A Date With Faet

The great hall was full of loud, boisterous fae. The party was in full swing and most everyone had already eaten their fill. Now the focus had shifted away from the food and on to drink and conversation.

We started the Samhain feast with a number of toasts to our queen and her child, several glasses of wine and mead had been raised then consumed as we all praised Áine and Tara and wished them both long and healthy lives. Then the others did the same for Saoirse and Maeve and myself, which made me blush.

I was up at the head table as usual, but I no longer sat at my mother's right side. The seating arrangements had changed over the years, but I didn't mind.

Maeve still stat in the middle, now she had Saoirse at her right hand. Then Elise got to sit beside her best friend, and I was to the right of my daughter. Kelly was to the right of me, and Keira next to her sister. Then a couple of the high-ranking staff filled the few remaining seats on that side of the table.

Connor was at my mother's left as usual, and beyond him were more of the top-ranking members of the castle staff. Captain Gaelen was there, along with two more top guards. Seneschal Owen was further down on the left, and Laoise was next to him. After all this time she finally got a spot at the head table.

This was only Elise's third Samhain, but like everything else in her new life she adapted to the feasts and festivals as if she'd done it all her life. She was happy with the seating arrangements too, being in between her mom and her best friend was the best spot in the world as far as she was concerned.

As the evening wore on, Maeve and Connor disappeared first. They bid us all a good night then slipped away while the party carried on. And after another hour or so the twins and I were about ready to retire as well, to finish our Samhain celebrations in private.

I leaned over and told Elise, "It's getting late hon. I'm pretty sure it's well past time you were in bed."

"Aw!" she pouted at me, and I was positive she'd been taking lessons from Kelly. Between the big doe eyes and the quivering lower lip, it was pure weapons-grade heartbreak. She protested, "But mom, Saoirse gets to stay up as late as she wants! And she's only two years older than me! And it's Samhain, it's the biggest festival of the year!"

Somehow Keira managed to overhear this exchange, and she jumped in on Elise's side.

"Tegan, you heard the kid! It's Samhain, let her stay up all night if she wants."

I turned and gave my wife a glare, but she just smirked at me.

Then Kelly betrayed me as well, "It's the one night of the year it's ok for them to stay up and get in trouble. Let Elise and Saoirse have their fun."

I sighed as I turned back the other way. Elise was watching me with a hopeful expectant smile, and I felt the last of my resolve crumble away.

"All right," I said as my shoulders slumped in defeat. "I'm sure you've either bribed my wives or you're blackmailing them somehow, but you win. Stay up, have fun. I'm about ready for bed though."

Elise beamed, "Yay! Thanks mom!"

She gave me a hug and wished me a good night, then poured herself another glass of juice and turned her attention back to Saoirse.

My daughter and my little sister whispered something back and forth between them, then Elise grinned towards a spot on the table next to her glass.

I knew the two teens were up to something, and the way my girl was looking at an empty spot on the table made me a little more suspicious. On a hunch I blinked on my sight and sure enough there was something there. I found myself looking at the blue and red aura of a pixie.

I switched my sight off and looked away as I sighed. I had no idea where she came from or how my daughter and sister met her. And I knew my mom wouldn't be very happy if she found out there was a pixie in the castle.

After a moment's thought I decided to keep quiet about it for now. It was Samhain after all. This was a problem I could deal with some other time. I'd definitely be having some words with Elise though, and I'd be meeting her pixie friend too.

My attention returned to my wives, and the three of us finished our drinks then left the great hall together. In under five minutes we were in our private chambers, out of our fancy dresses, and cuddled up together in our big luxurious bed. As always, Kelly was on the left and Keira on the right, and I was the lucky fae in the middle between two beautiful redheads.

As we all got comfortable I asked quietly, "Do you two mind if we talk a bit? There's something I've had on my mind for a little while, that I'd really like to discuss with the two of you."

Kelly moved a little closer and kissed me on the cheek, then asked "What is it babe? Is something bothering you?"

"What's on your mind cutie?" Keira asked as she snuggled closer as well.

I turned my head side to side to kiss them both, then in a soft voice I said "We haven't really discussed this since just after we got married, but I guess between the situation with Elise a few years ago, now this news from Áine, it's got me thinking again. When we talked about having children before, all three of us agreed to put it off? I was busy with the ambassador stuff, both of you were focused on your careers, and I still had The Dagda's curse hanging over my head. Now you've both sort of retired from what you were doing on Earth, and I'm not doing the embassy stuff, and the curse has been lifted..."

