SafeHaven

by Xander Jade

  Gordon looked over at them and smirked. He knew what was going on. Elwin said, “No Sasha, we’ve umm… been spending time with others.”

  The other ladies were smiling broadly. Tia asked, “Spending time with whom?”

  Both blushed. Pelleus cleared his throat, “Kaylin and Ayla.”

  Leena and the other wood elves laughed at their demeanor. Leena spoke out, “Do we need to have a sit down and talk with them?”

  Elwin said, “No. We can take care of ourselves.”

  Sasha smiled at the male duo. “Yes, you can. Just be careful and don’t cause any rifts.”

  Val belched and sighed. “That hit the spot.” The others laughed at her table manners.

  Sasha asked, “Val, Cass, any issues?”

  The avian mage shook her head. “No, just want this done so I can sleep on my stomach.”

  Val said, “Same here.”

  The healer nodded. She had noticed them getting tired more often than not.

  “Why don’t you two stay in and relax like yesterday? Nothing of import needs your attention.”

  They agreed and breakfast ended shortly after. The ones with meetings went to them and they started their daily routines.

  ***

  It was a long ass journey, but I had to make it before my babies were born. We only stopped when it was absolutely necessary, letting everyone rest for a few minutes and drink water. After the break we would set off again.

  If they gave birth already... Not going to go there.

  I was anxious and had to calm myself down a few times. A glorious sight came into view when we topped the hill. It had changed significantly.

  ‘Not too much farther, Max,’ Reap commented.

  ‘Yeah, hopefully we made it in time.’

  ‘Would be funny if you didn’t.’ Sig chuckled.

  ‘Yeah the settlement would see me get my ass handed to me by my women.’

  The group laughed, even Zeus nickered. ‘You think that’s funny, Zeus?’

  He nodded and I grunted. ‘Well, then you won’t mind too much if you don’t get any carrots or apples when we get back.’

  Zeus whinnied and started stomping his hoof. I laughed at that and said, ‘Let’s go, you big baby. If we make it, then I might let the stable boys and girls give you a reward.’

  He took off at a high speed and I cackled, as did the others.

  ***

  It was after the mid-day meal that Cass started having pains. Sasha set her up in a birthing room they had created for the pregnant mothers. It had been used numerous times recently. It had everything that was needed. Two patients per room and they had two such rooms built. Val ended up on the other side of the room late that afternoon. Both of them were almost ready to deliver and the daddy hadn’t shown yet.

  Cass began to tear up. “Where is he?”

  The wood elves shrugged. Leena said with confidence, “He’ll be here.”

  Val groaned in pain. “He’d better hurry his ass up!”

  Thirty minutes later, the two were still in labor and in escalating pain when shouts and commotion came from outside. They heard some talking and the door flew open. A mammoth man came in and smiled. He was dirty and unkempt, but he had made it.

  ***

  “Hello, ladies.”

  All of them teared up and smiled. The ones not keeled over in pain on the beds rushed over and kissed me. I went over to the pregnant duo.

  “Hello, my baby mommas.” I kissed the teary-eyed, sweaty women.

  Val grumbled, “Bout time you showed up.”

  I chuckled and shrugged. “I like to make an entrance. Sasha, is everything all right with the babies?”

  She smiled and said, “Yes, husband. It’s almost time to push.”

  She went over and checked Cass, then nodded. “It’s time, Cass. Leena, check Val.”

  Leena went over and did as asked. “She’s ready as well.”

  Sasha nodded. “You take Val, I’ll take Cass.”

  Leena nodded her agreement. I walked over and brushed the hair off of Cass and kissed her forehead and did the same for Val.

  Cass and Val began pushing, both screaming out at me for the pain they were in. Minutes later, Sasha held a little boy up and Leena held a little girl. Both little ones were crying, as were the mommas. They were cleaned up and given back to the exhausted women. All involved cooed at the babies.

  I smiled and washed my hands before touching my children. “What names did you pick out?”

