"So? Is he Bonded?" A man asked nervously, huddling over a woman holding a newly born baby.

"Is that all you care about, Stephen?" The woman sighed, staring lovingly at the baby.

"You know it isn't, Helen." Stephen responded in exasperation. "I've loved each and every one of my children."

"I know, it's just that you ask every single time… you know how rare it is to actually have a Bonded child, right?" Helen complained, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I know! But just because the chances are low doesn't mean they're nonexistent." Stephen sighed. "I guess this means he isn't then?"

"I don't know." Helen shrugged. "I haven't checked yet. And we aren't going to check until we get him home, alright?" She responded with a grin.

"What? Why!" Stephen asked incredulously.

"Because there's no need to know before then. What? Do you think the Clans are just going to whisk him away the moment we know? I'd just like to spend a few hours being a happy mom with her new baby, not disappointed that he isn't or even worried about his future if he is. Can't I have that?" Helen explained calmly. Stephen couldn't really argue with that, sighing and slumping into a nearby chair, then immediately popping back up, pacing back and forth, sitting back in the chair, and so on. "Dear, your monkey is showing." Helen chided, shaking her head with a smile.

"Sorry." Stephen mumbled apologetically, before approaching the side of the bed again. "Can I hold him?"

"Only if you promise not to check." Helen warned, giving him a look.

"I won't." Stephen replied, rolling his eyes as he picked up the child. His mouth slowly formed into a contented smile as he watched him sleep. "You always make the most adorable children." He sighed.

"You have a hand in that too, you know." Helen commented with a grin, poking his side.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it's all you. Any time I have kids with someone else, they always come out looking a little… off. I mean, I love them to death, but they be funny lookin." Stephen retorted, shaking his head.

"You do realize I am now obligated to tell all the girls you said that, yes?" Helen pointed out cheekily.

Stephen's eyes widened. "But I'm too young to die…" He squeaked.

Helen rolled her eyes. "What are you, four hundred years old by now?"

"Four hundred and forty-four, exactly, but that isn't the point! Anything less than eternity is meaningless." Stephen humphed.

A sad look slowly came over Helen. "Is it really all that great?" She asked, sighing and leaning back in the bed. "Don't you ever get tired? Tired of everyone always fighting these meaningless fights? Tired of watching our children grow old and die?"

A solemn look came over Stephen. "Sometimes…" He agreed. "But… this is what we have to do. If the human race is going to have any chance of survival, people like us need to be here, to live, fight, and… propagate."

"But have you seen what they've been doing lately? Is the human race really worth protecting if this is how they're going to act?" Helen asked.

"I actually think they're getting better… it's just with the internet, and everyone being able to talk to each other and spread information, it looks worse. I mean, you were there for World War Two, right? And you remember the Spanish when they first came to America? No, I think humanity is on the right track, ultimately, though they have their bumps every now and then. Besides, if they get too far off track, we can always step in. We've done it before." Stephen explained.

"True." Helen agreed with a sigh.

After a short silence, a nurse walked into the room. "How are we doing?" She asked nicely, checking in on them.

"We're alright." They both answered together.

"Good. The only other thing was we were wondering if you two had chosen a name yet?" The nurse asked, pulling out a clipboard.

Stephen looked at the baby, then to Helen. "May I?" She nodded. "Andrew. Andrew Xavier Stone."

*

"So, do you want to check now?" Stephen asked as they looked down at the baby resting in the crib, sleeping soundly.

Helen sighed, reaching out to rest her hand on the baby's head. "I suppose we have to now." A jolt passed from her hand, through the baby, then back. She let out a low sigh, deflating slightly. Even though she'd promised herself she wasn't going to get her hopes up, she couldn't help herself. She just wanted one. One child that wouldn't grow old and die while she remained young and healthy for eternity. Maybe it was selfish of her, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed every time she checked a new child and it turned out they weren't Bonded.

Stephen hugged her tight. "It's okay. It's always been rare." He consoled her. He took a look into the crib, before pausing. "Uh, dear? Are you sure you checked right?"

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Helen punched him hard in the side. "I'm in no mood for your jokes right now!" She growled, her sadness transforming quickly into anger.

"No! I mean, look!" Stephen wheezed, pointing at the edge of the crib where a cute little monkey face peeked at them

"What are you-" Helen turned to the crib, pausing in shock. "I-I was sure I-" She stammered, rushing to the edge of the crib. "Little one, you can't come out yet." She quickly explained to the monkey, picking him up before looking in the crib. "Ah! Where's Andrew!" She exclaimed in shock, looking all over for the baby which should have been lying peacefully in the crib.

"Uh, dear?" Stephen interrupted her frantic search.

"Stephen, I can't find him anywhere! How- where could he have gone?!?" Helen exclaimed in a panic, tears in her eyes.

"Helen! Look!" Stephen directed her attention to the diaper the monkey was currently wearing. "I-I think the monkey is Andrew." Stephen explained, not quite believing what he was saying.

