Ben shook his head in amusement as he looked at the collection of guys around him. They had stuck to their word and set up a club for the parents of magical children who didn't have any powers themselves.
Or the Parents without Powers club, to keep it short.
"I swear, Uma nearly burst her gut laughing when she heard what happened to the kitchen after she got home," Harry said, leaning over the sofa to hand Ben a bottle of water. He hadn't asked for a bottle of water but the look on Harry's face indicated that it would be better for Ben to just take the water bottle and not argue.
"At least you got it resolved," Carlos said.
"True...what about you DeVil? Did you get that stuffed toy magicked back to normal?"
Carlos sighed. "No, we didn't. Thankfully, Fairy Godmother thought the dog was cute and so adopted her from us."
"Carlos, aren't you the 'dog' guy?" Gil asked.
"I am but one dog and one cat are more than I can handle!"
Gil chuckled as he sat down next to Ben. "What about you Ben? Did you get Effy to de-transform?"
"I don't think that's a word...but yeah," Ben nodded. "The problem is now every time she has a tantrum, she transforms. And Reese has his 'Beast' roars...though apparently we also learned he can transform as well."
"Oh?" Harry asked.
Ben chuckled. "Yep. Reese can transform...into a Cerberus puppy. Mal and I found out when we found Nyx licking the top of one of his heads. We think she was trying to groom him."
"Aww! Tell me there are pictures!" Akiho said with a smile.
"With my mother in law being who she is? Of course there are pictures, I'll show them to you later," Ben said with a small chuckle. "And what about you? Has Emily drowned you in snow like you said when you called me?"
"No," Akiho shook his head though an amused smile could be seen on his lips. "Though I did make Emily promise to use her powers. I don't want her to end up like Aunt Elsa, afraid to use them and unable to control them. I love my daughter, I don't want to see her hurt."
"Spoken like a true papa," Harry nodded, gently patting Akiho on the shoulder. "Hey, do you think we should bring Phil Jr. into these meetings?"
"I feel I should ask why but I'm afraid of what Harry's going to say if I do," Carlos spoke up.
Harry shook his head. "I mean, he's a parent without powers just as much as we are. Plus his kids are family for all of us except DeVil, seems almost cruel to not invite him."
"Good idea, I'll text him an invite," Akiho nodded. "But does anyone have any pressing business they need to discuss or are we just going to go into our usual rants like when we were on the phone?"
Gil chuckled. "Honestly, I feel so out of place here. I have no rants and compared to you guys, I'm not panicking every month or so."
"Gil, you've had more time to adjust to the idea of magical children unlike us," Carlos told him.
"I'm pretty sure you all have one kid with the exception of Ben," Gil said.
"Yeah, so you say," Carlos shook his head.
"...DeVil, you just have your daughter," Harry said. "Right? Did you and your lass have another child and we all missed the invite to celebrate the birth?"
Carlos chuckled. "Bit behind the times Harry. I've got a daughter and a son. Jason was born last November, so he's coming up on his first birthday."
"Congrats man!" Gil said with a grin.
"Yeah Carlos, congratulations," Ben nodded. "Why didn't you mention it? You know Mal and I would have been happy to throw Jane a baby shower, especially since you guys all did so much when Mal was pregnant with the twins."
"Jane didn't want to put more work on your plates, plus Mal was busy getting Jay up to speed in regards to being her advisor and we were trying to get Caroline used to the idea of having a little brother," Carlos explained. "Which come to think of it, that might have been one of the reasons why Caroline might have turned her toy into a real dog."
"Ah, let me guess. The little lass was jealous that her little brother was getting all the attention?" Harry asked.
"I mean I'm just guessing," Carlos told him. "But it's a reasonable assumption right Gil? You've got more older siblings than anyone here so you know what I'm talking about."
"Huh? Oh yeah," Gil nodded. Had he not known about the...rocky relationship between Harry and CJ when they were kids, Gil might have asked Carlos why he didn't just ask Harry. But, while Gil might not have been the sharpest dagger in the set, he was still smart enough to not want to hurt Harry by picking at that old scab.
"How are your sisters doing?" Harry asked.
"Well...Georgia's dating Rick and Gillian's apparently been spending time over at Strat's personal training gym—."
"Wait, hold up," Harry said. "One: Strat is actually running his own business in Auradon and two: you're okay with one of your sisters being around a former fanatic of Freddy's?"
