A/N: I've decided I need to post some of my backlog of unfinished stories, and this is one of them. This story won't be updated with any sort of regularity; instead of being on a schedule like my main stories, it will be updated whenever I feel like it. Basically, I'll update it based on how it's received. If you like it, please review it; I'm more likely to work on this story and update it if I feel like people want to read it.
This is the sequel to "The Storm's Legacy". I'd tell you more than that, but that's what the prologue is for. ;)
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~Prologue~
It has been a busy two and a half years since we last saw Allen and Kanda. Their lives now revolve almost completely around their children, but with three of them, it isn't surprising that they have little time for anything else. But they wouldn't have it any other way. After remembering the chaos of their previous lives, their suburban middle class lifestyle is exactly what they both want out of life.
Erika started kindergarten in the fall, recently celebrating her sixth birthday with her extended family and her four favorite people: Mommy and Daddy, Auntie Lenalee, and Grandpa Cross. Teidoll lost the race for favorite grandparent when Cross, with Allen and Kanda's permission, bought the little girl a Yorkie puppy for Christmas the year before. Eri spends most of her time in the backyard with Kiwi, which Kanda claims isn't really a dog at all: it's "a ball of fuzz with legs". Erika's unnatural maturity from her time as an exorcist has stuck with her, and while that scares her parents, they are thankful the little girl is responsible enough to care for her dog by herself.
The twins, Matthew and Yumi, will be turning two in a couple months. Yumi is almost a carbon copy of her father, in both looks and mannerisms. She prefers to be left to her own devices, but when Kanda is home, she is glued to his side. Matthew wants nothing more than to be like his older sister, to the point where he carries his stuffed dog everywhere. The usually well-behaved auburn haired boy threw a fit that lasted for days when Erika started going to school. After a week of temper tantrums, Allen was so fed up that he enrolled the twins in daycare three days a week, just to get some quiet around the house. But they were happy to have their own "school" to attend, so happy in fact, that Erika wanted to go too, and Allen soon found himself with more free time than he had ever had before.
Kanda spends most of his time at work, but that's the nature of his job as head chef. He loves his kids, and when he is at home, he spends every moment he can with them. Allen never goes neglected either, not while Kanda remains the type of man who can't keep his hands off the mother of his children. Their relationship is stronger than it has ever been.
The biggest surprise for the couple had come in September, when they learned that Erika's kindergarten teacher was going to be an E. Galmar. They initially wrote it off as a coincidence; Emilia wasn't someone they ever expected to see in this life. But then came the first day of school. And Eri came home babbling about how wonderful Miss Emilia was. There was also a note for Allen in the little girl's backpack in which Emilia expressed how thankful she was to finally connect with someone from the past.
One very deep discussion later, and it was decided that Allen would handle everything school related. Neither wanted to have to explain things to Emilia. It was easier to just let her think that Allen was Erika's father and that he had a wife.
So when Allen started volunteering in the classroom, he had to explain to Erika that she couldn't call him "Mommy" at school. She refused - he was her Mommy not her "dad". So they reached a compromise: she could use his first name at school. It was hard for her to remember at first, but she stuck with it. Because those times when Allen was at school were her favorite times: she didn't have to share him with the rest of the family.