Welcome back to the Wrongway Legacy!

Last time, we saw Hex ask the vampires for help protecting the Wrongways, the birth of Lavender Wrongway, Eli getting into trouble on the night before his wedding and showing up late to the alter in the morning, the birth of Austin – the consequence of Eli's actions – Ariel gave birth to Ralph's twins, Lavender grew into a toddler, Elizabeth and Knut got married in time for a cute little toddler to show up on their doorstep – a toddler who looked a lot like Eli...

If you have no idea what I'm on about, you might want to go read the last chapter. Just an idea.

It was the late afternoon of Lavender's birthday, and generation two were catching up after quite a while apart.

“So how is your branch of the family?” Liam questioned, with a smile.

“Good,” Ash replied, adjusting her position, “Whitney married Debbie, and Julia moved in with them,”

“We reckon Julia will have a child soon, with the number of men she has on the go,” Ash shrugged, “Kids today, hey?”

“Of course, we wouldn't mind a grandchild.” George added, despite his concerns about his youngest child.

“We don't have that many grandchildren yet...” Cassidy began, although it seemed like a lie. She was already a grandmother, while Ash was anxiously waiting to become a grandma.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, the doorbell rang.

With a sigh, Cassidy jumped up, “I'll get it.”

Who could it be? Cassidy wondered, as she headed towards the door, it's too early for any of the party guests, and we're not expecting anyone...

“Hey, Cassidy. May I come in?”

Cassidy blinked. It had been years since she had last seen Hex, but he looked exactly the same as he had before. Time had not healed the anger Cassidy felt towards him – she had not forgotten an incident that resulted in Liam taking heirship.

Closing the door behind her, Cassidy slipped out onto the front porch, standing opposite Hex, a look of disgust on her face.

“What do you want?!” Cassidy demanded, “Not finished messing with my family, I see!”

“Ah. So you are still mad at me.” Hex muttered.

“Cassidy, I am here to formally introduce myself to the heiress,” Hex snapped back, “It's difficult to protect your family without knowing the person in charge...”

“What business is it of yours? The Wrongways have been fine without your help.”

Hex didn't bother responding, he just glared, until the front door opened again.

Liam had a welcoming smile on his face as he stepped onto the porch.“Come on in, Hex, Grace is upstairs.”

Hex dropped his anger and smiled, “Thank you, Mr Wrongway.”

Cassidy glared at Liam as the pair of them headed inside after Hex.

“Why did you let him in? Remember he's the reason Ash gave up heirship.”

Liam looked at Cassidy with a small smile on his face, “The past is so long ago, Cass. Why shouldn't we forgive and forget?”

Cassidy was speechless, but didn't argue. Liam had a good point, it was a generation ago now.

“Anyway, you were saying George?” Liam said, continuing as if nothing had happened.

Upstairs, Grace was watching Lavender play with her doll's house. Rose, the latest edition to the family, was quietly snoozing in her crib – there was a double-birthday that night, Rose was becoming a toddler while Lavender was becoming a child.

“Grace?” Asked a voice.

“Do I know you?” Grace questioned, in a small voice, as Hex sat down in the chair next to hers.

“Probably not,” Hex chuckled a little, “I'm Hex, leader of the Supernatural Court and a defender of your family.”

Grace frowned, “Defender? I've never heard of you before.”

“There was a...situation, a while ago, that stopped me from introducing myself sooner...”

“So you're protecting us from Ralph, right?” Grace said – images of Ralph hurting her family kept her awake at night.

Hex nodded, “I felt it was time I introduced myself to the current leader of the family.”

“Is there any immediate danger, or are you honestly just here to meet the family?” Grace questioned, an edge of fear in her voice.

“I am honestly here just to meet you.”

Suspicious of the strange man who had arrived to talk to his wife, Orlando positioned himself in the nursery, playing with Lavender, while earwigging on the conversation.