Gil shrugged. "She's my older sister Harry. I might not feel entirely comfortable with it but I can't control her, and Piper's already given Strat the 'shovel talk' so I don't think Strat'll try anything. Plus I think Strat's turned over a new leaf since he arrived here."
"Being pummeled to an inch of your life would do that to someone," Harry nodded.
"I forget, do we like Strat?" Akiho whispered to Ben.
"At this point, I find it wise to just follow Harry's lead on who to like and not like from the Isle," Ben whispered back. "Well, unless who he likes or dislikes counteracts with who Mal likes or dislikes."
"Always smart to go with who Mal likes," Akiho nodded.
"I think we all knew that," Harry snorted and Akiho flushed slightly as he realized he hadn't whispered that last comment.
Carlos shrugged. "I mean that's just common sense right? Mal can turn into a dragon therefore, it's safer to like who she likes."
Everyone chuckled at that. Meanwhile, over in Elle and Akiho's castle, there was another meeting happening. Only these meeting attendees were less prone to freaking out as their counterparts were.
"So, tell me again. How much did Akiho freak out?" Uma asked as she munched on some chips.
"Probably about as much as Carlos, I'm guessing," Jane said with a fond smile.
"And Ben," Mal nodded. "I know I had to call mom probably after the fourth or fifth dive Ben had to do to avoid Effy going after his buttons."
Uma shook her head. "Honestly I had to chuckle when Grandfather told me about how much Harry was freaking out. I mean, we grew up on the Isle. We saw stranger things than a toddler flooding a kitchen. Plus, he had to expect that Helena would have some magic."
"To be fair to Harry, there's expecting it and then there's living through it," Mal said. "After all, I'm sure Ben expected the twins to have some magic but expecting it is a lot different than a toddler dragon dive bombing you because she wants the shiny things on your shirt."
"That is a very vivid image, I'm not going to lie," Uma chuckled. "So, how's everyone been? Any more freak outs?"
"Honestly we've been so busy preparing for Jason's first birthday that Carlos thinks that's the reason why Caroline had her magical outburst in the first place," Jane said.
Every woman in the room looked over at her.
"Um...Jane? Who's Jason?" Macaria asked.
"My son?"
"You don't have a son," Elle told her.
Jane shook her head. "I guess we forgot to tell you. Um, so, apparently there was a bit of time that I didn't know I was pregnant last year."
"When did you find out?" Elle asked.
"When I went into labor," Jane said. "Jason Diego DeVil was thankfully born perfectly healthy last November."
Mal smiled softly. "You used Carlos' cousin's name as Jason's middle name?"
"Of course," Jane nodded. "Caroline is practically named after both of my parents, it wouldn't be fair if I just insisted both of our kids had names from my side of the family."
"Really as long as you don't name a kid after Cruella, I think Carlos won't mind," Mal said.
"Oh trust me, that won't be a possibility," Jane told her. "But what about you Mal? Any thoughts about more kids?"
Mal chuckled. "Oh no, not until the twins are at least five. With Effy and Reese both having transformations and magical flare ups, it wouldn't be fair to bring a baby into the mix."
"I think Harry would be in favor with that for us," Uma said with a chuckle of her own. "But um...waiting's not exactly in the cards."
"What do you mean?" Macaria asked but Mal gasped in realization.
"You're pregnant again?!"
Uma nodded. "Should have known you'd get it first cuz."
"I mean we've only known each other practically our whole lives, why wouldn't I get it first?" Mal asked with a small smile before leaning over to give Uma a hug. "Congrats cuz. Any idea on the due date?"
"The doctor says we're looking at an August due date," Uma said and Mal nodded, picking up what wasn't being said. At least this way Harry could avoid any unpleasant memories with his son or daughter being born in one of the warmer months.
"How's Harriet doing by the way?" Mal asked, opting to change the subject.
"She's doing well, same with Sammy," Uma said, picking up Mal's subject change even as the others in the group continued to give their congratulations. "They're still trying to have a kid, but Harry's said that they're getting a bit more hopeful with my sister having her daughter."
"Oh congratulations to your sister!" Jane exclaimed with a smile.
"Thanks Jane," Uma smiled.
"Um...Celia's a bit young to have kids isn't she?" Elle asked, tilting her head.
