"Come on, you have to be pulling my leg, right?" Nat asked her friend as they were licking some ice cream they had gotten.
"No, I swear it's true. When my dad first read me the wizard of oz, it was actually the Russian version called the wizard of the emerald city. It's basically the same story just a few differences." Rei explained smiling at her girlfriend.
"So there's still a Dorothy and Toto?"
"Yep, but it's actually Ellie and Totoshka, also Totoshka can actually talk in the first book. Toto talks in the Oz books, but not until later. The Wizard of Oz was actually the first American book my parents ever got me, because finding an English copy of 'The Wizard of the Emerald City' here was very hard." Rei explained as Nat nodded at her.
"Rei! Nat!" The girls heard a voice call out to them as they heard a little girl call out to them. They looked up to see someone they hadn't seen in a while, young Cathy Fulton.
"Cathy Fulton, I've told you before not to...oh, hello there Nat, hello Rei, it's been a little while since we've seen you two." A very pregnant Mrs. Fulton said.
"Wow, I guess it has. Cathy, you've really grown up since we saw you last, what are you now, eight?" Nat asked the girl as she nodded with a smile.
"She just had her birthday not too long ago." Mr. Fulton said putting his hand gently on his wife's stomach. "And she's about to be a big sister too." Mrs. Fulton gently grabbed her husband's hand and kissed his cheek.
"Yeah, I'm gonna be a big sister and help my mommy and daddy take care of my baby sister." Cathy said excitedly with a smile.
"So how have you girls been in the last few months?" Mr. Fulton asked.
"Well....there's been some ups and down, but we hope there's more ups ahead in our future." Rei said.
"Good to know, the misses and I might call you again soon to watch Cathy while we go out. We're willing to pay some good money if you're interested." Mr. Fulton suggested.
"Yeah, that would be great." Nat agreed as the Fulton family walked off.
"I think after the last few months, I just want to do some babysitting jobs for a while." Rei agreed.
"Yeah, and we also might have to babysit the Harris kids or even the Moreland kids sometime too." Nat reminded her.
"Oh boy are those kids going to be something when they grow up." Rei said thinking about the young Moreland and Harris kids.
"Well, tomorrow night we're going to go over to the Moreland house, it's finally finished and Connor and Spark invited us back over to celebrate." Nat said as she and Rei continued to eat their ice cream.
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At the Desoto household, Miles and Miranda were still both grounded and stuck in their rooms. Mrs. Desoto was getting ready to meet Nina Moreland and some of the other moms at the Moreland house when there came a knocking at their door. Mrs. Desoto went to answer it and found both Amara and Chenoa on the other side of the door.
"Mrs. Desoto, please may Miles and Miranda come with us to the Moreland family home welcoming?" Amara pleaded with her hands folded.
"Girls, I know you both want to see my kids, but I'm trying to be a firm parent here. They're both grounded for the next few weeks, so that means no hanging out, and no sneaking inside." Mrs. Desoto said looking at Amara who blushed.
"Mrs. Desoto, could you reconsider letting Miles and Miranda come with us? I've had it really hard this past year. Miles helped me find my parents before they....they were killed saving me. I didn't want to see anyone for a while, then when I heard what happened to Miles, all I could think about was if he was okay. Miles is very important to me Mrs. Desoto, please, please can't you reconsider letting Miles and Miranda come with us? Miles is someone I never knew I needed in my life, and Miranda is like the sister I never knew I needed. Please, I'm begging you on my knees." Chenoa said as she got onto her knees.
During Chenoa's plea, Mr. Desoto had also come over at listened to Chenoa's plea. Mrs. Desoto looked at Chenoa and Amara, then at her husband looking unsure.
"Cariño, ¿por qué no reconsideras dejar que los niños vean a sus seres queridos?" Mr. Desoto asked his wife who finally yielded.
"Miles, Miranda, salid de aquí ahora mismo." Mrs. Desoto called out to her kids who came out of their rooms to see Amara and Chenoa at their front door.
"You both can come with us to see your friends at the Moreland house." Mrs. Desoto said as Miles and Miranda both jumped and cheered in celebration and hugged and kissed their girlfriends.
"¡Sin embargo!" Mrs. Desoto exclaimed as Miles and MIranda both got quiet and listened.
"You can have as much fun as you want when we get there, but when we say it's time to go, it's time to go." Mrs. Desoto explained.
"Pero mamá..." Miles and Miranda both groaned before seeing their mother giving a deadly glare.
"Si mama." Miles and Miranda both nodded.
