Jordan stood on the side of the yard and observed from afar. Mark was with his family, and Jordan was overseeing both halves of the yard today. He had already conferred with his commanders and officers below him, and now he just wanted to see how they handled instruction without the presence of superior officers.
Just as he turned to walk away, he spotted Elunara coming down the way. Laithion was flying beside her, hands on her shoulder. Andryxia was being carried by Elunara on her other hip. Laithion would fly everywhere, given the chance. However, Andryxia was a bit of a Velcro, always wanting to be carried everywhere. Jordan wondered if her wings weren't as strong as her brothers, or if she was just needy without her father constantly popping by to give them attention. Jordan felt the sentiment was mutual.
Elunara reached Jordan and sort of let go of Andryxia. Andryxia slid down and put her feet on the ground. Tightening her grip on the stuffie she was never without, she eyed Jordan. He knelt in front of her. "Hey, kiddo."
"Hi, papa Jordan."
He poked the stuffie, some sort of pink cat looking thing. "I see you've got your love."
"Miss Pooferton would be lost without me."
"I see." He chose his next words carefully. "You know... if you ever need to talk. Like your mother, I'm here too. We all miss him."
Andryxia's lip quivered ever so slightly, and the edge of tears shimmered in her eyes. With a jerky nod she tightened her grip even more.
Without warning, Laithion kicked Jordan in the leg. "Don't make my sister cry!"
"Hey!" Elunara reached out, but Jordan shook his head.
"It's okay, big guy." Jordan put his hand on Laithion's head. "We know you miss your dad, too."
Laithion crossed his arms with a "Hmph".
"Why don't you two go sit with Susan?" Elunara gestured to the platform.
"Yes, Mommy." Andryxia flapped her wings, and the pair of dragon children flew to the platform.
Jordan stood up. "Where is Emaline?"
Elunara sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. "Waiting in the kid's training area for Jerry and Louis." She put her hands on her hips. "No matter what I say or do, I cannot convince her to take the day off. She's seven, the twins act like they're seven, they should be buddies and running around town terrorizing shop keeps. Instead, Emaline thinks she needs to train until Anduin shows his ass back up, and the twins are devastated their dad is no where to be found.
I literally NEED them to run around like maniacs, if only for their own development, but instead..."
"I see." Jordan rubbed her hips. "Anything I can do?"
"You just did it." She rubbed his shoulders. "However, if I can convince the twins to hang out with Susan for an hour or so..."
"In for a quickie?" He winked.
"Maybe." She licked her lips.
"Sir!" A voice had them both turning to the sound. A man stood there with a large envelope and some packages. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was told to bring these straight to you and not leave them in the mail."
Curious, Jordan took the large envelope. "Who...?" He turned it over and gasped. "It's from Wrathion!" Laithion and Andryxia heard their father's name and bolted back to the group.
"So are these." He held up the two packages. "I am instructed to give them to the children. May I?"
Laithion hopped back and forth on his feet. "Please, mommy? Please?"
"Of course." She gestured to them.
The man read the labels before passing the packages down.
Laithion ripped into his package and found an elaborate black, red, and gold tabard and a statue of a dragon. "It's so cool!" He tugged the tabard on and hugged the statue to his chest.
Andryxia was a little slower to unwrap hers. Finding the same tabard, she carefully put it on. Something else fell out of the tabard, and she carefully picked up a stuffed duckie with a little flower hat. She hugged it to her chest and burst into tears.
Laithion patted her on the back. "There, there, sister, don't cry."
"Well, don't just stand there, open the envelope." Elunara nudged Jordan.
Jordan hastily ripped open the top of the envelop and pulled out a sheaf of papers. He began reading. "He did write to us, every day." He flipped through the papers and skimmed some of the words. "There's stuff here from when he was flying to the isles, and then getting to the isles and meeting Majordomo Selistra." He stopped at the final pages. "Wrathion says that he cannot come back to us for a while, because the Djaridin, an ancient foe, is threatening his ancestral home, and he needs to take it back. He'll let us know when he has regained his seat of power."
"That sounds scary." Andryxia hugged both of her stuffies.
Laithion shook his head. "It's OUR daddy, he'll beat them, All of them!"
Jordan eyed the letters. "He does call himself an incalculable advantage." He looked up at Elunara, worry in his eyes.
Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "He's not stupid. Plus, he has his agents, and whatever adventurers he took on the ships."
"This must mean the way is open!" Jordan gasped as the truth hit him. "That means mages should have established the way now."
"Don't go running off just yet. Wait until he says it is safe for us to visit."
"I'm going to go write him back, straightaway!"
"Can we, mommy? I want to thank daddy for Mr. Quackerton."
"Let's all go write to your father." Elunara jerked her head toward the house.
-----
Katie shifted in her sleep. Half-awake and shifting this way and that, she decided that the reason she couldn't get comfortable was that she had to pee. With a sigh, she stubbornly cuddled up against Stephen. It was blisteringly early in the morning, and she didn't want to leave the bed just yet. Having been through pregnancy once with a literal cow meant she knew what it was like to have little to no bladder space. She was only about sixteen weeks along by Elunara's estimation, she shouldn't have to pee this badly. A frustrated sigh and she got out of bed.
Stephen shifted in the bed, taking up much of her spot. She brushed his hair out of hair face with a smile. She loved him so darned much. But now, she really had to pee! Making her way to the little bathroom the good people of Stormwind had installed in their much bigger house, she sat and groaned. Okay, maybe she really did need to go that badly. Done, she washed her hands in the sink and turned toward the bed. Deciding since she was up, she would check on Enwoo, Katie walked towards his crib.
A knock on the door stopped her halfway. Katie frowned. Who on Azeroth would be here at this hour? The knocking came again, a little more insistent this time. With a look at her nightgown, Katie shook her head. She couldn't possibly answer the door in this state. When the knock got louder, she whipped her head around to find Stephen still asleep, surprisingly unphased. She grabbed her robe from by the bed and wrapped it around her.
"Coming, coming!" She dared to whisper as she headed downstairs.
Katie opened the door and blinked at the group of people on the porch. "Oh! Look at you!" Arms wrapped themselves around Katie's neck, and she was squished in between an impressive pair of breasts. Struggling against the arms pinning her down, Katie tried desperately to breathe.
"Let the poor girl breathe, Lynnie." The voice was muffled behind the arms of the person clinging to Katie.
The arms released their grip and hands grabbed her upper arms. "Aren't you just the prettiest thing?" One hand released Katie and brushed her hair out of her face. "Let me just look at you." The woman stepped back and eyed Katie up and down. "Just a frail little thing too." The women clucked her tongue.
"I--"