Mal chuckled. "The mom brain starting to impact you cuz? Remember Uma's got an older sister too. And yeah Uma, congrats to Freddie, I'm sure she and Ally are thrilled."
Uma nodded. "They really are, Felicity's the light of both of their lives."
"And how's Celia, speaking of her?" Macaria asked.
"She's doing well," Uma said. "She's been spending more time with one of the Hun boys. All Celia will tell me is that his name is Cyrus before telling me that we're off the Isle and therefore I don't need to poke my nose into her dating life."
"Doesn't she know that it's the duty of an older sister to poke their nose into their sibling's dating life?" Elle asked with a small chuckle.
"How often do you get to do that though? Considering Melody is practically married to Phil?" Mal asked.
"Eh, I can still prod about when she thinks Phil's going to ask dad for permission," Elle said. "Though I will say considering they both have kids together, I think dad won't mind if Phil doesn't ask permission."
"It's how they're all raised though," Macaria said. "And I think it rubbed off on Gil at least. You know he asked mom and dad for permission to marry me before he proposed?"
Uma snorted. "Harry did the same thing, only with Grandfather and Uncle Hades since he couldn't ask my dad."
"Aww, that's sweet," Elle said with a small smile.
"...Why am I not surprised the cousin raised royal finds that sweet?" Mal asked, shaking her head.
Elle shrugged. "It's how we were all raised as Macaria said. Not asking would probably involve entering into a marriage with angry in-laws. Plus, in Gil's case, it's probably better to not anger the Gods."
"That...is an excellent point," Mal nodded.
"Yeah, don't know why that didn't occur to me," Macaria shook her head.
The women all chuckled before Mal paused and pulled out her phone.
"You okay?" Uma asked.
"Oh yeah, just a text from Ryan," Mal shrugged. "He wants me to ask dad if he could help him with a gem question?"
"Why would Ryan need to ask a gem question?" Uma asked.
"Who's Ryan?" Jane asked.
"CJ's boyfriend," Uma told her before pausing. "Wait...no, he's not..."
"I think he might be cuz," Mal nodded.
Jane shook her head. "For those of us who can't read minds?"
"Okay two kid Jane gets sarcastic at times," Mal chuckled. "But think about it. What's my dad's title?"
"God of the Dead?"
"Well yeah...but what's his other title?"
Macaria, Jane, and Elle's eyes went wide as they all realized what Mal was saying.
"He's the God of Wealth! Or God of Gems depending on who you ask," Macaria said with a small hop of excitement. "Does that mean...?"
"I think it does," Mal nodded. "Looks like Ryan's ready to propose!"
"Oh Gods! It's hard to believe CJ and Ryan are old enough to get married," Uma said, shaking her head. "I still remember them as the under fifteens who would argue they should be able to join in on face offs. And then sneak out and join anyway!"
"I almost wonder how he's going to propose," Jane said with a small smile. She had met Ryan during her duties shadowing her mother as she performed her duties as Headmistress of Auradon Prep. He had applied for and been hired on as a member of the R.O.A.R. team's coaching staff.
Since then, Jane and Ryan had become close work friends. She'd had an idea that Ryan was looking to get CJ something considering Ryan had been submitting more and more requests for overtime.
"Does he have an idea for the ring?" Elle asked, pulling Jane out of her thoughts.
"Not that he said in the text but I'm sure that'll be something he tells dad," Mal said. "I remember when Henry stopped by the house one time because it was coming up to his and Claudine's anniversary and he wanted to give her a proper engagement ring for her to wear rather than having to wear his old medallion. Dad grilled him for probably an hour about what design Henry wanted the ring to be."
"What did Henry say?" Uma asked.
"He said all he wanted was for the ring to be 'worthy of Claudine'," Mal said with a small smile.
"As sappy and Henry like as that is, you know the vagueness probably drove Uncle Hades insane."
"Oh yeah, dad had to go outside because Rea had decided to join and dad has a 'no flame up around Rea' policy. He doesn't want to scare her before she's old enough to know he's not scary to her."
"Seems reasonable," Jane nodded.
"So...how many freak outs do you think the guys have had by now?" Uma asked and everyone couldn't help but shake their heads in amusement. Something told them there were a lot more freak outs to come, for both sets of parents.
And they also found they couldn't wait to see what they were. If it involved their kids, they looked forward to every second.