made things work. But… let’s not forget, Oliver. I possessed you without you knowing, in a moment of weakness. I threw your life upside down, made everything complicated. Again, we made it work, but it all started from my own selfish desires. I’m glad I did, and I’m glad to be where we are, but I’m not going to celebrate it.”

“...” I suppose I could understand it. To Frey, I was just a fitting host that happened to be there at first. She only started to… care about me further down the line. “Alright. I get it. For what’s worth, I’m glad you’re here. You’re like a big sister to me. You know that.”

“Ugh, and I hate that it makes me kinda giddy,” she said, scoffing and taking a big swig from her glass. “But I’m glad to be here, too. It’s good for me, but… I like seeing you grow, kid. Hah, if your mother could hear the stories I could tell her!”

I grimaced. “Please don’t…”

“By the way,” Frey continued. “Remember that thing about claiming territory? I’ve got it stabilized. We shouldn’t be seeing any more of that weird phenomena… unless you want it, of course. It’s your territory and you can do what you want in it. It’s also functionally a security system, so if anyone you wouldn’t want here sneaks in, then it’s lights out for them.”

“T-THEY’LL DIE!?”

“No, you dingus. They’ll just go to sleep.”

“O-Oh. Then… that’s good.” I let out a sigh of relief and took another small sip of my drink. Never been a huge fan of whiskey. It’s too strong, burns my throat and kinda tastes like cologne. But sharing a small glass with someone every now and again… it’s nice. “I think… I’m starting to get used to this magic and supernatural stuff.”

“I wish you weren’t, to be honest,” Frey said. “Sometimes I think things would be better if we’d kept things simple. You, Mila, Grace and Sarah. No one else. We keep ourselves at a low level of power and avoid drawing attention.”

I chuckled. “Maybe. It would’ve been simple.” I took another sip and waited for the burning feeling to leave my throat. “But it’s too late now. I’m not giving up on any of the girls.”

“I know, and I’m not complaining. It’s just… a thought that comes to me sometimes.”

“Can’t say I relate to that.”

“Yeah, sure you don’t.”

We chuckled together and remained quiet for a moment.

“Oliver… Keep your eyes open, okay?”

I frowned again. “What’s this about?”

“I don’t know. Just a feeling.”

“Last time you had a bad feeling…”

“That Julian kid, I know.” Frey nodded. “It’s not like that this time, but… Like I said, just keep your eyes open. You’re getting strong enough that you might draw attention without even trying.”

I grit my teeth and gripped the glass harder.

“Okay, now relax,” Frey added. “I didn’t want to say that because I knew you’d get tense, but I if I just ignore this feeling and something DOES happen I won’t forgive myself and neither will you. Caution doesn’t mean you have to be paranoid 24/7. If something sticks out, you’ll know.”

I forced a sigh out and took a deep breath, trying to relax. “Right.”

“Now, for a drastic change in topic…”

“Come on, give me a break…”

“Oh, so you don’t want me to warn you about the potential side effects of having children?”

One of my eyebrows shot up along with my heart rate. “Excuse me?”

“I’m a Spirit of Lust, Oliver. All things sex are my domain, even the happy aftermath.” Frey said proudly. “I can control if it happens or if it doesn’t. What I CAN’T control, though… is that they’ll very likely be born with some manner of magical power.”

My jaw slowly began to drop as I started to process this… new information Frey had only now deemed important enough to share.

“Look, I figured I should say it since you’ve been thinking about the future a lot,” she continued with a shrug. “It may not happen, but the chances of a child of yours being born with the natural ability to wield some manner of power is extremely high. Since you’re not biologically an incubus and the girls are all normal humans, too, you don’t have to worry about things like horns and wings, but I’d advice against keeping magical power a secret from them. Otherwise, they might use it without knowing. It’s all about rasing them well, isn’t it?”

“...” I set my glass down and rubbed my face over and over. And over and over. Then I let out a drawn out groan into them. “Just when I started to get comfortable with the idea, you drop this bomb on me.”

“Yeah, that’s why.”

“I… I can’t have children who can use magic! Isn’t that like having a baby born with a gun!?”

“The baby with the gun would probably be less chaotic, actually…”

“AAAAAAAAAGH!” I groaned loudly. “That’s it. I’m never becoming a father.”

“Good luck giving those news to the girls…”

Fuuuuuuuuuck.

“Oh, relax,” Frey said. “It’s not like they’ll be born breathing fire and crushing fingers (probably). It’ll be like any developmental process. They’ll just… have one hell of a puberty.”

This is just great…

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