They were both quiet at first, either considering their answers or perhaps discussing the subject with each other before responding to me.

In the end it was Kelly who spoke up first, "When you say you're thinking about it again, do you mean you're thinking about having a child?"

I nodded slightly, "Yeah. I still remember when Saoirse was born, how much of an effect that had on me. And back then I knew it would be centuries or maybe never, for me to have that experience. But two years ago we found out that curse was lifted. And I do want to have a child with both of you. We've been married for over thirty years, and we've been together for sixty. And..."

I hesitated. I didn't think either of them were upset with me because of Elise or Tara, but I wasn't sure.

"And what?" Keira asked softly. "What is it Tegan?"

"And I worry that maybe me adopting Elise or giving Áine a child could end up alienating me from you. Or you might be jealous or angry, because I've done those 'family' things without involving either of you."

Kelly replied, "Ok Tegan. We understand what you're saying, and what you're worried about."

She took a deep breath, then stated, "First off, speaking only for myself, yes I do want a child with you, but I don't want to rush into it. All three of us are only eighty-three. We're not even 'of age' yet ourselves, and fae generally don't start having children till they're past their second century. Most wait till their third century or later. And granted our ages are a little screwy because me and Keira weren't born fully-fae and you had the changeling thing, so I get that our bodies look older than we really are? But even with that in mind, we're still young to be thinking about having children."

I nodded slowly, that was something I'd thought about as well. Our ages weren't cut and dried because none of us had normal fae childhoods and upbringings, but if you just went based on our physical appearances, I looked like I was a hundred and thirty to a hundred and fifty, while the twins looked a tiny bit older, like one-fifty to one-seventy. We looked 'of age' but they were right. Even going by our apparent physical age we still had at least another fifty years before we'd be expected to start talking about kids, and maybe a hundred and fifty years before we'd be expected to actually have any.

Keira agreed, "I want us to have kids as well, like more than one. But I agree with Kelly, all three of us are too young. And maybe I'm being selfish, but I'm not ready yet to give up the partying and the booze to be a responsible mom. I'm not ready to give up the sex yet either, and you know we'll be dealing with late-night diaper changes and crying and all that other fun stuff for three times longer than human moms."

"What about Elise? And Tara?" I asked. "Are either of you upset about them?"

Kelly replied first again, "I'm not. I understand why you did what you did for Elise. She's been a part of your life for your entire life. I was surprised that she wanted to become a child again, or a young teen anyways. And I was surprised how quickly she adapted to it?"

She hesitated, "I admit it shocked me the first time she called you 'mom', and you really seemed to respond to that. I suppose I thought even though she looked small and young she'd still be the same Elise we've known for decades. I wasn't expecting her to actually become your child. And I'm not upset about that, it just surprised me."

That surprised me at first too. Initially I thought the same as Kelly, I expected her to be the same Elise as always, just in a younger smaller body. I wasn't even sure she'd want to stay that young, I was expecting the return of my party-girl cousin.

Instead she went all-in and started acting like she really was a kid. She wasn't just calling me mom, she actually treated me like a mother to her. Which in turn seemed to trigger some sort of maternal instincts in me, to the point where I really did see her as my adopted daughter now.

Elise was actually so committed to the role as young fae teen she'd get noticeably distressed and depressed if my wives or I mentioned her past with her or in front of her, so the three of us stopped doing that. She acted like my child, so that's how we treated her, and she was happy.

In the end I chalked it up to the fact that being trans, she never got to experience being a teen girl. Like me, her teen years were all spent thinking she was a guy, acting like a guy, trying to fit in as a guy. Starting over as a small young teen girl gave her the chance to have those experiences, and she was making them as authentic as possible.

And while I kind of envied her for getting all that now, I had absolutely no interest in doing it myself. I was sad for missing out on that stuff, but there was no way in the world I'd want to go back to being a fifteen-year-old. So I sort of admired her for being strong enough to do it, and maybe I was getting a bit of that experience vicariously through her.

"Elise is a good kid," Keira stated. "I mean, when she's not getting in trouble she's a good kid. And I'm not upset either that you gave her what she wanted. I was surprised, like Kelly said? Like both you and Elise really went all-in with the mother-daughter thing. But I can see how happy she is, and how happy you are looking after her."

