A Denali and a Swan

The Denali Coat of Arms

We make it home ok. Blaze attaches himself to Leah. They both missed each other I'm sure. I see Irina watching Leah with a disdainful look. I growl and say "Irina I need to speak to you. Outside." I stomp my way out the door with Tanya and Irina following. When we get far enough away from the house I let loose. "What the hell Irina?! If looks could kill Leah would be dead. I know you loved Laurent but he was going to kill my SISTER! It's been over a year! You can grieve for him that's fine but if I see you being anything but polite to Leah, Seth and Jacob, I'm going to loose my shit!" I start to flame up. Tanya pats my back and holds my hand, squeezing it. "Calm down love." Tanya looks to Irina. "I miss my sister. This is not you. What can we do to help you?" Tanya asks. "I just don't know how to find myself again. I'm extra lonely watching all of you be happy. And being around the wolves reminds me of Laurent. I'm sorry. I'll do better at being polite. Please forgive me Ember? I owe you my life and would do anything for you and Tanya." Irina says. "You're forgiven. Just be a little nicer is all?" I reply and she nods. I nod back and we go back inside. Kate is giving the kids junk food and Carmen and Eleazar scold her. "They're going to spoil their supper!" "They're kids! Kids should get candy!" Kate says. "Yea! Candy's yummy!" Ashlyn says around a lollipop. "Mmm! This is good!" Blaze shouts as he eats a chocolate bar. "Katrina! What are feeding my children?!" "Sweets! As their aunt, it's my job to spoil them!" Kate demands. Tanya and I roll our eyes. "That's enough candy for today then kids. After you're done with the lollipop and chocolate then no more." I say firmly. "Ok Pops." Ashlyn says. I look at her and ask "where'd you get pops from? You always call me Daddy?" "You call Grandpa Pops all the time. I thought I'd try it. Is that ok? Ashlyn asks. "Yea. That's fine. You can call me Pops if you want to. Blaze, are you going to too?" I ask. "I'll stick with Dad or Daddy probably. I might I don't know." He shrugs. I laugh and say ok. Tanya is whispering with Carmen and I walk over to her. "What is the whispering about?" I ask. "Love I ordered something for you. Let's go to my study and I'll give it to you." She hands Dawson to Carmen and takes my hand and we speed to her study. She sets me down on her chair at her desk and grabs a jewelry box. She sits on my lap and hands me the jewelry box. Inside the box is a ring. It is a personalized coat of arms. "It's our family crest. For centuries my coven has worn this crest. Kate, Irina and I have necklaces. Eleazar and Carmen have rings. Kate just got one for Garrett. His is a leather bracelet with a metal charm with the crest. I also have a necklace for Ashlyn and for Blaze. I'll have to order two more for Dawson and our new little one." Tanya says. "Thank you love. I'll wear it forever." I say as she slips it on my pinky finger on my left hand. I kiss her. Tanya pulls away and asks what coat of arms will we use for the Denali castle. I pull open the left desk drawer and hand her a sketch I made. "What you think?" I ask. "I love it. I assume the D stands for Denali?" She says. I nod and she kisses me. "I love it. Now let's go give the kids their family crests." Tanya says. We go to the living room where the kids are playing video games. They turn the game off and ask "What do you have Mommy?" "We have something called a family crest loves. Your aunts and uncles and I wear jewelry with the crest on. And I bought each of you your own jewelry. I bought you Blaze, a necklace and you a necklace Ashlyn." She hands me Ashlyn's necklace and I help put it on Ashlyn while Tanya helps put Blazes necklace on him. "Cool! Thanks Mommy!" They both say. She smiles and nods. "What is a family crest mommy?" Blaze asks. "A family crest was intended to recognise family achievements and heritage. Our family has worn this crest for decades my loves. It's a tradition that I would like to carry on to you." Tanya explains. "Ok Mommy! Love you!" They both say together. They look at their necklaces and smile. "Where's yours Daddy?" They ask. "Mommy got me a ring since she knows I always wear my dog tags." I explain and hold up my dog tags for the kids to see and hold my left hand out so they can see the ring. "Oh cool. Why is your necklace called dog tags?" Blaze asks. Ashlyn nods looking at me. "Well dogs wear tags a lot like these to say who they are and who their owners are. It's the same thing. Soldiers wear these necklaces so if they're injured or killed, people can look at their tags to see who they are and where they're from. Also in World War II soldiers were treated like dogs, so these the words dog tags symbolized that thought.""Oh. You know a lot Daddy." "Yea you do Pops." Blaze and Ashlyn say. "I guess I do but not near as much as your mommy." I laugh. Tanya smiles and nudges me. Eleazar says, "Time for Supper!" And the kids go running. Leah comes inside, returning from a walk. Eleazar set the plates of food in front of each of them. "Enjoy!" He says. "Ooh! Beef Burritos! Yum!" Ashlyn says. "Mmm. So good!" Blaze says. "Thank you Eleazar for making supper." Leah says. I'm so glad she's come around and gets along with the others for the most part. The kids show their necklaces to Leah and she "Oohs and Awws" over them. Tanya hands the kids each a styrofoam cup of bear blood from the fridge. She heated it up before giving it to them. They suck it down to the last drop. It's been a while since they've had blood. When they're finished eating they go up to get bathed and dressed and brush their teeth. Leah and I help them out while Tanya helps clean up supper. Leah and I get the kids settled in bed and Leah bids them good night ruffling their hair. I give them each a kiss and Tanya appears to do the same. We say good night and shut the door. The Cars night light shine in the dark. Tanya put Dawson to bed before coming to say good night to the twins. Tanya and I go to our bedroom and lay down. We entangle our bodies together so there's no space in between us. We lay there just cuddling. Tanya strokes my hand, playing with my ring. I do the same with her left hand where her engagement ring sits on her finger. I twirl it around her finger. We lay like that for a while. All of a sudden I feel wetness on my hip and leg. What the hell? Tanya gasps. I look into her eyes with worry. "My water just broke!"