Nayeon and Jeongyeon had been together for so long they forgot how many centuries it’s been. Once you get past the first five hundred years, it kind of becomes useless to keep counting. Nayeon was from an ancient vampiric clan, old enough that most rules didn’t apply to them, and Jeongyeon was the human she fell in love with and couldn’t do anything but turn once she got into a gnarly farming accident that tore her stomach open. Back then there wasn’t enough human technology to save her, so Nayeon did the one thing she could to not lose the love of her life, she embraced Jeongyeon and they have been together ever since.

They were a happy couple, but Nayeon was always clear about wanting a child of their own. Sure, much like Nayeon was born a vampire, they also considered having their own child, but they couldn’t conceive and after a few decades trying, both had been too worn out to keep trying. So Jeongyeon suggested adopting, there were quite a few orphanages for supernatural kids, and in one of them, they found baby Chaeyoung, the little girl looked so cute with her big eyes and furry arms, they just HAD to take her.

Oh, how were two vampires adopting a baby lycan! Isn’t there a war between them or something? Well, no. Not really. There were two families that have been fighting for whoever knows how long, nobody even knows what is the reason for the feud anymore, but those idiots are still at it. It just so happens that one of the families is lycan and the other is vampiric, pretty much some Montague and Capulet bull. Jeongyeon is pretty sure they were the ones who inspired that old, sadistic bastard to write that trashy novel people insist on calling a literary classic, but let’s not go there.

The world of supernaturals was pretty peaceful, to be honest. All lived quite peacefully with each other, save for some petty conflicts here and there, spurred by bored supernaturals with too much time and money to keep one upping each other over a ing dog! Okay, Jeongyeon should really let that one go, it’s not like Jihyo will ever forget and she had her daughter to worry about now. Plus, that damn Gumiho was too creative sometimes. The fact that Nayeon had declared they would stop that immediately after a grenade exploded too close to the house in Chaeyoung’s first week. Jihyo was many things, but foolish enough to defy momma bear Nayeon wasn’t one of them.

Now, the Im estate was ridiculously big, and Nayeon found that it would be better to raise her daughter closer to the city for her education and there was also less room for Chaeyoung to break things. They became the poster family in their new neighborhood fairly quickly. Nayeon was the fun mom, always playing around with their kid, Jeongyeon was the strict mother, trying to teach their little girl how to be more responsible and do her chores properly. Things were great, and despite loving both her mothers equally, Cheyoung tended to spend more time with Jeongyeon, learning how to cook, clean properly, sharing jokes that made Nayeon want to rip her hair out, most times.

During college, Chaeyoung got into her first adult and serious relationship. Sana was great, loving to a fault and just an energy pill all around. To their surprise, she was Jihyo’s cousin from Japan, same species, different names. Chaeyoung was completely in love, it was clear to anyone who saw how she looked at how her eyes were filled with love and never failed to find Sana in a crowd no matter where they were. And who knew the free spirited, cool Yoo Jeongyeon could actually get shy about getting affection.

It was one innocent question from Sana that made Chaeyoung’s world come crashing down. They had been visiting Chaeyoung’s mothers at the Im estate, having moved back there when their daughter got into college and leaving their suburban house to her and Sana. The girls were sitting in the back patio and watching a couple of werewolves playing around near the treeline, they were the neighbors and had grown up playing with Chaeyoung. Nobody could even be mad at Sana, she was curious, and it was really difficult caring for a lycan child if one wasn’t close enough to the species, hell, Jeongyeon learned to cook for the kid, Nayeon bought the stretch of forest behind their town house so the kid could shift safely.

“So, how was it growing up having been adopted by vampires?” Sana asked, her eyes twinkling in the moonlight.

“I was what, now?” Chaeyoung was honestly confused.

“Your moms are vampires and you are a lycan, Chaengie. I know it must have been hard for them to adapt to an entirely different species.”

“Just a second.”

Chaeyoung looked very troubled, as if it was a life changing revelation she just heard. Sana followed her girlfriend, naturally, as she tore through the house in search of her mothers. Nayeon and Jeongyeon had been playing mahjong by the fireplace, a gift from Sana that they weirdly enjoyed too much. The kitsune was happy they liked it, but worried that they developed a weird obsession with the damn thing.

“Oh, hey honey. What’s wrong?” Nayeon asked the moment her daughter entered the room.

“Am I adopted? Chaeyoung blurts out.

The mothers, understandably, burst out laughing, but stop as soon as they see their girl was serious. Jeongyeon is the one who catches her breath first.

