Chapter Ten
J ennika looked at the friends and family that she had gathered. Another contraction hit, and the midwife smiled. “Things are progressing well. How are you doing, Jenn?”
“I would be better if Vine wasn’t sitting there covered in flowers and pearls while sucking on that coconut.”
Vine grinned. “But I stopped my vacation for this.”
Jenn laughed. “Thank you for the distraction. Where did Kazuya get the pearls?”
“He fought an ocean spirit for them. I think they arm wrestled, and Kaz just has more arms.” She slurped.
There was a laugh from Xiroth, and he held Jennika’s hand while she got closer to making their weird little miracle appear.
Jenn groaned. “I need a distraction, Vine.”
“What do you want to hear?”
“How do you have sex with an octopus?”
“Well, they have sex with you. The rest is just about the same, but you are held all over all the time.” She smiled. “The weird part is when the mucus kicks in.”
They all laughed, and Jenn felt the transition kick in. She started groaning, and her friends melted away as her focus turned to her body’s mission.
* * * *
X iroth helped Jenn get into a comfortable position and then supported her while she brought their son into the world. Jenn held him and groaned as her body contracted, and he felt the amazing strength she could bring to bear.
When she started screaming for Vine, her friend got into position and caught the little one while Ivy stood by casting luck.
He watched the omega put the baby on Jenn’s chest, and when the midwife handed him the scissors, he formed claws to snip the cord that connected his son to Jenn.
Jenn was crying and stroking her baby. “You could have used scissors.”
“I could have bitten it or used a wing, dear one.” He looked at the baby with the wing marks on his back. “He’s spectacular.”
She chuckled and looked to Vine. “What do you see for him?”
Vine smiled. “Father’s wings and mother’s fire. I don’t envy you his high school years. He’s gonna be a tank.”
Xiroth looked at Jennika, and she smiled at him. “Yeah, that figures.”
Vine touched the tiny fingers, grinned, and nodded. She pulled a charm from her pocket and put it around Jenn’s neck. And a teeny charm was stuck to the baby’s chubby palm.
“There we are. Luck and healing. A good start, little man.”
Jenn was holding the baby and sighing as her soul recognized the little fellow who had been with her for three-quarters of a year. The room was quiet, and Ivy was chortling. “When can I send in the horde?”
Luna took care of the placenta, and Vine reached down to do the fundal massage.
Jenn hissed but nodded. “I feel pretty good, considering I delivered a cannonball.”
Xiroth waited until the midwife gave him a signal, and he lifted Jenn and settled in behind her, his entire universe wrapped in his arms. Vine moved around the room and whispered to Jennika.
Cleansing fire moved across her body, and Vine touched her shoulder.
A graceful maternity gown and robe moved across Jennika’s body, complete with a wrapped bodice that would allow for nursing.
“There. Now you are looking like a mage who just gave birth. All magical and shit.” Vine grinned.
Jenn smiled. “Are you next?”
“Oh. No. He and I weren’t on the same timing. I was a surprise. But when I am ready, he will be there.”
Jenn laughed. “And he will be practicing the entire way.”
Vine smiled. “That’s a given. We are going to be home in two days. Are you good until then?”
Jennika looked up at Xiroth, and he smiled, trying to ignore his tears. “I will be fine. What’s in the charms?”
“Healing and energy for you, healing and immune boost for the little dude. You can take it off him in an hour.”
She smiled. “You did good, Jenn, and Xiroth is doing tremendously well to keep his mouth shut.”
Xiroth laughed. “It was the first thing that Jenn told me when we went on that date. Never get in your way. I will just end up flatter.”
The smile on Vine’s expression literally lit the room. “Jenn has always been wise and too brave for her own good. She could have turned you into a pile of ash that night; instead, little dude is here. Huh. Women.”
Xiroth looked at the stunning, beaming omega, who bristled with energy. “How is Kazuya holding up?”
She beamed. “Exhausted but smug.”
Jenn smiled. “And how are you doing?”
“He keeps finding new things to massage or tweak, but they end up turning into hickeys.” She grinned.
“We are staying at Mia and Meeda’s, and it’s fun.
Kazuya found her two days into our visit, and things have calmed down a bit since then.
Meeda knows how to bottle a heat now, so her next one will be taken care of before she starts to hurt. ”
Jenn smiled. “Fabulous. Damn, I am tired.”
Xiroth said, “Did you want to wait before you receive visitors?”
She chuckled. “No. Vine, can you put on clean sheets?”
Vine rubbed her hands together and gripped the edge of the flat sheet. She lifted the edge like it was a tablecloth and yanked, whispering, “Abracadabra.”
