Chapter two

When Saturday evening arrived, Nick paced through his loft that Adalind had in the past, half-jokingly, referred to as a fortress. He had all the time he needed and then some to prepare Diana and his son Kelly for the night with Trubel and the triplets, but he still felt rushed. He'd picked up the wine, changed his shirt a few times, finally deciding on the shirt he was currently wearing, packed up the diaper bag and toys, all while Adalind showered and prepared herself for the night out. Nick checked the bathroom mirror several times. He wanted to look nice, but not too nice. He knew Bud's housewarming wouldn't be overly formal, but knew more was at stake tonight than a simple party.

Diana, who wasn't quite five years old, yet looked nearly twice her age due to the magical nature of her mother's pregnancy, looked remarkably like her mother with the same straight blonde hair. She stood in the bathroom doorway looking at Nick's reflection in the mirror and very plainly stated, "You look nice."

Nick tilted his head to look at Diana in the mirror and said, "Thank you. I want to look nice for your mom tonight."

Diana smiled, "Why can't I go to the party with you and mommy?" Diana had a habit of asking the simplest of questions that still had to be answered with the utmost care. Magically speaking, Diana was more powerful than nearly anyone Nick had ever met, but still had the mind of a child. She could be very dangerous.

Nick turned around to meet her eyes and replied, "Well, as much as mommy and I love you and Kelly and as much as Monroe and Rosalee love their triplets, sometimes adults just want some time with other adults, to talk and laugh and maybe have a drink or two. Or three."

"Will daddy be there?" Nick had fathered Kelly, who was a little over a year old, but Adalind had conceived Diana with Captain Sean Renard who had shared custody of their daughter, though this was not his week with her.

"No, he won't. Your mom and I are going to see a friend of mine. Your dad doesn't know my friend all that well. Your dad has different friends." He gave Diana a smile and hoped that was a satisfactory answer for her.

It seemed as though she was about to ask another question when Adalind stepped down from the raised bedroom in their loft. Nick could hear her heels clacking on the concrete floor.

Diana's face lit up in a smile that reflected so much joy and innocence that it could make one easily forget how powerful she is, "You look very pretty, Mommy!"

Nick looked up and when his eyes met Adalind's, he put his hand gently to his heart and said, "She's right, you are very pretty. Lovely in fact."

Adalind bowed her head to each of them, "Thank you very much" She had tied her hair back in a tight bun and was wearing a tight fitting gray dress that came down to her knees.

Nick began to wonder if he was underdressed with just his jeans and button up shirt, "Should I change? I feel like we don't look like we're going to the same place." He began looking at himself in the mirror again.

Adalind began folding more clothes to put into Diana's overnight bag and looked at Nick, "Are you Okay? I don't think I've seen you preen and primp yourself like this before. It'll be fine, we're going to Bud's, not the mayor's."

Nick was about to reply but noticed Adalind wasn't really listening anymore. She was looking around the room pointing in different directions and Nick knew she was making a mental tally of all the things the kids might need and determining to herself if those items had already been moved into the bags they were about to put in Nick's SUV.

"Okay, I think we have everything. We have everything, right? Anything we've forgotten?" She began pointing around the room again.

Nick came up behind her, put his arms around her waist and reminded her, "It's for one night, they'll be with Trubel and they'll be at Monroe's and Rosalee's. They'll be fine."

Nick helped Adalind and Diana put their coats on and while he put his own coat on, Adalind put Kelly into his baby carrier, a dance they'd done hundreds of times. Nick picked up the bags, Adalind picked up the baby carrier and they all got into the freight elevator that would carry them down to the garage. Just as the doors closed, Nick patted his coat pocket to feel for an item he'd been carrying around for days. When he gripped it in his palm he took a deep breath and sighed as they descended.