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At the Moreland house, it was a big celebration and welcome home party that Julia and Rick had put together with Nina, Spark, and Caleb's help as well. The Moreland twins as well as Tammy had been put down for bed, so their moms wouldn't have to worry about watching them during the night. Caleb had made some hot dogs and hamburgers on a barbecue for their incoming guests. Rick was intstructing him on how to properly grill both the hot dogs and hamburgers as their guests began pulling in. Nat and Rei had arrived first with Nat's mother and father, Marisa and Liam MacGregor. Travis and Stephanie arrived following them and the Desoto family arriving with Amara and Chenoa as well arriving last. Chenoa said that her godparents would be coming too and her friends got a little worried that some of their parents might get a little frightened of Chenoa's godfather being a bear after all. But Chenoa assured her friends that her godfather had made it look like he was an average human man and he did look quite a handsome man when he finally arrived with.
"Wow, I didn't know Mr. Locke could look so....handsome." Nat said to Chenoa as she clung onto Miles's arm.
"Yeah, he prefers the quiet life, that's why he and Goldie like to live out in the woods." Chenoa said as they now noticed Spark helping Connor walk over to the table.
"Easy baby, careful, don't stress yourself out too much now." Spark said as she guided Connor to the table.
"Spark, I just got my hip replaced, it's not like my entire legs were replaced." Connor joked.
"Hey, if I could, I worry carry your cute ass wherever you need me to." Spark said making Connor blush a little bit.
"So Miles, Miranda, I see your mom freed you both from being grounded." Rei commented as she started eating the food from her plate.
"Yeah, we actually owe our freedom to Chenoa. She managed to convince our mamá to let us see you guys here tonight." Miles explained as Chenoa rested her head on Miles's shoulder.
"That's great, so Miranda how do you two....?" Nat began to ask but stopped when she saw Miranda and Amara were caught up in making up for lost time and making out with each other.
"Oh, how I dearly missed you mi amor." Miranda sighed as they looked into each others eyes.
"I know, I missed you almost every day." Amara agreed with her girlfriend.
"Wow Miranda, you certainly aren't the same girl we met a few years ago." Connor noted making them all think of when they first met the shy and meek Miranda Desoto.
"Yeah, remember when you guys all first met me?" Travis asked them as they all chuckled.
"I'll certainly never forget it." Stephanie blushed remembering how she first bumped into Travis and held his hand.
"So Stephanie, where did your moms go for their honeymoon?" Amara asked.
"Oh, they said they wanted some real alone time, so they booked a little lakeside cabin far away from anyone. So right now I'm alone at my house, but it's not so bad, they let Travis sleep over." Stephanie said as her friends looked at her suspiciously.
"He sleeps on my couch, okay?" Stephanie said rolling her eyes.
Some of the men got together to sit at a table and were playing a little game of cards with each other. Miguel Desoto was holding his cards and listening to everything that Rick Moreland, Bear Jr., and Liam MacGregor could possibly tell them.
"So....you're not a human but a bear who's in disguise as a human just so my wife and I won't get nervous?" Miguel asked Bear Jr. as he looked at his cards.
"That's the idea. I don't think your wife would really be comfortable if she saw a bear playing a card game with her husband. She probably would think I'd eat you, which I definitely would not. I have not and will not consume human flesh." Bear Jr. explained.
"So...the rest of you gentleman then?" Miguel asked Rick and Liam.
"My lovely wife is a vampire, but her real job is being a devoted wife, mother, and published author." Liam MacGregor said as he pulled a card from the deck.
"Well, I run a small security company but, I'm more into the business of dealing with the supernatural community that wants to make trouble. My family and I are...sort of like the supernatural police in that way, I guess. But my beautiful wife is an amazing doctor and great mother to our lovely daughter, Tammy." Rick Moreland explained.
"Yes, now that you know how we all fit into this world, now Miguel, are you calling? raising? folding?" Bear Jr. asked.
"Raising." Miguel said putting his chips into the pile.
While the men were talking amongst themselves, their wives were equally doing the same thing as Gabrielle Desoto talked with Nina, Julia, Goldie, and Marisa MacGregor about their mother in-laws while drinking some iced tea and laughing and having a good time.
"So Gabrielle, you've probably got a thousand questions about magic and stuff, but let's get down to a topic we know all too well: the mother in-law." Goldie said as all of them groaned.
"Oh, Jacob's mother was hell bent on me making sure my kids knew all of the protection and gear they needed. She practically had me study it every day and told me to have my kids memorize it all before they turned ten." Nina said recalling her mother in-law.
"Wow, I can't imagine how she must've been. I'm almost glad I didn't get to meet her, although I'm sure she would've been impressed by my impeccable doctor skills. Still, I can't say Rick didn't feel a little intimidated by my own mother. Oh, the look on her face when she found out I was pregnant, it was excitement and anger at the same time." Julia laughed.