Orlando had nothing to worry about, Grace and Hex merely discussed what Hex was doing for the family, how the family was generally, as well as light-hearted topics like the weather.

“Well, now the introductions are out of the way,” Grace said, as the afternoon began to turn into evening, “Would you like to stay for the birthday party tonight?”

Hex pulled a face, “I can't do tonight. I'm sorry. But thank you for the invitation.”

Hex left shortly afterwards, and the extended branches of the Wrongway family began to enter the house.

Rose's transition was first up.

Rose smiled shyly as the confetti burst around her – she looked a lot like her older sister, but wasn't exactly the same.

Rose is a Cancer, with a personality of 10/3/6/6/10

Rose is a cutie. This is just one of many, many pictures I have of her.

Next up was Lavender.

“You ready, sweetie?” Grace asked. Lavender grinned.

“Cake! Want cake first!”

“Blow the candles out, then you can have cake.” Grace laughed.

“Look at me!” Lavender announced, “I'm all grown up!”

With a clap of her hands, Lavender disappeared to change clothes and hairstyles.

And so, the eldest of Generation Four became a child.

Which I * think * is the furthest I have ever played a legacy. Hooray for breaking records!

~~~

Elsewhere in Rubix, an argument was taking place.

“Why can't we just put the brats up for adoption?!” Ralph demanded.

“Ralph! They are not a burden! They are merely a responsibility!”

“Exactly! We have plots to make, we're wasting our time, trying to raise children.” Ralph rolled his eyes.

“Ralph-”

“The children have been in the nursery for days now, they haven't realised we're not interested-”

“We are not putting them up for adoption!”

The voices of the argument carried up the stairs.

“Daddy?” Hercules asked, quietly.

“Close enough,” Hex whispered, “come on, let's get you somewhere safer...”

~~~

The Court had prepared for Hercules's arrival, by placing a crib in Hex's bedroom.

“Goodnight, little man.” Hex whispered, in a soft, soothing voice.

“I didn't know you were good with kids,” Someone said behind Hex.

Lounging across the bed was one of the vampires Hex had encountered recently – Kendra Lew.

With suspicion in his voice, Hex asked, “What are you doing in here?”

“I just wanted to talk to you,” Kendra replied, cheerfully.

“Right, you just sneaked into my room behind me and started lounging on bed, and you want to talk?”

Kendra suppressed a laugh at Hex's uncertainty, “Yeah, some of the Court told my coven that you were planning to raise a child here or something?”

Kendra sat up, making space for Hex to sit next to her.

“It's a temporary measure,” Hex responded, leaning against the headboard, “I know Elizabeth Wheeler was considering adoption...but for now, it looks like I will be taking care of the child here.”

“You were going to put him up for adoption?”

“I am hardly the right person to raise a child,” Hex said, bluntly, “my line of work...it's unpredictable, shall we say?”

