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She pours the piping hot tea into the pretty cups, fine porcelain decorated with coral reefs and majestic ships.
They match with the ship in a bottle at the center of the wooden table (blue and white sails and a body of finely carved oak), the centrepiece for their lovely newly decorated house.
It seems foolish, maybe, to put objects of such valour when a tiny baby has just been welcomed into the house.
But life wishes for delicate things, to observe and appreciate in the moments where sleep comes difficult, when all your attention is to be dedicated to the lovely new life you now cherish. When you feel tired and weary, and that beautiful, tranquil object is there despite it all.
It's Valentine's Day, and of the little goober, not a trace.
Her other mothers have taken custody today, Korē brought along on their date.
Cleo and Lizzie remain, their breaths fill the house's lungs with measured intakes.
Lizzie is still currently in bed, snoring even as the soft yellow light of noon washes over her supine frame.
Cleo, meanwhile, is in the kitchen preparing a special breakfast for her lover.
Lately, the Queen has been dedicating herself to the newborn, so it feels right to do something special for her. And to steal some of that attention for themself.
Cleo isn't the most… romantic, truly they even cringe at their own sweet moments.
Lizzie appreciates them, though, and that's the best they could ask for.
This, too, is special.
Cleo's many lives never involved tiny babies or domestic moments with a partner.
It feels foreign even now, like it's not supposed to be, but it is, so it can't be changed.
Cleo has had enough of prophecies, tragedies and world shaking truths. Of death and betrayal. They want to heal.
They want to serve tea to their lovely Queen as the two share this moment of peace.
In all honesty, this is… not scary, (Cleo would never admit to being scared of affection) but they're…. Intimidated.
They've beaten the big bad. They've beaten death. They've restored the world. Good!
Now! Time to change nappies!
In this beautiful, out of a dream, gorgeous house they now share. With the peace she's made with Gem and Pearl after the war they've gone through. After sharing custody of their child.
The ground has never been sturdier. Yet, it's Cleo who feels shaky at the huge revelation that she can have peace. Enjoy peace.
The Mainlande is in no way perfect, and much is going to have to be done to find stability.
The Ocean Empire is rebuilding. The Peace with the Empires is, at last, everlasting.
Inside the empire, the citizens talk, they whisper, and yet they prosper.
The Prisma Palace is still under construction, so this seaside summer house was the wedding gift from the local Critters.
It had happened just before the child’s birth: the Coronation.
Queen Lizzie and King Cleo.
The other mothers, caregivers, applauding on the side, happy with their own relationship, happy to be a part of the queendom and also free to rule their own.
Gilded Helianthia, finally, an empire of its own.
And Dawn: new, splendid, Gem's dream come true.
Cleo puts the kettle down in the sink, and turns to the countertop to drop three sugar cubes into Lizzie's cup, and one into their own.
The biscuits, freshly baked this morning from Lizzie's favourite bakery, sit on a white and pink plate, decorated with little cherry blossoms.
Cleo is learning to be gentle, to relax; learning to stew in the warm moment of fondness and wishfully, she yearns.
For years they've yearned. That realization had come the night of the birth. Painful and dreadful as it was, still, the best thing that's happened since the death of the bloody ox.
So, Cleo yearns to serve the perfect breakfast in bed for their lovely wife.
Unfortunately, her plans are foiled when a gentle laugh shakes them out of their deep thoughts.
“Hi” Lizzie smiles, cheerful and sleepy, leaning on the wooden arch that separates the kitchen from the living room.
Her hair is a mess, cowlicks all over, her face and eyes red and puffy from the sheets and pillows, her robe is stained with chocolate (her midnight snack when Korē snorts out her little breaths in peace.)
She's so gorgeous, glowing in the sunlight streaming through the open windows.
Birds, parrots and seagulls chatter outside as the ocean breeze moves fresh air through the house.
Being a warm biome, it's never cold, not even now in February.
“Hi” Cleo breathes out as Lizzie comes closer to hug them, face squished against their back, blue arms around their chest like clingy snakes.
She taps on the witch's arm first, to signal her wish to hug, the smack of a kiss on delicate hands is a good give away of Cleo's willingness.
“I thought you'd sleep until, like four o'clock” they laugh, all their dark thoughts evaporating.
“I would've, if a certain warm body was still next to mine” Lizzie mutters, almost offended, into her neck.
Goosebumps rise on Cleo's skin. They deposit a kiss on the crown of Lizzie's head when she turns her face.
“I wanted to do something special” they explain, both hands splayed to show the filled steaming cups.
“I appreciate the effort” Lizzie breathes out, content, “I also appreciate the silence, void… thank goodness for Gem and Pearl.”
“Yeah… Feels empty without the baby though” Cleo laments.
“She'll be back soon. Baby needs milk” Lizzie hums.
“Well, mommy needs relaxing” Cleo hugs her, tight and longing.
A good moment is spent like this, together.
“And food. What's that?” Lizzie peeks from behind the witch.
“Tea. A jasmine and rose blend” the redhead sticks her tongue out as they hold up the tray.
Slowly, like a penguin, they're allowed to walk to the table.
When the tray is finally on the table next to rose petals and two lit candles, the picture is perfect.
Lizzie worms her way into Cleo's hug, insisting on hoarding all her attention.
With a laugh, Cleo scratches at her scalp, earning a soft mewl.
And a kiss on their shoulder.
