Chapter 162: 2.42 Double Trouble (1)
Hope and Xander played which caused Hope to begin copying his elemental abilities. She could shoot ice, water, lightning and rocks from her mouth after landing on his shoulders. Xander also learned to control his time abilities while flying. He successfully stopped his parents, when they completely dropped their guard, but they could break freely quickly.
"Keep working at it! You’re doing great. It has to be harder to cast magic while you’re flying!" Sora encouraged his son.
Xander and Tej celebrated their birthday together the month prior, although Xander was getting bored with his birthdays in Paradise. He was so eager for a baby brother or sister to play with.
Brie lay in bed with a bunch of devices laying around her. Celeste visited, which was a big morale boost for the family.
"Auntie Cece!" Xander said as she appeared, almost tackling her with a hug.
"My, you’ve grown quite a bit Xander! You look so handsome. All the girls on Exteria are going to fall in love with you at first sight," she teased.
"Ew. I don’t want a girlfriend. I have Hope," Xander pouted and folded his arms.
"You know she’s just teasing you, right?" Hope said, trying to cheer Xander up.
"You’ll have a little brother or sister soon to play with too! Remember, god babies grow up quick, just like phoenixes!"
"You’re right! But I still have you to play with. We have to work on our magic every day, no matter what!" Xander exclaimed while he hugged his companion.
Hope wrapped her feathers around Xander and was relieved. She was always worried that a brother or sister would pull Xander away from her.
"How’s the party? I know it’s only been like 4 days for you but it’s been four years for us. How’s everyone doing?" Sora asked, unable to contain his excitement.
"Everyone’s great! We all miss you, but I’m probably the only one who truly understands how much different it is for the three of you. I can’t believe you’re about to have another baby!" Celeste shouted gleefully.
Brie smiled but didn’t look comfortable or well.
"Hi Celeste. Athena said everything’s ok but I really don’t feel good. I thought this would be so much easier than on Exteria but I was wrong. What’s wrong with me?" Brie asked, her voice hoarse.
"Here, take these," Celeste said while handing Brie a glass of water and a handful of elven capsules.
"Thanks, what are they?" Brie asked as she washed them down.
"The same supplements and magical capsules I gave you on Exteria. Let me take your temperature, you look miserable." Celeste said transparently, which Brie appreciated.
"Thank you. Sora keeps saying I look beautiful and Athena keeps telling me I look perfectly normal for a pregnant goddess but I don’t feel that way at all," Brie struggled finishing her sentence.
"Relax babe. Try not to talk too much. We’re all here for you and Athena will be here any minute. Are you sure you’re not holding out so the baby’s born on my Exterian birthday?" Sora said with a kind smile.
"Trust me, this baby would have been born already if I had any say," Brie winced in pain as she spoke.
*****
Athena appeared and Skylar took Hope back to Athena’s realm.
Xander frowned but knew his mom needed the attention and didn’t need a large group surrounding her.
"Mama, I’m going to take a walk. I hope you feel better. I love you." Xander said as he walked out back to sit down.
He stared off into the Nova Universe, imagining what life would be like back home.
"I miss you all so much..." he said, while looking away from Exteria. He didn’t want to see them. It would just make him miss them more and he was already nervous about his mom.
"Mama didn’t look too good, maybe I should have stayed with her," he whispered.
"Celeste, I think my water just broke!" Brie exclaimed.
Xander appeared, like he sensed the birth was about to happen.
"If anything goes wrong, I’ll just reverse time until everything works out the way it’s supposed to!" Xander muttered accidentally.
"There will be no need, Xander, although I’m sure you could if you tried hard enough," Athena said with her usual calm, polite smile.
"I think I understand now what’s been causing Brie so much sickness and pain."
"What do you mean?" Sora asked curiously.
"Nothing to worry about," Athena said and Xander instantly perked up.
"Oh! I get it!" He exclaimed, but quickly covered his mouth so he wouldn’t say anything else.
"What are we missing?" Celeste asked as she went into delivery mode.
"Brie, do you want me to link with you?" Sora asked sincerely.
"Yes please. I’m sorry babe this one is just too much. I saw the way you handled Sera’s birth and this is nothing like that. I just feel sick, not so much in pain."
Sora concentrated and successfully linked with Brie and he immediately vomited.
Celeste frowned.
Sora grabbed water while apologizing.
"I told you I didn’t feel good," Brie muttered before she started pushing.
"Wah! Wah!"
"A beautiful baby girl!" Athena smiled.
"Mama, do you understand why you were sick yet?" Xander asked excitedly.
"Yes, Sora you can deactivate the link." Brie said with a large smile. She wanted to experience the rest herself.
"Thanks babe," Sora said, vomiting one more time before he rinsed his mouth out with water several times and helped Athena clean up his daughter.
"Wait, what’s going on? Why is Brie still in labor?" Sora asked, confused.
"Because it’s twins dada!" Xander cheered, no longer able to hide the secret.
Brie bit her lip in pain as the second baby took a little longer, but within a few minutes the second sound of cries made everyone smile.
"And a beautiful baby boy!" Athena clapped with excitement.
Sora helped Athena clean the baby boy as Celeste handed Brie her beautiful baby girl.
"Sora, she has beautiful teal eyes. This is amazing!"
Athena raised an eyebrow, "That’s the first time a goddess has ever been born without golden eyes. That’s absolutely remarkable. She has her mother’s eye."
"Are my eyes not special?" Xander asked with a frown.
"Of course your eyes are special buddy. Who else in any universe can reverse time? I’d say your eyes are pretty special," Sora said while hugging his son.
Athena handed Brie her son, who had golden eyes, just like his brother.
"See Xander, come look at your baby brother and sister. Your brother’s eyes are like yours and your sisters are like mamas." Brie said while crying.
"Aw, mama is crying because she’s happy and feels loved." Xander said, carefully watching the colors in his parents, Athena, Celeste, and most importantly, his brother and sister.
They both reached for Brie’s chest, and she sighed as Celeste covered her so she could feed both of them.
"Xander, I thought feeding you was draining! Now I have to feed two!" Brie said white silver tears of happiness still fell from her eyes.
She started laughing and said, "Everything is perfect."
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