Chapter 98: Family Part 9: Brie’s Birthday

Sora went out of his way to ensure Brie had her best birthday yet. The entire party helped him set up a day of relaxation and fun. Sora also had a special surprise he made sure everyone worldwide knew not to mention.

First, they went to her parents with Xander. Xander loved his grandparents and although they didn’t understand his quick development, they sure enjoyed being grandparents.

"You’re twenty-two now sweetie. Remember when you stormed off and told us you were moving in with a boy?" Her mom laughed.

"Sorry! I was such a hot head. It was the best decision I ever made though," Brie said as she turned and looked at Sora, who was playing with Xander.

"He’s a great father. It’s almost hard to believe he grew up without one." Her dad mentioned.

"He really is. He’s always so relaxed and humble. Even when I’m drained from feeding or just tired Sora pops right up and takes over like it’s nothing. I’m lucky to have him."

Xander teleported to Brie’s moms lap. "Nana!"

They enjoyed a nice lunch and next it was off to somewhere Brie didn’t expect.

"Sora, why are we going to a quest board? You know I stopped checking those ages ago!"

"Because I have a surprise for you. Here, come look."

Brie approached the quest board and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Just one s ranked quest.

"Act like you’re signing up for it babe, trust me."

Xander said "do it mama! Mama will be happy!"

Brie laughed and entered her information. She stopped and tears flooded her eyes.

Would you, Brianna Lockheart, SSS adventurer, like to accept this quest?

"When did this happen?!"

"Yesterday actually. Other than me, you’re the first ever known SSS adventurer at 21 and under. I thought you’d like to see the surprise for yourself. Now there’s one more. Type in Xander Lockheart."

Xander couldn’t contain himself. "Xander is s rank!"

Brie’s mouth almost hit the floor. She gave him big smiles and picked him up and smothered him with kisses.

"How is my baby so powerful already?" She said in her baby voice.

Sora smiled and explained how he registered Xander the night before when he verified Brie was SSS. He also explained Celeste was baffled and no one had a good answer for why he was able to be ranked at all.

Afterwards, they teleported to a waterpark in Southern Exteria that Sora rented out for the day. The party was there, along with a large group of vampires, Uthra and Brie’s family. They had a blast and Mindy was a huge hit for the group.

Sora decided on party seals for the children with very specific conditions. They were not to take any missions, they were to always remain safe with adults, Julius included, and remain with a god or goddess in times of war.

Sora and Brie talked at great length before they made this decision, but they felt it was best because if they were ever in imminent danger, they could teleport to them or Mindy could teleport to someone in the party. Sora thought a personal seal might offend Mindy and make her feel like an outsider when they wanted to welcome her with open arms, and Xander was going to be in the party eventually anyway so why not now?

After a long day at the waterpark, Xander was absolutely wiped out which was Sora’s main goal. The rest of the party teleported back to the mansion with Xander and put Xander to sleep.

*****

Sora’s last surprise was his biggest one yet. He begged Athena over the previous two weeks to allow them to teleport to Paradise for Brie’s birthday. Because one human day was one year in Paradise they had to be very careful, but it was nice for Brie to finally meet Cyrus Aphrodite and Jessica.

"Babe you shouldn’t have. This is so amazing!"

"It’s my pleasure and I wouldn’t have known so much about my birth Mom had you not lived my life so please, let’s enjoy this time." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

They found out Jessica was only 18 when she had Sora and she wouldn’t go into details about what she was forced to do only that the man was apprehended and sentenced to life in jail. She was able to live a happy life, but was unable to provide for a child at that age and was grateful the orphanage took him in.

They met with Chronos briefly and he told them how proud he was of both of them and their strength was what scared the demons away for now. He urged them to use this as a time to promote peace throughout Exteria, which the happy couple absolutely agreed with.

Watching the world from Paradise was quite the view for both of them. They both sat near the edge cuddled together watching baby Xander sleep while the party had fun.

"I never dreamed of being alive in Paradise, did you?" Sora asked Brie.

"Definitely not! I always hoped I’d pass on to Paradise when I was old but now it’s knowing that if we choose to live here, it’s more like choosing to retire. Lox was right. This would be agony watching someone in pain for this long. We’ve been here for days and only a few minutes have passed on Exteria."

"There you two are!" Lox said happily.

"Hey Lox! Where have you been all day? We’ve been trying to say hi!"

"Apologies, I just recently learned of your arrival. I was playing with my children and visiting with some of my old dragon friends," he lied. He hoped Brie and Sora wouldn’t pick up on it.

"Aw, that’s sweet. I bet Leila would love this place!" Brie said happily.

’I swear he wasn’t here when we got here. I couldn’t sense him anywhere. Maybe things are different in Paradise? I guess I should give him the benefit of the doubt,’ Sora thought while smiling.

"Well I hope your kids are well! We have big news about Leila we wanted to share!" Sora said enthusiastically, masking his lack of sincerity.

"Oh? What news is that?" Lox asked with a curious smile.