Chapter 1: Home.

*Erika’s POV*

Anna managed to get everything on her side mostly finished, and in just four months instead of five. During that time, my daughters and I explored around this dimension.

Taking on various missions for the guild. At first, Petra kept sulking. Not only was I far stronger than she was, Eri was stronger than her as well. Being weaker than a little girl, who looked no older than ten, would upset anyone.

Eri and I took turns teaching her how to fight. After a few months, the only thing holding her back was her Stats. Unlike me, and Eri who didn’t even use the System, Petra used the currently released version of it.

As such, she couldn’t control where her Stat Points were spent. Something that frustrated her greatly.

I don’t think that I ever wanted to finish testing this update of the System faster than I do now. I need to make sure to ask Nadia how much longer the update will take to finish when I get back.

No. I did not forget to use modern firearms from time to time. Using guns on random fantasy creatures, is quite fun. I also had a lot of fun teaching Eri and Petra on how to use firearms.

Currently, we were still staying in Sara’s kingdom. I’m with my daughters, drinking some tea, while in my room.

Erika: “Hey, Eri? You know about how I can evolve, right?” I ask the cute little girl who is sitting down on my lap.

Eri: “Yes mommy. Please don’t do it yet, though.” Eri said with a serious tone while looking up at me.

Erika: “Why’s that?” I ask with a head tilt.

Eri: “Mommy… that head tilt is unfair. You must have seduced your wives with it, right? Ah, as for your question, the process of evolving takes a long time.” Eri explained with a cheeky tone.

Petra: “I wouldn’t put it past her but, Eri, I don’t think she does that on purpose.” Petra said with a giggle.

Tch! Cheeky daughters! You two are just lucky that you’re so damn cute! Otherwise, there would be a punishment for such scandalous accusations.

Erika: “So, I should have started evolving before waiting this entire time?” I ask with a sigh.

Eri: “No, no. Tons of beings would very much like to kill you when you’re in the process of evolving. There will, without a doubt, be a war to kill you while you’re evolving. So we need all of my mommies to be in the same dimension to protect you.” Eri explained with a serious tone.

Erika: “Why would they want to kill me?” I ask with a confused tone.

Petra: “I mean, I’m sure that Mom has a lot of enemies but, why would random beings get involved?” Petra asked with a thinking pose.

Eri: “Killing Erika while she is evolving, would give you a ton of Stat Points. Maybe even some special titles.” Eri explained.

Petra: “Wait… what do you two mean by evolving anyway?” Petra asked with a head tilt. Cute!

Like mother, like daughter, I guess. Would it be alright for my daughters to know about my special System? I’d hate to lie to them.

Eri: “Mommy, I already know about your special circumstances. You already have a lot of say with those who control the System. They won’t get angry if you tell someone important to you about it.” Eri said with a smile.

Erika: “Okay, thanks Eri.” I say before giving her a piece of candy to eat.

Petra: “I feel sorta lost…” Petra said with a sigh.

Erika: “Petra, so I am very special. I am a tester for an update to the System. Because of that, I can use parts of the System that other people don’t have access to. One of those parts is evolving by eating Monster Cores.” I explain with a serious tone.

Petra: “Ah! So that’s why you can eat them!” Petra exclaimed.

Erika: “Yup.” I say with a laugh.

Petra: “What are you going to evolve into?” Petra asked.

Erika: “Ah, it’s called, Angelic Humanoid Demon Goddess, or something like that.” I say with a thinking pose.

Petra: “That sounds… very interesting.” Petra said with spiral eyes.

Eri: “It’s very, very interesting! Such a race of being has never existed before. Mommy will be the very first one!” Eri said with an excited tone and expression on her face.

Petra: “I can’t wait to see how she will look after she evolves!” Petra said with an excited tone of her own.

Eri: “Ah, she should look completely the same.” Eri said with a small giggle.

Erika: “Aw… I won’t get wings or a halo?” I jokingly ask.

Eri: “Who knows? As I said, the race that you will evolve into has never existed before. Actually, the race you are right now hasn’t existed before either. Which is why I say you won’t look any different. I could be wrong, though.” Eri said with a shrug.

Erika: “Regardless, my cute daughters will surely protect me, right?” I say while rubbing their heads.

Petra and Eri: “Yes mom!” They say with a laugh.

