Bonus Story Bean There, Birthed That #4
I’d thought I understood love when I bonded with Seri. I’d been wrong. This was an entirely different dimension of emotion. Boundless, ferocious, and utterly without condition or reservation.
I was doomed. Ruined for any semblance of the stern, stoic leader I’d always prided myself on being. These tiny beings would own me completely for the rest of my existence.
In that moment, with my son’s heart rabbiting against mine, I couldn’t have been happier about it.
“Simmy?” Seri’s voice cut through the fog. “You’re crying.”
Impossible. Father’s training didn’t allow crying mid-battle. Yet here I knelt, gloves dripping, chest heaving, staring at this miracle who’d breached defenses no enemy ever could.
“Daddy’s here,” I whispered to his angry little face. “You and your sister are safe. You can stand down now.”
Surprisingly, his cries quieted slightly at my voice. My thumb gently brushed his miniature fist, and to my astonishment, his fingers uncurled and wrapped around it with surprising strength.
“I believe,” Ko said with a knowing smile, “we’re seeing the softest dad alive emerge.”
I couldn’t even muster a denial.
Our son’s grip on my finger tightened, as if sealing a pact between us, and I nodded solemnly back at him.
#
Zane
The world rebooted in jagged pixels. Mouth crusted with vomit, blood smell in my nose, wet tile floor on my cheek.
Worst respawn ever.
I pushed myself up, blinking at the scene before me. Koa was cradling a tiny dark-haired bundle on his shoulder, his expression softer than I’d ever seen it. Casimir, meanwhile, was holding what appeared to be a second baby, red-haired and furious with the world.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Cas deadpanned.
“Did I… Did I miss something important?” I asked cautiously. “Because I coulda sworn we were only expecting one potato, but there seems to be two of them now.”
“Your observational skills remain unparalleled.”
“He’s got your temperament,” Ko drawled.
“And your hair.” Cas’ nose nuzzled the unmistakable red tufts.
“Surprise,” Ko chuckled. “Apparently our beloved is an overachiever.”
I crawled over to where Seri lay.
“Hey there, champion baby-maker.” I brushed a kiss against her temple. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I just pushed two watermelons through a straw. Go brush your teeth.”
“C’mon, farm girl. You know nothing says ‘supportive husband’ like vomit breath.”
With the ghost of a smirk, I dragged myself up, scrubbed my mouth clean with her toothbrush, and splashed water on my face, feeling marginally more alive.
Turning around, I saw Ko now held both little spuds, one on either shoulder, with Seri all but passed out across his torso.
Meanwhile, Cas did… medical things… between her legs.
I couldn’t really see what he was doing from my angle, and honestly, I was fine with that.
I preferred my beloved’s bodily fluids to stay where they belonged. Inside her body.
“Zane, help Ko,” Cas muttered.
“On it. Koala Bear, you want tater duty or Seri detail?”
“Potatoes.”
“They’re our children, not vegetables,” Cas scolded without looking up.
“I’d say they’re more like prunes at the moment,” I offered. “Especially the red one.”
As if to prove my point, our son’s screams rose to an ear-splitting level. The kid had pipes, that was for sure. Glad to leave that in Alpha Boom’s arms, I eased Seri into mine, cradling her back against my chest as he had. I’d never seen someone so utterly spent, yet somehow radiant.
“Here.” Cas passed me a small glass vial. “Del Vecchio family healing potion. Most effective when taken immediately after birth. Then this won’t need to be sutured.”
Not even asking what the this was, I took it, pulled the cork, and helped Seri hold it. To distract her from what I could smell was going to taste like shit, I leaned close to her ear.
“If birth-giving were an Olympic sport, you’d have just swept the medals, sunshine.
Ten out of ten for speed. I mean, two babies in under half an hour?
That’s got to be some kind of record. And your form was impeccable.
The judges would be impressed with your aim, too.
Delivered them right into Cas’ hands like a pizza, but better. Just slightly messier than pizza.”
She didn’t seem to appreciate my commentary, which was unusual. Normally my brilliant observations at least earned me an eye-roll or a reluctant smile. But her face remained drawn with exhaustion, her eyes closed, her breathing shallow.
Of course, it could have been that nasty-smelling potion she’d just finished drinking, too.
Still. New tactic.
I smoothed back her damp hair and dotted small, tender kisses on her forehead, her closed eyelids, the tip of her nose, her flushed cheeks.
“What can I do to help, darling?” I whispered against her temple. “Some water? Croissants? Goblin Moonshine?”
“Babies. Want to see them.”