A rich blue sheet set with crimson embroidery was now under and over the family. Xiroth was wearing a clean black shirt, and the baby was wrapped in a dark blue swaddle.
Vine grinned as she dusted her hands. “There may or may not be a diaper under the swaddle, but I did grease his little tush against the first sticky tar poop. I will let them in two at a time.”
Jenn paused. “You gave me energy.”
“I gave you alertness. It’s different. Don’t try to move.”
She went to the door and let Eudora and Sern in first. She said, “Eudora, after the cooing, I need to talk to you about a project Mia and Meeda have in the islands.”
Eudora grinned. “Absolutely.”
Vine smiled and waited with Sable and her partner, Xao.
Sable was stable, and Xao looked impressive.
He was taking in all of Sable’s extra energy until a baby locked her into one form and gave her an anchor.
It had been the possible solution that the archive had offered.
Apparently, it worked for other species.
Sable was willing to try, and she didn’t need to shave her legs every three hours anymore.
Xao held Sable in his arms while Vine chatted to her friend. She laughed when Sable commented that she didn’t have to fidget from foot to foot. Vine grinned. “These guys do wonders for a lady’s gait. Well, once you get used to the tentacles.”
Sable laughed, and Xao grinned but looked sheepish. “You are getting along with Kazuya?”
“One could call it that.” She grinned. “Some of his friends are coming in tomorrow, and he doesn’t want to miss them, so we will be back by the end of the week.”
Sable stepped away from Xao. “Can I have a hug?”
“Oh. Sure. Why?”
“Because I don’t think I ever did, and you look like you need more contact than a side hug.”
Vine stepped toward her, the sundress flowing as she moved.
Sable whispered, “You are so soft.”
“Clean living and lots of explosions. Works better than dermabrasion.” Her mental timer went off. “Okay, it is time for the changing of the visitors. No one is to grab the baby. That’s an order.”
Sable nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
She opened the door, and Eudora and Sern smiled, nodded, and left. When Sable and Xao went in, Eudora asked, “What kind of project?”
She was briefed about the swimwear company morphing into an activewear company, and Eudora was hopping with excitement. “I will work for outfits. What do you need?”
“Edits. They want to tell a story with advertising.”
Eudora grinned. “What kind of story?”
“Lady pirates and mermaids and all the ways you can cross the ocean.”
Eudora’s eyes lit, and Sern chuckled. “I believe you have hooked her.”
Vine grinned. “I thought we might have.” She rotated her wrist, and the portable drive was in her hand. “Here you go. There are outlines in there as well as a lot of footage. You can do what you like, but feel free to contact Mia. Oh, the songs are in there as well. One of ours. The siren.”
Eudora lunged forward and said, “Gimmee.”
Sern chuckled. “I will draw up a contract and send it to the company.”
Vine grinned. “Please do. Oh, Eudora, can you get some meals set up for Jenn and Xiroth? That little guy is going to be a handful.”
“Already done. They are in coolers in the car.” Eudora smiled.
Sern nodded. “She’s been cooking all week. I am not complaining. I got to sample all the grilled food.”
Vine smiled. There were other folks waiting, but the OB came in and went right in. Sable and Xao were ushered out.
She heard a call. “Vine!” She nodded to Eudora, making the call me motion. There was laughter, and she entered the family bedroom.
“You bellowed, our dearest and most gentle mother?” Vine walked in and curtsied to the family.
Jennika said, “What did you do?”
Vine looked at the doctor. “Translate? I have been busy today.”
He grinned. “She’s regenerating faster than normal. It isn’t unheard of, but it isn’t usual.”
“Oh. That’s just the pendant. It’s running her repair and pulling everything back to where it was before she met a certain manacled someone in a dark room.”
Dr. Theo looked at her with his single eye. “So, you made a repair charm?”
“I make charms. That’s my deal. Fixing a body is easy as long as the body isn’t my own; then I have to outsource things.”
Jennika sighed. “I wanted to do this the normal way.”
“You did. He got in; he came out. That’s normal. You are healing normally; you are just healing fast. I was trying to save you the period where the tissue inside you sloughed and you smelled like rotting meat, but I can undo it if you want.” Vine looked at Jenn.
“Oh. Right. Yeah, I am happy to skip that.”
“You didn’t skip it; it just happened fast and cleared out with everything else.” She smiled. “It ended up on my sheet trick.”
Xiroth sighed. “It seems that nothing untoward has occurred.”
“Yup. She would have been just fine without me there, but it was fun to catch the slippery little dude.” She looked at the doctor. “Am I in trouble for anything else, teach?”