"It's actually kind of amazing," Kelly commented. She lowered her voice and continued, "Even though we know she was your cousin, and originally your dad, when I look at her now it's hard to believe she was ever anything else. She's absolutely a teen fae girl now, and the way she takes after you I could almost believe you really did give birth to her."

I blushed but smiled, "Thanks Kelly, thanks Keira. You're right, she is happy. And so am I."

The twins both leaned in and gave me kisses on the cheeks.

Kelly moved on to the next thing, "As for Áine, I know she was pressuring you about giving her a child. You never tried to hide that from us. And I know the whole situation with her has always been delicate, ever since she told the three of us what her father had done to her."

Keira sighed, "The Áine thing doesn't entirely sit well with me. I know Cathal had his mage mess with her head so she'd be a 'perfect wife' for you, but I never understood why she wouldn't let you fix what he did? I mean, she knows what they did to her, why'd she just accept it? Why'd she decide to just live with it?"

I grimaced, "I asked her that once, and she was pretty clear about it. She's happy the way things ended up between us, she accepts that she'll never be my wife, and she enjoys having me as her consort now and then. And she's adamant she doesn't want anyone else to work mind magic on her. And unfortunately mind magic is the only way to repair what her father's mage did to her."

"Ok," Keira nodded slowly. "I guess if she doesn't want it fixed that's her decision. I'm still not really comfortable with it though. I mean, she knows her feelings aren't genuine, she knows they're artificial."

I reminded her, "My parents were manipulated to fall in love with each other too. Maeve has known about that for more than fifty years but she never once mentioned or even suggested anything about undoing it. Whether the feelings were forced or came naturally, I assume it feels real enough to Áine like it does for my mom and dad. Áine loves me and enjoys spending time with me, but she's rational about it and knows she can't have me. She also said she's happy knowing the ones who did it to her got what was coming to them. The mage died on the Duma, and her father died as a pixie servant."

Kelly spoke up, "I think our point is, we're not upset with you about Tara either. It's still a delicate situation but if this stops Áine from pining over you and lets her move on, then I'd honestly call it a win."

"Agreed," Keira stated. "Not that I mind the occasional romp in the royal bedchambers with you and the queen, but it was awkward knowing she wanted more than you could give her."

After that the three of us were quiet for a little while. I finally spoke up again and asked, "So going back to my first question, about the three of us having a child? I guess the answer on that is we're all too young?"

Kelly nodded, "Yes. That's how I feel babe. Plus we've only just moved to Otherworld right? We've been here less than four weeks now, and you know we've had longer vacations here than that. I think we need at least six months, maybe a year, before we can even say for sure we're going to be ok living here. Not to mention putting up with your mom and dad. I seem to remember you had some pretty strong feelings about living under someone else's roof, fifty or sixty years ago. So let's hold off on this ok? I'm not saying no, in fact both Keira and I have already said yes, we do want children with you. But it's much too early. Let's wait a few more decades. Say fifty years? Then we can revisit the conversation."

"That sounds good to me," Keira agreed. "We'll all be over a hundred and thirty by then, we'll be of age, and maybe we'll have a better handle on what sort of lives we're leading here?"

I was quiet again as I thought about that. On the one hand fifty years sounded like a long time. Saoirse and Elise would both be over a hundred by then, they'd both be of age. Thanks to our slow aging and long lives, my little sister and my daughter would both look just a little younger than me and my wives at that point. In human terms, they'd look twenty-ish to our twenty-three or so. Meanwhile Tara would be fifty, she'd basically be a young teen, where my girl was now.

Kelly and Keira were right though, we'd only just moved here and none of us had any idea yet what life had in store for us as residents of Otherworld. For that matter we couldn't even say for sure if we'd stay. And we were all still young, only eighty-three years old. Our lives were only just beginning.

And we were fae after all. Fifty years was nothing to us.

"Ok," I smiled. I turned my head back and forth and gave them each a kiss. "We'll revisit this conversation in five decades, and see how we all feel about it then. Thank you, both of you, for setting my mind at ease about Elise and Tara."

They both kissed me back, and Keira suggested with a naughty grin "That's enough serious talk. Now it's time for the three of us to really celebrate Samhain."

Kelly's and Keira's hands both started sliding over my body under the blankets, while I smiled and whispered "Yes mistresses. And happy Samhain!"