Fourteen years later.

I caught the attention of the waiter that was currently darting past me, trying to keep all the empty champagne flutes on his tray upright.

"Alfred can you get those kids away from the cupcakes please. They're not even eating them anymore, now they're just smashing them against their own faces and it's starting to disturb me." I whispered to him.

"Right away Mrs.Knight." He replied, respectfully bowing his head before making his way over to them.

"How's my angel doing?" A deep husky voice asked from behind, warm breath blowing a few silky strands of my hair into view.

"Where were you?" I asked whirling around to look at Alaricus. His eyes widened as he realized he was in trouble and he rubbed the back of his head as he looked anywhere but straight into my eyes, struggling to come up with a good excuse. You could live for centuries, but still not be able to successfully lie to your wife.

"J-just around." He stuttered failing miserably at sounding casual.

"You got them a bouncy castle didn't you?" I asked, shaking my head when all I got in response was a sheepish grin.

"They really wanted one, and I've never been in one before." Alaricus whined, pouting adorably to convince me.

"Wait, not only were my children in there but my husband was in there too?" I asked sharply and his eyes widened to the size of saucers as he shook his head rapidly. The uneven weight distribution just made it more dangerous.

"I'm sorry, you know I can't say no to her, her birthday is next month." Alaricus argued as though that validated him allowing our children to get into a death trap. The amount of legs those things have broken is ridiculous, children were too fragile for that death contraption.

"That does not make it okay, but come midnight if I can get a turn, then I might think of forgiving you." I said making a huge grin spread across his face and he leaned forward to peck my lips.

"That's my wife." He mumbled against my lips. A little body crashed into my legs, and I looked down to see the chocolate coloured hair of my son. His little arms wrapped tightly around my legs as he buried his face into the soft material of my dress. I ran my fingers through the messy array of waves on his head, causing him to look up with a smile spread on his round face. He looked so cute in his little black tuxedo, I could just eat him up.

I bent down and he let me go, pressing a deep kiss to his chubby cheek. Milo wrinkled his adorable little nose as he tried to wipe my lipstick smudge off of his face, glaring at me with chocolate eyes identical to mine.

"What's my little prince been upto?" I asked, smiling as I saw his eyes light up.

"Look momma I picked you some flowers." Milo said bouncing as he pointed towards the gifts table. A little bouquet of light purple coloured tulips was tied up with a pretty white ribbon and placed right on top of the gift I had gotten Alaricus.

"Happy anniversary momma." My son said, beaming up at me with his big eyes and my heart swelled up to double its size in my chest at the sight.

"Thank you baby, those are the prettiest flowers I've ever seen." I cooed, making his smile grow brighter and his cheeks to redden, a dimple identical to Alaricus' becoming prominent in his cheek. Looking up to meet Alaricus' eyes I saw him looking at us, his eyes having softened to the point where they looked like melted pools of honey.

"Where's your sister?" I asked my five year old, and he shrugged his petite shoulders, making the little black bow atop his dress shirt become crooked. I fixed that for him and he whispered a shy thank you. I could quite literally watch my son just be cute for the rest of eternity.

I looked around, hoping to catch sight of my daughter amongst all the guests we had invited. Normally anniversaries and birthdays were something Alaricus and I liked to celebrate with just our family, but since we had gone to countless celebrations at various alphas' homes, we had decided to get them all together in the palace under the excuse of our anniversary. Alaricus and I had celebrated by ourselves when the clock had struck midnight last night, leaving the kids with a babysitter while we went out for the night.

While little Milo was just like me, very mellow and into quiet activities, my daughter was like Alaricus. So I could not say I was surprised when I saw her threatening a terrified looking teen boy. She had definitely gotten the alpha gene from Alaricus, and his temper. But just like my husband, my little girl had the sweetest soft side reserved only for family. I also never had to worry about Milo in school that way, she always protected him from any of the kids that decided to make fun of him because he was not into sports like the other boys, but enjoyed drawing and playing house.

