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It so happened that Benjamin had discovered that his wife was sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night--again. This wasn't anything new, exactly. She had done this once before. Ben had made the unfortunate mistake of thinking she was cheating on him due to her playful and flirtatious nature; while she had really been checking in with the hospital. She'd been pregnant with Samantha and Reiya and had had complications; and so, Ben was determined not to make the same mistake. Surely she would have told him, if they were expecting? He knew his wife well enough to know she didn't like making people worry; often doing things in secret.

Still, when he thought of his wife, he couldn't remember her showing signs of pregnancy. Sure, she had shown signs of not being able to sleep; the tiredness showed itself around her eyes. One night, when she had returned at about half past midnight, Ben could have sworn her face was red and blotchy, her hair had been in disarray. The man could tell, just by looking at her, that she hadn't been out with another. Something was troubling her. Something must have happened.

"I'm going out," Thali said, for the sixth time that week. It was Friday, and the children were upstairs playing Mario Party. Ben only nodded, knowing that no matter what he said, he wouldn't be able to stop her.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me where you're going," Ben replied, as he always did. His wife had a terrible habit of being vague; but he credited that to all elves. Elves, you just couldn't trust them to tell you everything. He had it in his mind to follow her. He had to see what was troubling her; to upset her like this--had something happened to Davian? Was she receiving messages from Lynwood in secret?

Thali looked to her husband; and Ben felt a tug at his heart when he realized he could read the grief in her eyes. Large, blue pools of sorrow. What could have happened to make her like this? Had something happened to Risa? Had Matthias done something cruel and unforgivable? He had never approved of Matthias; the fae was in severe need of a haircut. (And you could never trust those who had hair like that). "Out," she said vaguely. "I'll be back."

Without taking a coat, without even another word to her husband, Thali left the house. Benjamin looked up when he heard the top stair creak. Joshua was standing there, in his pajamas. "Mom's left again, hasn't she?" he asked. "Go on, Dad. I'll keep watch. Sammi and Reiya are already asleep, Kaleb too," he added. "They fell asleep halfway through the first game. Go on. I'm worried about Mom. She's been acting really weird, Dad. She hasn't let any of us out of her sight all week--except for when she leaves. She's never that protective."

Ben was surprised. He had failed to notice this; but now that he thought about it, Thali had been acting rather strange when it came to their children. She had been constantly checking on them, making sure they were still in the house; as if she thought some monster was going to come and snatch them away. He hesitated for a moment, before nodding at his oldest, and went to the door.

Once outside, Ben was surprised to find that his wife hadn't gone very far. The tell-tale signs that someone had gone into their backyard stood out to him. The gate had been carelessly pushed open, the usually neat gravel path had been scattered and now looked as if it needed raking. He entered the backyard quietly; he wanted to make sure it was his wife he was following and not some--well, you know, creep.

He spotted Thali sitting on an engraved stone bench next to their man-made pond. Bright white and gold fish swam around in it, oblivious to the fact that trouble was in the world above. Ben was close enough to notice Thali's ears twitching at his every movement. She knew he was there; but she hadn't looked up. In fact, she was staring at ground rather intently. Wistfully, he realized. He sat next to her, putting an arm around her and pulling her close.

"Tell me what happened," he said. Like you should have a long time ago, he thought. With a pang, he realized she was trembling. He had thought it might have been a death of a pet--but surely she wouldn't be this upset.

"I couldn't keep it..." she muttered. Ben had to move closer to hear, she was speaking so softly. "I tried. I should have known--"

Kept what? What was his wife talking about? She seemed to be talking about an object, but the way she was behaving told Ben it was something more. Much more. He placed a kiss on her cheek in attempt to comfort her. "Known what?" he asked.

Thali didn't look up. For a moment, Ben thought she wouldn't respond at all. "I should have known," she said dully. "That I couldn't keep a baby without Darcy's help. After the twins... I should have known."

Baby? She had been pregnant, then. He paused for a moment, his mind fully comprehending what she had said. She had lost a baby, and she'd tried to keep it a secret. His accusations at the beginning of the week must have made this harder on her. He pulled her onto his lap. He didn't know what to say; there was nothing to say. Nothing he could say could bring the baby back. He had never been good at comforting with words, anyway.

"Let's go inside," he said, "I'll get you a hot drink, and then you're going to bed." He half carried her into the house; Thali appeared to be half asleep and it was more like walking with a life size rag doll than his wife, he sighed. He felt like a first class jerk. He shouldn't have accused her. He should have followed her when he first realized she was sneaking out. He set her carefully on the couch, before going to make a pot of tea. He figured Thali wouldn't be the only one needing it.

One could only describe the place as a child's fantasy. Beautiful, and yet--Joshua felt trapped inside his castle of buttercream, gingerbread and sugar. He longed for the outdoors, despite the logic that he would be surrounded by dolls the moment he stepped outside. "Jaxon," he called for his least favorite princeling doll.

"Yes sire?" came the doll's voice from behind him. Jaxon had the habit of appearing when Joshua least expected it, something that had come in handy.

"I have a request," Joshua said, as formally as he could without giving himself away with a smile. He knew the over zealous doll would jump at the task; Jaxon was always ready to prove he was useful.

"A request sire? Ask anything, and it shall be done."

Joshua allowed himself a smile. He had been hoping for this. "Distract the dolls for me," he said, putting a hand on the doll's shoulder. "I'm going out." He smirked at Jaxon's look of disbelief. "Think you can handle that?"

"Sire?"

Josh rose an eyebrow. He had found this often had the desired effect.

"Yes sire!" Jaxon left. From the stained sugar window, Josh could hear voices.

"Lord Jaxon! Lord Jaxon!"

"Oh my gosh, where's Josh?"

"Hey, hey! Where's my Prince? We're supposed to be getting married tonight!"

"I'm sure the prince would love some of these dessert rolls--"

The nutcracker gave a sigh of relief and carefully made his way towards a much less known exit near the back of the castle. As the door swung open, the brightness of the sun hitting sugar-snow made him squint his eyes.

Lollipop trees and the candy cane forest lay before him. He grinned; he knew where he was. He had studied enough maps to know beyond the woods was the mollasses swamp. Past that was Sugar Lake, which was surrounded by sugar plum trees. He had it in his mind to explore; especially now that he had the chance to.

It wasn't that he wasn't allowed to; according to the dolls, he had written every law himself. It was more the fact that no matter what he did, dolls tended to follow him. And as they followed, they chattered. Usually about his future; about Nataya, about how cute of a couple they made, about their children--things that embarassed the boy.

Sure, being a prince had its pluses; but would it kill them to give him some privacy?

To Be Continued...