Xander sat in the living room waiting for Hannah to arrive. She was meeting the twins today as soon as they woke up from their nap. He felt bad for waiting so long to do it, but he didn't think about it too hard. He smirked when he heard one of his sons on the baby monitor and went to grab him.

He chuckled as he ruffled Rowan's red ccolors pulling him out of the crib, hugging his son. He was surprised his brother was still asleep, but decided to let him be and took Rowan downstairs. "You ready to meet Hannah, bud?"

Rowan gave him a look that said he wasn't interested with his deep purple eyes. He loved that his son's got they're mother's eyes, though he kind of hoped the little one coming next year might potentially get his dual colored ones. Lily and her husband had gotten the surprise of their lives with their little one, one blue eye, one green and as blonde as his grandmother's and great aunties.

When it came to work, Hannah had always been flexible; teetered on the edge of burning out with the over time and demanding shifts, but the patients she worked with were worth the time.

However, with this being her first day off after working six straight days Hannah made absolutely sure that her supervisor knew not to call her because she had plans and wouldn’t make it back in time to cover a shift. They seemed to understand but she remained skeptical and anticipated at least one call before noon if not two.

Hard to believe it had been nearly two years since she last visited Xander, his wedding being one of the last times she had traveled these roads and yet it felt more like only a week had passed. Eventually she turned into the driveway and found a place to park beside the other cars.

When living a life where one day bleeds seamlessly into the next, it was hard to grasp how much time had flown by. But when afforded these precious moments to just take it all in, it’s when one realizes all that they missed. Lily’s friendly smile and Xanders wise guidance; two cherished friends that could never be replaced.

After a short moment, Hannah gathered her side bag and approached the front door where she rang the doorbell and waited patiently outside.

Xander heard the doorbell and realized he forgot to mention it was naptime. It was a good thing one twin was already up. He went to the door and opened it to greet Hannah.

"I'm glad you can make it Hannah, come in. I'll introduce you in a second. I just have to go upstairs and grab Sage."

Rowan was looking at Hannah curiously as Xander led her into the house and headed upstairs with Rowan in tow. He watched her all the way up the stairs only giving a small wave when he got to the top.

Xander went into the nursery and grabbed Sage who looked downright irritated at being woken by the doorbell. He really needed to remember to set it to be off during naptime. "Come on Bub, Hannah downstairs waiting to meet you and your brother."

He came back down the stairs a few moments later with both boys, "let's go into the kitchen because they are going to want a snack soon."

He sat them both on the counter and turned to Hannah, "okay boys, say hi to Hannah." Sage huffed and just laid his head on Xanders shoulder, but Rowan waved excitedly, "HI!"

"This sleepy boy in green is Sage and this excited little monster in white is Rowan."

“Hello there Sage!” Hannah beamed a smile at both young boys and mimicked Rowan’s excited wave with one of her own. “Rowan. I’m so happy to finally meet you two. I wasn’t expecting you to be so big yet” Why must children grow up so quickly?

Perhaps the answer in that was for their parents' sanity as toddlers could be a handful, more so when there are two. But Xanders’ sons, with their innocent purple eyes, were absolute angels; at least in the eyes of grandparents and friends. For their parents, well.. She was sure Xander had stories to share.

“I should have asked beforehand, but… I brought something for them.” Hannah turned so that only their father could see, then lifted the flap to her side bag. Inside were two stuffed animal squishmallows inside; one a red parrot and the other a yellow giraffe. “Would it be ok if I…”

Xander watched the interaction even though Sage was a little grumpy and didn't seem interested. He did however peek out when Hannah said she bought them something. "Papa pressie."

Xander laughed, "it's quite alright. Trust me with as many aunts and uncles as they have they are constantly getting gifts."

"Though I think Sage should show his good manners and say hello first."

Sage hid and but peeked out, "Lo." Xander chuckled; it amused him to hear a more British hello from his son, but he wasn't surprised after a summer abroad and having a British mother.

