Morian stood in the dining room of their Valdier palace residence watching her mate, Paul Grove, carefully inventory and pack the assembled items he needed into a large backpack. In the background, she could hear their daughter, Morah, animatedly talking to her symbiot, Princess Buttercup. The excitement in Morah’s voice was impossible to ignore, as were Morian’s misgivings about Paul and Morah’s upcoming camping trip.

“Paul, are you sure about this?” she asked in a voice filled with doubt.

Paul looked over at her with a startled expression. Laying a rope down on the table, he straightened, held his arms open wide, and gave her that self-assured smile that always melted her heart. Walking toward him, she slipped her arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to his lips.

He looked down at her. “You know that I’ll take good care of Morah. I won’t let anything happen to her,” he promised.

Morian raised a delicate eyebrow. “What makes you think I’m talking about her? I’m not in the least bit worried about Morah and the other children, or even about you. I know you’ll be fine,” she replied with a soft chuckle.

Paul frowned. “Then what are you worried about?” he asked, puzzled.

“The other men! You, Morah, and the other younglings will be out in the woods with all of my sons as well as Vox, and Ha’ven. That is what I am worried about,” she grumbled, pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose.

She felt the chuckle that shook his muscular frame. “Don’t forget Cree, Calo, and Viper. Zoran warned me that they are coming as well. I’ve dealt with a lot of young men out in the woods during my time. I think I can handle your sons and the other men,” he reassured her.

Both of them looked around when they heard the loud sounds of items hitting the floor. The clanging and banging reminded him of a heavy rain on a tin roof. It was followed by childish mutterings and the sound of something dragging along the floor.

“Dada, I’s ready to goes camping,” Morah breathlessly called to him from the living room.

Morian looked at Paul with a wary expression when they heard another loud crash. She stepped out of his arms and hurried into the living room. She stopped when she saw Morah standing with her tiny hands on her dainty little hips. Morah’s small symbiot had dropped the bag it was trying to carry and spilled toys all over the floor. A choked laugh caught in her throat, and she had to raise her hand to cover her mouth and stifle her laughter.

“I tolds you that you’s was going to spill it if you pulls it that way,” Morah said with a shake of her head.

The symbiot picked up a bright red ball in its mouth and grinned around it. Morah tugged on the ball. She inelegantly fell to the floor in a small heap of pink and red silk and lace. Her black curls bounced from under her pointed hat. Rolling to her feet, her cheeks rosy and her dark golden eyes sparkling, she stuck her tongue out at her symbiot before impatiently waving her hand at the mess.

“You gots to help pick them up,” she ordered, looking sternly at Princess Buttercup before she bent over and started picking up the toys.

Morian chuckled and turned her head to glance at Paul when he came up behind her to peer over her shoulder at their daughter. His muffled laugh tickled her ear. Morah was ready, alright. She looked as if she had packed just about every single one of her toys in every bag she could find in her room, which included a small bag that Paul had made for her and one of her pillow cases as well.

“I think she plans to take all of her toys,” Morian murmured.

“I think she packed up her entire room,” Paul groaned with a rueful shake of his head when he saw several ‘Princess’ dresses in various colors spilling out of one bag.

Morian bit her lip when Morah adjusted the bright pink princess hat on her head to keep it from slipping off. Ever since Cara had told the girls the stories about the princesses from their human world, Morah had been in love with them. Her current thing was dressing up with the tall, medieval style hats and the matching long frilly dresses that resembled the gowns once worn on Earth. Even her dolls were dressed up like miniature princesses.

Paul shook his head. “Trisha was such a tomboy. I couldn’t get her in a dress. It is going to be World War III getting Morah out of one,” he groaned.

Morian lifted her hand and ran it down Paul’s cheek. “I’ll get her ready while you repack the things she can actually take. Just remember to pack a couple of her dolls or you’ll be coming back early,” she warned with a wink.

“Dolls… Which ones?” Paul muttered, gazing at the long trail of toys that littered the hallway from Morah’s bedroom all the way to the living room.

Morian laughed. “Pick anything in pink or red and hope she doesn’t decide green and blue are her new favorite colors in the meantime,” she teased before turning her attention to Morah. “How about I help you and Princess Buttercup get ready to go camping?”

Morian didn’t wait for a response. She scooped the tiny girl up into her arms and headed back to Morah’s bedroom. Holding her close, Morian buried her face against Morah’s neck and blew raspberries against it. Morah melted into a fit of giggles.

“I’s going camping with Dada!” Morah announced with gleeful excitement.

“I know you are. You are going with your uncles and cousins, too,” Morian reminded her daughter.

“Is Hope and Leo coming’s too?” Morah asked with an anxious plea.

“Yes, they are going camping, too,” she promised, brushing the dark curls back from Morah’s face.

“Are’s we going on another ad… addie… addieventure?” Morah asked.

This time Morah’s eyes were filled with excited hope. Morian bit back her laughter. It was a good thing Paul wasn’t in the bedroom with them, or he might change his mind about this sudden crazy adventure. This camping expedition had grown from a father-daughter overnight camping trip to a three-day event complete with all the younglings and their fathers.

She and the other women had given up on talking the Reykill brothers and their friends out of going because every time they attempted to dissuade their stubborn mates, it seemed one of the warriors would invite someone else to join the expedition. Now, even the twin dragons and Vox’s brother, Viper, were going camping.

“Listen,” Riley had commented earlier when they found out about the latest additions to the group of campers. “If the kids could go on an adventure down rivers and up mountains on their own, I’m sure they can handle three days in the woods with their dads.”

Morian didn’t point out that during that adventure, a mountain blew up or that if it hadn’t been for Christoff, the Old Dragon of the Mountain, the children and even some of the adults might not have survived that particular adventure. The only positive thing was that none of the women were going. That meant there was less chance that a holiday tale would send the kids off on another misadventure.

Morah was still talking about the Great Easter Bunny adventure that she had been a part of and how they had stopped the giant bunnies from taking Jabir’s big eggs. She needed to keep reminding herself that they would only be gone for three days—and that Paul would be with them.

“Mommy,” Morah asked, cupping Morian’s face.

She looked down at her daughter and smiled. “Yes, my little princess?” Morian replied.

“Will you be alrights while Dada and I is gone?” Morah asked with a worried frown.

Morian smiled and bent to press a kiss to Morah’s cheek. “I’ll be just fine. It is your Dada that I’m worried about,” she chuckled.

Morah lifted her chin. “I’s going to take cares of Dada. I won’t lets nothing happens to him. I promise as a princess,” she declared with a toss of her head.

Morian reached out and caught the pointed hat as it fell off of Morah’s head. She tickled Morah’s ribs, laughing when the little girl squealed in delight. Once again, she reassured herself that everything would be alright—after all, there couldn’t possibly be any Earth holidays at this time of year!