"Ooh, ooh." The monkey hooted quietly, as Helen stared at him in surprise. As Helen calmed down, the monkey slowly transformed back into the baby Andrew and went back to sleep in her arms.

Helen carefully placed him back in the crib, before following Stephen out of the room, to the other side of the house. "What was that!?!" She asked after Stephen confirmed that they were far enough away that Andrew wouldn't be able to sense their emotions.

"How should I know?" Stephen replied, just as confused as she was.

"You're both Monkeys!" Helen exclaimed in a slightly accusatory tone.

"Have you ever seen me turn into a Monkey?!? We're still Bonded! We release our Beast just like everyone else!" Stephen retorted incredulously.

Helen let out a low breath, trying to calm herself down. "I know, I know. It's just… I mean… How?!?"

Stephen shrugged helplessly, having no answer for her. It wasn't all that rare for a young Bonded to have trouble keeping their Beast inside, they were prepared for that, but for their child to actually become a Beast… that was unprecedented. They'd never even heard of such a thing. "I'll get in contact with some of the Elders tomorrow. Maybe they'll have an idea of what we're dealing with." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Mom, Dad!" A five year old boy rushed into the room in excitement, carrying something small in his arms. "You got us a kitten!?!" He exclaimed excitedly, showing them the small tiger cub he'd found exploring the halls. "But why is it wearing a diaper?" He asked.

Helen quickly took the tiger cub away from the child. "Jack, this…" Helen began to explain, before the cub transformed back into a human baby, nustling himself into her arms. "This is your new brother, Andrew." She sighed.

"Whoa! How did he do that?" Jack asked, getting closer to inspect the baby curiously.

"We… aren't entirely sure." Stephen explained, picking the boy up. "But you have to keep this secret. No telling your friends, understand?"

Jack frowned. "But why?"

"Because, your little brother is special, and if people were to find out, we'd all have to move somewhere far, far away, so that no one would try to hurt him. You wouldn't want that, right?" Stephen explained patiently.

"No… but why would someone try to hurt Andrew?" Jack asked.

"Because the people in this world like to think they have everything allll figured out, with their science and experiments, so when something comes along that defies the reality they've become accustomed to, they get scared and panic, trying to hurt the very thing that is protecting them." Stephen responded.

"Well that's dumb." Jack replied.

Stephen grinned. "I agree, but human nature is often very dumb, despite our intelligence. That's why it's often easier to just keep things secret, so we just avoid the issue entirely. It isn't all that important for most people to know anyways." He then put Jack down, sending him off. "Now go and get ready for bed, alright?"

"Okay. Goodnight Andrew!" Jack waved to the baby, before stumbling off towards his room.

Stephen breathed a sigh of relief, turning back to Helen and frowning at the sleeping shapeshifter in her arms. "So, he's also a Tiger… Maybe I should call the Elders now."

"I think that'd be wise." Helen agreed with a nod.

*

"So, what you're saying is the child is not Bonded, but he can transform into both a Monkey and a Tiger?" Elder Barry asked, frowning at the child sleeping in Helen's arms.

"Yes sir." Stephen nodded. "I know it sounds unbelievable, but… well, watch." Stephen took the baby from Helen and placed him on the floor a few feet away from where they were sitting, before taking a few steps back. The baby immediately turned into a tiger cub, climbed to his feet, tottered over to Helen, changed into a monkey, climbed her leg up to her lap and into her arms, before finally returning to being a baby as she cradled him. "We've tested it a few times now." Stephen explained. "He seems to prefer being human, thankfully, but whenever he needs to get somewhere, he changes into either the tiger to walk, or the monkey to climb, and he's quite insistent on being with Helen. Whenever we put him down, he always finds a way to get back to her."

"Fascinating." Elder Barry muttered, leaning in to get a closer look at the child. "I've never seen anything like this… This hasn't happened with any of your other children?"

"We haven't even had a regular Bonded child yet, let alone one like this." Helen explained.

"Right, right. If this had happened before, you wouldn't have needed to contact me now." Elder Barry chided himself, shaking his head. "Well, for now, the best option I see is to raise him as a normal Bonded child. Feel free to contact us if there are any additional issues, but from everything I've seen, he doesn't seem to be in any form of pain or discomfort from all this, so I can't imagine anything major coming up."

Stephen and Helen sighed in unison, half in relief, half in frustration that they still didn't quite know how to handle their new little bundle of joy. As much as the Elder could say treat him like a normal Bonded, at least with Bonded the human half didn't get out with the Beast side. Thankfully Tigers and Monkeys weren't too mobile, so Andrew shouldn't be able to get too far… baby proofing was going to be a nightmare.

"Well, thank you for coming to check everything out." Stephen thanked the Elder, showing him out. He then returned to the living room, sitting down next to Helen, putting his arm around her and watching the lightly dozing Andrew in her arms. "These are going to be a rough few years." He sighed.