“It's not possible to be ready for everything,” Kendra murmured, a peaceful look crossing her face, “Come on, it's nearly dawn and I want a tour of the place before I leave.”

~~~

De and Eli were up early, but neither of them were sure why. Neither of them could truthfully say they were a morning-person.

“You said you had something to tell me?” De tried to sound calm, but her mind was racing with possibilities.

“De...I...”

“Don't keep me waiting, Eli, I am confused and worried enough as it is!” De exclaimed, her patience drawing to a close.

“De, it's hard to think of the words...”

“Do you regret marrying me? Is that it?!” De demanded, gesturing wildly with her arms.

“De! I love you! How can I regret the best thing that ever happened to me?” Eli answered, shocked that De would even consider the things she had.

“What is it, then, Eli?” De asked again, this time with a softer voice.

“The night before the wedding...I got...very, very drunk, shall we say-”

“You had an affair, didn't you?” De interrupted.

Eli swallowed, though his throat was dry, “A drunken affair, yes. And it resulted in a pregnancy-”

“A pregnancy! Eli!” De sighed, feeling sick.

“You know Elizabeth's new son? He's my son,” Eli stated, sourly, “Nancy sent a letter, ironically, to the right address while sending our child to the wrong address.”

De said nothing for a moment. Upstairs, she heard a cry, “Will is awake, I will go see what he wants.”

De walked into the nursery, knowing she was hidden from Eli. She paused for a moment, letting all of her worries flood through her brain.

It has happened once. What if it happens again? Can he truly love me if he has a child with someone else? I love Eli...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a cry from the crib in the corner.“Shh, Will, Mummy is coming.”

Eli wandered into the nursery to find his wife playing the xylophone with their son.

A smile crossed his face, and he sat down to join them.

“De, I can't change the past...” Eli discreetly whispered, while smiling at Will.

“Not in front of Will,” De muttered back.

“What can I do to make it up to you?” Eli murmured.

“Don't let it happen again. And tell Elizabeth the truth.”

“You have my word.” Eli vowed, and De knew he meant it.

She reached forward and touched the xylophone, “Will, your daddy is silly.”

Will Shahan looked up at both his parents, not knowing or understanding they were just coming out of an argument. He grinned.

“Will play music for silly daddy!” He announced, causing De and Eli to burst into laughter.

~~~

Hex had spent the day worrying. This wasn't abnormal, he saw his worries as part of the job description for leading the Supernatural Court, but this worry was different.

“I can't put him up for adoption, there's no families adopting in the area,” Hex groaned.

“I can't raise a child! I have to find an alternative!” Hex announced to the empty room.

He let out a sigh, and placed his head back on the table.

~~~

“Aphrodite, where is your brother?” Ariel questioned, stooping down to pick up her daughter.

“Hercy gone, Mummy.” Aphrodite answered. She hadn't seen her mother for a long time, “Up!”

“Man take Hercy away,” Aphrodite said, burying her nose into Ariel's neck.

Ariel's grip on her daughter tightened, “Then we will have to find him and the man, won't we?”

Aphrodite didn't respond, other than hugging her mother back

~~~

By nightfall, Hex still hadn't reached a conclusion to his worrying.

“I can't raise a child, what if my luck runs out with Ralph?” Hex sighed.

It wasn't long before someone found Hex. It just wasn't a person he was expecting.

“Still worrying about raising the little boy?” Kendra asked.

“His name is Hercules, I found out today,” Hex sighed, and looked up, “and it looks like I will be raising him...”

“You'll do fine as a father.”

“You think so?” Hex questioned. Kendra's smile broadened.

“Of course I do!” Kendra replied, “You're caring, you're passionate, and you're completely self-less.”

Hex blinked at her in surprise, “You really think that about me?”

“We all do,” Kendra laughed a little, “because it's the truth. So what's the plan? You live here, at the Court, are you going to raise Hercules here?”

“I guess so...perhaps we should call a meeting, so we can all discuss arrangements.” Hex suggested.

“Sounds fair.”

“Let me get this straight,” Phillip said, slowly, “You want to raise a child here, at the court?”

“Yes. There is no other place to raise him.” Hex stated.

“It sounds impossible.” Blossom added, “But if you find a way to make it work, I don't oppose it.”

“Right, one of my basic rules, though, is this – nowhere is out of bounds for him,” Hex said, “If he has access to everywhere, then he is less likely to find what we are doing here as a massive secret.”

“Good point. But won't he interfere somewhat with meetings?” Phillip questioned.

“Hopefully not. But as you may note, there are not many of us at all, I'm sure if I needed to get a message out I could.”

“So we're going to raise Hercules here, and that's that.” Kendra smiled, looking at Hex.

After the meeting was over, Hex retired to his room, and while it looked as if he was reading, he was actually paying very little attention to the book.

Instead, he was thinking about his life. It seemed Hex had a family of some-sorts now – he had a child to think about, and Kendra was looking out for him too.