We chatted for longer until the others all finally showed up.

Erika: “Are you all ready now?” I ask them.

Anna: “We have settled everything so, yes, we are ready.” Anna replied.

The rest agreed. Ah, it’s finally time to see my wives. It’s been so long since I’ve last seen them. If it wasn’t for my daughters, I would have probably gone insane by now.

Do not underestimate how dependent I am on my wives, and now my daughters.

Shaking those thoughts away, I asked all of them to hold on to me, then I accepted the System prompt to go back to my dimension. If you’re wondering, Anna, Mori, Siesta, Sara, and of course, my daughters, all agreed to leave with me.

Luckily, my room was quite big so, everyone could comfortably… uh… appear? In my room without being pushed together. Oddly, Nadia was already in my room, waiting for us. Or maybe just me.

How she even knew that we would show up, I have no idea. We came back earlier than planned... Maybe she cheated with the System?

Nadia: “Hello, Erika dear. It’s been a while, I, as well as your other lovers, are happy to see you once again.” Nadia said with a warm tone.

Not wanting to disappoint her, I strolled over to Nadia, wrapped my arms around her waist, and gave her a kiss on her pretty lips.

Erika: “Yes, it’s great to be back.” I reply while holding her hand after I released her from my hug and kiss.

Anna: “Nadia, it’s good to see you again as well. You know, I don’t think that I’ve ever seen you smile like this.” Anna said with a curious tone.

Nadia: “That so? Well, Victoria and Erika have given me many reasons to be happy. The bare minimum that I can do is smile for them.” Nadia said with a warm tone.

Anna: “I see. I am glad to see that you’re happy. I’m sure that my sister and Erika treat you well.” Anna said after giving Nadia a hug.

Nadia: “They treat me very well. Look, Erika just went out to work, and she comes back with someone who I thought that we would never see again. How could I not be happy with such caring wives?” Nadia said after returning her hug.

Anna: “Yes, I understand. Now, I would much like to meet my sister.” Anna said.

Nadia: “Sure. Though, as much as she would want to see you, she probably wants to see Erika first.” Nadia said with an unsure tone.

Anna: “That’s fine. Who am I to get in between my sister and her wife?” Anna replied with a chuckle.

Nadia: “Thank you for understanding. Erika, I’ll show Anna and the rest around.” Nadia said while looking at me.

Erika: “Thank you. Petra and Eri will come with me, though.” I reply.

Nadia: “Is Eri the little girl? Why does she look like you? And Petra, is she a new lover of yours? You do have a knack for gaining new wives.” Nadia asked with a curious tone.

Erika: “Mori is my new wife. The rest are friends. Eri and Petra are a secret. I’ll tell you when all of my lovers are present. Of course, that includes you, dear.” I say while playing with her hair.

Nadia: “I see… I’ll show them around and meet you with them later. They’re currently relaxing in the garden. Oh, all of them are present, don’t worry about having to round the rest of them up.” Nadia said before taking Mori and the rest with her.

Erika: “You two, let’s go meet your other mothers.” I say to my daughters.

Eri: “Mommy, you have a good taste in women, so I assume that all of your wives will be quite the sights to behold.” Eri jokingly said.

And how do you even know my taste in women? Maybe she is basing it off of her other birth mother?...

Petra: “Yeah! What sis said!” Petra agreed.

I then took them both by their hands and led them out of my room. With the destined uh… destination, being the garden.

On the way, I bumped into Sachael. Contrary to the once sleeping beauty, she looked radiant and extremely happy. I had not gotten to see her since she woke up. She had delved into every piece of entertainment that she could get her hands on.

With my money, there really wasn’t a limit to it either. According to Nadia, if she didn’t constantly post maids with Sachael, she would end up forgoing food and personal hygiene completely.

There was a constant battle between her and the maids that were trying to take care of her needs. She eventually gave up fighting with them when she realized that the less she resisted eating and taking care of her body, the more time she could focus on entertainment.

Currently, Sachael was walking around aimlessly, seemingly playing a handheld game console. She had a bright smile on her face. She had two maids trailing behind her.

When she looked up and saw me, her face brightened up further, then she ran over to me and gave me a hug.

A hug is a little bit of an understatement. Remember, Sachael is tall. Her “hug” consisted of her shoving my face in her breasts, and then twirling around while holding me up in the air.