  Cass replied, “Slade.”

  Val said, “Harmony.”

  I nodded and held them one at a time. It was surreal, having to be responsible for these little bundles of joy. I smiled and rubbed their cheeks, arms, and feet gently with my fingers. At least until they got hungry, then returned them to their mommas and advised I would be back, needing to get something to eat. Kissing them, I left.

  I sat down in the cabin after taking a bath to clean up. Katrina had prepared some food for me. I was in my own little world, not even paying attention to the food I was shoveling into my mouth. I was a daddy. Things had changed so much since we started down this road and not so much time had passed. It was going to be different from now on. Not just taking care of myself and the girls, but now Slade and Harmony. Smiling, I took another bite of my fruit, and almost shouted, “I’m a daddy!”

  I had just finished my meal when I heard footsteps walking towards me. Three people sat down on the other side of the table. Gordon, Sean, and Frank said, ‘Congratulations.’ I thanked them.

  Gordon smirked. “Cut it close, didn’t you?”

  “Yep, good thing I arrived in time, otherwise my ass would’ve been in hiding for a while.”

  They chuckled for a few moments.

  Frank smiled. “Good to have you back.”

  I nodded. “Good to be back. What have I missed?”

  Sean, Gordon, and Frank gave me the details of the settlement and the mines.

  Gordon advised, “When you are ready, we need to sit down and sign the contracts. We take ownership when we return with the signed papers and payment. Also, Murry and his crew are looking for land to buy for farms and we have others out locating any coal deposits. I gave them the authority to purchase as many as they can.”

  “Good. When they are purchased, immediately send out workers and mages to get the land ready.”

  Sean asked, “How far away are we going to accomplish this endeavor?”

  I smiled at them. “BlackCrest, Oakenshore, and every town we can. Maybe even Whitehurst.”

  They all smiled back.

  It took a few moments, but Gordon related his concern. “I know we’ve been busy. Hell, not one day has gone by that we don’t have to get something done. But we need to go and tell our families what is happening.”

  Sighing, I replied, “Yes. I’m already in deep shit. My mother is going to kill me.”

  They all laughed over that.

  “All right, listen to my plan. I would like to purchase all we can get. The most important part of this is that we can give our people jobs and that they can get wages to do anything they want. Here we will have our own shops and trades as well, but now everyone will be able to work. We can also use it as an information network.”

  Gordon nodded and said, “Good thinking. It was brought up when the ladies came back from the mine but fell through the cracks somehow. We can set up some kind of communication device to keep in touch. Especially if any raids are near.”

  I looked at Frank. “Any idea how to make such a device?”

  He thought about it and nodded slowly. “Yes, I believe so. We could enchant stones and hand them out to individuals at each site. I’m not familiar with how to achieve this but will get with the elemental mages and see what kind of stones to enchant for two-way communication.”

  “That would be awesome if we could do that.”

  Sean looked over at something behind me. “It would seem our time is up, daddy.”

  I looked ove
r my shoulder to see Tia and Leena holding the babies. Shaila, Lashane, and Sophia with them. I smiled. “I would have to agree. I’ll see ya later, guys.”

  They nodded and smiled as they left. The girls came over and sat down. Harmony was asleep. Slade was wide awake.

  “How do you feel, husband?” Leena asked while holding Slade.

  “Doing well, just taking it slowly. Everything has changed a lot in the last few months.”

  “It certainly has. It’s only going to get busier,” Tia replied while rubbing gently on Harmony’s face.

  Lashane asked, “Are you back for a while, husband?”

  I nodded and thought about what happened this last couple of weeks and said, “Yes. I need to get some things done. We need to finish the keep, get back to training, and when the contracts get purchased, we will set out to get those properties manned with our people. We also need to get to that slave mine in Aston.”

  Sophia said, “Definitely going to be busy. Will you let us join you when you leave?”

  “Yes, if it doesn’t take you away from other jobs that need to be taken care of.”

