by Viola Grace
Three hours after they arrived home, the next overseer was brought into the world by Liador, the registered midwife. The overseer’s little sister arrived right after. Each little girl had wing buds, and their father kept touching their tiny red fingers and toes.
“How long did you know there were two, Dorra?” Hreon grumbled with a smile.
“They were on the scans, but you were busy when they were on the display.” She smiled. “I suspected. My family had a lot of twins.”
She adjusted herself and smiled at him, cradling the two tiny Hellaz Hmrain. “That is a picture I want to remember.”
The little girls were each just over five pounds and fully to term.
She winced. “Right now, names.”
He smiled. “I would like to continue the tradition from my side of my family.”
“So, like Hradea, or Hrytha?” she shrugged.
“Exactly. Would you like to play P’cha for it?”
She grinned. “What would I get if I win?”
“You get to name them after my family tradition.”
“Wait, what? Then what would you get if you win?”
“I would name them after us. Hydora and Dorean.”
“They look like pure Hmrain. Why would you want any human reference in there?”
“Because you made a Hmrain out of a Hellaz. You deserve to be remembered for all generations to follow.”
She nodded. “Fine. Hand over the babies and bring the board. Let’s get this done.”
He grinned and handed their daughters over while he went to get the P’cha board. She steered the little creatures to her breast, and while they went through the game, her little creations ate, stopping when she sighed. “I win.”
Hreon smiled. “Let’s play again.”
She blinked. “Why? The girls will be named for your family.”
“It is our tradition, but I want them named for you.”
She sighed. “So, this one is Hydora then.”
He blinked. “And the other?”
“If you win you, can name her after me, and if I win, I can name her after me.”
He grinned. “Deal.”
He set up the board, she eased the children into the bassinet, and she looked at him. “You are going down.”
He made the first move. “I asked about that, but Liador said I should wait a few days.”
She made the next move and looked at him in alarm. “You asked Liador...”
“Certainly. He has six years of medical training. He is very good at his job. I just needed to know when I could resume feeding from you and when you would be able to enjoy it properly.”
She countered his move at sea. She had never felt less sexy than she had at this moment.
He looked at her. “You seem surprised.”
“Um, you could say that. I am experiencing a hormonal rush that is going to end in a crash now that the girls aren’t being grown.” She chuckled and countered his move.
“Ah, so my new job is to take care of all three of you. I can manage that.”
She laughed. “That isn’t your job. I am the one who needs something to do as soon as the girls don’t need me as a feeding station anymore. And yes, I know they can be given a supplement right now. Heck, with two of them, that might be necessary.” She bit her lip.
“Stop worrying. They will grow, they will get sick, they will get better. They will fly; they will crash. These are things that we are prepared for, but if you are not putting yourself first, they will be less able to handle what comes to them. My mother loves my father very much. She is not a true breeding companion, but they have still been together for two centuries. I want better for my children than a mother obsessed with the father, but I do enjoy the thought of them growing up where the father is obsessed with the mother.”
She looked down. “But everything has changed.”
“As it was designed to do. Well, in your case, as it evolved to do. Let healing happen, and a few weeks from now, when you know how you feel, we can head to the clinic and see if they can speed things along.”
“Four days. You have been gone a while.”
He laughed. “Four days.”
She smiled and got back into the game only to find that Hreon had already won it. “When did that happen?”
He grinned. “Dorean, it will be.”
She sighed and looked at the board in confusion.
He lay next to her and pulled her into his arms. “You had a complicated day. A strange trip, a bunch of strangers, a formal contract, and then arrival of two darlings that we love more than anything... and then, you lost a game of P’cha. This is a memorable day for you.”
She inhaled his scent slowly. “And I finally got to see you in the fancy robe.”
He chuckled and smoothed a hand over her back. “Yes, though I do want you at my side in a month when I open parliament again. I have an outfit in mind for you that will be spectacular.”
She nodded against him, and she felt her body getting warm. She dozed off and woke up when she was a few feet above the covers and fire was lacing around her and inside her. She did what you always did with Hmrain; she kept her voice calm. “Hreon, what are you doing?”