Sachael: “Erika! I am so sorry that I never got around to thanking you!” She said with a bright tone and smile after she released me from her beat hug.

Erika: “It’s okay. I’m glad that you’re enjoying your life once again.” I reply with a smile.

Sachael: “Jeez… I must have been asleep for a long time. You’re like a completely different person now!” Sachael said with a shocked tone.

Erika: “My wives had melted my frozen heart a decent while ago. I am sorry that you ended up missing my gradual change.” I say with a small laugh.

Sachael: “Interesting! And who are these two?” She asked with a curious tone.

Erika: “This is Eri and Petra. They are my daughters.” I reply with a shrug.

Sachael: “…”

Sachael: “Was I really asleep that long?” Sachael asked with a confused tone.

Erika: “You slept for around a little over a year or so, I think. My daughters are just recent additions to my family. Petra is adopted, and Eri is a science baby created on accident by an Outer Goddess.” I explain calmly.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Sachael: “Your explanation has left me even more confused...” Sachael said with spiral eyes.

Erika: “That so? Anyway, I’m going to meet up with my wives, do you want to tag along?” I ask.

Sachael: “Thanks but no. I can’t shift my focus away from this game. It’s just so entertaining!” Sachael replied.

What happened afterward was Sachael telling me about the game she was playing for over thirty minutes straight. I didn’t mind. She is cute, and telling me about something she is fond of. What is there to complain about?

She realized that she got ahead of herself so, she asked me if I could come to her room later to discuss the game she is playing. I agreed, and she went off with her maids with a smile.

Before they left, I bowed to the maids and thanked them for their service. I did that completely with a sincere tone. This was a bad thing to do. Since these maids were two of the perverted ones. Which I didn't realize until they spoke to me.

They said, “If you wish to thank us, please let us sleep with you!”, with an excited tone. I, of course, denied the two little perverts. They didn’t seem to be shaken by my denial of their uh… proposition, they just hurried after Sachael, who didn’t even realize that her two maids stayed behind to flirt with me.

Do keep in mind, this house that I made for my lovers is super big. The garden is on the opposite side of the property that my room is on. As such, the walk would take at least forty minutes to complete.

This place is like a fucking airport or something. Speaking of an airport, there is actually a private one on this property. Originally, there were only a few private jets.

After most of the people living here got used to this dimension, some of them wanted to travel the world. Due to that, we had to purchase many more jets for them to use.

None of the maids can fly a plane so, we had to hire staff to fly and tend to people flying on them. All of the staff are, of course, female. On top of flying for us, they also live in this house as well.

They can also be serviced by the maids as well. Not in a sexual manner mind you. All around, they get a job paying them a minimum of one million USD a year and free housing. As well as free high quality meals, luxury baths, and luxury rooms.

Petra and Eri were enjoying taking in the sights of the estate. As such, our little walk turned out to take longer than just forty minutes. I didn’t mind at all. Seeing how impressed they were by the estate was very cute.

On the way, I had gotten a mental message from Lilith. I actually missed the cheeky girl.

Lilith: “Erika, it’s good to be able to talk with you again!” Lilith said with an excited tone.

Erika: “I hate to say it but, I also think that it’s nice to hear you again as well.” I reply in my head.

Lilith: “Hey, Erika? Remember that thing with one of my sisters?” She asked.

Erika: “Yeah?” I reply.

Lilith: “Well, we reconciled. She had done it out of jealousy when we were kids. She completely forgot about putting that spell on me. She apologized my ears off. I told her that I wasn’t upset with her. She was just a kid after all.” Lilith said with a warm tone.

Erika: “I’m glad that you two still have a good relationship.” I reply with a giggle.

Lilith: “Hey, Erika?” Lilith said with an unsure tone.

Erika: “Yes?” I ask with a head tilt.

Lilith: “I know that I have messed with you a lot but, would you be interested in having a romantic relationship with me?” Lilith asked with a shaky voice.

Erika: “Oh? Just a romantic one?” I ask.

Lilith: “I’m sorry. I just can’t see sex in a romantic light. Sure, we could still have sex but, I don’t want to be in a relationship like that. Our relationship will be similar to Nadia and yours.” Lilith explained.

Sex is like breathing to Lilith, so I understand why she doesn’t want to have a sexual relationship with me.

