Dear Diary,

"Do not kill if wounds will do, Do not wound if pain will do, Do not hurt if fear will do." - Tabitha Diaz, Doctrine of Tabitha, Book of Justified Homicide

In this, the second Verse of the Book of Justified Homicide, Tabitha exhorts us to restraint. We ought never forget that while our Goddess is also a Goddess of Vengeance, Vengeance need not always require the taking of life. Nor need we always kill in order to defend ourselves or, more importantly, those we love. So our Goddess instructs us that we ought respond with the gentlest remonstration possible. That we ought not hurt another if scaring them will prevent them from harming others. That we ought not injure them if inflicting pain will prevent them from doing harm. Finally, that we ought not kill, that Homicide is not, in fact, Justified, if we could prevent harm by doing non-lethal harm to the threat. - Priestess Most High Above All Others, Archmage Imperator Saffron Aetos-Diaz, Commentary on the Doctrine of Tabitha

Part of me thinks that maybe I put too strong a leash on my Worshippers with this one. Most of them aren't Heroes, so most of them don't have Inspect to figure out if the person in front of them is a threat, and how much of a threat they are. Seriously, I can totally see somebody underestimating...

I was gonna say 'Saffron' for a second, but no, I do not think anyone in a sober, sane state of mind could look at my Kitten and see a lack of threat, unless maybe they hadn't done anything wrong and she was in total Mom mode. Then again, Momma Bear is a Thing That Exists, and people know that. Then I was thinking of saying 'Isnomi', but shit, I'm pretty sure she's intimidated... No, I'm absolutely certain she's intimidated the fuckin' Weyland Smith himself, also known as her big brother Conrad. I guess somebody might underestimate Siobhan, but seriously, unless they're an Undead person, she's not likely to do anything harmful to them anyhow. Shit, I'm pretty sure if she did find an Undead tryna threaten someone, she'd try to talk them down, or call me in, or something like that before pointing Smite at them and turning them to ash.

So I guess maybe people can look and see if somebody's an obvious threat or not based on the same shit most people do. Are they armed, are they big, are they intoxicated, are they a dude with a complex about being a dude. I was just gonna say 'are they a dude', but seriously, Lachlan. I know he and I didn't hit it off immediately, but even when we weren't bestest fuck buddies, the man had very little of the Toxic Masculinity stink. Just pure Himbo sweat. Yeah, some racism, sure, but even there it was the 'don't worry, lesser beings, I am here to stand between you and that which threatens you'. Which, given he could play the God of Thunder in super hero movies without a stunt double, and possibly without special effects, and he had a room temperature IQ, I at least am wiling to cut him a little slack for not realizing that his actual objective superiority had nothing to do with gender or race and everything to do with literally being born and raised to be a Hero.

Little bit funny still that once he left his little man's syndrome and all the assorted toxicity he was raised with behind, Larry became way more dangerous than his brother, even after I promoted Lachlan to Hero status. Which still feels wonky to me that it worked; I was the Commander of the Expedition, sure, but not actually a Hero or anything. Barely even a Cadet.

After spending the night and most of the day half floating in the Bath, Marie and I decided to dry the kittens off and take them back down to the bedroom. I kinda wanted to maybe take them outside, but apparently 'outside' is currently unpleasant, at best. Okay, the Courtyard has that kind of heat to it that I loved to play in as a kid, because back in the day I could just fill up the kiddie pool and sploosh down and maybe lay out the slip and slide and bam, instant fun. But without anything like that, I wasn't sure if the girls would enjoy playing out there or not, and I definitely didn't want dehydrated, overheated kittens.

With all the adult visitors, which also included Anna and Devorah, we had enough adults to transport the kittens without someone carrying me or Marie with kittens attached at the boob. I took a bit of a shortcut, stepping up to my office to check the temp there. Honestly, the elevation and the sort of ongoing wind made things kinda nice, but the kittens had started a sort of squirming rooch around the Bath, and I did not want them discovering the complete lack of railings because someone didn't keep enough of an eye on them. So after snuggling Hailee when she nuzzled into me, I stepped us both back down to the bedroom, flopped my butt on the bed, and flopped backward.

A minute later the entire procession of kittens, ladies, guests, and girls trooped into the room. Diana had Isadora, Mrs. Driver carried Borysthenis, cooing over her the whole time. Marie carried Calliope, and if her belly sagged a little and her shoulders definitely spoke of several days of poor sleep, her motion had way more of the predatory grace than she'd had since she inflated. Saffron carried Erato, and if Siobhan wasn't steady enough to carry a kitten or walk without leaning on Saffron, she didn't need to be carried. Sigyn held Garde like she half wished she could nurse her, and Loki followed behind her, having what sounded like a Very Serious Conversation with Anise. No idea about what, because it was all baby nonsense words, but very serious baby nonsense words.

I'll have you know I speak perfectly fluent baby, and none of that was nonsense.

That got a laugh out of me, and if nobody else knew what I was laughing about, that was fine too. Thanks, Dad. You're the best.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I know..

Kinda funny, I half expected Anna or Devorah to carry Felicia in, but instead both of them sorta hovered behind the girls. Maze was technically carrying Felicia, but in that sort of 'she had her arms wrapped around underneath her torso' kind of way. Every single one of the girls was in physical contact with Felicia, Maze, or both. Even Lindsey, who normally was a little standoffish in situations like this, was within arm's reach, and as I watched zipped forward to police up a towel that somebody'd dropped.

