“It’s still hard to forgive her for everything she did,” Bowsette said. “She left me literally to go ‘find herself.’ But really, she had left me much earlier emotionally. I should never have let her go.”

“But then you’d have never found me.”

“That’s true, I know. I’m just... overthinking things as usual, huh?”

“You wouldn’t be Bowsette if you didn’t.”

Peach and Bowsette kissed, and then kissed again. And then they would have kept going from there, but they were in the middle of the Bananan Ruins and twelve of her family were among them. The Koopas and the Toadstools united as one

That was including the hatchling Fallon, who scurried around the others with her head still partially stuck in her shell, as well as Geddy, the infant that Wendy was currently carrying on her back. Morton Jr.’s wife Holly was there too along with their own child, Morton III. That wasn’t including, however, the other child currently inside of Peach.

She knew what she said when she wanted her family to get even bigger, but this was a bit crazy.

Bowsette had finally found out what enduring motherhood was like, after so many decades of ignoring the actual process of it because it icked her out. It had good reason to ick her out, of course. It had been a very tough three months of gestation with massive hormonal changes and a literal living thing growing inside of her, but then when she gave birth... man, she really didn’t want to go into detail about that. It was something straight out of a T. Lovecraft novel. She had absolutely no idea how Peach had gone through her pregnancy for a whole nine months! If it weren’t for that deal they made to have two kids each, she would be absolutely done with this whole child-rearing business. No more, never.

At this moment, Clawdia Koopa jumped to the ground, readying herself in an attack pose for just one moment before she realized what people were here to see her.

“Oh my Brighton...” She teared up almost immediately before running up to her kids and trying to give them a hug. For the most part, they rebuffed; only Lemmy, who was always a strange one, accepted the hug in full and returned it.

When she realized that her own six children had spurned her, she fully broke out in sobs, but... surely she knew this was coming. It was going to take some time before they could really adjust to living with the mother that had abandoned them so many years ago.

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“It’s... nice to see all of you again,” she said. “Wendy... you have a... You’re a mother already?”

Wendy scoffed. “No way,” she said. “I ain’t a lover; I’m a fighter.”

“Oh, I’m, um--”

“That’s mine, sorry,” Peach said. “Wendy’s a good caretaker, though. You... have some very nice children.”

Peach had lived abroad for over two years, travelling the world and seeing the sights she had never been able to encounter in her time as a famous royal, and then she had settled back into a life with her wife just like she promised. It was still a growing experience, learning to live with a family of eight children that were mostly fully-matured as well as raising two young children of her own DNA.

“And Iggy, you... changed your hair.”

“Green’s in this season,” he said. He said this with way too proud of a smile.

Bowsette, on the other hand, was noticing the immense family resemblance between Clawdia and her children with this woman. In fact, Ludwig was extremely similar to his other mother. They were almost one in the same, to a nearly disconcerting degree.

“I want to do something,” Ludwig said, almost on-cue.

“Y-yes?”

“I want to duel you,” he said. “I want to see how far I’ve come.”

“Keh keh keh keh. You really think you’re ready for that?”

“I know I am. Because I’m going to prove myself as a Royal Koopa for sure!”

Ludwig jumped at his mother and attacked her, but was fended off as she shot out the spikes from her shell.

As expected, there was a battle within minutes of their meeting Clawdia. This was almost sure to be the bulk of their vacation here in the Bananan Ruins. and both Peach and Bowsette were fine with this. They were fulfilling their promise to her, and if this meant that the Koopalings would finally stop squabbling and team up against this woman, then that would be a positive enough outcome.

It had been a few years since Morton Koopa had finally been destroyed, and yet there still hadn’t been any sort of major war or conflict break out. Even Mario himself had been a bit low on adventuring lately. Sometime soon it was going to be boring, but for now, as long as Peach and Bowsette could raise their children without fear of harm or the inevitability of kidnapping by an assortment of villains, then that was a good price to pay.

The other Koopalings joined in in the duel against Clawdia, and the fight turned into madness with shells spinning and bouncing and spikes shooting everywhere.

The fact that this was the most exciting thing to happen to the Toadstool and Koopa families in years was a really good sign of things to come.

Bowsette and Peach kissed again for good measure.

終わり

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