"There is plenty here," Olivia replied, when suddenly she understood what Ileus meant. She flushed till her neck.


    Ileus got up the next instant, plucked Alexander and gave him to aunt Da and then scooped up his wife. "I know the perfect diet for you." As he walked away with his wife to the top of a knoll and then behind it, Olivia and Kaizan grinned while Da looked at a stunned Alexander. The child was clearly ring at his father with his golden eyes.


    "Come baby," Da said. "Let me introduce you to the world of kids!" Afraid that they would hear strange sounds, Da collected all them in a circle. "And now we are going to y a new game?" she said to all of them.


    "What new game?" Nici asked, sitting beside Lena, budging her to move to the side and give him space. She had to nudge her brothers Lev and Alex to find space.


    "When I say cover your ears, you have to cover them like this," Da said, demonstrating how to press them hard while covering. The kids listened to her intently. "When I say cover your eyes, you have to cover them like this." Once again, she demonstrated. "And when I say cover your mouth—"


    "—cover it like this," Nicipleted the sentence, rolling his eyes. "So, what is the game?"


    Da knew that the child was way too intelligent for this.


    "Ahhh!" she heard the faint groans of Ileus.


    "I am going to ask you to do it quickly," Da invented the game. "Whosoever does it all ording to my instructions, gets a one night stay over at Kaizan uncle''s ce!" She knew that all others would join. There was super excitement amongst the kids. They all loved uncle Kaizan.


    Kaizan grunted. "No way!" he protested. Six kids in his house meant he couldn''t spend time with his wife. "And why my ce, why not your ce?" Da was a smart ass. By sending all the kids to his ce, she ensured that both Aidan and she, and Ileus and Anastasia would have all the fun.


    Suddenly the groans became louder.


    "The game starts now!" Da said, winking at Kaizan.


    "Cover your eyes!"


    The kids rapidly covered their eyes.


    "Oh Ana!" Ileus rumbled. "Fuck me hard!"


    "Cover your ears!" Da shouted.


    "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Ahhh!"


    "I can hear—" Nici protested.


    "Cover your mouth!" Da shouted. The kids covered their mouths, and that stopped Nici from speaking further. Da knew what wasing next. "Cover your ears!" The kids excitedly covered their ears and pressed them hard.


    All at once there was a loud bellow from behind the knoll. "Anaaaaa!"


    The kids waited for Da to give another instruction, but her mouth was pressed in a thin line and her face was flushed red.


    "What about the next instruction?" Nici asked, thinking that his aunt Da had forgotten.


    Da waited for the bellow to ebb as she looked at Nici. As soon as the roar subsided, in a shaky voice, Da said, "Cover your mouth now."


    Olivia was in splits. She burst outughing looking at Da''s expression and how she managed the kids. Gods, Ileus was getting shameless more and more. There was no way these men were going to improve. Kaizan was just as shameless and she hoped that he did nothing like Ileus. Kaizan was actually grunting behind her like a petnt child.


    From the corner of her eyes, saw Anastasia walking over the knoll with Ileus following her, pulling his pants and buttoning them up.


    In a squeaky voice Da said, "Cover your eyes." And the kids covered their eyes.


    When Anastasia came to sit with her friends on the rug, Ileus ced his head on herp, wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes.


    Kaizan looked at the two of them, totally bewildered. "Do you know how Da managed the kids?" he hissed.


    "The game is over!" Da said to the kids with a sigh. Damn, how much was she going to cover for the deeds of these men?


    "But who won?" Nici asked.


    "You father," Olivia replied a little loudly. She had to take advantage of the situation and tease them all.


    "How?" Nici got up with his hands on his waist. "This is cheating! I won!"


    Lena got up too. "No, I won!"


    The kids started fighting. Da had to get up and intervene. She looked at Ileus and Anastasia and then said, "All of you won because all of you did what I asked. So, you all are going to stay in Kaizan uncle''s home for the night!"


    "What?" Kaizan protested. "This is—" The kids squealed in delight and that stopped him from speaking further. However, he was so jealous. It was Ileus who got to make out with Anastasia and he was getting punished? He narrowed his eyes. As soon as the kids stopped screaming, he got up, pulled Olivia up and said to Da, "Now get them to y the same game. My wife is famished." He looked at the kids. "This time whosoever wins, gets to stay at Ileus uncle''s ce." From the basket, he picked up leather skin and winked at Da.


    The kids jumped up and down with excitement. Two days of fun!


    Ileus opened his eyes and shot a dark re at Kaizan, as he dragged his giggling wife away from there. Suddenly, he picked her up in his arms and walked over the grassy knoll.


    "What are they doing there?" asked Nici. "Are they also ying games?"


    "Yes, my dear," said an exasperated Da. "They all are ying crazy games and your stupid aunt has got stuck in it!"


    "But uncle Kaizan said that aunt Olivia is famished. All the lunch is over here," Nici reasoned.


    "Come here tiger!" Ileus called his son. As soon as Nici went to his father, Ileus pulled him over his belly and made him sit there. Soon the father and son were ying with each other, tickling and pawing and wrestling. Other kids too joined and the crown prince looked like he was soon going to get mauled by them. They were everywhere.


    Da shared a grin with Anastasia. She came to pick up a much needed helping of cottage pie. "I hope you have those sound-dampening spells around your bedrooms."


    "We do," Anastasia giggled. "But he doesn''t allow me to put those spells when we are in the open." Her louche husband wanted the world to know that he was fucking her.


    When Kaizan got Olivia to the other side of the knoll and ced her on the soft grass in the midst of wildflowers, he said, "You look weak, sweetheart. Is it that the little one on the way keeps you so tired?"


    She threaded her fingers in his brown locks on the forehead. He was already so worried about her and the child that she didn''t want to add to his worries. But how could she hide? She closed her eyes. She popped open one eye and said, "That''s not the little one. That would be two little ones."


    The leather skin dropped from his shaky fingers, the brew spilling over the grass.