Erika: “Sure. I would love to be in a relationship with you. Though, I do wish that you came to me in person to ask this.” I reply with a laugh.

Lilith: “R-really? Even after everything that I did to you?” Lilith asked with a confused tone.

Erika: “I won’t deny my feelings, nor will I deny yours. Yes, you did mess with me a lot but, I can’t see living my life without you, my daughters, and my lovers in it.” I answer with a serious tone.

Lilith: “That’s great! Wait… daughters?” Lilith said with a happy tone before changing it to a shocked one.

Erika: “I have two daughters now.” I reply with a small giggle.

Lilith: “Can’t you just leave for work, and come back without doing anything crazy? It’s like you do something crazy every time we let our eyes off of you…” Lilith said with a sigh.

I continued chatting with Lilith on the way to the garden. Oddly, she came to terms with me having two daughters very easily. It seems that I’ve already broken her mind in regards to the crazy shit that I tend to do.

Let’s just hope my wives are similarly broken like her. Am I a bad person? Surely not. Otherwise, why would they be in a relationship with me? I am guilt free. You cannot change my mind otherwise.

Finally, in the garden, I began to guide my daughters to the center of it. The garden is beautiful, so they took their sweet time looking around it. I was in the same boat.

Before I left, this garden really didn’t have much in it at all. Nadia clearly put a lot of effort into this garden.

It was beautiful. That’s all I could say to describe it. Hundreds of flowers and plants that I’d never seen before. All perfectly laid out in the garden.

I… I just wanted to spoil my daughters more, so instead of guiding them to my wives, I took them to the greenhouse. If the garden is this well done, surely the greenhouse is as well.

And I was completely and utterly correct. Inside the greenhouse were so many fruits and vegetables. Some were definitely not native to this dimension. It was in the style of a factory greenhouse. With the plants and fruits being grown up vertically.

Petra: “Mom… do you own this entire place, including the garden?” Petra asked with a shaky tone.

Erika: “Own it? Well, I was the one who made this estate, so my name is on the deed for it. But this place was made for me and my lovers, it’s theirs just as much as it’s mine.” I explain.

Eri: “Mommy, can we eat some fruit?” Eri asked with sparkly eyes.

Petra: “Eri, calm down, we can’t just eat these!” Petra exclaimed to Eri.

Petra ever the unsure and almost broken girl, clearly didn’t want to do something to upset someone. Something I will have to fix. I thought that I did fix it. I seem to be lacking as a mother in some ways. She was far better back in her original dimension.

She wasn’t really even reprimanding Eri, she seemed to be mostly testing the waters, waiting to see what my reaction to Eri wanting to eat some fruit, would be.

It’s probably the new environment that is making her unsure of her position and what she can and cannot have or do. At least, I hope so. If it is, then it’s an easy fix.

Not even bothering to notice her confusion, I walked up to her and held her in a tight hug. While rubbing her head, I told her this.

Erika: “Petra. Never think that there is something you can’t have. Just ask, and you will have it. All I ask is for you two is to not become spoiled brats. Don’t do that, and you can have anything, at any time that you want.” I explain with a motherly tone.

Petra: “…”

Erika: “Petra, it hurts me when you think so little of yourself. But rest assured, I am a hypocrite. I was just like you before I met my wives. I’m not asking you to change right away, take it as slow as you want.” I tell her while looking into her eyes.

She told me, “Thank you…” in a small voice before diving head first into my shoulder, where she cried for a little bit. While she was crying, Eri came behind her and gave her a caring hug as well.

Petra is similar to me, so right now, I know for a fact that she is thinking to herself, “Do I deserve mother’s kindness?” and “Do I even deserve the things that she gives me?” or something similar to those thoughts.

Her crying made me think of something. Who would be the best to take care of her? My best bet is Sofiel. Yeah, let’s let the Angel do her job once again. She saved me before, surely she could do it again with Petra.

As much as I would like to surprise my wives, my daughter’s mental health comes first. So I decided to inform my wives of them, in the group message chat that they all are a part of.

Erika: “Eri, why don’t you and Petra go find some fruits that you want to eat? Here, take this basket and fill it up.” I explain to her with a motherly tone.