When all the kittens made it to the bed, and Hailee and Felicia both were attached to me, not to mention the other six latching on to Marie for dinner, Anna, Devorah, and Mrs. Driver headed down to the kitchen to get some dinner for us. Diana sat down next to me, propped me into a more or less sitting position with some pillows, which left me with one kitten tucked under each arm in what I'd heard my aunties call the 'football feeding' position, then tilted her head and stared at Hailee, who stared right back at her.

"Her eyes are open."

I shrugged. "Yeah. She's awake. I'm hoping she'll get sleepy when her belly's full."

Diana smiled, then frowned, then shook her head. "No. Normally a tiger's eyes don't open for almost a week. Hers... hers have been open since I first arrived."

It took me a minute to remember. "Oh. Yeah. She was the last one out. She wasn't... It took a... I had to Stabilize her to get her to start breathing. Her eyes opened up then."

She sucked her teeth, but nodded. "That would explain it. She... she might have complications from that, you realize?"

I shrugged. "Given the options of a live daughter with complications, or a tiny little grave marker next to Grandma's, I will absolutely rip somebody's spleen out if they start telling my girl she's got 'complications'."

Diana laughed out loud at that. "Oh... Oh, I agree, Matriarch. I only say as much so that you know to watch out for such things."

I sighed, then did the responsible thing and asked, "what kind of 'complications'?"

She shrugged. "It may be something as simple as poor vision. Or perhaps weak lungs. Or she might see things others do not. She may share some of the traits that you, your Wife, your daughter, and I share as Psychopomps. She may have none of these things, and not be affected in any way whatsoever."

It took me a little bit, because as I may have noted, I've been a little wiped out what with the whole, 'haven't gotten a full night's sleep since Marie went into labor' thing going on. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Would you be horribly upset if I visited your Revel tonight?"

I chuckled. "Gonna go there and get you some of that good good in my place, huh?"

She smiled. "Perhaps. But mostly, it is in your Temple, and I would not assume."

I reached out and pulled her over to me. Had to use a tentacle, what with my hands being full and her being a big girl and all. She tensed a little until she realized I was hugging her to me. "Yeah, go right ahead, Diana. I think maybe we, and I'm talking Deities and Worshippers alike, need to learn to share a little bit more than we do."

Her arm went around me, and she hugged me back. "As you say, Matriarch. Thank you."

A moment later, after a glare of moonlight, she was gone.

I fell asleep shortly after dinner. Hailee and Felicia going to Marie in exchange for Borysthenis and Isadora. Kinda funny, Marie and I were lying face to face with a little open area between us filled with kittens. Saffron and Siobhan lay down by our legs, and the girls had kinda snuggled in behind us all. Tallulah and Mrs. Driver both were sleeping behind them. At least twice during the night I woke up when the kittens, after detaching and squirming into a comfy sleeping position, got hungry and squirmed back over to latch on to me. Weird. Cool. Not bad at all. But still weird.

Not as weird or as cool as my dreams, though. My ladies were there, all of them making much of Marie, which I heartily approved of. Then Diana arrived at the head of a procession. A procession of super-chibi chefs carrying armloads of beans and shrimp into my Maw. Tasty. Delicious and nutritious, because I woke up feeling something like refreshed.

Saffron decided it was time, and we pulled the curtains all the way back, and all the women from the Homestead trooped through. Our in-house Heroes came through as well. Pretty much everybody who lived at the Homestead did. Okay, everybody except Anna and Devorah; Anna was arranging lunch, and Devorah had gone to do beekeeping things. But then, they'd both seen the kittens already.

After lunch, which was mostly cold cuts and bread, because Anna isn't bad in the kitchen, but feeding a dozen people isn't her normal gig, I looked over at Saffron and said, "do you wanna invite the Lancasters over tonight?"

She smiled at me and shot me an image of the last time we'd had Lachlan and Linus in the Bedroom. Okay, specifically the last time I'd had them in the Bedroom in the biblical sense. Which made me wonder if there is actually a 'bible' as I'd think of it here and now. "Do you want to invite them over?"

I snorted. "I was thinking of letting Lucas meet our new girls." But if you're feeling maybe a little underappreciated I'm sure Lachlan and Carruthers will tag along.

"Hmm... perhaps I'll invite little Liam along to visit with our girls as well, then."

Turns out Liam had been wanting to visit, but Larry hadn't heard from us in a couple days and correctly assumed we'd been dealing with new arrivals. He brought Bonnie and Lucas, while Tallulah brought Lachlan, Liam, and Linus. Kinda funny, it's almost like Lachlan and Linus have basically wound up hetero life partners or some shit like that. Maybe they've picked up a third brain cell and it's covalently bonded them or something.

Cutest thing of the afternoon had to be baby Lucas, who was like five or six months old and barely able to sit up on his own, getting lost in a pile of purring kittens. Not, in any kind of bad way; he giggled the whole fuckin' time.

Funniest thing was when Lucas, apparently realizing that his new playmates weren't delusional, and the nipples in the area were in fact full of milk, tumbled over to Marie and started nursing. I guess maybe he'd been wet nursed by Stheno and Euryale, so him seeing a Maenad and saying, 'ooh, dinner' wasn't surprising. But that wasn't the funny part.

That would be when Bonnie, rolling her eyes, pulling out a boob and crawling across the bed, carefully navigating the kitten pile to claim her wayward kid, wound up with a very insistent Isadora clamped on and utterly unwilling to let go.

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