Page 93 of His Impossible Elf Mate
I shifted and scooped her into my arms. “Welcome, little Rieka. We love you so much.”
T joined me, his warm arms surrounding us both. “I love you both.”
Princess
Axel
In the hours that followed Rieka’s birth, I watched her get checked over, fussed over, and then wrapped up for snuggles with her daddy.
They helped me feed her for the first time. The feeling was strange. Michaella gave me a potion to start my milk and my nipples got really sensitive before they began to leak the colostrum that was the first and most important milk for Rieka to get.
When Rieka started crying, signaling she was hungry, I put her to my chest. She rooted around, looking for a nipple to grip onto. The feeling when she latched on was weird. Part of me wasn’t sure I liked it, but I wanted to at least try. If I couldn’t get used to it, or it became too painful, I’d stop. Feeding her like this was wonderful for our bond, but being fed with a bottle was a great substitute if I couldn’t bring myself to like feeding that way.
Either way, I knew Teárlach would be supportive of my decision. Like he said, as long as she was fed, it didn’t matter how that happened.
While she ate, I stroked her hair. For a newborn, she had quite a lot of it. The coloring was so unusual. I just couldn’t keep my eyes off her.
Fed, I put her on my shoulder to burp her. Michaella took me through some other ways, like placing my hand under her chin, or using massage, when she struggled to burp.
Teárlach watched us with clear pride and love on his face. He even took some notes, which was so sweet. I would have teased him about it, but I was just too overwhelmed and tired to even think of words.
Then it was my turn to get a checkup. Shifter healing was great, but I still required some care, especially after how long the last part had taken. Teárlach had already done some basic healing magic on me, so Aldrin finished the job. It was as if the last five months of my pregnancy had never happened.
The only thing they couldn’t take away was my exhaustion. Michaella, though goddesses love her, had a few energy boosting potions to get me through the next part of our day: presenting her to the queen.
Once everyone, aside from Chase, who had vanished for a nap, had left the house, we got ready for the call.
Teárlach got our princess dressed in a light pink romper with a cartoon wolf on it. Telling him she wouldn’t be in it for long was pointless. Shifter babies did not stay in clothes for any length of time. Keeping a diaper on her would be a challenge in itself.
We sat in the living room since it had the best lighting. The lamps were on, giving everything a soft glow. Besides, our bedroom was our space. The parliament wasn’t welcome to see it.
“Did you tell her we were calling?” I asked.
“An hour ago, to give her time to assemble some of the cabinet, if she so wishes.”
The call connected, and we waited while an elf did a complicated spell so all who were gathered could see and hear us.
“Congratulations, Prince Teárlach and Axel, on the birth of your daughter.” All the voices in the room melded into one melodic sound.
Drawn by the sounds, Rieka turned her head to see the screen.
There were gasps as they caught a look at her pointed ears and different colored eyes. I smoothed her unusual hair away from her pretty face. She grasped my finger with reflexes quicker than I could have imagined.
“She looks like you both. A very beautiful princess,” Queen Alyalsha said with clear pride.
“So, you mean to claim her for the royal line?” Ellgar demanded. His tone was barely polite.
“I do. My granddaughter will succeed me once she is of age to take the throne, if necessary. If I should fall before she is of the appropriate age, her father, Prince Teárlach, will act as regent until she is ready.”
“Andif she is not deemed to be of royal blood?” Ellgar was really pushing for time in prison.
“She clearly is. My granddaughter is an elf. She looks like both of her fathers.”
“I want a paternity test!” he yelled, making Rieka start and shift into her wolf form.
The pup scrambled up onto her father’s shoulder, half hiding in his hair.
“Ellgar, I would ask you to hold your tongue lest I cut it out when I visit Abrocaelum. Rieka—“ Teárlach began, cold fury on his stunning face. My mate was hot when he was angry!