"Lilium." Alaricus called and she was immediately broken out of her anger fit. She looked around the hall, her big honey coloured eyes darting all around until they settled on us. She hitched up the skirts of her already knee high dress and ran over to us, hitting straight into her father's legs. We still needed to work on her stopping while running, she ran too fast and then was not able to stop. He swung her up into his arms.

"How's my little warrior?" Alaricus cooed, gently squeezing her cheek.

"I'm good daddy, that stupid boy was trying to unwrap the gifts." She said, craning her neck to look for him, but the boy was lucky enough to have escaped. We had decided to name her after Alaricus' beloved little sister. Unlike what Alaricus had told me of his sister, to be very gentle and fragile, our Lilium was truly a little warrior, strong and protective.

I was in my third trimester when I had thought of the name, and I still remember my husband tearing up when I had told him. It had been the most beautiful thing when she was born and he had cradled our beautiful little baby-girl in his arms, whispering Lilium to her with tears pouring down his smiling face. I had already been crying cause of the pain but then I was outright sobbing after seeing that display.

"Happy anniversary momma and daddy." She said looking between the both of us with a heart-melting smile on her beautiful little face.

"Thank you baby." We said simultaneously going in to kiss her still chubby cheeks. She was turning nine next month, and although I could see she would have a thinner jaw like Alaricus she thankfully still was yet to loose her chubby baby cheeks.

Alaricus put her down and she came over to me, absentmindedly playing with the bottom tendrils of my hair. She had long black silky straight hair, that Alaricus absolutely did not want us cutting except for getting her regular trims. He told her she had hair like her grandmother's and she too didn't want to cut it off then. It looked quite beautiful to be honest, and if she liked it long than how could I ever have it cut?

Lilium was beautiful, tan skin like Alaricus, with his eye colour, except hers didn't have the gold flecks in them since she was human. Our curse, thankfully had not passed down to our children. Since it was not a genetic thing the way it was for most werewolves, it didn't pass down from parents to child. I sadly hadn't gotten a wolf when we had first made love when I was 21, having completely accepted him, but yet I got only the eternity part of his curse, I guess Eros was only Alaricus'.

It was heartbreaking that our children would not live for eternity with us, but they would have long-lasting human lives. We would make sure of that. In a way, I was happy for them, Alaricus and I had each other, if they lived eternally my little munchkins would have to endure the pain of losing the love of their lives. As much as I wanted them around for eternity, it really was a curse. Had it not been for Alaricus, I would never choose this for myself. The both of us had been devastated for weeks when Lilium was born and we realized her genes weren't altered the way the curse had done ours, but eventually we had come to terms with it. I would much rather face the pain of living without them then see my children lose their soul-mates and have to live their eternal lives with that pain.

"I'm hungry." Lilium said, and Alaricus grabbed her small hand, tugging her towards him gently.

"Lets get some food in that little monster belly." Alaricus said, tickling her tummy making her giggle loudly. There was just something about your child's laugh, you could never get tired of hearing it. Milo and Lilium's laughs were my favourite sounds in the world.

"You hungry my little prince?" Alaricus asked Milo, crouching down to his height, but Milo shook his head. Alaricus pressed a kiss to Milo's soft cheek, smiling warmly at me before the father and daughter were off. Both my children had inherited my sweet-tooth, and judging by his purple tongue, Milo had found the cupcakes.

"Bring us macaroons." I called after the father and daughter, they both turned around giving me a thumbs-up each making little Milo giggle.

"How many cupcakes has my Milo monster had?" I asked him, crouching to be level with him. His eyes widened in response, and just like his father he looked everywhere but me as he held up three little fingers. I raised a brow at him and magically two more fingers went up as he hung his head in shame. I had to smother my grin, it actually took a lot of effort to keep a straight face when scolding children. The reason for their scolding was either hilarious or adorable. There were sometimes when you had to grit your teeth so hard to keep from yelling that if you didn't take good care of your teeth, they'd pop right out of your gums, but luckily those were few and far between.

