Chapter 425: Just A Regular Saturday.

It was Saturday morning, and the Grand-Kings were busy in the kitchen.

Faye sat at the table, her fork moving rhythmically as she worked her way through a full plate beef hash . Beside her, Princess hovered over four high chairs, leaning in close with an exaggerated smile pinned to her face.

"Say Mama. Ma, ma... Mama..." Princess repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, exaggerating her lips with every syllable.

The four babies sat lined up, their round eyes staring back at her in complete, unblinking silence, looking as though they weren’t listening to a single word coming out of her mouth.

Ronny broke the staredown first. He looked back down at his bowl, picked up his spork with a surprisingly firm grip, and scooped a tiny bite of shredded beef into his own mouth. He actually happened to be the one who learned to feed himself with a spork on his own terms, completely ignoring any help.

Leonny followed right after, stabbing his food with his spork and chewing quietly.

One by one, the rest of the pups followed suit, plunging their small utensils into their food and ignoring their mama entirely.

"How on earth did my niece do it? Argh..." Princess groaned, leaning her back against her chair and letting her arms flop to her sides. She turned her head to look at her girlfriend, who was far more focused on chewing her breakfast than indulging Princess’s morning worries.

"It looks like everyone is more worried about their food than me..." Princess muttered, her shoulders slumping as she finally picked up her own fork to pick at her plate.

Faye swallowed her food and took a sip of water, offering a small smirk. "Don’t worry, they will say it one day. They are just teasing."

Princess raised an eyebrow at her. "How do you know?"

"I have a feeling about that, and Leonny called me Mommy last night while I put him to bed."

Princess froze, her fork hovering halfway to her mouth. She stared at her girlfriend in complete disbelief, her jaw slackening.

Faye turned slightly in her chair, looking directly at the little boy sitting in the second high blue chair. "Leonny, say Mommy..."

Leonny stopped chewing, looking up from his bowl with wide, clear eyes. He stared directly at Faye.

"Mu... mmy..."

"See? I told you. He is the first one to call me Mommy." Faye smiled brightly, shooting a victorious look at her stunned girlfriend.

Princess couldn’t believe her ears. First, the sudden word caught her completely off guard, and second, she couldn’t accept the fact that Faye got the Mommy title before she managed to get a single word out of them.

"No wonder you stopped feeling worried about them not calling you Mommy," Princess said, pouting as she turned her entire body to face her first son. "One of them already called you Mommy..."

She leaned down, coming eye-level with the little boy. "Okay, my little Boss Baby, can you call me Mama?" Princess smiled at the boy, her eyes practically pleading.

"..."

Absolute silence. Not a single sound came out of his mouth.

That boy was doing it deliberately.

Somehow, the dramatic reaction he kept getting from his Mama was kind of amusing to him. He stared right back into her eyes, keeping his lips pressed into a tight, stubby line.

Faye leaned over the table, crossing her arms as she watched the interaction. "Leonny, say Mama."

Even with Faye prompting him, the little boy flatly refused to utter a single sound.

Faye caught the subtle shift in the baby’s face, catching the tiny, mischievous twitch at the corner of his lips. "See, I was right. The little dude is teasing you."

Princess narrowed her eyes at him. The second Leonny realized he had been caught, he instantly dropped his chin, plunging his spork back into his food and pretending to be intensely focused on eating.

"Mama... Mama... Mama..."

The sudden, clear voice rattled off from the end of the table.

Princess snapped her head around. The chatter was coming directly from the foodie boy who had just scraped the last bite of food off his plate.

Princess stared at Ronny in shock. Hearing those clear words tumbling out of his little mouth was entirely unexpected.

"My little baby boy just called me Mama," Princess gasped, her hands flying to her cheeks as a wave of pure joy washed over her. "Faye, did you hear that?"

Faye nodded her head, her smile widening as she watched Princess practically vibrate with excitement.

"Mama, Mama, more... Mama, more..."

Little Ronny lifted his spork and began tapping it rhythmically against the rim of his empty bowl, demanding a refill.