  They smiled and we talked about what needed to happen now since the babies were here. We took the little ones back to their mommies, and I stayed the night with them while the others went back to their rooms. I was awoken a few times in the middle of the night, to get the girls comfortable and to get them what they needed. Slade and Harmony were fed as well, cute little buggers, but of course, I’m pretty biased.

  Very early the next morning, Cass was watching me staring at the wall and asked in a low voice, “What are you thinking?”

  I turned to her and smiled. “That our family is getting bigger and our way of life is just starting. We will need to adjust our daily routines now that we have little ones.”

  Val chuckled. “It’s not like we can’t do things for ourselves anymore. We will still be by your side when everything goes to shit. We’re only on light duty for a couple of weeks, babe. Sasha says the deliveries went smoothly.”

  Cass nodded and moved Slade to her other boob. “Slade, stop being stubborn like your daddy and eat.” She rubbed his back a couple of times and he finally latched on. She looked over at me. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be ready to train again in a couple of weeks and hopefully get into a routine that works for us.”

  I grunted. “I’m just anxious to get our walls up so the area is secure. We also need to get the keep done so we can move in, our children will be safe then.”

  Both women giggled. Val spoke, “Max, look around us. Everyone here will keep them safe and guard them. Slade, Harmony, and all of your children will be surrounded by tons of aunts and uncles. They will look after them when we aren’t around. Hell, if I know Gordon and Sean, they will have their own guards.”

  I sighed. “You’re right. Just got lots of stuff going through my mind.”

  Cass pouted. “Awww, does daddy need a hug? Maybe a kiss to give that big brain a moment to relax?”

  I smirked and shook my head. “Don’t make me spank you.”

  She smiled and responded with, “Tsk. Tsk. Don’t make threats unless you’re prepared to go through with them.”

  I chuckled. “You know that I don’t make idle threats. I will place you over my knee and slap that ass over and over until you scream out for me to stop.”

  Val gasped. “Is that a promise?” Both giggled when I got up to leave.

  “I’ll leave on that note.” I kissed them both and went out to get some grub.

  It was dark outside. The sun hadn't given us our daily light as of yet. Two guards were set outside of the building the girls were in. I nodded to them. The ladies were right. I just needed to calm down and take care of what was in front of me.

  Walking towards the mess hall, I saw that the settlement had grown tremendously and knew it was going to be hard to keep this under wraps for too much longer. Someone was going to poke their head in and check out what we were doing. Either the king or the fuckin high elves, I didn’t care for either of them.

  Some people were going in as I was approaching. They all congratulated me. I thanked them and went inside to settle my stomach down. Grabbing a plate of eggs, sausage, and potatoes, I went to a table and sat down. Giving thanks, I devoured the meal and went back for seconds. After my meal, I went into the forest to stretch out and work on my forms to get my mind clear.

  When I’d completed that workout, I went to magic and practiced with the words of power that I’d had issues with. Siah still hadn’t spoken more than a few words to me, still wary of our bond. Working with Nespea and Sig, I found myself wondering if the tattoos on my back would have voices as well. I rolled my eyes, thinking that some other egotistical jerks were going to be in my mind, telling me to do this and do that.

  ‘You keep talking shit and I’ll burn your ass,’ Sig huffed.

  ‘I’ll just open up a cavern and throw him in,’ Nespea sneered.

  I laughed out loud. “Whatever. You two are along for the fuckin ride, just like me.”

  Both of them harrumphed as I kept on cackling like I’d gone mad. Movement caught my senses. I whipped around and saw with my night vision two figures coming my way. I waited for them to make their way to me.

  I bowed. “It's good to see you, forest protectors.”

  ‘Anointed One, it’s good to see you as well. We’ve come to check on you” he responded with his own bow.

  ‘It’s been quite the adventure, Jakku. The past few weeks…” I told the two Leshies what happened to me after I left.

