Chapter 14: Birthday

"I don't feel right about this, Zhen," Hawke says as he greets Zhenzhen at the door, "I don't want you tying yourself down to me. You should see other guys, at the very least."

"How many guys do you want me to date?" Zhenzhen asks, her voice edged with bitterness, "What if  I only want to be with you?"

"You have thousands of years of experience, but now you've got just one human life. You're cheating yourself by trying to spend it with me. Find someone younger, someone you can have a family with, grow old with. I can't be that for you."

"Hawke, I don't care about that," Zhenzhen protests.

"Maybe not now, but you will."

Hawke has done his best, but Zhenzhen persists until he allows her one more night.

Li Feng becomes a young adult.

She'll spend one more night in this house before moving in with Quincy, who became an adult a few days before she did. Li Feng spends as much of that time as she can with little Tristan. She adores children and hopes to have several of her own.

Over breakfast the family discusses their living arrangements. Hawke bought this house for himself and his daughter, but now she's moving out, leaving him with his niece and her son. Of course half the money used to purchase it came from selling the house he and Eleanor had bought together, so the property belongs as much to Amelia as to himself.

"Are you sure you want me to stay?" Hawke asks Amelia, "I could move out with Li Feng, if you prefer."

Li Feng smiles woodenly. She'd love to have her father live with her, but Quincy was adamant about being n their own, with no live in parents.

"Of course I want you to stay," Amelia says, "Tristan adores you. And I grew up with you, I'd feel weird not having you around."

"I'm sorry I wasn't the best parent," Hawke apologizes as he hugs his daughter once more before she leaves.

"Stop it, Dad," Li Feng says, "You did the best you could."

Li Feng makes one final goodbye. Thierry's last visit left Amelia pregnant.

Thierry himself has only recently got the news about his second child, and makes another visit on time to see it born.

"Is that a tattoo, on your forehead/" Amelia asks.

"That wasn't there the last time I was here?" Thierry asks, "I feel like I've had it forever. It's not a tattoo, exactly. Living in the fae realm...changes you. My mother has similar markings, from the time she spent with Summerdream, as well."

"How long have you been there?" Amelia wonders, "When can you come back to me?"

"It's been too long away from you, and it will be too long before I can return. But I am here now, for the birth of our child,  and for Tristan's birthday."

Their second child is a girl, Allyriane.

Thierry enjoys his toddler while he can; tomorrow Tristan will become a child.

Family and friends gather for the birthday party.

Just like when she was growing up, Amelia's father Emilio can only stay for a short time to celebrate his grandson's birthday. Though he's gone gray, he hasn't retired yet, and has to leave early for his game.

Tristan gets his first taste of cake. Thornton would prefer to not be called 'Grandpa'.

Tobin Archer is here for the cake.

Zhenzhen decides it isn't a party until someone is dancing on the counters.

As the other guests leave, Li Feng stays to tuck Tristan into her old bed, and read him a story before he goes to sleep.

She misses Amelia's son more than she misses Amelia, or even her own father. She and Quincy have married, but her new husband prefers to wait a bit before they start having children.

Allyriane becomes a toddler before Thierry must take his leave and return to Summerdream.

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Challenge Notes:
Allyriane is the heir. She does have both the Can Salute and French Culture hidden traits.
About her name...I did a search for French girl names, hoping to find one that would suit both the French and 'fae' sides of her ancestry. Allyriane, from the first list I checked, seemed perfect. Supposedly it derives from the word 'lyre'. I'm not an expert on French names, but I was completely unfamiliar with it, whereas ever other name on the list was one I'd seen before. So I googled it to see what else I could learn about it. Every hit I got on it was from a French name list, and they all had identical information. These baby name sites must all copypaste from each other. And I tend to wonder if someone just made up this name and put it out there, claiming it's French, and it's made it's way into every list of French names.
But, whether or not any French woman has actually been named Allyriane, it definitely rings as a Fantasy Novel Heroine name, and thus suits her fae ancestry, so I decided to use it.