Royal births were important events, not only for the family, but for the nation, its citizens, and all those  connected in any way to the family, including those who didn't call Tirisano home. Across the border, in Rhy'Din proper, there was such a family - an important family in its own right - connected by a blood bond to the Princess Drusilla - as eager for news of the impending birth as were her subjects. It was the event of the year on Tirisano television, and though some of the Grangers might have preferred to witness the event in person, at least they were able to keep tabs on their beloved Drusilla via television. Jon had been pacing the floor for the last hour, nibbling at his fingernails, while the family awaited news from the capital city of Itana.

"Jon, you're going to wear a hole in the carpet," Elle playfully chided her best friend's husband.

"Well, why is it taking so long?" Jon complained, despite knowing from experience that children took their own time being born.

"Just because your wife can pop them out in a matter of hours doesn't mean Drusilla can," Humphrey pointed out with a patient smile.

"The implication that I'm a vending machine aside," Vicki added, "sit down, stud muffin. Anyone would think you were the expectant father."

"And stop chewing your nails before they start bleeding," Elle added.

"I'm not ..." Jon started, before realizing with a frown that he had been doing just that. "Oh," he muttered, dropping into a seat beside Vicki.

Dom chuckled, leaning over to pat his shoulder. "It shouldn't be too much longer," the older cousin commented. "They announced she was in labour before dawn, after all."

Thankfully, they didn't need to answer any awkward questions from the children - Daisy, Bea, and Maisie had the younger ones well in hand in another room.

"I don't know why I'm so nervous," Jon admitted, his brows furrowed in a worried frown.

"It's because she's your sister and this is her first baby," Elle replied, as if that much was obvious.

"You think you're the most nervous in the room?" Jasmin offered from another couch, nodding toward her own husband. Jack was beside himself with worry about the young woman who had all but adopted him as another big brother.

"I don't think it's a contest, Jaz," Jack murmured, his own fingernails practically bitten down to nubs.

"Not one anyone wants to win anyway," Elle remarked, obviously amused to see the men in such a state. "It's a good thing you men don't give birth," she said. "You'd never be able to handle it."

Jon threw Vicki a "Don't you dare" look at what Elle had just said, hoping no one noticed.

Vicki offered her husband an innocent smile, relaxing back against the couch. The television was set to the 24hr news network from Tirisano, which was currently showing a riveting shot of the front gates of Itana Palace. "You know, I never would have expected Tirisano to follow the British tradition."

"Why's that?" Elle was quick to ask, being British herself - English to be exact, as were Vicki and Piper.

"Because this is Rhy'Din," Jon guessed at a reply. The planet anyway. It was about as far from Earth as one could get, and yet, there were an inordinate amount of Earth traditions followed here, probably due to all the people who'd been brought here via the Nexus.

"They are much younger than England," Piper offered from her own seat, setting down her teacup to speak. "But weren't they a principality of Rhy'Din at one point' You would expect them to follow whatever the Rhy'Din tradition might have been, rather than so closely resemble the English one."

"Rhy'Din doesn't have a king. I'm not sure it ever has," Jon remarked, looking to Dom or even Humphrey for confirmation. They knew more about Rhy'Din's history than he did, after all.

Humphrey shrugged.  "I was never taught about a king," he conceded, also looking to Dom, who seemed a little stumped.

"As far as I know, there's never been any royal tradition in Rhy'Din as we know it," the anthropology professor offered, but he wasn't wholly certain, either.

"Well, how'd Tirisano end up adopting a clearly English tradition then?" Elle asked, with a wave of her perfectly-manicured hand toward the TV set.

"A clearly English tradition, but England isn't a principality," Des pointed out. Why they were discussing this he wasn't too sure, but it did seem to be taking Jon's mind off his worries. He wasn't so sure about Jack though.

"England was the seat of an empire, though," Piper said. "Perhaps one of the Earths branched out to Rhy'Din."

"Does it really matter?" Jack asked, speaking at last. Dru was in labor and quite possibly in pain, and they were worried about how Tirisano came to inherit some old Earth traditions. The answer seemed obvious to him anyway, even if it didn't to the rest of them.

Jaz touched his back gently, taking the opportunity to hand him his two month old daughter in the process. "We're just passing the time, baby," she assured him. "It's not like there's anything we can do right now to help or hinder her anyway."

"I know," Jack admitted with a rueful frown. "Sorry," he murmured as he took the baby into his arms and settled her against his lap, so she could see all the goings on around her.

Elle smiled from where she sat beside Dom. "She's adorable," she told the couple of the two-month old. "Almost makes me want to have another," she added with a sigh and a smirk at Dom.