Faye let out a sudden snort, which turned into full, uncontrollable laughter echoing through the kitchen.

"Keep calling me Mama," Princess beamed, completely unbothered by the bribery involved. "I don’t mind the reason you called me Mama."

Princess reached over, brushing her fingers gently through the boy’s soft hair. She immediately picked up the serving spoon and added a massive extra scoop of mashed potatoes and shredded beef straight onto his plate, so happy that she practically doubled his portion.

That boy was really happy...

"Okay, one down, three to go," Princess said, turning back toward Leonny with a smug grin. "Boss Baby, you can say it now, or I’m not going to play adventure with you again during bath time..."

Hearing those specific words leave his mother’s mouth hit Leonny like a ton of bricks. Out of all the siblings, Leonny happened to love his bath-time adventure games more than anyone else, even Minny happens to be the second.

His eyes widened into huge circles, his lower lip beginning to tremble as if he were on the absolute verge of bursting into tears.

Princess blinked, instantly softening. She was only trying to bluff him; she didn’t actually mean she would take away his favorite game.

Before she could take it back, Leonny opened his mouth wide, scrambling to speak.

"Mama... Mama..."

"Yippee! That is my Boss Baby," Princess cheered, leaning in to kiss the top of his head. "More and more adventures for you, my love."

Princess was on cloud nine. That was two down and two more to go.

She glanced over at the remaining two pups, who were both completely unbothered, happily smacking their food around their trays. It didn’t look like either of them was remotely ready to say anything today.

Princess didn’t put any pressure on them. She settled back into her chair, perfectly willing to wait until they felt like talking on their own time. Hearing Mama from two of them was more than enough to make her entire week.

Their sweet, quiet slice-of-life moment was suddenly cut short.

Across the table, Faye’s fork froze mid-air. Her face drained of color in a split second, a look of sudden, violent nausea twisting her features. She gasped, clapped a hand over her mouth, and bolted out of her chair toward the sink.

She doubled over the stainless steel basin, throwing up violently as her shoulders heaved.

Princess dropped her fork, springing out of her seat in an instant. She rushed over to the sink, reaching out to gently rub comforting circles across Faye’s back as another heave shook her girlfriend’s body.

"Are you okay?" Princess asked softly, her brow furrowing with intense concern.

Faye rinsed her mouth with a stream of tap water, shaking her head weakly. She turned, slumping sideways, and rested her forehead against Princess’s shoulder.

"I feel sick..." Faye muttered, her voice raspy and drained.

Princess wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her weight. "You have been eating a lot lately. Just rest, and let’s see what happens..."

Later that afternoon, inside the clubhouse.

The four pups were scattered across the padded floor, playing quietly with their favorite toys, while Beam, Kiara, and Princess were parked in swivel chairs, locked in an intense session in the gaming area.

Faye lay curled up on the long fabric couch nearby, her eyes closed, resting under a thick fleece blanket.

Even while holding her controller, Princess kept spinning her gaming chair around every two minutes, her eyes darting away from the monitor to check on her sleeping girlfriend.

"Princess, I need you to defend while I take the gem back to our base," Beam ordered, her fingers flying across her controller as she stared intently at the main screen.

Princess’s thumbs hesitated on the analog sticks, her character standing completely frozen in the middle of a digital battlefield.

"Come on, Princess, where are you?" Beam yelled, tapping her foot impatiently.

"I swear, Princess, if you die again, I’m not reviving you," Kiara snapped from the next chair over, her eyes narrowed at her display. "Move your character damnit!"

Princess’s character took a heavy hit on screen, the health bar flashing bright red, but her mind wasn’t anywhere near the game. Her chest felt tight, her full focus stuck entirely on her girl lying motionless on the sofa behind them.

"Guys, watch the kids," Princess said suddenly, her voice cutting through the sound of the game. "I need to take my girlfriend to the hospital."

Without waiting for a response, Princess pulled her headphones off, tossed the controller onto the cushion, and stood up to walk over to her girlfriend.