With a smile, Hex turned his attention onto the book, feeling at peace.~~~

It was lunchtime of Austin's birthday, and Elizabeth had yet to stop fussing over every minute detail.

“Knut, did you go pick up the cake yet?” She asked for the fifth time.

“Sweetie, stop fussing,” He said, kindly, “Everything is sorted.”

“I just want things to be perfect.” Elizabeth paused, closing her eyes, “Knut, if you're drinking from the carton again, I swear...”

“I'm not,” Knut responded, wiping the milk off his upper lip.

“Elizabeth, things will run perfectly for Austin's birthday, it'll be fine.”

Elizabeth sniffed, “I just...it's difficult, you know? He's the only child we'll ever have, I just want things to be perfect.”

“We can always adopt later on, darling,”

“I love you, Knut,” Elizabeth grinned, and pulled her husband close.

“Come on, let's go throw our son the best birthday party we possibly can.”

The party got started pretty quickly, with all of the usual faces in attendance.

“Talk to Elizabeth after the cake, yes?” De said, leaning in for another kiss.

“I promised you I would,” Eli smiled, “I love you, by the way.”

“You tell me everyday,” De paused, “But I never get tired of hearing it.”

“Let's see what my son looks like as a little man!” Elizabeth announced, causing much cheering.

Eli was also excited for Austin's transitioning. As an uncle – he was pleased his twin was finally happy with her lot – but also as a father.

Even if he was only Austin's father in secret.

“Yay! I'm not going to be the only child of the generation anymore!”

And with all of the encouragement and cheering, Austin spun into childhood.

“This is so cool!” Austin announced, “I can do what I want now!”

The various family members chuckled, and the party continued.

Elizabeth and Knut had found a quiet area in order to sit and talk with Eli and De.

“What did you want to talk about Eli?” Knut questioned, cheerfully.

“It's about Austin, actually...” Eli trailed off, noticing Elizabeth's eyes light up.

“Eli informed me yesterday,” De said, taking over from where Eli left off, “that on his stag do, he had a drunken affair with some girl...”

Elizabeth gasped, but said nothing as Knut fell silent.

“Austin is the result of that one night,” Eli concluded, “Elizabeth...Austin is my son.”

Elizabeth's face fell, “Does this mean...you want him to move in with you guys and Will?”

Eli considered this for a moment, all eyes on him.

“No,” Eli said, eventually, “Elizabeth, being his mother has made you so happy, and while Will can never replace him, I don't think it would be right for me to take Austin away from you.”

Elizabeth smiled, grateful her twin was Eli.

“Thank you, Eli, thank you so much,” Elizabeth smiled, “There's just one thing to decide...do we tell Austin about his heritage?”

Upstairs, completely oblivious to the serious conversations taking place in the room beneath them, Austin was introducing himself to people.

“Hi, I'm Lavender. We're cousins, and the same age, so that should make us best friends!”

“So you're not one of those 'I'm older, you can't hang out with me' type cousins, then?”

“Course not. There's no one cool to hang out with anyway.”

“Thanks...I think...”

“You're welcome...so are you going to the park with Grandpa tomorrow?” Lavender asked, smiling again.

“Of course!” Austin replied, enthusiastically, “Can we hang out then, too?”

“Yeah! It'll be really cool!” Lavender grinned, “I finally have someone to talk to who isn't a toddler!”

“You're so lucky to have a sister.” Austin laughed.

“You can borrow her, if you like,” Lavender answered, seriously, “I'm sure she'll be cool too when she's old enough to play.”

“We can share your sister then,” Austin grinned, and pulled Lavender into a hug, “Let's go play cops and robbers!”------------------------And here is where I leave you!

Join me and the Wrongways next time – what mischief will Lavender and Austin get up to? Will the family decide to tell Austin about his true parents? What will Rose, Will, Hercules and Aphrodite get up to as children?

Thanks for reading!