My heart squeezed at the raw maternal longing in her voice, and I looked at my brothers. Cas’ eyes were very bright, and Ko wore that expression that meant he was feeling more than he could verbalize as he knee-walked over and placed the babies in her arms.
“Oh,” she breathed. “Oh, they’re perfect.”
“We made those.” I peered over her shoulder. “Well, mostly you made those, but we helped. A little. At the beginning.”
The boy looked like a raging cherry, despite Ko kissing his head and murmuring. Our son hadn’t stopped making noise since his dramatic entrance, and Cas’ left eye was starting to twitch. Not in irritation, though. No, he was in full panic mode because he didn’t know how to calm our son.
The girl slept peacefully, without a care in the world. Like she already knew she was safe and had nothing to worry about.
“Are you up to nursing him, beloved?” Ko asked. “Maybe that will calm him.”
“Yes, I’ll try it.”
She fumbled with the front of her nightshirt even as she held onto our babies, and I brushed her fingers away and deftly undid the buttons myself.
The soft cotton fabric parted, revealing her milk-swollen breasts, and I felt a twinge of possessiveness.
Those beautiful curves suddenly had a more practical purpose than serving as my playground.
I watched, fascinated, as Ko guided our daughter to Seri’s right breast. The tiny girl latched on immediately, as if she’d been practicing for this moment her entire brief existence.
Then he placed our son at Seri’s plump left nipple, and after a moment of confusion and what looked like irritation, he also figured out the nursing situation.
The moment he latched on, the crying stopped. The sudden silence was almost as shocking as his birth had been.
“Hey!” I exclaimed as I watched both babies suckle, their tiny cheeks working with surprising vigor. “Those are my tits!”
Two pairs of eyes turned to stare at me.
“Our tits,” I amended. “Our collective tits. The brotherhood’s tits.”
“Well, now they’re our children’s for the next several months,” Ko pointed out.
“We created milk vampires?” I quirked an eyebrow as our boy attacked his nom-noms with piranha enthusiasm. “Whoa, easy there, junior.”
My pinky snuck in to break suction. Big mistake. The ensuing howl made my ears ring.
“Zane.” Cas’ voice carried ultrasound intensity. “And it’s colostrum. The actual milk won’t come in for another day or two.”
He leaned down, inhaling deeply near our daughter’s head.
“She smells of earth magic,” he told Seri what Ko and I had already deduced.
“Like Papa?” She looked up, her tired eyes suddenly bright. “And our son? What does he smell like?”
Cas leaned down and kissed our boy’s forehead, drawing in another long breath. He didn’t really need to since the smell was all over the kid; he just wanted an excuse to be affectionate without me teasing him or Ko smirking.
“Moon magic.”
“A wolf shifter like Mama?” Seri gasped.
“Dhampir schnozzes don’t lie, bubbles.” I traced the tip of my forefinger along our daughter’s ear, finding it softer than hummingbird down.
“We’ll have to wait until he’s older to see if he manifests a wolf,” Cas pointed out because he couldn’t not, “but he also has an undertone of swan, so maybe he’ll be a shifter either way.”
“Swan?” Seri repeated in a stunned whisper. “That’s… That’s…”
Words seem to fail our girl, and I leapt in to tease Ko in case she wanted a moment to process. Or cry. Or both.
“Bet you’re happy our beautiful daughter looks like you, Papa Koko. Her skin’s already turning golden, and just look at those big dark eyes and all this black hair.”
“Unlike our lil screamer here,” he teased back, “whose fireweed is just like yours.”
And it was. That vibrant red hair already stood out on his tiny head. I was absurdly proud of that. I’d have to start teaching him early how to work it to his advantage. The world wasn’t ready for another devastatingly handsome redhead with charm to spare, but it was getting one, anyway.
The little guy’s frantic suckling had eased into a more rhythmic pattern. His teeny fists, which had been clenched tight since before birth, gradually relaxed against Seri’s breast. One spread open, five miniature fingers splaying against her skin like he was claiming territory.
Smart kid. Already knows a good thing when he’s got it.
“They’re so small,” I whispered.
“They’ll grow.” Cas palmed our daughter’s head as she opened her eyes. “Faster than we’ll be ready for.”
I nodded, suddenly unable to speak past the lump in my throat.
“You okay?” Ko asked with that damn knowing look he had.
“Just got something in my eye. Probably vomit.” I glanced down at Seri, who was gazing at our babies with so much love, it made my chest ache. “Think you can handle two mini-Cimmerians, sundrop?”
“I’ve been handling three full-sized ones until now.” Her smile was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. “I think I can handle the baby versions.”