"We've got four, isn't that enough?" Dom asked with a grin, looping his arm around her shoulders. "How about we get at least two of them into their teens before you give me another nine month heart attack?"

"Darling, that won't be for years! Just how long do you think that equipment is going to keep functioning?" Elle countered, letting him wonder if she was referring to her own equipment or his.

Jon still looked a little in shock, even as Vicki hugged him. He blinked out of his thoughts for a moment at Piper's question. "Uh, there's one in the study," he told her.

"Good." Tapping out something on her phone, Piper rose and slipped out of the room herself, apparently on a mission.

Jasmin had joined Jack, speaking softly to him in an attempt to talk him through his moment of shock, but oddly, it was Lena who was taking this better than her brothers.

"D'you think she'd mind if we put by royal appointment on every surfboard?"

Tommy laughed. "Yes," he replied without hesitation. Dru tried to keep a low profile whenever she was in Rhy'Din, after all, and putting something like that on the boards was bound to cause questions.

"What if we tattooed it on the boys?" Lena then countered, breaking into giggles before anyone could answer her.

"Helena King, if you tattoo your children, I will personally make you do a walk of shame in nothing but your granniest panties," Humphrey informed her, shaking his head.

"What's this about granny pants?" Piper asked, returning to the room with the laptop in hand. She knelt down to set it on the coffee table, and started to angle it as though trying to get everyone in shot for a picture.

"Just so you know, she wears bikinis," Tommy was quick to point out, a grin on his face. He wasn't too worried about embarrassing his wife, as he just saved her from having to correct Humphrey herself.

"I have champagne!" Elle announced as she returned with a bottle, one of the servants trailing behind with a tray full of glasses.

"You better be sharing it," Vicki said, rising to help hand out the glasses as the bubbly was poured. "Piper, what are you doing down there?"

Piper looked up. "I need everyone sitting on the couches," she said. "Josh and Dru want to make a video call."

"Seriously?" Des said. "Didn't she just have a baby?" he asked, though he didn't seem too upset about it, only concerned.

"Everyone get cozy!" Elle said, as she helped Vicki pour the champagne.

"Hook it up to the telly, Piper," Vicki suggested, handing out glasses. "There's a camera attachment on the screen there, too."

"How do I do that?" Piper asked, already looking overwhelmed by technology.

"I've got it," a male voice said.

Perhaps a little surprisingly, it was Tommy who got up to help Piper hook the laptop up to the TV. He'd managed to catch up on technology pretty well over the last few years, and he had always had a knack for that sort of thing.

"Oh, thank you!" Piper was happy to let Tommy take over getting the technology sorted out.

"That camera should take in the whole room, so we won't have to all sit on Humph's lap," Dom added in amusement.

It only took Tommy a few minutes to get it all connected, before stepping back to survey his handiwork. "You use the laptop to control it, kind of like a remote," he instructed Piper, leaning over to tap a few buttons and show her how it was done. "Easy peasy."

"Oh, I see." Piper smiled at Tommy. "Thank you."

As Vicki and Elle wrangled everyone into sitting down with their champagne, the television flickered to life again, this time with a very close view of Josh's face.

Des could just as easily have helped Piper hook the thing up, but it was good to see Tommy not only making himself useful, but making an effort to be part of the family. Elle found her way to Dom's lap, while the others gathered closer for their little remote visit.

"Whoa, too close, Josh! We can see your nose hairs!" Jon remarked with a smirk.

"Oh, sorry!" came the answer from the other side of the screen, as Josh made a few adjustments on his side.

"Could have been worse," Vicki commented over her glass. "He could've had it aimed at Dru in a delicate moment."

"Victoria, I do not want to think of my great-niece in a delicate moment after giving birth," Humphrey said with a smirk.

"How's that?" Josh asked, once he had the laptop on their side adjusted, Dru coming into view beside Josh, a small blanket-wrapped bundle in her arms. "Wow! There are a lot of you there!" he declared, taking in variety of familiar faces on the screen.

"We thought we should all come and be nervous together," Lena told him, edging along the couch to make sure Jack and Jasmin were visible as well.

Dru looked tired, but happy, cuddling what had to be the new princess of Tirisano in her arms as she smiled at the camera. "Was it worth the wait?" she asked.

"We'll let you know after we've had a look at the little princess," Jon teased.

Elle might have swatted him, if she wasn't on the other side of the couch. "Don't listen to him! I'm sure she's beautiful, just like her mother," she assured Dru.