"Liam didn't get the chance to meet my mother. But boy was he lucky, have you ever met a woman who tried to drill you like you were in a private school? That was my own mother." Marisa said thinking about her mother.
"Well, my own mother in-law was a magical bear, so you can all guess how wild that was...well, maybe you can't but I can tell you, she was a very judgemental woman with every kid I ever had." Goldie said.
"Oh, judgemental? You wouldn't believe how judgemental my own mother in-law is. I can tell you, it hasn't been all that easy integrating into a Hispanic family." Gabrielle said as she recalled her past explaining it to the women.
"There was when Miguel and I first started dating," Gabrielle recalled when she was very young.
"Oh, she looks very beautiful Miguel. You better not break my son's heart or else I'll be coming after you, comprendida?" Beatriz said to young Gabrielle as she nodded her head a little fearfully before Miguel and she went out on a date.
"Then there was a few years later, Miguel and I told his parents we were engaged." Gabrielle recalled again thinking when they were a little older now.
"Felicitaciones a ambos. Now I hope you two are very happy together and I expect some grandchildren from you both. I hope you're as good a wife to my son as you are a girlfriend." Beatriz said glaring her eyes at Gabrielle.
"Then there was the moment just after I had Miles and Miranda in the hospital and Beatriz first met them with me holding my babies in my hospital bed." Gabrielle said proudly.
"Oh, pequeños tan preciosos. Now you better raise both of these children right and well, you don't want to see how angry I can get if you get either of these babies hurt." Beatriz said with a glare as Gabrielle glared back at her.
"No te atrevas a criticarme, mujer. Haré lo que sea necesario para criar a mis bebés como quiero y los amaré y cuidaré igual que a tu propio hijo. ¡Puedes apostar tu trasero a eso!" Garbielle said in a furious rage in Spanish to her mother in-law.
Miguel looked surprised as Beatriz looked at Gabrielle in shock and then Beatriz smiled back at her daughter in-law.
"Vas a ser una excelente madre." Beatriz said with a smile and nodded.
"Gracias." Gabrielle said with a smile holding her twins.
Nina, Julia, Goldie, and Marisa were all impressed by Gabrielle's story.
"Wow, your mother in-law is super critical." Nina commented.
"Oh she is, and my kids know it too. If she finds out they're in trouble, I let them hear an earful from their abuela on the phone. She does not let them live it down until they've made up to their mistakes." Gabrielle said shaking her head as she drank her glass.
"Well ladies, here's to motherhood." Gabrielle said raising her glass as the others did too. Gabrielle looked closer at Marisa MacGregor then a thought suddenly hit her.
"Wait a minute, are you the same Marisa MacGregor who wrote 'Love in the Sahara'?" Gabrielle asked.
"Oh...that uh....that was me. I almost forgot about that one." Marisa said with a little blush.
"Oh, what's that one about?" Nina asked curiously.
"Well....it's one of my more....romantic novels. Like mature romantic novels." Marisa explained.
"Oh..." The other women said at the same time.
"Miguel and I read it before we....made Miles and Miranda." Gabrielle admitted.
"Oh, now I think I want to read it with Rick before we got to bed." Julia chuckled as the other women snickered as well.
"Actually, before we go any further, Goldie, I think we all want to know: is your husband also an animal in bed?" Nina asked raising an eyebrow to Goldie who gave a little smile.
Back over with the teens, Nat and Rei went away from the table and made their way over to a secluded spot where they could look up and see the stars.
"It's so beautiful, isn't it?" Nat asked her girlfriend.
"Yeah, it is. You know when Duke and Sasha come back we're going to go to their little wedding, right?" Rei asked.
"Of course, I'm going to love seeing you in your bridesmaid dress. I also want to see how Sasha looks in her dress too. I know she's not usually one for dresses, but I think she's just a little self-conscious about dressing up, but she really shouldn't be. She's beautiful." Nat commented.
"She is. But you are the most beautiful woman in my eyes." Rei complimented as she gave Rei a soft kiss on her lips.
"With everything that's happened, do you ever worry about the future?" Nat now asked Rei.
"Natalia MacGregor if the last few years has proved anything to me, it's that I have some of the greatest friends, and the most amazing woman in my life. All I can see in my future is you right next to me." Rei said as she and Nat now laid down in the grass.
"Hey love birds, can we join you?" Spark asked as she helped Connor walk over to where Nat and Rei were. Miles and Chenoa, along with Miranda and Amara, and Travis and Stephanie had come over as well.
"Yeah, the more the merrier." Nat said as they all said down with Spark gently helping Connor sit on the grass.
The friends all sat down looking at the stars that night enjoying their special moment together. None of them knew exactly what their future would hold, but they knew if they all had each other, then they would make it through together.