Page 15 of Interlude

“Of course I can. I’m glad the two of you sorted everything out and that he is starting to feel better. I will be happy to help welcome him and our new babies to our family. The room next to the pool is still available. We left it because we thought he would end up as your mate. There is a door between the two rooms. I’ll make sure we order two more children’s beds and have them delivered to Fluxx. That’s where we are going next, right? To rescue Silac’s family?”

“Just have the warlock conjure them,” Maxsim rumbles, adding his two cents.

Echo rolls his eyes and sighs. “Expecting parents like to have input. Nikos may like to decide what he wants for his babies.”

I feel a pang of guilt, and I can’t hide my wince from Echo. “I’m failing at parenting 101.”

He shakes his head. “No, Lila, you aren’t. We know you have a lot of responsibilities. Maybe on the trip back to Fluxx, we can all sit down together and browse some catalogs. Despite Xavier’s spell, our kids will grow quickly, so we need to order more clothes for the kraken babies. You can help with that.”

“Okay, yeah, that sounds good.”

“You know what we do need?” Maxsim says. “A large play area for them. They need to be able to run off their energy.”

“Will our kittens have trouble with warmer temperatures?” I ask, thinking we could create a big ball pit with a playground for them on one of the levels. I’m sure there is space somewhere to accommodate it.

“I don’t know. Having some of your genes may make them more tolerant. Our bodies do adjust to normal temps, it’s just any excessive heat or humidity where we feel drained and sluggish.” Echo shrugs. “I guess we’ll find out once they are here.”

“Enough talk. Sleep now, and all of this can be dealt with later.” I hear the finality in his tone. Our alpha has spoken, and we must obey. I’m incredibly tempted to be a brat and disobey, but I am exhausted, and when they both start purring, I drift off.

The next morning, I’m up bright and early, even before both of my lazy kitty cats. Echo groans as I move and rolls over. I giggle and give him a kiss. I remember how exhausting it was growing new life-forms. Maxsim scoops me into his arms and leaps out of the nest with me, so I don’t have to shift to do it. Now that I am no longer pregnant and have my vampire genetics, I can make the leap on my own, but I think he likes to feel needed, so I don’t complain. I love any excuse to be in his arms.

“Be safe,” he tells me, giving me a kiss as he wraps my robe around my body and ties the belt. He’s not unaffected by my naked body, but he also knows I don’t have time to play knot the omega. I’m sure Echo will benefit from it though.

“I will. Go make Echo’s morning a very good one.” I nod down at his erect cock, and he smirks.

“Oh, I plan on it.” He kisses me before turning me around and slapping my ass. I squeak and glare at him, but I don’t hang around because it’s freezing, and I’m still not wearing a lot.

I leave them with a pang of longing, but I need blood, and I know my vampire will take care of all my needs. I just have to find him. I head out into the living area and find Cas, Link, Xavier, and all three of our babies.

“Mama!” Cally catches sight of me and holds her hands up. She is strapped into her high chair and is having what looks like purple pancakes for breakfast. I go over and pick her up, smothering kisses all over her little body. She grabs my cheeks and returns my kisses. Yup, whatever she’s eating is very sticky, and I am now wearing some of it.

“My turn,” Jack demands as I place her back in her seat.

“No, my turn!” Cordy shouts, picking up her sippy cup and lobbing it at her brother. I gape in shock, too surprised to do anything, but thankfully Xavier’s reactions are on point, and it freezes midair.

He drifts it back to her tray. “Cordelia, that was not very nice,” he scolds her, and she pouts, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

I pick Jack up and give him his cuddles while watching what’s happening out of the corner of my eye.

“We don’t throw things at people. Use your words.”

“Jack, you are a bum head,” Cordy says and sticks her tongue out at her brother. He just laughs and claps his hands as I set him back down.

“Wow, what’s happening here?” I ask, looking at my three mates for some answers.

“I think Cordy climbed out of the wrong side of the bed today,” Link says, sighing. “I think maybe she should go back to bed.”

I go over to my third child and look down at her. She’s still glaring at both Jack and Xavier. I see dark circles under her eyes. “Are you sure that’s all?” I ask, picking her up, and she snuggles into my side, wrapping her little arms around my neck.

She starts to cry, and I’m shocked. I don’t think I’ve really seen any of them cry, except for a few tantrums. They are the most even-natured cheerful children.

“Can we do a scan of her and check? I’m worried that with all my changes while I was pregnant I may have damaged them. What if this is a result of that?” I ask, and I can see Link purses his lips in thought, but it’s Caspian who answers. He comes over and wraps his arms around me so he’s snuggling both of us.

“I’m sure they are fine, baby. Stop worrying about them.”

“She might be onto something,” Link says, and I think my heart skips a beat.

“Fuck.” I can’t stop the swear word from leaving my mouth, and I wince when I hear Jack shout, “Fuck, fuckity fuck.”

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