"It's okay only for today, but tomorrow you are having fruit instead of dessert." I tell Milo and he pouts but nods his head. Both my children had yet to break my record of cupcakes eaten in one sitting, a number I would never disclose in the presence of an adult other than Alaricus. Knowing him he'd probably try to beat my record.

"Can I get you anything your majesty?" A male voice said and I tensed, a bit startled having been lost in my own thoughts. Before I could reply I heard the weirdest little sound come from my son, and I frowned wondering if the cupcakes had somehow broken my son. It was what I imagined what the sound of a kitten stuck in a car's engine would sound like. The poor waiter looked just as startled as I was, and I leaned down to look at my son, my eyes widening as I realized what that was.

Judging by the way his little button nose was scrunched up, the rosy-cheeked cherub had just attempted to growl at the waiter. He was standing in front of me protectively in all his 3.5 foot glory. I was going to murder Alaricus.

"I'm alright Anthony. Thank you and I'm really sorry about Milo. Milo apologize." I commanded my son and he mumbled a tense apology, the poor confused waiter just nodded, scurrying away mumbling to himself, nearly bumping into a table in his hurry.

"Did daddy put you up to this?" I asked and Milo shook his head, not making eye contact again.

"We both know that's not true Milo, now I am going to wait until you tell me what's really going on. That was very rude of you, you should not be disrespecting anyone, I know my Milo knows better than that." I said to him, my heart melting as he looked up at me with his lips in a trembling pout, and his big eyes shiny with tears.

"I'm sorry momma." He said to me, his little body jolting with a hiccup.

"Daddy said Lilium and I have to protect momma when he's not there. Momma is very beautiful so bad men will come and try to talk to you." Milo admitted to me.

"I'm going to have a talk with your father, I'm not mad at you baby, don't be upset little one. It's just never okay to be mean to anyone, unless they're mean to you first." I said and his face brightened a bit upon hearing I wasn't mad at him.

"Then we kick their butt." Milo said and I giggled but nodded, getting down on my knees to brush my nose affectionately against my son's.

"Hi Amara, happy anniversary." A soft voice said from behind me, and I got up off my knees, turning around to see Evangeline.

As I had predicted when she was born, baby Evangeline was growing up to be a stunner. Both siblings were truly. Her dark brown hair came up to under her shoulders and framed her rounded face beautifully. She still had the big baby eyes thing going on and it made her look adorable. She just had an air of innocence around her that made everyone adore her.

"Hi honey, thanks for coming." I said to her, pulling her in for a hug. She was already an inch taller than me sadly, but having been there when she was born, she would always be a baby to me.

"How's Li Hua doing?" I asked her teasingly making her cheeks turn pink. Evangeline was just the cutest thing in the world. It had been just a few weeks ago when she had accidentally come out to Alaricus as a lesbian. She had been there to drop some file her forgetful parents had left at their house, since they had moved out of the palace years ago, and were now both royal advisors.

Evangeline had run into Alaricus in the halls, and while they were talking she had just blurted it out. I guess it had been hard to keep it bottled up. Safe to say Alaricus was surprised. But centuries of living did you well in situations like that. After his first stupid attempt at humor by saying how he had only asked if she was enjoying the weather, when she had begun to tear up he had recovered immediately and told her that it really didn't matter what gender she was attracted to. We had all found out that day and well most of the day had been spent comforting her and relaxing her after the huge step she had taken by coming out. Luckily there wasn't a anyone who she had told that had a negative response, it broke my heart when people did that.

"Hello Frank, hey Victoria." I said as they finally managed to find us, but I refrained from hugging either of them as the both of them had a horrible cold, and were probably only here to make an appearance.

"Happy anniversary." The couple said to me, both sounding nasally. I thanked them and directed them towards where the soups were with the appetizers so they could at the very least have something to eat before going home to rest. I had to remember to tell Evangeline to take soup with her when she was leaving, just so neither of her sick parents would have have to worry about cooking, and we would have so much leftover anyway. Evangeline was busy playing with Milo when I finally saw him.

