Dear Diary,

At one point a while back I remember mentioning that I'm stunned that I'm supposed to be the mom for a whole horde of kids, because I'm barely competent to be the mom of me. Been thinking about that a little bit today. I dunno if grown assed adults are supposed to eventually not need parents, or if it's normal to want somebody there you can count on to just be a bigger, stronger, more mature person who's known you all your fuckin' life. I guess that's part of where the whole 'inner child' thing comes from though. We carry our earlier selves around with us. They never really go away, they're just in there. Watching, waiting, wondering, wanting somebody to love them maybe.

I really kinda hope so. Nice to think that amnesiac me is somewhere inside of me, noshing on some popcorn, laughing her ass off at the dumb shit I pull, realizing that yes, she really was just me minus some memories. Because holy shit dumbass shit is our stock in trade, our go to maneuver, our normal mode of operation.

Thing is, barring tragedy or unusual circumstances, we all wind up outliving our parents. Yeah, maybe if we're lucky we get taken in by somebody who's just a little bit older than us, and maybe just a little bit healthier, so they kick off right before we do. But eventually, we all have to be the parent to our own inner moppets. I think maybe that's why we all do the 'marry our mother' or 'marry our father' thing, because among all the other things we put on our partners, that piece deep inside wants the peace of knowing our partner can replace our parent when they inevitably go away.

Of course all this came up today because of the conversation we all had in the inn room last night.

I was not quite correct about the nature of the distraction. But then more than one of my ladies is capable of more intellectual chicanery than I am, and with Marie, Tallulah, Saffron and myself all in the room, we had some serious perceptual fuckery available to us. Saffron started things off when we arrived in the room, simultaneously saying, "so, High Priestess Crow. Did you want to join your sisters in carrying our Goddess' child?" while simultaneously thinking, Tabitha, secure the room please?

As she started speaking I felt her do something reminiscent of what happened when I spread my Blend around. It had kind of become habit to drop my personal Blend while doing so, so I got fuzzy and pushed my Blend outward to the walls of the room. Which, just to be clear, was really more of an open design suite. Primitive, at least to my eyes, although I'm comparing it to state of the here and now art Phileo, not to back in the day or even the Black Dragon. To be clear, Black Dragon has some nice stuff, but even the newest of it is older than I was back there.

At any rate, a nice fireplace graced both sides of the room, and each of those had a full length tub set out in front of it. Nothing so nice as the Lancaster House tubs, but big enough that I could lie in one and have Saffron or Siobhan lay on my lap and have both of us be mostly submerged. One corner of the room near the door had a small desk with writing supplies. The other corner had what looked like a small sitting area. Two armchairs and a sofa, although it looked like the sofa might have a futon under it, or it might fold out into a bed. Kinda neat way to provide some extra bed space either way. Not that the room really needed that, what with a nice sized bed opposite the door. Big French doors with curtains on them led out to a balcony. I'd glanced at it on the way in; it stuck out over the entrance of the inn.

Of course, my brain focused on the room as I secured it, while my mouth ran more or less on automatic. "Oh, sure, I can wait what? I mean, yeah, sure, I can do that, but why the fuck am I being pimped out as a stud now?" Room's secure, Kitten.

"I could go on about how you are a Gloriously potent and enjoyable stud, as I'm sure both our Marie and Siobhan would attest to." Ladies, please share anything out of the ordinary you saw today. Tabitha, please start us off.

I blushed a little bit under the fuzzy at the compliment of my boy mode Skills. Mostly because I'm well aware I don't have any. "Hey, you're the one that put the bun in Siobhan's oven. For which I've yet to get you back. Not for doing it, but for teasing me with it." Yeah, I can't put my finger on what's wrong, but something isn't right. This place reminds me of somewhere, but I can't remember where. I mean, it doesn't feel wrong, but it does. Or no. It feels wrong, but right at the same time, and I don't know why. Sorry.

Saffron stepped up to me, put her arms around me, and stood on tiptoe for a kiss. I leaned down and gave her a quick one, because she dropped back down almost as soon as our lips touched. "I would offer up my own womb as my apology, but the Alliance is not yet secure." Just the knowledge that there is in fact something to look for is useful, love. Tallulah?

I replied to Saffron's verbal prod by scooping her up, one hand on each of her ass cheeks groping for all I was worth. "Okay, yeah, sure, how do we secure the Alliance again? Also, if the Alliance isn't secure, how is it okay for Tallulah to be preggers and not you?"

Tallulah stepped over and sat down on the bed next to where Saffron and I stood, putting an arm around me and leaning into me. "I am simply the Overlord of Rich Man's Port, not head of the Alliance as a whole. Also, I've trained Cailyn to stand in for me as needed. I don't believe your wife is quite to the point of trusting any of her subordinates for months at a time." There are illusions throughout the City. Nothing harmful, that I can see. A combination of pleasant seemings covering unpleasant reality and illusions covering doors and alleys. Much of it could be Fae in nature.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Okay, yeah, sure, I get that, but why the baby talk in the first place, and why about me being the one to put the baby in you? Saffron's clearly the better ride." Could be Fae? You can't tell?

Saffron murmured, "agree to disagree."

Meanwhile Tallulah nodded. "Of course the Imperator would be my second choice for such a liaison, for multiple reasons. She's fully Human, and my one half-Sidhe daughter is the one I've never been quite able to relate to." She paused, nodded. "Adrienne is just too... different? from me." Without destructively testing them, no. Mana is Mana, Shapes are Shapes, and while Fae tend to have signature Mana Shaping styles, those signatures can, in fact, be forged. Moreover, simple illusions like this are Shaped by almost every Fae in existence, so any given detail might be simply either an individual idiosyncrasy or the work of a type of Fae which doesn't Shape enough for me to be familiar with that type's work.

