Chapter 291: The Story Of Us
"Of course. This is the home planet of your species. When one of the Royals gives birth, they will always come back here to do so," explained Jarvis, but I was much too floored to do anything more than blink.
Everything had come full circle. No wonder I felt such a draw to this place. I guess I should be thankful that I even found it as early as I did. The babies had made it clear I was not going to give birth in any other place, and I was definitely done being pregnant.
"I’ll get some food going for you," continued Jarvis as if things were perfectly normal. "You will need to keep up your strength."
I nodded my head, not sure what else I was to do.
The door opened again, and Emily strolled in, this time with the rest of my guys behind her.
"Well done, mate," growled Da’kea, holding a tiny baby boy in his arms. "Thank you for my offspring."
I blushed at his praise, the smile on my face as I saw the 7-foot aliens cuddling their infants, doing something to my ovaries.
Nope, none of that. I was not going to get pregnant ever again. There was no way in hell.
Da’kea leaned forward and gently handed me the most adorable baby I had ever seen in my life. He had the cutest of tusks poking out of the bottom of his outer mandibles. His bright yellow eyes stared at me as if he already knew who I was.
"Hello, Sweetie," I crooned as I pulled down the top of my dress and exposed a breast. "I’m your mama," I continued. I brought him closer to me and watched as his outer mandibles opened as wide as they could before burrowing his entire face into my breast, his inner mandibles finding my nipple to start feeding.
Midnight was next, a cute little pup in his arms. It looked like a cross between a puppy and a human, but it was just as cute as my Saalistaja. "Aren’t you just adorable?" I whispered as Midnight placed him on my second breast.
"It is always the male that gives the pup a birthing name," started Midnight as he stared at the pup that was clearly his. "I wanted to name him Darkness Before Dawn because that was what my world was like before I met you. I was living in perpetual darkness, but you came and brought light to my world. But we can change that to whatever you want."
"No," I said, shaking my head. That name was so much better than anyone I could have come up with. "I think that it is perfect."
Ye’tab and Tha’juen came to stand beside the bed, both carrying a child in their arms.
I took in a deep breath, like I could finally breathe again. I was home. I had my mates with me, and my children were happy and safe. There was nothing more that I wanted.
----
Ten Years Later
"Tell us another story!" shouted Darkness as he pushed his older brother T’edto to the side to sit in front of his mother. His other brothers wrestled for a space, but with eight of them all crowding around her, there wasn’t much room.
He waited for his sister to come and sit in his lap, the two-year-old not as steady on her feet as the others were. But they were all overprotective of her, so no one said or did anything as she got comfortable.
Mei Ling was the only one who looked exactly like their mother; the rest took after their fathers in both looks and temperament, but that didn’t matter. They were a giant family; even Uncle Jun Li was family whenever he came back to the planet.
Their brother, Ta’koadh, was the only one who wanted to go out into the universe, and Jun Li had even taken him for a few months before the child wanted to return to Ethawa.
He had quickly stopped talking about going into outer space after that.
Darkness didn’t care. He never wanted to leave his home, more than content to stay here and hunt in the forests around the castle. He squirmed, thinking about the fur he had for his mother. He was going to give it to her in a few days on her birthday.
Dad assured him that she would love it.
"What story do you want to hear?" asked Mother, her soft voice soothing his inner beast in a way that no one else could.
"How you found daddy," said Mei Ling, taking her thumb out of her mouth for a second, only to quickly stick it back in.
"Surely you are getting tired of that story," chuckled Mother as she reached out and stroked the chubby cheeks of the baby. Mei Ling shook her head no, her black curls bouncing back and forth.
The dads, having just entered the living room, chuckled at the request but found chairs of their own to settle into as Mother opened her mouth.
"Well, I can’t say that I was the one who found your fathers. More like your fathers found me," smiled Mother as she leaned back into her chair and pulled the white fur on her lap up higher.
Darkness nodded his head at her statement. "Dad wanted to buy weapons from you," he said.
"And Papa found you when you were trying to fight the giant zmajs," interjected Zurath, turning his attention to Papa Au’dtair.
"And Uncle Jun Li saved you from the big bad lizards," added Vargan. "My dad didn’t come until it was time to take down the Alliance."
"Are you guys telling the story, or am I?" asked Mother, the smile on her face making everyone laugh.
"You!" they all shouted. No one told a story as good as Mother.
"Then let me tell you about the story of all of us and how we managed to find our special place in the universe."
Mother’s voice was soft as she told the story.
Sometimes, she would tell others, like the girl in red that beat up the wolf or of the twins that killed a witch, but this one was without a doubt their favorite.
Darkness leaned back, letting his sister get more comfortable as they listened intently, dreaming of a time when they would go on their own adventures.