"Her mother doesn't feel very beautiful right now," Dru giggled softly, carefully adjusting the baby in her arms to show off the newest member of the family to the bigger side of the family in Rhy'Din.

"You all will get to see her in person in a few days," Josh was overheard promising the group.

"Not all at once, though!" Dru added with a low giggle that was echoed by the older children. "We're coming home for a little bit in a few days, so we'll be around."

"She's real pretty," Bea offered from the back of the group.

There was a quiet murmur of agreement from the rest of the children, the girls outnumbering the boys and showing just a little more interest in babies than they did.

"Thank you, Bea," Josh replied, practically beaming with pride. "I'm sure she's going to love meeting all of you." And growing up with them, too, when they were able to get to Rhy'Din.

"Why's she call Jonana?" Noelle asked curiously, the latest of all the children to get a little sister of her own and therefore the most curious about names and reasons for them.

"Jo-anna," Jack gently corrected his eldest. "It's-it's just her name," he said with a shrug, unable or unwilling to explain. That was up to Josh and Dru, he thought. He was secretly hoping his girls would become good friends with little Joanna. Family was a bond that shouldn't be broken, even if some of that family lived far away.

"We like the name, Nolly," Dru said, careful not to go into the meanings. She yawned, though tried to hide it in her shoulder.

"We should go play some more," Lyneth announced. "I bet no one can find the dryad in the playroom!"

"That sounds like a good idea," Des said. "Remember, shhhh," he told them, that finger pressed to his lips again, reminding them to keep it to a low roar as they darted away, back to play.

"Ah, the pitter patter of little feet," Humphrey mused, though the receding footsteps were more like a stampede.

Vicki chuckled, leaning over to kiss the old man's temple. "You love it really."

Jon smiled. He could remember when the old house had been mostly empty, when he and Vicki had moved back in hopes of giving it new life and in easing the Old Man's loneliness. They had certainly been successful, he thought. The family was not only thriving, but growing bigger every year. He was sure this latest birth would not be the last. He turned his attention back to that of his baby sister.

"Are you going to stay with us a few days or spend the week at the Cove?" he asked her.

"We haven't decided yet," Dru admitted with a smile. "I think we are probably going to spend a few days with you at the Grove, and then escape to the Cove once we're a little better set in doing the baby thing."

"Babies aren't that hard. It's finding time to sleep that's hard," Elle was quick to point out. "Just sleep when she does. Take turns if you have to," she added helpfully. "You'll be fine!"

"Honestly, I'm actually looking forward to just being on the baby's timetable for a little while," Dru admitted. "It's going to be too soon when I have to get back to work and we have to work out how much of our daughter's life is going to be spent with a nanny."

"Just make sure you get someone you trust," Jon spoke from experience.  They'd hired Dani before she'd married Zach and officially become part of the family, and it was one of the best decisions they'd ever made, if only for their own sanity.

"We'll work something out," Dru said confidently, if sleepily. They had been interviewing candidates for weeks, after all. She leaned into Josh's side, smiling at the family through the screen.

"You look as though you both need some rest," Humphrey commented.

"It's been a long day," Josh replied, sliding an arm around Dru and leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. He looked happy but tired, not because he'd just given birth but because he'd remained at Dru's side through the entire process. "Can you pass the good news along to the rest of the family?"

"Try and stop us," Vicki assured him. "You two need to relax as much as you can, and don't worry about asking for help!"

Dru rolled her eyes, murmuring something to Josh that had to be along the lines of being given too much advice.

"We may not be right there in Tirisano, but we are still family!" Jon pointed out, echoing his wife's statement.

"When will you be here?" asked Jack, mostly out of curiosity but also because they wanted to make sure they were ready for them, both here and at the cove.

"In about six days?" Dru suggested. "We have to have the blessing before she's five days old - tradition and all."

"That's very fast," Piper commented curiously. "Historical issues with infant mortality a big thing in Tirisano, was it?"

"Not anymore, I hope," Desmond murmured.

"You just let us know what you need from us and what you want to do, okay?" Jon told the pair, just for good measure.

"Get some rest," Tommy urged. "We'll have everything ready when you get here."

"Well, obviously not anymore, but five days at the most between birth and formal blessing is rather hasty, don't you think?" Piper answered her husband, more curious about the historical reason for the tradition in that moment.

"We'll see you soon," Dru promised wearily as she smiled. "Humphrey gets the first cuddle."

Desmond shrugged. "Can't fight tradition, I guess," he replied. Maybe Dru and Josh could if they weren't royalty. Hopefully, it wasn't a long ceremony that would wear them out.