Blessed by Night

To their credit, Malachi and the girls did spend the better part of fifteen minutes actually trying to wedding plan. However, they quickly learned that it was every bit as stressful as the television shows made it look. It didn't take very long before the adults gave up on wedding planning and decided to shift their focus to the very reason they were all here- celebrating. Sei had spent a fair amount of time making dinner for everyone, so rather than letting it get cold, they gathered around the table in droves. Things were still normal then. One could even say that they might've been picture-perfect. And then Serana pulled out a jug of suspicious-looking liquid. She slammed it on the table with an extremely proud and authoritative-looking smile on her face. Sei was immediately displeased and trying not to cause a scene. "Serana-baby... Please tell me that you didn't just slam a jug of prison wine on mommy's good table?" Serana continued to stick out her small chest with pride. "Kukukuku! No prison wine here, mom!" (Although she did make it in a bathtub) She held up the jug like it was a prized piglet in the county fair. "This here is a bit of Dragon-Brandy brought from home! It's great, and you can barely taste the alcohol at all!" The adults at the table were both intrigued and terrified at the same time. Aubrey, Aisha, and Nyx helped dissuade everyone's fears of alcohol poisoning. "Don't worry, guys, it doesn't work like regular alcohol. When you drink it, you can only get as drunk or as buzzed as you want. You can drink without fear of blacking out." Aubrey comforted. She turned towards her parents, who were sitting with their own ghostly plates. "I can consecrate some for you if you want." Felicia and Marcus looked at each other momentarily. They barely needed a moment to think about it before nodding in agreement. Making Serana grin eerily wide. "Everybody has to take a drink tonight! It's a requirement for everyone except the pregnant lady and the baby!" Cami had already unscrewed her sippy cup. When she heard she wasn't getting any, her little face soured. Rowan leaned over the table and stared at Aubrey with immense curiosity. "I'm sorry, I really hope I'm not being too nosy here, but I absolutely have to know... how exactly do you get pregnant by five different women..?" The metaphorical floodgates were thrown open. Ali, Luna, Morgan, and even his wife Crystal leaned forward with eyes so big that they resembled saucers. Ali: "Thank god somebody else asked because I have been wondering that ever since Bianca told me." Crystal: "Wait, five??" Ali: "That Thea girl married three more women before them." Crystal: "Holy shit.." Morgan: "Do dragons have... umm... gosh, I...Serana, p-pour me a drink please." Luna: "Is the baby coming out with scales and everything or will it be like a human with horns..?" Malachi literally never thought he would have to say this, but the absolute last thing he wanted to talk about at a dinner table was the specifics of how exactly his little sister had gotten pregnant. Aubrey scratched her cheek as she started to explain. "I-It was kind of just a magical ritual where we each took a bit of our essences and-" Malachi didn't need to hear anymore- and in fact, was praying that he wouldn't. He grabbed his glass that Serana hadn't even fully filled his glass yet before he threw back his first glass with gusto. Things understandably started to snowball from there... - 7 Minutes Later... Joanne, in addition to Aubrey and Camille, were the only ones who decided not to drink that night. Joanne was a former alcoholic after all. She used to tell herself that drinking was fine when she was blessed since it wasn't like she could actually make herself inebriated anymore. She has since come to lament her former position and given up alcohol entirely. For a healthier mind and spirit. In all honesty, she never really believed that she'd see the day when she wasn't even tempted to take a drink. But maybe that was because her new life was just a bit too hectic for her to worry about that kind of thing. Regardless of the reason, Joanne had never been more proud of herself for choosing to give up alcohol than she was right now. *Burp!* A loud belch cut through the air, and a gout of red flame soared above the dinner table. Misty-eyed and red-faced, Bianca covered her mouth shyly as she tried not to descend into a giggling fit. "M-My bad... I really thought that would be quieter." Ali looked horrified. Anna, Malachi, and Celeste just fell into laughing fits. "Whew...!" Fiona wiped her brow of ghostly sweat. "I forgot all about this whole hot-stomach feeling thing... Takes me back to my college days..." Marcus dropped his arm around his wife and flashed her a drunken, inappropriate smile. "You know I miss them days too girl, you know how we used to get down." "Heheheh! Boy stop, the kids are right here." Anna and Bianca had to physically hold back a drunken Mal as he tried to pull his own eyes out. "You are new, so there is something that I must tell you." A drunken Celeste swayed back and forth as she stared at Keres. It took every ounce of willpower she had to remain upstanding and respectable. "Hm..? O-Okay.." "I need you to know that I will kill for you. I am generally unfond of humans, but my brother's family is a special exception. I'll knock all this shit over for any one of you." The dam holding back Celeste's uncontrollable emotions finally broke almost immediately. "T-That's... S-So very sweet..! You're such a good sister-in-law!" Celeste threw her arms around Keres and hugged her with a surprising amount of strength for a middle-aged human woman. Keres was initially put off but hugged the woman back as she cried. Joanne looked at Luna who sat next to her. For reasons no one seemed to understand, she was the one who traditionally handled her liquor extremely well. However, she knew that she was fighting a losing battle when she saw Luna unzipping her sweatshirt and lightly fanning her cheeks. The two briefly made eye contact, and Luna grinned when she saw Joanne's gaze lingering on her chest. She purred like a cat as she leaned her body weight against Joanne's body. A very specific pheromone was wafting off of her in droves. "See something you like..? Because I do..." Joanne's face turned a deep scarlet red. "U-Ummm.." "I think I need help getting to the bathroom.. Will you help m-" "B-Bed time!" Joanne stood up remarkably quickly and made her way over to lift Camille out of her high chair. "Gaba!?" "Don't 'gaba' me, rag-a-muffin. It's way too far past your bedtime." "Bu." Camille pouted. She was really hoping that if she stayed quiet, no one would notice her. Joanne's face softened. "Don't look like that. Sometimes grown-ups need a little time to have fun and be grown-ups." "Bla." "We're not excluding you, kiddo. It's just life. You'll understand when you get older." Joanne kissed her cheek. Camille still didn't look super moved. Joanne didn't really want her daughter to go to sleep with an attitude if she could avoid it. Especially since everyone else would be staying up and having fun tonight. "Alright, I'll make you a little deal…" Cami looked up with interest. - "Well? Comfortable?" Camille grinned as wide as her little cheeks would allow. With her PJs snuggly affixed to her body and her miniature bonnet sitting on top of her head, Camille looked perfectly ready for bed. At least on the outside, that is. Inwardly, she was jittery with excitement from finally getting to sleep in her parents' big bed for once. She also had plenty of company. Ajani, Shiro, and Anna's cat Marcelline all crawled into bed with her. Joanne reached for the tablet on the other side of the room and handed it to her daughter. "Don't tell the others that I gave you this past your bedtime. You wouldn't want them to yell at mommy, would you?" Cami shook her head. "Good." she kissed her cheek and turned off all the lights in the room aside from a single lamp. Before she left, she made brief eye contact with Ajani. Thirty minutes. She mouthed. The serpent just nodded back. Once Joanne had left the room, Camille set herself to finding something good to watch. Just as she started to press play on a rerun of 'Max and Ruby', her little ears twitched. She listened for a couple more seconds, and there was no mistaking it. A small beeping sound was coming from somewhere inside of her parents' room.