“Did you have any plans for us today?” Lizzie asks, nose buried deep into Cleo's neck.
“No, just wanted to relax, maybe enjoy a walk on the beach if we dare” Cleo shrugs, kissing the arm loosely wrapped around their shoulders.
“I would dare” Lizzie yawns, looking up at her through thick lashes.
“Good, then, after tea and some biscuits we'll take a walk.” Cleo mutters, observing the Queen then the food.
“C'mon on now”
“Okay… Did you bake these?” Lizzie asks, as she drags her feet to her seat.
“Nope, a gift from the bakery when I went to buy… A thing” Cleo snorts.
“Something? Something like what?” Lizzie pipes up, curious.
“Shhh, don't ruin every surprise I have” Cleo chastises with a snort, flicking the oceanid on her forehead.
“Ouch! Alright, then! You'll have to wait to see mine as well” shrugs Lizzie, miffed.
“You got me something?” Cleo asks, surprised despite everything.
It's still hard to believe.
“Nooo, but it'd be incredible if I did. Marcy brought it here last night, it's hidden away…. Somewhere”
“Are you really gonna make look for my Valentine's gift?”
“Yep”
“It's not you, right?”
Lizzie's face reddens, she shakes her head.
“You can have me whenever you want” she mutters “This, uhm, thing, is a little more… rare”
“A little more rare, hm?”
“Yep” Lizzie pops the P.
“Alright then, let's eat and properly wake up. So then we can exchange goods. Deal?” Cleo snickers, sitting down as well
”Deal.”
Cleo's gift is a frosted cake paired with a bouquet of twenty peonies, ten blue orchids and five lilacs. Lizzie's favourite colours.
Lizzie's gift is something more magical.
“I wanted to celebrate this… What we've got”
“Liz we're married.”
As if that feels real. They're... Together. Married. With a child. Unfathomable.
“Right. Which is why I pulled a few strings and got the shots Gem took for the ceremony”
“All the way from Dawn?”
“Well, she brought them here. Then I had them printed and created an album of all of them. There's even some of Korē’s first week. She's so purple it's craaaazy” Lizzie laughs, pleased, as Cleo turns page after page, mouth agape.
Shots of the ceremony, their dress and suit, bouquets and cakes, the buffets of foods and guests. Friends and family all celebrating with them; the Coronation; the 100 days party for Korē a few days ago.
Gem and Korē share their birthdays on Halloween day, incredibly, which made the fawn incredibly happy.
“She's just like me!” Gem had cried when she held the baby axolotl for the first time, the splotches of purple and teal bright as she cried.
That moment is pictured in the book held in Cleo's hands.
Pearl, too, holding the baby when the five first entered this house. All starstruck and amazed.
Lizzie, all over it, holding, feeding, hugging Korē.
Cleo is in all the shots, blurred or the side, a passive observer, or the main participant, always there. She looks happy.
“I wanted to gift you a physical reminder of our lives. Of what we've achieved in the small time we've known each other” Lizzie leans on Cleo's arm, looking over the pages then at her with those deep bicolor eyes, ruby and diamond shining with hope and fondness.
Cleo is speechless.
She keeps looking down at the book then Lizzie's face, shocked and amazed.
What have they done to deserve this? Their paranoid mind whispers, mean.
Does it matter? When they're finally holding it? Never intending to let go.
Their lips wobble, then a cry laugh escapes.
“Thank you so so much” they laugh, squeezing the axolotl queen tight.
Lizzie laughs along, breathless and happy.
“I'm glad you liked it!”
“Oh, I love it” they kiss her nose.
Then her lips, soft.
Lizzie is red, and smiling so so wide. As is, Cleo.
“I love you” they whisper, content.
“I love you, too” Lizzie kisses her, too.
That walk is pushed back to later, when Gem and Pearl come back around three o'clock with a wailing baby.
“Oh, dear” Lizzie hugs her, sniffling the baby's crown.
Korē's hair is white, pale and wispy. She's an axolotl hybrid too, much like her mother, so she needs extra time in water and attention for her gills and delicate tail.
Under the golden sunlight, she's a divine gift.
Held in Cleo's arms as Lizzie prepares her special milk (a brine shrimp milkshake, basically). Korē being half human, she likes being breastfed too. Lizzie, closest to a pure axolotl a hybrid can be, can only accommodate so much. So that's Cleo's task.
Gem coos at Korē as Pearl embarks on her grand retelling of their morning adventure with the little devil.
Great monsters (the birds flying above), apparently, and tremendous winds (the lukewarm breeze), along fearful beasts (cows and sheep in the meadow nearby) and then, perilous starvation (feeding time).
The trek home, apparently, had been a great upheaval, a great test on their wills and skills.
Cleo appreciates Pearl's silliness, appreciates it even more knowing now all she's gone through, appreciates the way she makes Lizzie laugh, the way she makes Gem snort, the way themself laugh along, the way Korē looks, enraptured by the wolf's big ears and glinting pearly canines.
Cleo's thankful for the love they've found in the four they now calls family.
The walk on the beach is loud and memorable, all five members of the Crown sharing love, in all their different forms.
Parental, romantic, platonic. Love.
Korē, the heart of this union, the fair baby who instills just feelings, who pushes for more of that love.
Valentine's Day ends on the couples sleeping in their bedrooms, Korē safely tucked away in her sleeping cradle by her momma's side, while Lizzie and Cleo whisper their sweet good nights with heated kisses.