“Why are you asking so aggressively?” The taller vampire asks.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Chaeyoung stomps like a child.

“We thought it was obvious!” Nayeon whines back.

“It clearly wasn’t!”

“Chaengie, you are so lucky you are cute.” Sana tuts as she hugs her girlfriend.

“Chae, my lovely little munchkin.” Jeongyeon gets up to hug the girl too. “How could you NOT have been adopted?”

“Chaengie, look at mama.” Nayeon asks in a baby voice she hadn’t used in years. “You are a lycan, a werewolf, a moon child, your fursona is a big, gray wolf.”

“We don’t furry shame in this family.” Jeongyeon reprimanded gently.

“I’m not shaming, just pointing it out. Plus, Sana has a fursona too, they match well.”

“We are getting out of topic.” Sana interjects before it gets worse.”

“Right.” Nayeon clears . “How could two vampires possibly have conceived a lycan, honey! We didn’t say anything because we never thought there was ever a doubt that you were adopted.”

Chaeyoung starts grunting a little, like she’s about to cry for real, so Jeongyeon, the ever more understanding one, is quick to try and diffuse the situation.

“Tell me, Chae, did you never question why you weren’t a vampire like us, or we weren’t lycans like you? Maybe found it weird that you sleep and we never do?”

“Mmno.” The little one sniffs.

“Never asked yourself why we never ate with you, nor why we just sat on the back porch during full moons while you changed and ran around?”

“Why would I? I thought you two had mastered it or something and could do it at will.”

“Oh, Chaengie baby.” Nayeon engulfs her daughter in a loving hug. “You are too cute. But no, darling, we didn’t conceive you. But you were our daughter from the moment we laid eyes on you.”

“Speaking of which, I never got to hear the story.” Sana quips, taking a seat on the couch.

“Well, Nay and I had been together for centuries and she always loved children.” Jeongyeon begins, taking a seat beside her daughter-in-law and hugging her.

“I brought it up with Jeong and she agreed quite easily.” Nayeon takes a seat on the other couch with her daughter on her lap. “So we tried for a while.”

“But we couldn’t conceive, so we went ahead with adoption. It’s not like we had been against it at all, for the record.”

“I just wanted to be pregnant, but it wasn’t possible.” Nayeon buries her face on her kid’s back. “We visited a few orphanages, to get a feeling of how the process would work and see if some kid would like us.”

“But on our fourth, I guess, place, we saw Chaeng in a little crib getting some sun. She was so little and furry, with those big curious eyes, we fell in love right there.”

“After that, the process itself was fairly easy. I’m ancient enough that people mostly just concede to whatever I say I want. It’s more annoying than anything, but it was great when it came to Chaengie. Inter-species adoptions usually take a bit longer, especially when both parents are from a single species and the child is from a very different one.”

“Oh yeah, my cousin is adopted too, I remember the headache my aunt went through to finish the adoption process.” Sana quips.

“Who is adopted?”

“Minnie is, love. Aunt Sachiko is a kitsune too, Minnie is a shachihoko.”

“A what now?” Chaeyoung is very confused. “And how come you didn’t tell me Mina was adopted either!”

“Oh, come on! They aren’t even the same type of youkai!” Sana is frustrated at this point.

“Shachihoko is a rain bringer, they usually live in the northern sea.” Nayeon explains, she really hopes her kid would be a bit brighter at this age. “They have the head of a tiger and body of a karp, usually keep to themselves.”

“Mina washed up near our sanctuary. My mother was the one who found her, really. Once she was brought to the hospital, the detective tried to find her family but nobody showed up. Aunt Sachiko declared she wanted to adopt her the moment she saw Minnie and waited patiently for the whole trying to find any family part. I never saw someone put that much pressure on the social workers, but it worked out alright in the end.” Sana laughed at the last part.

“Feel better now, love?” Nayeon asked gently. 

“Yes.” Chaeyoung mumbles. 

“Good! Because it’s time we head to bed and I don’t want to sleep with grumpy Chaengie.” Sana giggles and gets up.

“Use protection, kids.” Jeongyeon laughs.

Sana just waves over her shoulder and Cheyoung whines a complaint. The mothers just shake their heads, their kid was really a special one. Nayeon gets up and goes to sit beside her wife, they stay like that for a moment, basking in how cute their daughter could still be at her age. It was nice…. Until their ears caught some very familiar sounds and both decided it was a lovely time to go and take a walk.