"Wait, your kids aren't all Sidhe?" Could it be Adrienne?

Tallulah shook her head. "Lindsey's father was Sidhe, and thus he was almost fully Sidhe as well. Cailyn's father had one Sidhe parent and one Human one. Ria's paternal Great Grandmother was Human. It's difficult," she sighed. "I suspect there is an optimal proportion of ancestry which will allow my child to wield the power required to rule the Fae while also having the flexibility to rule over Humans without constant... enforcement." Of course. I doubt it is, unless she is here in the City, but even so putting up that many illusions on a regular basis and hiding her signature would leave her little time to do aught else. Unless there is some good reason for her to do so, I cannot see her undertaking such a task.

Siobhan, who'd sat at one end of the sofa with Marie's head in her lap, saved me from having to reply. "That's so... cold." Her hand drifted to her belly without her seeming to realize. "Do you even see your children as people?"

Meanwhile Saffron thought, Karen?

Tallulah looked at Siobhan, curiosity plain on her face. "I am Sidhe. I am Overlord of Rich Man's Port. It would be irresponsible not to take such things into consideration."

Karen, who'd flipped the chair at the writing desk around and sat on it sort of across the room from where Tallulah, Saffron and I were, took the opportunity to think, I didn't notice anything in particular. Well, I noticed some of that Fae Shaping, I think. I also... Something's missing? Like, I couldn't tell you what, but it's got me on edge a little. Jumpy. Sorry, Imperator.

At this point the dual conversation had started my head spinning just a little. Like, I didn't really need to concentrate to keep the place Blended into a figment, but somehow tryna keep track of Project: Impregnate The Overlord and our little debriefing at the same time had me losing track of both. "Uh, why me then? Like, Siobhan's Dan. Probably more Dan than me. I'm just a mutt. I think a mostly Human mutt?" Siobhan? Marie? Either of you notice anything?

Siobhan shook her head, although she clearly struggled to keep her laughter in. No idea why. Meanwhile Marie chuckled out, "Really, Vlickies?" while simultaneously thinking, Smells are off. Worst at the... show. We all watched her, but she just shrugged, as if to say that either that's all she had, or those of us without her sense of smell probably wouldn't get the fine details anyhow.

Saffron hip checked me so I stumbled back half a step and landed my ass on the bed next to Tallulah. Who slipped an arm around me. Then Saffron put her hand atop Tallulah's and straddled one of my legs. "Tabitha, even discounting your current form, you are still a Demigoddess. Still Divine. Still touched by the same Divinity that Tallulah's Greatmother is." She stopped, chuckled. "Should you give her a child as you are now? I don't doubt her offspring would be less 'Sidhe' than 'Fae Demigoddess'. Not to mention tying Rich Man's Port that much more firmly to the Alliance, and giving the most powerful military force in Atlantis yet more reason to protect her and hers." I noticed that as well. I half suspect the entire show was some kind of ruse, a Trojan Horse to try and slip some kind of subtle Shaping across our perceptions.

Tallulah nodded. "I'd thought of all that as well. It's a bit soon for me to have another child. But our child would be a potent force for stability in the region." Did you notice any such Shapinngs?

I snorted. "My kid? Stability? Are we talking the same me here?"

Meanwhile, before I could chuck my two cents in to the mental conversation, Saffron thought, I did not, and I Warded against any such. Which may have prevented me from noticing them, even as it protected me. Out loud she said, "stability in dynamism. Maintaining a status quo of constant growth and change. The melding of Fae and Divine could be powerful enough to do so."

Meanwhile both of their hands roamed, and that left me with even less brain cells to sort out the conversations. "Uh, so... wait... now?" Seriously, you two, I did not have 'make a baby with Tallulah' on my itinerary!

"No time like the present." Tomorrow we'll see how open their government buildings are to tourists, as well as viewing that play again; this time aware that they may be attempting to ensnare us. She swung herself around behind me and pulled me onto the bed as Tallulah swung her leg over to straddle my lap. Then she grabbed my shapeshifting and shifted me just enough to be glad for how long Tallulah's thighs were, since all joking aside, erections are not stiff enough to penetrate denim. Do you see any sigils, Goof?

How am I supposed to tell? "She's still got her clothes on!"

Then, at my Kitten's instigation, none of us did. Tallulah's unmarked belly did not fill me with calm, however, what with her relaxing and letting herself slip down until her thighs rested on my hips. Bag are warm. Dan are cool. Sidhe are, apparently, very smooth and slick, like porcelain. Saffron pulled me back until my head rested on her breasts, her arms resting on my shoulders briefly as she whispered, "now she doesn't."

Yeah, when we decided to head down here all civilian like, I'd kinda thought maybe this would be some kind of honeymoon-like vacation. Then again, I guess anybody who could get through my Blend to see what we were up to wouldn't be looking any further than, y'know, our current shenanigans. Meanwhile I kinda reeled at being hit with all of the 'did not expect this'. And it's not like these weren't honeymoon activities. Just not the partner I expected. Partners, really, what with Saffron winding up holding Tallulah's hands.

Kinda wished I could do a Yelp review right then and there, though, because holy fuck would it ever be a hardcore shitpost. 'Exterior view is elegant. Interior is older, but well maintained and comfortable. Pillows are on the smaller side, but still soft, although I'm glad I brought my own from home to supplement. Ten out of ten, would visit again.'

Is it weird how much I missed my mirrors?

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