  He nodded and relayed that things had been quiet, but they’d noticed elven patrols getting closer to our side of the boundaries. I asked, ‘Do you know what they want?’

  ‘No. If they come over, we will cut them off if we sense danger, otherwise we will leave them for you to handle,’ he replied with a gesture to my weapons.

  I chuckled. ‘That may cause an international incident. Though, if they come at me, then I will revise my answer.’

  ‘Ha! Okay then, good day to you Max,’ he chortled, and some spittle came out of his mouth.

  ‘Good day to you and yours, Jakku.’

  We bowed our heads to each other, and they walked off.

  I walked to the settlement. The sun was about to rise so I went to clean up before finding out where things stood. Getting dressed in some clean clothes, I went straight to get some coffee and more sustenance. Katrina and a person I didn’t recognize were preparing the food. I smiled and thanked them when they gave me a plate full of ham and eggs and some black liquid as my kickstarter for the day.

  I was halfway done when the others started filing in. They weren’t awake yet. I smirked and went back to my meal. The girls came over and kissed me on the cheek. Sasha and Tia sat beside me. Elwin, Pelleus, and Gordon came in behind them and sat down in the empty seats.

  “What’s the plan for today, boss?” Elwin asked while eating a spoonful of eggs.

  I thought about it before responding, “I need to get with all the squad leaders to see where we are lacking.”

  Gordon said, “The orcs that vowed to follow you showed up with Gurak and are now getting situated in their barracks. Tavoria, Racar, and fifty others from their village. Gurak had sixty with him, mostly females and children.”

  I nodded. Wow, that was a lot of orcs. “I will discuss my plans and get them to training soon. Gurak and his squads will help them catch up quickly.”

  He nodded and said, “Do you want to sign the paperwork today? That way we can get that going.”

  “Sounds good. Bring me the contracts and let me know what the timeline for each purchase will be. We need to get this rolling; it will provide stability for us. Even though the rhodium and platinum are good finds, we have lots of people to feed and shelter.”

  “I agree. It seems we tend to find people that want to join us.”

  “Did you talk with Sheila and find out how many horses they could provide?”

  Gordon nodded.
“We did. She was all grins when we finalized the price. Obviously, she didn’t have all of them for us to check them, but they will be there in a couple weeks. Her sister has a livery up in Salim that she’s getting the remaining horses from.”

  “What about the stables here? Do we have enough space to house them before sending them to their jobs?”

  “We are working on it. It was brought up that we could build a couple garrisons down the road a bit to house most of them. They would be stocked with all of their armor and weapons as well. No one would be able to get in with our soldiers stationed there. We would trade out every few weeks like we are doing in Azgrag.”

  I thought about that and gave my agreement. “That would help out with other situations as well.”

  “I’ll go get them and meet you back here in an hour or so.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll go meet up with Gurak after checking on the new mothers.”

  He laughed. “That would probably be best.”

  Gordon left and I stayed in place, thinking of what needed to be done. Sighing, I got up and hollered out my thanks to the cooks before leaving. Outside, I strolled to the birthing unit to check on my ladies, but when I got there, it was empty. Huh. I guessed they were at the cabin. I walked to my destination to see four guards outside the doors. Chuckling, Sean must be aware of my concerns. I nodded to them and entered my home. All of them were sitting around the living room talking. I walked up and immediately called out.

  “How is everyone?”

  They smiled as Cass answered, “Doing well, Max.”

  I nodded and strolled over to see my children. Harmony had dark hair and brown eyes like her momma. Slade had dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes like Cass. I crouched down to check on them.

  “And how are my little ones this morning?”

  Of course, they didn’t speak to me, but at least they seemed to recognize my voice. I watched them for a few moments before looking over to the women. “I’m signing the contracts that Gordon has available. Things are about to get crazier.”

  Tia spoke up, “Did we assign someone in charge of each trade? And locate any bookkeepers?”

  Sasha responded, “Gordon has taken care of that for us. He has people in place ready to go.”