So precious! The expression that lit up her face was nothing shy of pure delight and joy. Between herself and her three cousins, there were no children, or even hints of one in their near future. Much to their parents' dismay since each of them looked forward to being grandparents someday.

If Hannah didn’t already have such a soft heart, that little hello right there would have surely melted any jaded cynicism she would have adopted from long over-worked hours at the hospital working with quite the unruly patients. Fortunately she had enough patience in spades that it was easy for her to step in and help a fellow co-worker when they were becoming overwhelmed or stressed with a situation.

“Sage,” she withdrew the giraffe. “Rowan,” next was the parrot which was held out to each child respectfully as they seemed to in some measure reflect each of their personalities. “It is so very nice to meet you both. These are for you, do you think you could help me pick out a name for them?”

Xander watched as his boys excitedly took their toys and hugged them, giggling at how they squished. Each showed off their new stuffed animal, Rowan nearly falling off the counter in his excitement, but Xander was quick to catch him.

"Say thank you boys," he said, giving a nod of encouragement. "Fank you," Rowan said, holding his arms out to Hannah expectantly to which Xander was happy to pass him over.

"Tank you," Sage said, swinging his feet from the wear he sat on the counter. "Outside, Daddy?"

Xander laughed at the half question, half demand, "shoes first. Do you want to show Hannah your new playground?"

"Do you mind putting on Rowan's shoes for me?"

“Certainly,” Hannah gave Rowan his expected hug. Their joy and excitement was balm on a weary soul and she could feel the months of stress and sleepless nights disappear bit by bit. Honestly, before arriving, she wasn’t completely sure that she’d have the energy to run around and play but somehow after meeting the twins she felt a wave of renewed energy and was truly glad she still came.

Carefully she set Rowan down, “Can you show me where your shoes are at so I can help you put them on?”

Rowan nodded and ran to the entryway pointing and looking back at Hannah to make sure she was following. He had his little parrot in his other hand and Xander could see that his son was about to have a new favorite toy. "Rowan Bub, I need you to walk please."

Rowan frowned at his daddy, but walked for about three steps before he started running again. He made it into his shoes and picked it up to give it to Hannah. He plopped down flat on the floor and held out a foot to Hannah, surprisingly the correct foot.

Sage happily stayed in Xanders arms, one of his arms around his giraffes' neck. He frowned when Xander put him down on the bench, but didn't fuss and let his daddy put his shoes on.

"I don't think they heard you about picking names, but maybe after they run off a little of this post nap energy."

“No worries, a name will come to them eventually,” Hannah helped Rowan with his shoes, then stood up and offered a hand to help him up too. “You two will just need to let me know next time I come over.”

Both young boys were truly precious, each with their own unique and distinctly different personalities. Both well mannered but where one was excitable and full of energy, the other was a bit more reserved and shy. For now, that might be the most defining qualities for her to tell them apart.

“Ok, shall we go outside?” One would think that Rowan had been given a christmas present early with the way his eyes lit up as he beamed a smile up at both adults. Honestly, it made her miss working in pediatrics or the maternity ward with labor and delivery. In the ER there was never a dull moment, BHU and Addiction Recovery was another story and honestly scared her at times especially when situations got dangerous enough that security had to get involved.

Rowan was first to the door, as should be expected, with Hannah only a few steps behind. She opened the door for him and he was off. “Oh my goodness, he has so much energy.”

Xander laughed at his son, who was raring to go dragging his parrot. "They both have a lot of energy, Sage is just a grump when he wakes up before he's really ready. I forgot to mention not ring the doorbell."

When he made it to the door however Sage wiggled clearly ready to play, "Daddy, down. I play Bubby."

Xander ruffled his son's hair and put him down, "okay Bug, off you go."

He motioned for Hannah to follow him out the patio, pressing a button and watching the awning come out before sitting in one of the chairs, as Rowan and Sage climbed up the slide with their plushies.

"So I have exciting new, well multiple good news.".

“Oh?” Hannah took a seat in the open chair beside Xander. “Is it in regards to your clinic?” It had been a while since she’d received an update on the progress.

