Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lila
After a very delicious afternoon nap, we emerge downstairs and find the family in the living room, in chaos once more. Jack, Cordy, and Cally are all in tears, and wow, they have some lungs on them.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” I ask as Xavier pushes past me and gathers up the two girls in his arms, cooing to them.
Jack holds his arms out for Saxon, and Link and Caspian heave out sighs of relief.
My grandpas, the smart men they are, are nowhere to be seen, and the two cats are in cat form with both of their front paws over their ears, trying to block out the sound.
“Some help you two are,” I grumble, and Maxsim shrugs elegantly.
“They were grumpy when they woke up,” Caspian says wearily. “I don’t think they’ve had enough sleep really.” My poor kraken looks worn down. I really have dropped the ball on this parenting thing, but trying to balance it and having six mates is taking some getting used to.
“Okay, here is what’s going to happen. Daddy Link and Daddy Cas are going to stay here and have a nap themselves, and Daddy Sax and Daddy X are going to come with us and find a park.
” The kids all stop crying and cheer, and I look around the room.
“Where are Eric and William? I may need one of them to come with me, because all I’ve seen of Skarr is this house, so I have no idea if there is even a playground nearby.
God, I hope there is,” I mutter under my breath now that I’ve promised my kids an outing.
“They are trying to work out plans for Rilu, so they escaped to William’s soundproof office,” Link explains.
“Smart men,” Saxon remarks, bouncing Jack in his arms. All of these guys have taken to parenthood beautifully, even if they were nervous to start with.
“Okay, you guys find warmer clothes for these three while I find a grandpa to accompany us. Oh, what did you find out about Echo’s pregnancy?” I ask, remembering what they were going to do while we took care of the other two’s needs.
“Well, I did a scan, and Echo is carrying two babies. I’m not sure how, but both of them contain the combined genetics of all three of you.
I guess he must have sucked up two of your eggs, and he and Maxsim both fertilized them.
I’m still doing research on lightning cat breeding specifics, and I don’t have it all down yet. ”
A thrill of joy runs through me at hearing that both of Echo’s babies are all of ours—not that I would have loved one of theirs any less, I’ve just discovered I’m greedy.
“That’s wonderful.” I get down on my knees, and Echo and Maxsim crawl over to us.
The girls squeal with delight and scream for Xavier to let them down.
He does, and they pounce on the kitties.
I stroke both of their heads, cooing to them about how pleased I am.
They lick me with their rough tongues and purr with delight.
“And did Echo discover how long he will be pregnant for?” I’m dying to know how long it will be until our family grows again.
He rolls onto his back, exposing his stomach, and I run my hand over it.
There are no bumps yet. Do male omegas breastfeed?
That’s another question to ask, but maybe closer to the birth.
I missed out on breastfeeding the other three because they were in kraken form, and now they don’t need it.
“It works out to be roughly six Earth months. Days are shorter on Iceen, and it’s approximately a year in their time, so I think I converted that right.” Link has been busy, and I love that he’s so enthusiastic about it all.
“Okay, cool, so we’ve got some time. That will be nice.
I wonder how old these three will be in six months.
They may be able to help change diapers.
” I’m still having trouble trying to wrap my head around the accelerated growth of the children.
I freeze when something occurs to me. “So if my eggs were fertilized, is that going to make them part shifter, part Vilaxian, and part Skarrian lightning cats?”
Link shrugs, and a frustrated look crosses his face.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know. Normally a Skarrian pregnancy will result in either a Skarrian or whatever the other parent is.
There are no crosses, but because you changed your DNA by becoming a blood rose, there is a good chance that they will be at least part Vilaxian as well.
I’ve started a log to keep track of all the children’s traits.
So far it looks like these three are straight shifters, which makes sense because you only just had your Skarrian and shifter genes activated when you got pregnant with them, but they did show a trace of Vilaxian DNA, and they were super fast when they were hyped up on candy.
That may be the only trait they exhibit. ”
I secretly cross my fingers behind my back. “Okay, we will deal with everything as it happens, but keeping record of it is a great idea. You’re so smart,” I praise my cyborg, and he preens slightly. I have to keep reminding them they are equally loved.