“I have been experimenting with healing fire. Since my energy is your energy, I thought this would be a good place to start.”
“I really wish you slept more.” She moved slightly, and there were no more twinges.
“You will be saying that about the girls soon enough.” He grinned and caught her out of the air. “How do you feel?”
“Warm, tingly. I don’t feel split in half anymore.” She smiled.
“As someone with no medical training, I would like to run an exam.” He slid his fingers between her thighs and slowly eased his long digits into her. “How does that feel?”
She exhaled slowly. “Fine.”
He settled her across his lap, and his thumb grazed her clit. “Just fine?”
She narrowed her lids and glared at him. “If those babies make one sound, I am going to be away from you in a nanosecond.”
He grinned. “I know. That is why we need to practice speed and stealth until we get a nanny.”
“A nanny?”
“Yes, Liador has already applied for the position.”
“I thought he was a midwife.”
“And an aerotech engineer and a medical professional, and he has childcare skills.”
He was shifting her around on the bed, and when she realized that he was lying between her thighs, she covered her eyes. When he applied his focus and his tongue to his exam and then started reminding her of what she had been missing, she covered her mouth and screamed into her palm as her body reacted violently.
Hreon moved up her body and kissed his way up from belly to breasts. She winced when he got some milk and flicked the tip of his pointed ear when he did the same at the second. “Not for you.”
He looked up through his dark lashes. “But it’s so sweet.”
“Still not for you.”
He grinned. “You seem more yourself.”
“Horny, sleep-deprived, and under you?”
He grinned. “All of that.”
She chuckled, and the babies made a soft sound. The babies’ room would be set up for them in the adjoining space. She would decide what she would do now that she had a few years before Hreon went into rut again. Drew and Sagar were enjoying the first few months of their relationship, and the genome assessment that Mrara had come up with was being used to scan colony populations for those who could activate Hmrain descendants who didn’t have the energy to show secondary characteristics. They now had a chance to bring some power back in for the next generation.
Late at night, she eased away from Hreon, passed the babies, and walked out onto the balcony. She breathed in the night air and let the tears run down her cheeks. She mourned for those lost, those who survived but broke along the way, and those who ga
ve up a little too soon. She let the tears fall silently as she acknowledged her anniversary on Hellaz. Three years ago, she had been tossed into the cells at the salon, had a uniform on her bunk, and the basic ration became the only thing that made her feel anything, even if it was just full.
“I don’t like it when you cry.” He wrapped himself around her.
“I know; that is why I am doing it out here.” She reached up behind her and stroked his cheek.
“Do you hurt?”
“No. This is my anniversary in Hellaz space. Three years ago today, I was dumped in the cells and started my job. I was thinking about my broken world and all of those who didn’t make it for one reason or another.” She glanced back into the bedroom where the bassinet was. “And I blithely start a new life.”
“Guilt?”
She nodded. “A little bit.”
“Guilt is understandable, but don’t let it stop you. Let it create empathy in you, and then continue on. I feel guilt over my parents having more Hmrain blood than Sagar’s, so I keep an eye out for opportunities and put them in his path. He can take them or not. One of our girls will be overseer in a few hundred years, and the other will not. There will be guilt there. It is good, it is healthy, but it is not everything. Learn and move along.”
“Thank you, oh wise and ancient Overseer.” She chuckled. “I know that it will help me develop more empathy, but right now, I feel it. I feel it through my soul and beyond. I will feel it again on the anniversary of the day I left; I will feel it again on the day of the impact. Each day I will feel it, and each day I will probably cry, and then, I will hold the babies and encourage Ymara to make something complicated and maybe crawl into your lap at some point, and life will go on.”
He hugged her. “For now, you need to sleep.”
“Will you hold me through the night?”
“Of course.”
“Will you keep your hands to yourself?”
He picked her up. “Absolutely not.”
She laughed softly and leaned against his shoulder. Life was definitely taking on a strange shape, but it was going on.
Author’s Note
Well, this one was started after the book that will come after this, which makes the first second and the second first.
So, this addresses the issue of the Hmrain and non-exact matches. I was wondering.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.
An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.
In real life, she is now engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.