"Happy anniversary Mari." Adrian said to me and I wrapped my arms around his lanky form, pulling him in for a tight hug. With his bright blue eyes and messy curly hair Adrian was very handsome. He wasn't much of a player, but like many 21 year olds, he was just kind of dating casually for now.

"Thank you munchkin." I said knowing full well that he did not want me calling him now that he was an adult. He would always be the chubby cheeked cuddly five year old to me. He gave me a flat look which I returned with a toothy smile.

"How is Li Hua?" I asked turning back to Evangeline as I heard her giggle at her brother and I's exchange.

"She's doing well, she's really happy I came out so she doesn't have to pretend to just be my friend anymore." Evangeline admitted and I cooed at her reddening cheeks at the mention of her girlfriend, looking at Adrian from the corner of my eye to see him smiling warmly at his sister. He had been quite offended she hadn't told him first, but since he practically worshiped Alaricus he was easy to pacify.

"Adrian, Evangeline." Alaricus greeted and they both immediately went to greet him. Evangeline with a hug, and Adrian the respectful handshake as always. Alaricus had even asked them to call him by his first name but the siblings refused, as did their parents. They had known me since before I was the queen, so as soon as they had started the your majesty nonsense with me I had put a stop to it immediately. They were practically family.

Alaricus and Evangeline chatted quietly amongst each other as Adrian played with Milo and Lilium, wrestling with them playfully. Milo wasn't very violent until you got him very mad, then like me his dark side came out, even then I doubt my son could hurt a fly. He'd freaked out his kindergarten teacher though by saying he hoped she choked on one of her salted peanuts and fell asleep forever when she had accidentally ruined his family picture that he kept in his class cubby. Alaricus and I had to visit the school due to that. Unfortunately Alaricus thought it was hilarious at first, only because he realized Milo had inherited my twisted side, but we had had about as sound a conversation you could have with a five year-old about death threats as we could when we got home.

"You two must be hungry, please go help yourselves to some snacks, I'm afraid you all missed dinner, but I'll have someone serve you as soon as you're seated." I told the siblings when Alaricus and Evangeline looked about done with their conversation, and Milo had bitten Adrian's ear. His teacher had told them about how her bunny had bitten her, and since then when trying to win a fight, Milo now bit people. I really had to put a stop to that.

"Dinner sounds good." Adrian said, wrapping his arm around his sister's shoulders he led her to where their parents were seated. A server had already made their way over to the table.

"Momma will you tie my hair?" Lilium asked and I smiled nodding as she turned to face away from me. Pulling her hair back I ran my fingers through it to smooth it out before tying it loosely as a high ponytail. A few strands escaped and I couldn't help myself as I leaned down pressing a kiss to her nose as she turned to look at me. My daughter was so cute in her yellow dress my heart was going to explode. She wrinkled her little nose, a habit Alaricus was ecstatic my kids had inherited from me.

"Thank you." She said brightly, before hiking up her dress and running off to god knows where to play with her friends.

"Alaricus would you like to explain to me why our five year-old just growled at a waiter?" I asked him pleasantly, internally gloating as I watched his face turn pale. He glanced down at Milo who twisted up his face apologetically. They stared at one another wide-eyed for a moment, both seeming quite stumped as to how to handle me.

"I'm going to start off by saying how sorry I am." Alaricus said, discreetly sliding Milo to stand between us, probably in the hopes that he wouldn't be physically harmed if he used the munchkin as a shield. I crossed my arms over my chest, looking at him expectantly.

"It was an impulsive move after seeing that pup flirt with you a few months ago. It was very wrong I admit, and I promise to have a talk with Milo and Lilium to clear this misunderstanding up. I'd also like to take a moment now to say how thankful I am that you are such a sweet-tempered angel." A few months ago, Alpha Kuzuki had brought his son to a meeting and he, never having met Alaricus or I before, had no idea I was Alaricus' mate and hit on me. Of course Sire Pouty was infuriated and sent poor Haru very dark looks for the rest of the night despite the fact that Haru had apologized numerous times to the both of us.