“Alright, everyone knows what their jobs are. I’ll find a grandparent and then meet back here in fifteen minutes.
” Everyone agrees and wanders off, except for Cas and the cats.
The cats snuggle in a pile in front of the fire, and Maxsim uses his tongue to groom Echo.
I feel a pang of longing and desperately want to shift and join them, but I want to lavish some attention on my kraken before finding my grandpas.
“Hey, how are you doing?” I ask, joining him on the sofa and wrapping my arms around his neck.
He closes his eyes and rests his forehead against my own. “Tired, and I need a swim. My tentacles feel dried out.” Neither of us have been back in the ocean since the kids were born, and I knew he was jonesing for a long swim.
“I’m sorry I’ve let you down,” I say, feeling incredibly guilty. His eyes pop open, and he vehemently shakes his head.
“No, honey, you haven’t let me down at all. I knew going into this that it would be more than just you and me in this family, and I am okay with that. The kids run us ragged, and a nap and a swim will do wonders to make me feel better, I promise,” he assures me.
“Okay, well, why don’t you nap, and after dinner, you and I will read the kids a story and put them to bed and then go for a nighttime swim?
I’m sure the whatthefuckasauras have lost interest since the babies are no longer around for a snack, and if they haven’t, you and I are big enough in shifted form to take them all on. ”
A big grin crosses his lips, and his eyes flick back and forth from his beast to normal. “Sounds perfect.” He presses a kiss to my lips, and my kraken perks up. I can feel her anticipation for our swim later, and my own excitement rises.
“Cool. Find Link and take him with you. I don’t want to think about either of you ending up exhausted.”
He agrees, and I hurry off to find my grandpas. The kids will be ready even before I am.
“This really is amazing.” I am still astounded by the playground that both Eric and William directed us to.
Thankfully the car was already set up for the three children, with futuristic car seats strapped onto one of the bench seats.
We all piled in and drove for about twenty minutes, my face glued to the window as I took in my new home planet.
The area we’re in is definitely for the rich, and the large mansions are spaced out so nobody can see their neighbor if they don’t want to.
The park is a wide open nature space, and in the middle of that space is a huge lake with a nice picnic area, and on one side of that lake is the mother of all playgrounds.
There are slides and swings and monkey bars, and things I’ve never seen before.
There are also children all over it, going crazy.
When we first arrived, we got some interested looks.
My warlock and Vilaxian are quite obviously not Skarrian, and although there are still some furtive glances and whispers, most people have lost interest. Saxon and Xavier are over near the playground, pushing our children on a set of three swings, and I’m sitting on a picnic blanket that Eric produced with my two grandpas.
“Okay, so give me the 411 on Rilu,” I say, making myself comfortable. Eric pulls a flask out of the backpack he brought and pours us all a cup of something before passing it out. I take a tentative sip and moan as the deliciousness crosses my taste buds.
“What is this?” I ask, needing more of it in my life. It’s like a mocha—half coffee, half chocolate, and all awesome.
“It’s saluktat. It’s a Westalin version of coffee. It packs a hell of a punch, so don’t drink too many cups,” he warns me. “But we all definitely needed the pick-me-up today.”
“I’ve made sure the staff knows not to keep any candy in the house,” William assures us, and I give him a thumbs-up.
“Poor Xavier. He loves spoiling the kids, and he was dying to get them Warlock candy. There’s a special one that is like Earth’s pop rocks that was a childhood favorite of his. He couldn’t wait to let them try it.”
“I promise he’s totally over it.” Eric laughs as we watch my children with my husband and fiancé.
“Okay, well, Rilu is a desert planet, hot and dry, so I’m afraid neither the cats nor Saxon will be of any use to you,” William starts.
“Hang on, why not Saxon?” I ask, interrupting him.
“There is almost no cloud cover on Rilu, and I’m afraid the sun shines for way too long for him not to be constantly drinking blood to function normally.”
Oh, they have limited hours of daylight on Vilax, so I should have known. “Okay, so it will be you two, Xavier, Link, and Cas.”
“We talked with Link and Cas while you were otherwise occupied, and both of them would like to stay back and look after the children while you are gone.” I smack my head. Of course, the children. Fuck, I still need to get used to keeping them in mind.