This is one of the times where I am glad that I have random shit stored in my inventory. Did I think that I would ever need to use a basket? No. But it came in handy today. As such, I will continue to shove more random things into my inventory, even if I never find a use for them.

Eri: “Yes mommy! Come on Petra!” Eri exclaimed in an excited tone, one hand holding the basket, the other holding the hand of her older sister.

That will take them a decent while so, I took out my phone and sent this message.

Erika: “Hello, I am currently in the greenhouse with my daughters. Long story short, Eri, who is the smaller one, is my biological daughter. Do you remember that Outer Goddess? Well, she accidentally created Eri in her sleep. Eri is 50% of my DNA, and 50% her DNA, so yes, she is our daughter.”

Erika: “Eri does like being treated like my special little girl but, make no mistake, Eri is very intelligent. My other daughter, her name is Petra. I adopted her. Though she is an adult, she is still my daughter.”

Erika: “Originally, I was going to surprise you all but, Petra has some mental hurdles that she needs to get over, I would like you all’s help with that. Sofiel, Victoria, do you remember how I was when I first showed up? Petra is similar to me at that time.”

Sofiel: “Yes, I remember, your shift in personality was quite the sight to behold.”

Erika: “Sofiel, I’ve never told you this but, you saved me. All I ask is for you to at least try to save my daughter in the same way that you saved me.”

Sofiel: “Erika, you’re going to make me cry, what do you mean that I saved you?”

Victoria: “I understand what she means, but I’ll let her explain.”

Erika: “Before I met you, and fell in love with you, I hated myself. I thought that I was just a tool for murder, and nothing more. You made me love life. Something I had never done since I was born.”

Sofiel: “I see… thank you for telling me this. It makes me really happy. Yes, I’ll help Petra out, don’t worry.”

Erika: “Thank you. I really, really love my daughters, as much as I love you all.”

Victoria: “Don’t worry, Erika, we will treat them as our daughters as well. We need to talk for a little bit, could you hold up your daughters for a little bit?”

Erika: “Yes. They’re currently picking out some fruits from the greenhouse. It will take them a while. Can you believe it? Petra didn’t even think that she deserved to take some fruit from the greenhouse. It broke my heart, I had to give her a hug, and tell her that she can have whatever she wanted. She ended up crying on my shoulder for a bit.”

Sofiel: “She is that bad?”

Erika: “She is better than I was but, yes. She does have a pretty upbeat personality, though.”

Victoria: “Okay, Erika, we will make sure to warmly welcome your daughters.”

Erika: “Not just my daughters, they are your daughters as well. Or at least, I hope that you will treat them as such.”

Victoria: “Right, right, sorry. Sofiel and I were the only ones not in complete shock. That doesn’t mean we aren’t shaken up, though. Even Nadia looks shocked.”

Erika: “I see… I’m sorry for springing this up on you all.”

Sofiel: “You didn’t do anything wrong Erika. If anything, we are just excited to see our daughters. You know, it’s funny. I had wished that I could have a daughter with you and Victoria. It seems that my wish came true. Anyway, give us thirty more minutes, please.”

Erika: “Alright.”

With that small but important conversation done, I went over to my daughters to pick some fruit with them.

By the time I had found them, the basket was already full to the brim, actually past the brim. And they clearly still both wanted to eat more. Seeing this, made me chuckle.

I gave them another basket to fill up. Both of them saw the extra basket and their eyes were all sparkles once again.

Erika: “Grab as much as you want. Though do be aware, if you want to come here and get fruits again, you can do so. They won’t run away. You can also ask one of the maids to grab some for you.” I explain.

Petra: “I… I wouldn’t want to bother them. They’re surely busy.” Petra said with an unsure tone.

Erika: “You aren’t bothering them, sure, they may have something they need to do when you ask them but, they aren’t servants. They’re employees. They get paid to help us. If you’re still on the fence, don’t worry, I’ll ask Nadia to give you two both personal maids to tend to your needs.” I explain while patting Petra’s head.

Eri: “Really? Thanks, mommy!” Eri said with a huge smile on her face.

After she said that, I ended up giggling a little bit. The thing is, she clearly has fruit smudged on her face still. She probably couldn’t wait to eat and ate while picking out fruit. How cute!

Petra: “Are you sure, Erika?” Petra asked.

