Page 73 of The Magic of Eternity
“Did you just vomit?!” Goldie screeched into the blanket, going to roll onto her side, not realizing the two idiots behind her hadn’t moved the bucket yet. As she moved, the entire thing tipped and the placenta splashed out onto Cam and Kai’s feet.
“Fucking hell!” Sloane shouted, watching the entire thing with shock.
“It’s like… a big, bloody pancake thing,” Fischer noted, unhelpfully. Cam grunted something, and his eyes rolled back in his head. “Fuck, he’s going down!”
Faris was behind him in a flash, holding Cam up just enough to soften his fall. “Yep. He’s out cold,” Baby Fang observed casually. “Was it the puke or the placenta, do ya think?”
They say you can’t fathom the amount of love a mother has for her children until you become one yourself. I understood now.
My firstborn was the smaller of the two and the fussiest, but only when she was hungry. Which, coincidentally, seemed to be all the time. She was always munching on her tiny hands, being very dramatic with her loud chomping and sucking. Bram had taken to calling her his little monster.
It was actually Cam who’d come up with her name. The two of them had formed a fast bond, and when she really got to wailing, Cam would immediately drop whatever he was doing and take her into his arms. It was like magic how she always settled for him.
Two days after their birth, we still hadn’t decided on names, and my little red-haired girl was screaming the house down. Cam plucked her from my arms and came back a half hour later, telling us about sitting on the back patio with her—the morning sun had broken through the clouds, and the rays bathed them in light. When he returned with her, she was snoring softly, and he told us all, “She’s my little sunray. Helia. Her name is Helia.”
It was the perfect name.
Helia and her sister were already so different from each other. My chunky babe loved to nap, and she wasn’t picky about who held her, so long as someone was. She had thick, dark hair that was already beginning to curl. Her eyes were icy, just like her father’s—and the first time she scowled, it was like looking at a mini-Sloane. It took a few more days before we settled on a name for her.
Fischer and I were lying in bed, both girls between us, as we talked quietly about anything and everything. So far, the memories of his trauma hadn’t returned, and I hoped they never did. The extra magic I’d gained from that second shot didn’t seem to be available to me at all times, not like my own green magic. I think my body had just known what my mate needed from me that day in the pool, and that was that.
Guppy sometimes got a little confused by the blank gaps, but he never asked for clarification on anything. It seemed he really did want to keep those weeks of his life as a closed book. Sloane, Cam, and Kai had all agreed to keep it to themselves, though my sweet mage had been vague at best about his torture. I was just so fucking thankful that he was happy again.
And so, as we lay there together, he trailed his fingers through the baby’s dark, messy hair. “I’ve never known such peace,” he confessed. “When I look at her, seeing these little curls, it feels like she has a part of me.”
“Of course she does. I think parts of all of us are with them. What is it about her specifically that makes you feel that way?”
He paused, thinking. “I think it’s because I’ve been having this identity crisis. Originally, I thought it was because Faris and I split, but I’ve realized it goes much deeper. My whole life, from the moment I first heard Faris…” He shook his head, his curls bouncing with the movement. “Anyway, when I look at this little one, I know who I am. I’m her father. And this might just be the first time in my life that I haven’t had to dig deep within myself, to figure out if it’s really how I feel. Ya know? I’m her dad, and I know I’m going to be an amazing one to these two. My sweet Salem.”
Faris walked in at that moment with Sloane, both of them catching the end of our conversation. “Salem is perfect, brother.”
“What does it mean?”Sloane asked, curling himself behind Fish’s body and pulling both him and Salem closer.
“In my family’s language, it means safe, secure, complete. Or peace. I feel all of those things when I look at her.”
I smiled. “Salem. I love it, Gup.”
Snuggled back into the pillows later, I had my two girls tandem nursing, thanks to creative use of pillows. At first, I’d been terrified my huge boobs would smother them, especially about a day after delivery when my milk had rushed in like a dam breaking. For days, Faris hasn’t stopped staring at my tits. He was absolutely mesmerized by my “skills.” I was still trying to figure out where his obsession for making toast came from, and if I had to choke down one more slice, I might scream. He’d been so sweet and attentive though; I just couldn’t find it in my heart to tell him I needed to eat more than one food item.
The past two weeks had been spent doing a lot of random sleeping, slathering myself in nipple cream, spraying my lady bits with a squeeze bottle—that I was convinced was crafted by the gods themselves—and cuddling my girls. All of my men stepped up, and I didn’t have to change a single diaper. I wasn’t sure Sloane was going to brave it again though. I couldn’t even think about what happened without snorting with laughter. Fischer had been showing him the proper way to wipe Helia, and when Sloane lifted her by the ankles, a loud gurgling sound had everyone freezing. I’d watched in horror as a stream—a freaking stream—of watery poop flew out and landed on the wall.
Sloane had released her ankles in a hurry, and all but fell backward in an attempt to get away. Fischer and I had laughed so hard we cried. It was glorious. That was nearly a week ago.
Cam had been almost scared to touch them at first, not trusting that his hands—which were bigger than half their bodies—wouldn’t be too rough. I reminded him that while he could use his hands for destruction, he always handled me with care unless otherwise requested. That caused his eyes to flare with heat, and I then had to point out that it would be a while before we resumed any of those activities.
My delivery hadn’t been the easiest, but thankfully, my body healed the wounds within and I didn’t require stitches or further repair. Balor had stayed for a couple of days to monitor me and the girls, but he cleared us and took off back to Besmet, anxious to help with what they were working on there.
I didn’t know if it was normal or not, but I’d barely left the sanctuary of my room. I felt like a mama bear in hibernation and I simply didn’t want to leave. I had everything I needed right here.
I hadn’t let anyone visit either. Not my dad, not Rick, not Roger, not Miranda. Nobody except Gran and my mates. Even then, sometimes I just wanted to be left alone. I could stay right here in this bubble of safety. I knew Napoleon had been sneaking in while we slept because I’d always find little flowers on the nightstand, and Bagheera got to lay at the bottom of the bed some nights. His deep purrs were like a lullaby to the girls and myself.
A knock on the door had me sinking deeper into the pillows. “Saige?” Gran called out, cracking the door and peeking in. “May I come in?”
“Yeah,” I answered softly, not wanting to wake my milk-drunk princesses. I finagled my boobs back into my nursing bra, making sure the nursing pads were in place. I’d soaked through so many things that I made sure to keep up with them. Bram called them “Mommy Tassels” which Kai thought was the best fucking thing he’d ever heard.
Gran approached me slowly, a soft smile on her face as she stared down at the two sleeping beauties. “Gods, they really are something, aren’t they?”
I grinned. “They are. They really are.”
