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It was not unheard of for Jack to stay locked away in his room for hours on end. Luckily, he had the sense to either take his smaller children in with him or hand them off to Shade or Bea; he was lucky to have such understanding friends. However, the fact that he had hardly been home all day was something to be concerned about. He had apparently left early in the morning before even Shade was up and only Brunswick and a note were left behind with an explanation. Brunswick had paused just long enough to confirm what was in the note; Adam and Evie were next door with Margaret (strange, that) and Jack was off metaphorically seeing a man about a dog. Brunswick snickered nastily when he said that. Then he flew out the window without another word.

It wasn't until nearly dinner when the front door opened and Jack crept through with full arms. He paused in the foyer of the house to adjust his holds on both precious packages - groceries and a small brunette girl. He looked down at her and she looked back up at him. Then she better tangled her fingers in his shirt collar. He choked a bit and she quickly loosened, cheeks going pink until she buried her face in his shoulder. He sighed. It had been one hell of a day.

Clearing his throat, Jack called out for his roommate. "Shade? Antony? You guys home?"

"I brought home some groceries and..." The tall British magician appeared at the doorway to the dining room and regarded the taco-massacre on the table with mild interest. "Which will come in handy later." Then his gaze shifted upwards to the parties in question and he paused all over. The baby in his arms shyly peered out sideways, barely lifting her face away from his shoulder. "Huh," he finally said. Then he moved further into the room and set the bag of groceries down on the table before shifting to better hold Regina comfortably. "So, lad," he continued, dead-pan and addressing Antony, "change your hair again or somethin'?"

Jack's face lit up with a broad grin. "Lads," he announced. "This is Regina." He attempted to adjust her positioning in his arms again and, after a bit of struggle, he managed to turn her around so that her back was pressed firmly against his chest and one of his arms was wrapped around her waist. She regarded Shade and Antony with big, solemn eyes but did not make a peep. "Y'know how it goes, right? I ordered some books an' got her. Poor lil thing was trapped in a crate."

"Uh... No." Jack looked sheepish now. Carefully, he lowered her so she was sitting on the table. The way he set her down raised the question of just how much did she weigh in the minds of the others. "I was just kinda worried about why she was in there. Poor thing's still scared outta her mind."

Regina continued to cling to his shirt with one hand but, cautiously interested, she studied first Shade and then Antony. She wrinkled her nose a bit as if thinking about them and their presence.

Regina regarded Antony's hand for a moment and then looked up at Jack for approval. He nodded with a smile. Then, offering her own lopsided smile, the little girl put her hand into Antony's before nodding.

"I've got baby stuff." Jack lifted an eyebrow. "Just not girl clothes. Adam's still kinda hangin' out in his crib an' all, y'know." He glanced at Regina holding Antony's hand, considered, and then added, "Though Regina looks a bit older than him already. Bl- Man, Shade. Can't we ever end up with kids in the right direction?"

"Yeah, probably." Jack tugged out a chair and sat down. One of his hands sneaked out to steal one of the forgotten tacos and he absently unwrapped it as he studied his new daughter who was now investigating Antony's hand with great concentration. "Little girls like pretty things, right?" he mused. "Antony? What color d'ya think I should get her?"

It might have been an odd question in any other household, asking a young man questions on female fashion. This was, however, the combined Jack And Shade Show and Jack had long since learned that Antony had better color sense than either his father or his psuedo-uncle.

Regina appeared to give his question a lot of thought and then, smiling shyly, pointed directly at Antony's hair.

Jack laughed. "Guess she likes blue," he translated. "As for Wisp and Bea, you think I got a word in edgewise when they met Regina here? Not likely."

Jack shrugged with one shoulder, taking a bite out of his confiscated taco. The notion did not seem to bother him at all. "I guess," he said as soon as he swallowed. "She certainly weighs half a ton. Right, princess?" He shot a grin at Regina and she looked up from Antony's hand long enough to smile back. Then she returned to very carefully manipulating the young man's hand.