"Yes, part of the news is in regards to the clinic. We are nearly finished with the building. We have moved to finishing touches and I've been working on hiring this month. I want to hire 4 more doctors and a handful of nurses. Have you given any more thought to the possibility of joining my team?"

He looked over to his sons who were now running around the playground, hitting each other with their plushies. He wondered if he should stop them before one of them ended up in tears before sighing.

"Rowan and Sage, play nice with your toys or they have to come sit on the patio."

“I’ve definitely been giving it a lot of thought.” At the rate she’d been going lately with the over time, her fear of relapse simply from the stress of it all was definitely real. But she had abandoned her role as a Senshi almost three years ago. Only on very rare occasions had she powered up.

Rather than continuing to pick slides in an endless war, she chose to put her time and effort into civilian life, where she felt like her investments could make the most difference. Unfortunately the burn out was real. “I had been trying to find time to complete my RN certification, but the overtime makes it difficult.”

“But after giving it a lot of thought, I think it’s time to take what I’ve learned working at Destiny City Memorial Hospital and make a career change. If possible I’d like to go back and finish my masters degree. That way I can off offer more help to you as a Nurse Practitioner.”

Xander smiled, "I'm glad to hear that and we can certainly make sure you have ample time to go back to school and we can try to work in tuition reimbursement, if not having the clinic fund the higher education of our employees."

He sat back with a smile on his face, "just let me know the time and date and I can take you to the clinic and show you around. I've only hired one other nurse at the moment. Her name is Mercedes Giordano. The clinic is slated to open in May."

He then grinned, " as for the other good news. My wife and I are expecting a baby in June. We've only just found out the baby is a girl."

Hannah would have never considered asking for reimbursement for her tuition, it was an expense she had planned for before considering the change. Several years in debt was less than ideal but it was the sacrifice she was willing to make in order to pursue her calling. But when Xander proposed potentially trying to work it in, Hannah was left flabbergasted; her mouth hung open for several seconds before snapping shut.

Relief washed over her in waves and served to strengthen her resolve in that this path she’d chosen was the right one to follow. But before she could express her gratitude, he offered her yet another bit of exciting news.

“Oh goodness! That is such great news.” She smiled, an almost mischievous grin. “You have two handsome boys and a little girl on the way. Lord help her though. For as protective as you were of Lily, I can only imagine what she’ll be up against.” Hannah jested.

She already knew he was a fantastic father but did worry that he might be strung a bit too thin with opening the new clinic and another little one on the way.

Xander laughed, "yes I was very protective of both my sisters, though they hardly needed it. Not to mention one can never be too careful in this city."

He looked up at the sky, "I feel like I'm testing fate here. I know magic runs in this family and I hope that this ridiculous night time war is over before they are ever old enough to consider joining the effort."

He looked to his son's who were running over to him and Hannah.

"Swing, swing," they choruses.

Xander laughed, "Alright alright, say please. I'm sure Hannah would like to see your good manners."

His concerns were valid and it was something even Hannah had thought about. While they still had a few years ahead of them before anything powered might manifest, it was still a possibility. More than that though, Xander and his wife would have to make the hard decision some day to tell them about the war if only to prepare their children to the possibility of being approached by a recruiting Agent. What might be worse is the potential of being target by a wraith or Negaverse Officer looking to fill an energy quota.

“It’ll be a bridge to cross when they’re older. But for now, enjoy the time you have with them as children.”

Hannah rose from her seat and placed a hand on Xander’s shoulder. “The same way you were there for me, I’ll be there for them.” If ever they were injured and it was beyond the means of a traditional hospital to mend, she would do all in her power and use what magical reserves she had to protect Rowan and Sage.

“Let's go play with them,” she nodded her head towards the playset.

"I pray I never have to tell them or my wife. Lily, Rose, and I have decided unless there is dire need that we are done. Our families are more important and our significant others don't know anything about that life. We are very cautious I think, maybe it won't be enough, but maybe it will. We will face it when the time comes."

His son's choruses of please made him grin, grabbing them up and spinning around with them. "Alright you two, let's have some fun on the swings."

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