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Shawn
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We started to work things out with the authorities right away. The boys were released to us immediately so that we were able to take them home. They were a lot more calm now, but they were still upset without their mother and things from home.
Knowing that the boys needed to have some things to help them transition and adjust with us, we got the keys to their family home. We could get them some of their favorite clothes, their toys, and some family photos. I didn’t want to let them forget where their family came from. Fauna, Luther and Bret all had information on their family that we brought with them.
They know who their real families were, and where they all came from. The only one that we don’t have that for is Ember, and she was a mystery from the start.
Dietrich and I walked throughout the home that the boys, who we learned were named Carsten and Casper, had lived in. They had no pets, which was standard for most of our people. However, there were a lot of photos. We took a few of the mother and the father, as well as some of the family photos that they were in together. We found their birth certificate and all the paperwork that the children had.
They also already had passports, which would make things a lot easier when we took them home.
Fauna and Luther had taken the boys upstairs to get some of their things. When we went to meet them in the bedroom, we saw that there were a lot of colorful decorations around the space, pictures that the boys had colored, and several stuffed animals. I would bring it all back to Colorado with us if it would help them. And that was why we started to pack as much of their stuff as possible.
After getting all the toys and the clothes that we needed, as well as their other essentials that came with raising toddlers, I decided to step into the parent’s bedroom. There, I found a wedding photo from several years ago, the woman’s face was not swollen and quite beautiful. The father, like the boys, had blond hair and hazel eyes, he looked to be so in love with his wife.
"I am sorry that this happened to you." I spoke to the picture as I tried not to cry. "I am sorry that they lost you, but I promise you that I will not let them come to any harm. They will be safe, and we will make sure that they grow up happy, and knowing who you are."
After my promise to the lost parents, I walked over to the closet and started to look for something in particular. I needed something that would help the boys to stay calm when they were feeling lonely.
Like wolves, Vampires have heightened senses, and so do hybrids. I knew that they would be able to smell their mother and father’s scents on clothes that were in their room. I found two jackets, ones that had been worn in the colder weather but had not yet been washed since they were worn. I could smell them on it very strongly and I knew that they would work just fine.
After adding those jackets to the luggage that we had packed from the house, we got back into the SUV, now equipped with the car seats from the family vehicle, and headed back to the castle. It was time to help the boys settle in.
We still only spent two weeks in Germany. The authorities, knowing who we were in the vampire community and not knowing at all how to place a set of half vampire twins with human foster parents, expedited the adoption. We had their paperwork and everything else finalized within the time that we had already planned to be in the country.
And we did so without sacrificing all the wonderful things that we had wanted to do with the kids while we were there. We just had two more little ones with us while we did it.
Flying home was different than going to Germany. Dietrich and I had to hold the boys when we took off because they were scared of the plane and the pressure that popped in their ears. After they settled down though, when we were cruising over the ocean, they started to run around the private plane and play with Ember and Bret. When they got sleepy, Fauna read them a story.
And then, finally, Luther tucked them in on the beds that the chairs formed when laid down. It was all very peaceful and familial.
"Oh my Goddess!"
"Really?!"
"Are you sure?!"
"Yes, we are sure. We’re going to have two more babies. They will be due in November, and they are both girls."
"Oh wow. This is amazing." Luka laughed happily. "I..I thought that it was a one time thing though. How did this happen?"
"Well," I hesitated as I remembered back to my time in Germany, "I think that it has to do with the fact that I am now a God, and so is Papa. We have more magic, and that allowed this to happen."
"Oh." They just said as if that was not all that significant.
"Daddy?" Ember asked me calmly. "You’re going to have two babies?"
"Yes, just like I had your oldest brothers and sisters." I nodded as I explained it to her. "Are you OK with that?"
"Yes. You are the more mommy one for us. I mean, you are still Daddy, but you are more like a mommy than Papa is."
"Well, I guess you are right there." We all laughed.
For the rest of the night, we bonded with the new boys and talked about the twin girls that were on the way. We were a close knit family, and we always seemed capable of having moments like this. And not only that, but I was starting to get really excited. Dietrich and I had wanted to add to our family, and now we were.
After talking about a lot of things over the first few days, Dietrich and I had decided to name the new babies Milina and Madelina. They would be Millie and Maddie for short if they wanted to be. I was just happy that we were able to settle on something so quickly.
And telling Trinity and Reece was a lot easier than I thought that it would be. They accepted it, like I knew that they would. They gushed over the boys, although saddened by the circumstances, and congratulated us on the girls.
For the time being, I was still working. I only had six months at most until the girls were here, so I couldn’t work for long. The plan was to work until I started to show too much and then stay home with the kids. Dietrich and I were even alternating who worked with Trinity because we needed to be home for Casper and Carsten to adjust.
Soon though, we would both be home and just respond when we were needed.
A lot was changing, but not in a bad way. Our family had just grown a little more, and would be again soon. We were happy though, and that was all that mattered. The boys, though still sad without their mother and father from time to time, were adjusting to life in a new country very well. I just knew that they would be alright, given time. And I was so proud of the kids that accepted them so easily.
They knew that we couldn’t abandon the boys, and they didn’t want to see them left behind with no one to watch over them. That proved to me that we were raising our kids to be generous, kind, and selfless. OK, they were still young and could make mistakes, but they learned from them as all people should.