Erika: “Very sure. Yes. My wives will be here to take care of you but, I do tend to go away for a decent amount of time when I go off to work. Having maids to take care of you two when we can't do so, is a good idea.” I explain.

Petra: “Okay… Thanks, mom.” Petra said with a smile.

Then we started to pick fruit once again. The odd thing was, I had really no idea what most of the fruit is called. I had to use inspect to figure it out.

Yeah, there was common fruit like strawberries, bananas, peaches, etc. In this greenhouse but, there were a ton of fruit that I have never seen before as well.

Some that weren’t even in Victoria’s original dimension either. It seems that either Sofiel or Nadia had gone to other dimensions to find more fruits and vegetables to plant. I assume that it’s the same with the plants in the garden as well.

After around forty minutes, we finished picking fruit. In total, we filled up two baskets of fruit. Both Eri and Petra had happy smiles on their faces. I got a message telling me that my wives were ready ten minutes ago. So we are now on our way to them.

As I said before, our destination was the center of the garden. At the center, was a circular open building that had a dome ceiling held up by circular pillars.

The building looked like something you would see in ancient Rome. Rather than a table and chairs, inside were two long couches with a long table in the middle of them.

Seated on the couches was every single one of my lovers. I was so happy to see them, I rushed over and gave each of them both hugs and kisses. It was one of those times where I curse my natural beauty. If I used makeup, I could leave lipstick kiss marks on them…

Erika: “Hello, everyone, this is Petra and Eri. Our two new daughters.” I say, introducing them both with me behind them.

Eri: “Ah! I was right! Mommy’s wives are so pretty!” Eri said with a bright tone.

Without saying anything, Victoria came up to Eri, picked her up, and went back to sit on the couch with Eri on her lap. She gave her some sweets to eat.

Sofiel also did the same. She went over to Petra, picked her up in a princess carry, and went back to her seat. Sofiel then got her to sit on her lap. Petra went red as a beet.

Sofiel just continued to rub her head and call her a good girl. Ah, I wish that was me.

Sofiel: “Now, now, Erika. I am pampering our daughter right now, you’ll get your turn later, don’t worry.” Sofiel said with a joking tone.

Victoria: “Eri is so cuuuuute! She is like a miniature Erika!” Victoria exclaimed while rubbing her cheek against Eri’s cheek.

*Many hours later.*

What followed was a five hour, and I mean, a FIVE hour long session of my daughters cucking me. And by that I mean, that my wives pampered them both the entire time.

Only when they had their fill of Eri and Petra did they give me any attention. It’s okay… this is for my daughters. I can monopolize my wives time when they’re done…

But really, I was so happy with them. They treated both Petra and Eri as their actual daughters. Eri was extremely happy at how much they pampered her. Petra was in the same boat. She was surely going to cry in her bed later. Not because she is sad, but because she is happy. Tears don't always mean sadness, you know.

By the time they were done, Eri had fallen asleep in my lap, and Petra fell asleep in Sofiel’s lap. Nadia said that she already had two maids each for both of them.

As well as rooms for them prepared. We let the maids take them both to their rooms. Then we continued talking for many more hours before we decided to head to bed.

Thus a problem occurred. All of my wives got into a small fight, deciding who I would sleep with. Sleep not as in sex, but just sleep next to me in the same bed. It got very heated…

By that, I mean they all played a ten round game of rock paper scissors… Sofiel had won in the end. The second, third, etc. Place winners prizes were being next in line to sleep with me after Sofiel.

After the uh… battle? We continued to talk for a little longer. All was well until I suddenly fell asleep on the couch…

When I woke up, my hands were tied to a chair behind me. Before me was the woman who kidnapped me once before. She looked jilted. Wait… kidnapped?

Did I get fucking kidnapped again!? Oooo, I am soooo mad! This like, what? The third or fourth fucking time that this has happened to me? And I was kidnapped with all of my wives around me? How? They’re all super powerful!

Looking at the woman, her clothes were all messed up. And she had some blood and bruises here and there on her. She clearly didn’t take me without a fight.

Ah, it makes me so happy that my wives fought for me. That being said, I just wanted to spend time with them since I hadn’t seen them for a while.

My priority fucking one when I get out of here, will be to figure out how to resist sleep magic. This is the umpteenth time I have been screwed over by sleep magic…

Luckily, I have an inkling of why she took me once again. Which I hope is correct...